544 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A VISIT TO THE QUARRY-CAVES OF JERUSALEM. 



BY CHARLES A. WHITE, 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



nnilE hill-country of Judea consists chiefly of one great anticlinal 

 -- fold of a thick series of Upper Cretaceous strata, mostly lime- 

 stones, the axis of the fold having a nearly due north and south trend. 

 This series rises from beneath the slightly elevated and comparatively 

 narrow Tertiary plain which borders the Mediterranean Sea, is broken 

 by erosion into rugged hills and deep ravines, reaches, even in its pres- 

 ent condition of great denudation, an elevation of about 2,500 feet, 

 and then dips eastward. The angle of dip being greater upon the 

 eastern than upon the western side of the axis, the whole series of 

 strata is carried beneath the surface of the Dead Sea, which is only 

 ten or twelve miles east of the axis in a straight line and more than 

 1,200 feet below ocean level. East of the western shore of the Dead 

 Sea the geological structure is complicated by faults, but that matter 

 need not be discussed. Jerusalem is situated upon the east side of, 

 but very near to, the axis, and because of the presence of the great 

 depression in the land surface called the 'Ghor' one gets good views 

 from the hilltops that rise around the city upon and near the axis. 

 Within range of distinct vision are the Wilderness of Judea, the Hills 

 of Edom, and especially the Mountains of Moab with the Dead Sea 

 and the lower end of the Jordan valley lying near their base. The great 

 series of strata thus folded, consisting, as it does, largely of compact 

 limestone, has furnished only a scanty, although fertile, soil by the 

 natural process of disintegration, and that memorable land is, therefore, 

 preeminently a region of stony ground. 



The lithological character of those strata is favorable for the pro- 

 duction of natural caves, and many such exist there as is well known 

 from references to them in both sacred and profane history. All the 

 drainage lines of the region, however, being short and most of them 

 declivitous, none of those caves is of large size compared with the 

 great caverns of other regions. Many of those small Judean caves have 

 been artificially enlarged and adapted to use as store-houses, stables, 

 tombs and even as human dwellings. Numerous rock excavations 

 which are wholly artificial have also been made from time immemorial 

 and for various purposes, but I shall refer only to those which have 

 resulted from the quarrying of stone for building purposes, and 



