These consist of two large corridors running below and parallel to the mosque. The floor slopes from north to south, and near the latter extremity there is a change in the level[340]. At the entrance they are separated by a wall entirely of Arab work, and farther on by an arcade supported by square pillars; the vaulting is not quite circular, being slightly flattened; it is very regular, and composed of stones of moderate dimensions, well chiselled with sharp edges. They are not of an uniform size, but nevertheless perfectly correspond with Roman work, as do the two pillars, and cannot belong to an earlier period; being laid with mortar and with great accuracy. The east wall is formed of oblong blocks, all of moderate dimensions and laid with mortar. The stones are well squared and smoothed by the hammer, without the least trace of rustic work; the surface of the wall is smooth and perpendicular to the ground and cannot be considered anything but Roman masonry. The west wall differs somewhat from the above in the form of its materials; these are large blocks of stone resembling in their size those attributed to the Herodian age. On some the rustic work remains, on others there are but slight traces of it, and after a very minute and careful examination, I think that there has been an attempt to destroy it on all, with the intention of smoothing the face of the wall: these blocks are all laid with mortar, but not arranged in regular courses; and the wall is perpendicular to the ground. It is quite evident that, though materials found among the extensive ruins have been used in constructing this wall, the present building is not of the age of Herod, still less of Solomon, but without doubt of Justinian. At the south end of the vault the two galleries unite, the line of the arcade dividing them being only marked by a large monolithic column and two half-columns; one attached to the last pillar on the north, the other to a wall on the south. The vaulting of this chamber consists of four hemispherical cupolas, divided by arches springing from the central pillar, with a shell ornament on the pendentives. Two doors, still remaining in the south wall, communicated with the outside. The one on the east is the Gate of Huldah, which we noticed during our survey of the exterior, inside it is marked by a marble pillar built into the wall; the other opens into a chamber, and is flanked by two marble pillars with elegant capitals[341]. The east and west walls in this lower portion of the gallery are a continuation of those described above, and of similar masonry; but the face of the south wall which divides the two doors is entirely formed by four great blocks, laid without mortar. This, then, together with the monolith and its capital[342], I consider a fragment of Herod's magnificent building; but I attribute the cupolas in the vaulting and the two doors to Justinian's restoration. It is very