Near the south-east corner is a stone, which appears to have been the impost of an arch; as there are no tombs in this part, I made an excavation opposite to it, at a distance of 12 feet, and, after digging down for 14 feet, came upon the great foundation stones. By opening another hole along the same line, nearer to the corner, I found them again at a depth of 12 feet; the difference being caused by the slope of the ground. By this means I convinced myself that the foundations of the wall were laid far down in the valley (as stated by Josephus), and that they rose up to the place, where it still appears above the surface of the ground, in a series of steps about 2 feet wide. The foundation (strictly speaking) is made of large blocks, roughly squared, and not rusticated, fastened together by a tenon left projecting from the face of one stone, fitting into a corresponding mortise in the next: there is not a trace of iron or lead or mortar; but where the wall rises above ground its face is vertical, the blocks are more carefully squared, and rustic work is used, with wide and deep grooves; as may be seen at many places in the lower part of the present wall[298]. The force of the flames, the vandalism of man, and the course of time, have produced no effect upon these massive buildings; which have been saved from the fate of those on Sion and Ophel, by the ruins heaped about them, and still more by the reverence paid by the Mohammedans to the ground on which they stand. These valuable remains enable us to compare their masonry with the Herodian work, seen more especially in the projecting wall at the north-east angle[299], and at the south-east extremity. The stones in these two places are of large size[300] and rusticated; only the grooves here are small, and the whole surface of the block is well smoothed; they also are perfectly fitted together without mortar, but clamps of iron or soldering plugs of lead are used; as I was able to ascertain when a small part was repaired: each course stands a little more than a tenth of an inch farther back than the one below it. The general appearance of the work manifests a progress in art and a delicacy of execution, which could not have been produced in the time of Solomon, even with Phoenician aid. In all the countries formerly occupied by this people there are not any examples of a wall in this style, while those resembling the architecture of Solomon are far from uncommon. We might reasonably suppose that Herod would increase the strength of the northern corner, as an outwork to the Antonia on the east; while the south-east corner might have been destroyed by the Chaldeans, being weaker than the rest owing to the existence of the great vaulted cistern within the _Haram_; and, as Nehemiah was no doubt unable to repair it in a manner befitting its position, Herod would rebuild it in his restoration of the above-named cistern, whose east and south sides are