240

THE TOWERS AND GATES.

sacrifices were brought in, and this supposition is. strengthened by its proximity to the temple. From that they sanctified it to the towers of Meah and Hananeel, which latter was in the north-east angle of the wall. Now in considering the expressions used in this third chapter of Nehemiah, we must remark, that some only was built, some repaired and set up, and other parts were sanctified; and from this we can absolutely trace the state of dilapidation of the different portions of the wall. From the tower of Hananeel, a small part of the wall was built as far as the Fish-gate, by Zaccur and the men of Jericho. This gate appears to have been placed at the extreme angle of the eastern wall, and the north-eastern point of the northern horn of Acra, and its situation, if restored, would be about one hundred and fifty yards from the modern wall, just above a declivity that divided Acra from Bezetha. The gate was built by the sons of Hassenaah.

Here we arrive at the northern brow of Acra, and must necessarily trace our wall along it, following the ravine I mentioned by the Fish-gate. This hollow still exists, and on its sides are several olives and fig-trees. Others completed the repairs up to the Old-gate, which was repaired by Jehoiada and Meshullam. This and the gate of Ephraim, were the same, and it appears to have been placed in the northern quarter, and may have been the Damascus gate of that day. From the old gate we still follow the boundary of Acra, and here we

SITE OF THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE.

arrive at the "Tower of the corner."

241

This place,

though not mentioned in this portion of Scripture,

is

very clearly marked out in several other parts, to be described hereafter. From thence the wall was repaired by Melatiah, Jadon, and the men of Gibeon, and Mizpah "unto the throne of the governor on this side the river." This brings us somewhere near the antique masonry before noticed in the present gate of Damascus, where the wall of Agrippa springs off, and from hence to the tower of Hananeel; I have marked it in the map, "Nehemiah's wall." This was probably the governor appointed by the Persian king over Jerusalem. Some difficulty arises here, regarding the river mentioned in the 7th verse, none such now existing; but originally, when a ditch surrounded the walls, water may have been conveyed through it; especially as some way above this we find within the present town, the large cistern called the Pool of Ezekiel, lying on the course of the fosse that was outside the ancient wall; and again, near the northeast corner of the present wall, we find a streamway running into the brook Kedron, which in the rainy season, I was informed, becomes a river in the sense there understood. Nay more, Pococke mentions a pool in the streets, near the holy sepulchre, which was filled with water in his day, and supposed it to be connected with the upper pool of Gihon.

The next portion was repaired and fortified by Uzziel and Hananiah "unto the Broad Wall," which

VOL. II.

R

242

THE SOUTH-EASTERN GATES.

I consider to have been the second wall of Josephus, which meets the outer wall at this point opposite to Calvary. Rephaiah, Jedaiah, Hattush, Malchijah, and Hashub, carried forward the repairs to "the tower of the furnaces." This stood somewhere between the broad wall and the Castle of David. The remainder of the repairs on the north-west side of the city were completed by "Shallum and his daughters," to a point near the commencement of Mount Sion, where it is enclosed by the valley of Millo, or Tyropoon.

The sacred historian now turns to another point of the wall, which most likely was commenced at the same time as the sheep-gate, and continued in a south-west course round the hill of Sion. He says, the "Valley-gate repaired Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah." This gate was in the extremity of the Tyropoon, where the hill forms a natural curve above the Fountain of Siloam. It was out of this gate the prophet rode on that memorable night, when he rose and viewed the desolation of the city, and in that part of the description the Fountain of Siloam is called "the Dragon Well." (Neh. ii. 13.) A little further south was "the Dung-gate repaired by Malchiah"-this was also in the Tyropoon valley, and was the general outlet for the filth of the citynearly in the same place in the modern wall, there is a port of this name, but which was filled up at the time of our visit. "But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallum the son of Colhozeh; he built

THE KING'S GARDENS.

243

it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah, by the King's gardens, and unto the stairs that go down from the City of David.” This line is very plainly laid down indeed, and serves materially to fix two or three remarkable objects. This Fountain-gate was but a very short distance from the valley gate, and here, as we do not read of any intervening wall between them being repaired, that portion of the wall must have been very small. The walls of the pool, and the fountain of Siloah were also repaired. The wall was then continued by the King's gardens, which were situated in the gentle slope leading down to the brook Kedron. Strange to say, such is the use made of this ground at present; we found it laid out in plots and vegetable gardens belonging to the opposite village of Siloam. It then turned into the concavity, where the pool of Siloam is placed; and where a steep declivity and scarped rock offers a probable site for the Stairs of the City of David.

Nehemiah repaired the part "over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty." Directly opposite this part of the line are placed those extraordinary rock-carved sepulchres in the side of the ravine that rises up from the other side of the valley of Hinnom, which are said to have been discovered by a celebrated modern traveller. This lower pool of Siloam, or "the pool that was made," is sometimes

244

66

THE ARMOURY.

called "the King's pool;" (Neh. ii. 14.) and by Josephus it is styled Solomon's pool; it is placed in the indentation opposite the south-east angle of the wall. The Levites and others repaired it up to the Armoury"* at the turning of the wall. This I conceive to have been placed at the southwestern angle, and here the wall has several turnings in it to encompass the southern brow of Sion; till it meets the castle of David, where we finished on the northern circuit. All this part from the turning of the wall, was repaired by Baruch, Meremoth, Benjamin, and others unto the corner—that is, the corner opposite David's Castle. Near this latter Palal repaired another piece over against "the tower which lieth out from the King's high house that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah, the son of Paroth;" each opposite to his own house. Here then, we have the city encircled upon three

* This armoury appears to be that referred to in the Song of Solomon, (ch. iv. v. 4,)-"Thy neck is like the towers of David, builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men." This practice of hanging the shields upon the tower, I have dwelt upon before at page 114 of this volume, and Sandys says that, in his day, "the tower of David (whose ruins are yet extant) of wonderful strength, and admirable beauty (was) adorned with shields and the arms of the mighty." I may also remark upon the above portion of Scripture that, whether it be an allegory, or however it may be spiritualized in the present day, it appears to have had a literal meaning and a personal application at the time it was written; and to this hour it is sung as a love-song, both by the Hebrews and by the Arabs of the desert, from Babylon to Tadmor.