TTXDER GR UXD JER USA LEM. 



3S1 



in the city limits. We have, moreover, the ex- 

 press testimony of St. John's gospel (xix. 41) to 

 the fact that in the place where Jems was cruci- 

 fied was the garden where he was buried. We 

 are, then, to conceive a malefactor crucified and 

 buried within a few yards at most of the Holy of 

 Holies itself ! The additional reverence paid by 

 Moslems and Jews alike to this remarkable rock 

 as the site of the threshing-floor of Araunah, in 

 harmony with the direct evidence of Scripture, is 

 conclusively borne out by the researches of Cap- 

 tain Warren. Just such a place as this must 

 originally have been is the customary native 

 threshing-floor at the present day, a breezy spot 

 on a lofty plateau of rock — in this case not quite 

 on the ridge of Moriah, but a few feet south of 

 it — the ridge or peak itself being occupied by the 

 cavern for corn, the usual accompaniment to the 

 threshing-floor, in which the grain is garnered. 

 In this cavern, tradition says, Araunah and his 

 sons, when they saw the destroying angel, hid 

 themselves through fear. Be that as it may, 

 over this hallowed site David designed to build 

 the temple which his son was to execute, and 

 upon the same spot was built the second temple, 

 altered and enlarged by Herod. Here is the key 

 to all authentic reconstruction of the lost sanctu- 

 ary, with its courts and precincts. Forbidden as 

 he was to break the sacred surface of the Noble 

 Sanctuary, Captain Warren succeeded in opening 

 up passages and staircases long closed with rub- 

 bish, or blocked with later masonry, so as- to 

 make his way from several points of approach to 

 chambers or spaces beneath the surface where 

 the temple originally stood, as laid down in the 

 sketch-plan accompanying his work. 



We cannot say that hie description follows in 

 all points the outlines given in the plan, or that 

 the proofs he has to adduce justify throughout 

 the boldness with which he fills up much of the 

 detail. In the chapter describing, or rather re- 

 constructing in idea, the original temple, Captain 

 Warren coolly tells us he has " ignored all con- 

 troversial points," and has assumed that " all are 

 agreed in the identifications which have been al- 

 luded to." What, then, will sober students of 

 the topography and archaeology of the holy city 

 have to say to so assured a summary of exploits 

 as this '? — 



" We have been able to point out the work of 

 King Hei'od, and the work of Solomon, and, if it 

 were necessary, we could identify the additions 

 and alterations of the Roman emperors. We can 

 follow the description of Josephus and the Talmud- 

 ic accounts, and find everything fall into its place 



with the ease and facility only to be obtained from 

 correct identifications. We can stand on the spot 

 where the sacrifices were made, where the high- 

 priest stood once a year before the ark of the mercy- 

 seat, where St. Simeon received our Lord, where 

 the Sanhedrim listened to his questions, where the 

 money-changers' tables w r ere overturned, where 

 the lame man was made whole, where St. Paul 

 was carried up the steps to the Antonia, where St. 

 James the Just stood before he was cast down. 

 All this information is the result of our explora- 

 tions, and though all do not agree with me in my 

 indications, yet I find more do so each year. When 

 I came back to England, I did not expect our re- 

 sults would be appreciated for ten years ; five have 

 now passed away, and great progress has been 

 made." 



To Captain Warren's eye the temple stands 

 forth in real form and dimensions as if still exist- 

 ing. " The altar stands over the western end of 

 the souterrain No. V." (in his ground-plan), where 

 to other eyes nothing is now visible but blank 

 and level turf. This remarkable tunnel he con- 

 siders to have served in connection with the 

 great water-system necessary for flushing the 

 temple-courts. Whether it led from the altar to 

 the blood-passage, discovered near the southeast 

 angle of the Noble Sanctuary, or connected the 

 gates Mokad and Nitsots with the temple water- 

 works, or whether it formed the underground 

 communication with gate Nicanor, under which 

 it runs, or even served all these purposes to- 

 gether, he is unable to decide. But, if used 

 for the discharge of the blood, this passage, 

 having its orifice twenty feet above the foot 

 of the outer wall, would have sadly disfigured 

 the brilliant white masonry which must have 

 caught the eye of the traveler or pilgrim drawing 

 near to the holy mount. Another rock-hewed 

 drain, far more suitable to this purpose, has been 

 traced under the Triple Gate. We see no proof 

 of the identification of Mokad, the western gate, 

 with Captain Warren's tunnel, or tank, No. I., 

 or of Nitsots, the eastern gate, with the passage 

 leading down to the Sakhrah, near which he also 

 finds a place for the chamber of Parvah, a magi- 

 cian (according to the Talmud), who " digged a 

 vault underground till he could come to see what 

 the high-priest did on the day of expiation." 

 Captain Warren seems to have made, even by the 

 admission of the party at home, whose crotchets 

 he had all along stoutly combated, a real hit in 

 the discovery of the north wall of the temple, 

 not far from the gate Tadi. But this he was not 

 allowed to follow up, through the jealousy of the 

 pashas, while he has the provocation of finding 



