I conclude by remarking that, although Jerusalem is situated in a position where limestone rocks abound, and where springs of drinkable water are not to be found, (there being but one which could be used, even in extremity,) the city has never suffered from thirst in all the numerous sieges which it has undergone. The besiegers, however, have almost always been reduced to great straits from this cause; for example, the armies of Pompeius, of Antiochus Eupator, and of the Crusaders. Josephus, indeed, says that the Roman troops under Titus did not want water, but this is in a speech addressed to his fellow-citizens, when he is exhorting them to submit in order to avoid a more miserable fate; and he brings forward this unwonted circumstance as a sign that heaven had abandoned them, just as had happened when the city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. Still great distress, according to Dio Cassius[896], did prevail among the Roman army. The inhabitants, however, never felt any such want; their miseries always arose from hunger; and William of Tyre[897] expressly states that when the army of Godfrey of Bouillon entered Jerusalem they found plenty of water. From the earliest period the supply appears to have been well maintained; and it is to be hoped that some person or other will before long restore the city to its former condition; and by repairing the ancient water-works render it no longer dependent on the rains. Woe betide Jerusalem if showers should fail during two years in succession! FOOTNOTES: [860] Eccl. ii. 4, 6. [861] Ant. VIII. 7, § 3. [862] Plate X. [863] Cant. iv. 12. [864] The reservoirs constructed at certain points along the course of an aqueduct to regulate the supply of water. [865] Cant. iv. 12. [866] Page 100. [867] Ant. XVIII. 3, § 2; Jewish War, II. 9, § 4. [868] Joma, fol. 31. 1. [869] Greg. Abulpharagii seu Barhebræi Chronicum Syriacum, ed. G. G. Kirsch. Lips. 1789. 2 Vols. 4to. [870] Plate LXII. [871] 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. [872] Isai. vii. 3. [873] Plate XXXI. [874] 2 Kings xviii. 17. [875] 2 Kings xviii. 18, 26, 28. [876] 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 5, 30. [877] Jewish War, V. 7, § 3. [878] 2 Kings xii. 20. [879] Josh. xv. 7; Plate XLVIII. [880] Page 188. [881] Plate X. [882] I avail myself of the words of M. Saintine (Trois ans en Judée, p. 132), as I was in his company when an old Sheikh told us the story. [883] Page 92. [884] Page 184. [885] Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 506 (1st ed.). [886] Ezek. xlvii. [887] Page 36. [888] Page 14. [889] Page 63. [890] Gloss. in Mishnajoth in Octav. in Midd. Perek. 5. [891] 2 Sam. xi. 2-4. [892] Plate XVI. [893] See Plate X. fig. 6. [894] Jewish War, V. 11, § 4. [895] Page 14. [896] Dio Cassius, LXIV. 4. [897] Lib. VIII. c. 24, G. D. p. 761. CHAPTER IX. GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.