Dismissing the other generals to their respective commands, the Caliph, carrying with him Amru and Shorahbîl, resumed his journey westward, and, crossing the Jordan below the Lake of Tiberias, proceeded thus to Jerusalem. They gave him a palfrey to ride on, which pranced with jingling bells after the fashion of Syria. He disliked the motion. ‘What aileth the animal?’ he said; ‘I know not who hath taught thee this strange gait.’ So he dismounted and rode upon his own horse again.[327] Arrived at Jerusalem, the Caliph received the Patriarch and citizens with kindness and condescension. He granted them the same privileges as to the most favoured cities; imposed on the inhabitants an easy tribute, and confirmed them in possession of all their shrines and churches. Jerusalem was to the Moslem an object of intense veneration, not only as the cradle of Judaism and Christianity, but as the first _Kibla_ of Islam itself--that is, the sacred spot to which the Faithful turn in prayer; and also as the place visited by the Prophet on his mysterious journey by night to heaven.[328] At the crest of the sacred mount there is a stony projection, which the tradition of the day had marked as Jacob’s pillow. The fond imagination of the Moslems has fixed upon this as the very point in the ‘Farther Temple,’ from which the winged steed mounted by Mahomet took its upward flight; and in a depression of the rock the eye, or the hand, of faith still traces the outline of the Prophet’s foot imprinted there as he sprang into his airy saddle. It was close to this that Omar laid the foundation of the Mosque which, to this day, bears his name.[329] [Sidenote: Christian tradition regarding Omar’s visit to Jerusalem.] Mahometan tradition gives no further detail respecting this memorable visit. But we are told by Christian writers that Omar accompanied Sophronius over the city, visited the Jerusalem, various places of pilgrimage, and graciously inquired into their history. As the appointed hour came round, the Patriarch bade the Caliph to perform his orisons on the spot where they chanced to be, namely, the Church of the Resurrection. But he declined to pray either there or in the Church of Constantine, where a carpet had been spread for him--alleging, as the reason, that if he were to pray there, his followers would deem it their duty to oust the Christians and take possession of the church for ever afterwards, as a place where Moslem prayer had once been offered up. He also visited Bethlehem. There, having prayed in the Church of the Nativity, he gave nevertheless a rescript to the Patriarch who accompanied him on the pious errand, securing the Christians in possession of the building, with the condition that not more than one Mussulman should ever enter at a time; but the stipulation, we are told, was disregarded, and a Mosque was eventually erected there, as well as on the site of the porch of the Church of Constantine.[330] [Sidenote: Omar returns to Medîna.]