The following are the principal fountains and pools mentioned in the Old and New Testaments:

66

1. The FOUNTAIN OF EN-ROGEL (the fountain of the Scout, or, according to the Targum, the Fullers' Fountain) is mentioned in Josh. xv. 7., xviii. 16., and 2 Sam. xvii. 17. By the Frank Christians it is called the Well of Nehemiah, and by the natives Bir Eyüb, or the Well of Job, which is most probably a misnomer for Joab. En-Rogel was the scene of Adonijah's attempt on the kingdom at the close of his father David's life (2 Chron. xxxii. 4. 30.), and Joab was the most noted of his partisans; and this may have given occasion to call the well after the son of Zeruiah." En-Rogel is a very deep well, situated just below the junction of the valley of Hinnom with that of Jehoshaphat, and is "of an irregular quadrilateral form, walled up with large squared stones terminating above in an arch on one side, and apparently of great antiquity: there is a small rude building over it, furnished with one or two large troughs or reservoirs of stone, which are kept partially filled for the convenience of the people. The well measures one hundred and twentyfive feet in depth, fifty of which were full of water," when this well was visited and described by the Rev. Dr. Robinson, in 1838. "The water is sweet, but not very cold, and is drawn up by the hand. In the rainy season the well becomes quite full, and sometimes overflows at the mouth. More usually, however, the water runs off under the surface of the ground, and finds an outlet some forty yards below the well."2

2. The UPPER and LOWER POOLS of GIHON are situated in the valley of Gihon or of Hinnom, southward from the Jaffa gate. The Lower Pool, which is mentioned in Isa. xxii. 2., is by far the largest reservoir of the Holy City, though it is much dilapidated and perfectly dry. It is formed in a very simple manner, by throwing a massy wall across the lower end of the valley, the stones of which are closely cemented, and the work is evidently ancient. Having no springs of its own, it is filled only when the abundant rains cause the waters of the Upper Pool to overflow. This wall answers the purpose of a bridge, which is crossed in going to Bethlehem. The walls of the Upper Pool are in a much more perfect condition than

which Dr. Robinson and his fellow-travellers resided, had not less than four cisterns of the following dimensions:

Breadth.
8 feet

4

10 30

Depth.

12 feet

15

15

20

"This last is enormously large, and the numbers given are the least estimate. The cisterns have usually merely a round opening at the top, sometimes built up with stone-work above, and furnished with a curb and wheel for the bucket, so that they have externally much the appearance of an ordinary well. The water is conducted into them from the roofs of the houses during the rainy season, and, with proper care, remains pure and sweet during the whole summer and autumn. The Latin convent in particular is said to be amply furnished" [with not fewer than twenty-eight cisterns]; "and in seasons of drought is able to deal out a sufficiency for all the Christian inhabitants of the city." (Ibid. p. 481.)

Williams's Holy City, vol. ii. p. 491.

Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. i. pp. 491, 492.

those of the Lower Pool. These pools may be regarded as unquestionably Jewish works, perhaps of the time of Solomon. The Lower Pool is about forty feet deep; the Upper Pool, eighteen or twenty feet.1

3. SILOAM is a fountain or pool under the walls of Jerusalem, cast, between the city and the brook Kedron. The spring issues from a rock, and runs in a silent stream, according to the testimony of Isaiah (viii. 6.). The modern descent to this fountain is by fifteen or sixteen steps. Being defended from the sun, it is deliciously cool, and clear as crystal; it has a kind of ebb and flood, sometimes discharging its current like the fountain of Vaucluse; at others, retaining and scarcely suffering it to run at all. The pool, or rather the two pools of the same name, are quite close to the spring. They are still used for washing linen as formerly.2 "The taste of the water is very peculiar, and never to be mistaken when once known.... The villagers of Siloam drink thereof, and their flocks, and do not find it unwholesome, but the contrary."3 Modern travellers relate that people still bathe their eyes with the waters of this fountain, in memory of the miracle performed on the man who had been born blind. At this fountain, the ancient Jews were wont to draw water with great solemnity on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles: an account of this ceremony will be found in Part III. Chap. IV. § VII. of this volume.

Dr. Robinson has ascertained that the water is brought to this pool from what is called the Pool of the Virgin (which is higher up the valley) by means of a channel 1750 feet in length, which is cut through the rocky hill of Ophel. It is not improbable that the increase of the city of Jerusalem in the time of Solomon led to the formation of these works, in order to supply the inhabitants with water. The waters of Siloam were anciently conducted into two . pools, called the Upper and Lower Pool. The Upper Reservoir or Pool (Isa. vii. 3.), called the King's Pool in Neh. ii. 14., probably watered the king's gardens (Neh. iii. 15.), while the Lower Pool seems to have been designed for the use of the inhabitants. Which of these reservoirs is to be understood as the Pool of Siloam mentioned in John ix. 7., it is now impossible to determine.1

4. The POOL OF BETHESDA was situated near the sheep-gate (John v. 2.), not far from the temple. It had five porticoes, for the reception of the sick; and it was most probably called Bethesda, or the house of mercy, from the miraculous cures there mercifully vouchsafed by God to persons labouring under the most desperate dis

Narrative of Scottish Mission to the Jews, pp. 134, 135. Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. i. pp. 483-486. Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem, pp. 59, 60.

2 Chateaubriand's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 34. 36. Wilson's Lands of the Bible, vol. i. p. 503. Mr. Buckingham, who visited the fountain of Siloam in 1816, describes it as a dirty brook; which even in the rainy season is said to be an insignificant muddy stream. Travels in Palestine, p. 188. See also Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 357. The most recent history and description of this fountain is that of the Rev. Dr. Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. i. pp. 493-498.

3 Williams's Holy City, vol. ii. p. 455.

Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. i. pp. 493-508. Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem, pp. 73, 74. Narrative of Scottish Mission to the Jews, pp. 153–156.

eases.1 The ancient Pool of Bethesda is now a dry reservoir, 360 English feet in length, by 130 feet in breadth, and about 70 feet deep. A low parapet of large stones runs along the margin, over which the spectator looks into the dry basin below. The bottom is covered partly with rubbish, and partly with herbage and a few trees. At the further end are two arches, forming entrances into dark vaults, which are generally believed to be the remains of the five porches.2

VII. During the reigns of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was the metropolis of the land of Israel; but, after the defection of the ten tribes under Jeroboam, it was the capital of the kings of Judah, during whose government it underwent various revolutions. It was captured four times without being demolished, viz. by Shiskak, sovereign of Egypt (2 Chron. xii.), from whose ravages it never recovered its former splendour; by Antiochus Epiphanes, who treated the Jews with singular barbarity; by Pompey the Great, who rendered the Jews tributary to Rome; and by Herod, with the assistance of a Roman force under Sosius. It was first entirely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and again by the Emperor Titus, the repeated insurrections of the turbulent Jews having filled up the measure of their iniquities, and drawn down upon them the implacable vengeance of the Romans. Titus ineffectually endeavoured to save the temple: it was involved in the same ruin with the rest of the city, and after it had been reduced to ashes, the foundations of that sacred edifice were ploughed up by the Roman soldiers. Thus literally was fulfilled the prediction of our Lord, that not one stone should be left upon another that should not be thrown down. (Matt. xxiv. 2.)3 On his return to Rome, Titus was honoured with a triumph, and to commemorate his conquest of Judæa, a triumphal arch was erected, which is still in existence. Numerous medals of Judæa vanquished were struck in honour of the same event. "After the final destruction of the stately temple of the Jewish nation by the arms of Titus and Hadrian" (as the prophet Micah had foretold, iii. 12. more than eight hundred years before), "a ploughshare was drawn over the consecrated ground, as a sign of perpetual desolation." The Emperor Adrian erected a city on part of the former site of Jerusalem, which he called Elia Capitolina: it was afterwards greatly enlarged and beautified by Constantine the Great, who restored its ancient name. During that emperor's reign the Jews made various efforts to rebuild their temple, which, however, were always frustrated: nor did better success attend the attempt made, A. D. 363, by the apostate emperor Julian. An earthquake, a

1 Bp. Pearce, (and after him, Dr. Boothroyd), Jahn, Rosenmüller, Kuinöel, and other modern commentators, have supposed the pool of Bethesda to have been a medicinal bath. The reader will find a brief statement, and satisfactory refutation of this notion in Dr. Bloomfield's Annotations on the New Testament, vol. iii. pp. 148–156.

2 Fisk's Pastor's Memorials of Egypt, &c. p. 282. Narrative of Scottish Mission to the Jews, &c. p. 162.

For a full view of the predictions of Jesus Christ concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and their literal fulfilment, see Vol. I. Appendix, No. VI.

• Gibbon's Hist. vol. iv. p. 100,

whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, compelled the workmen to abandon their design.

From the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans to the present time, that city has remained, for the most part, in a state of ruin and desolation, in fulfilment of our Lord's prediction that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke xxi. 24.) It "has never been under the government of the Jews themselves, but oppressed and broken down by a succession of foreign masters- the Romans, the Saracens, the Franks, the Mamelukes, and last by the Turks, to whom it is still subject. It is not, therefore, only in the history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, that we are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's predictions: we see them verified at this moment before our eyes, in the desolate state of the once celebrated city and temple of Jerusalem, and in the present condition of the Jewish people, not collected together into any one country, into one political society, and under one form of government, but dispersed over every region. of the globe, and every where treated with contumely and scorn." 1

VIII. The modern city of Jerusalem contains within its walls several of the hills, on which the ancient city is supposed to have stood; but these are only perceptible by the ascent and descent of the streets. When seen from the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, it presents an inclined plane, descending from west to east. An embattled wall, fortified with towers and a Gothic castle, encompasses the city all round, excluding, however, part of Mount Sion, which it formerly inclosed. Notwithstanding its seemingly strong position, it is incapable of sustaining a severe assault, because, on account of the topography of the land, it has no means of preventing the approaches of an enemy; and, on the other hand, it is commanded, at the distance of a gun-shot, by the Djebel Tor, or the Mount of Olives, from which it is seen to the best advantage.2 Imposing, however, as the appearance of Jerusalem is, when viewed from that mountain, and exhibiting a compactness of structure like that alluded to by the Psalmist (cxxii. 3.), the allusion vanishes on entering the town. No "streets of palaces and walks of state," no high-raised arches of triumph-no fountains to cool the air, or porticoes not a single vestige meets the traveller, to announce its former military greatness or commercial opulence: but in the place of these, he finds himself encompassed by walls of rude masonry, the dull uniformity of which is only broken by the occasional protrusion of a small grated window. All the streets are wretchedness, and the houses of the Jews, more especially, are as dunghills. From the daughter of Zion, all her beauty is departed. (Lam. i. 6.) Of late years, however, the political condition of the Jews has been improved, in consequence of the interest taken in their behalf by various Christian Societies, and the per

1 Bp. Porteus's Lectures on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, vol. ii. p. 215.

2 Travels of Ali Bey, in Morocco, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, &c. between 1803 and 1807, vol. ii. p. 245.

sonal influence of distinguished English Jews. The finest section. of the city is that inhabited by the Armenians; in the other quarters, the streets are much narrower, being scarcely wide enough to admit three camels to stand abreast. In the western quarter and in the centre of Jerusalem, towards the place now called Golgotha or Calvary, the low and ill-built houses (which have flat terraces or domes on the top, but no chimneys or windows) stand very close together; but in the eastern part, along the brook Kedron, the eye perceives vacant spaces, and amongst the rest that which surrounds the mosque erected by the Khalif Omar, A. D. 637, on the site of the temple, and the nearly deserted spot where once stood the tower of Antonia and the second palace of Herod.

The modern population of Jerusalem is variously estimated by different travellers. According to Rabbi Joseph Schwartz, Jerusalem contains more than 32,000 inhabitants, viz. 7,500 Jews (6,000 Sephardim1, and 1,500 Ashkenazim. Under the first are understood all the natives, and the immigrants from Turkey, Asia Minor, Persia, Arabia, and Barbary, in Africa; and under the latter the immigrants from Germany, Holland, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Gallicia, and other European countries); 15,000 Mohammedans, that is, Arabs and Turks; and 10,000 Christians, that is, Greeks, Armenians, Latins (Spaniards and Italians), Russians, and Germans. But these numbers are totally at variance with those stated by different European travellers. The Rev. J. D. Carlyle, at the commencement of the nineteenth century, computed it at about 15,000; and Capt. Light, who visited Jerusalem in 1814, estimated it at 12,000. Mr. Buckingham, who was there in 1816, from the best information he could procure, states, that the fixed residents (more than one half of whom are Mohammedans) are about 8,000: but the continual arrival and departure of strangers make the total number of persons present in the city from ten to fifteen thousand generally, according to the season of the year. The proportions which the numbers. of persons of different sects bear to each other in this estimate, he found it difficult to ascertain. The Mohammedans are unquestionably the most numerous. Next, in point of numbers, are the Greek Christians, who are chiefly composed of the clergy, and of devotees. The Armenians follow next in order as to numbers, but their body is thought to exceed that of the Greeks in influence and in wealth. Of Europeans there are only the few monks of the Convento della Terra Santa, and the Latin pilgrims who occasionally

1 Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem, p. 204.

2 In the travels of Ali Bey (vol. ii. pp. 214-227.), there is a minute description, illustrated with three large plates, of this mosque, or rather group of mosques, erected at different periods of Islamism, and exhibiting the prevailing taste of the various ages when they were severally constructed. This traveller states that they form a very harmonious whole: the edifice is collectively termed, in Arabic, Al Haram, or the Temple.

A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. By Rabbi Joseph Schwartz, for sixteen years a resident in the Holy Land. Translated [from the Hebrew and German] by J. Leeser. Philadelphia, 5610. 1850. 8vo.

The Rev. Dr. Wilson, who resided some time at Jerusalem in 1843, computes the Sephardim at only 700 families, and 3000 souls, according to the census of the Jews themselves. Lands of the Bible, vol. i. p. 456.