British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII: January and April, 1871Various
History
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII: January and April, 1871
Various
English periodicals
The mention of temples reminds us that on Mount Gerizim numerous
excavations were made under the direction of Lieut. Anderson. Within the
ruins known as the 'Castle,' the foundations of an octagonal church were
laid bare, probably the church known to have been built there by
Justinian. On the eastern side of the church is an apse, on the northern
side the main entrance, and on each of the others, doors leading to
small side chapels. In the interior are the piers of a smaller octagon,
apparently intended to carry a dome. The church and castle were found to
be built on a rough platform of large stones laid together without
mortar, and of this--which may possibly be the platform on which the
Samaritan Temple stood--the 'twelve stones,' fabled to have been brought
up by the tribes from the bed of the Jordan, form a portion. No trace
of large foundations could be found on the southern portion of the small
plateau on which the castle stands. Close to the Holy Rock of the
Samaritans a number of human remains were dug up, but no clue could be
obtained to their age or nationality. The study of the synagogue remains
of Galilee, as well as the temples, mosques, churches, tombs,
inscriptions, aqueducts, castles, theatres, ruined cities and general
aspect of the country, is much facilitated by the series of 350
photographs taken by the two expeditions, which are most of them
beautifully executed and very many of them taken for the first time.
We must now follow Captain Warren to Jerusalem, where the longer course
of the operations supplies us with larger results for criticism; and the
_reason_ for the more extended labours is a reason for our devoting more
space to their consideration; it being simply the paramount interest of
Jerusalem and the richness of the field Scripturally, historically, and
archæologically. The ground on which the city of Jerusalem stands is
included in a fork between two ravines, whose point of union is to the
south-east of the city, near the Well of Joab, and which, if we trace
them backward, may be said to clasp the city, the one on the south and
west, the other on the east. The eastern ravine is known as the Valley
of Jehoshaphat or of the Kedron, the westernmost as the Valley of
Hinnom. On the north side they run up to the level of the northern part
of the city; so that Jerusalem is not an isolated hill, but the southern
tongue of a great plateau which stretches away northward. This
table-land is one of the highest in the country, and Jerusalem is about
2,500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, while the Dead Sea,
only twelve miles to the east, is 1,300 feet below the same. Of the
cities of Palestine, Jerusalem alone is thus entrenched with deep
ravines--a mountain fastness, with natural defences on every side except
the north; and to this circumstance she owed in a great measure her
early strength and subsequent greatness. After Joshua's conquest, the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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