One more valley must be noted. It was on the north of Moriah, and separated it from a hill on which, in the time of Josephus, stood a suburb or part of the city called Bezetha, or the New-town. Part of this depression is still preserved in the large reservoir with two arches, usually called the Pool of Bethesda, near the St Stephen’s Gate. All round the city are higher hills: on the east the Mount of Olives; on the south the Hill of Evil Counsel, rising directly from the Vale of Hinnom; on the west the ground rises gently to the borders of the great wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the Mount of Olives bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. Towards the south-west the view is somewhat more open; for here lies the Plain of Rephaim, commencing just at the southern brink of the Valley of Hinnom, and stretching off south-west, where it runs to the western sea. This rough sketch of the _terrain_ of Jerusalem, which I take mainly from Sir George Grove, will enable the reader to appreciate the two great advantages of its position. On the one hand the ravines which entrench it on the west, south, and east--out of which the rock slopes of the city rose almost like the walls of a fortress out of its ditches, must have rendered it impregnable on those quarters to the warfare of the old world. On the other hand its junction with the more level ground on its north and north-east sides afforded an opportunity of expansion, of which we know advantage was taken, and which gave it a remarkable superiority over other cities of Palestine, and especially of Judah, which, though secure on their hill-tops, were unable to expand beyond them. The western side of the city is more than 100 feet higher than the eastern; but the Mount of Olives overtops even the highest part of the city by more than 150 feet.