376 SKETCHES OF PALESTINE. 



an early period of the Jewish history, and subsequently mads a re- 

 ceptacle for the bones of men. 



The valley of Jehoshaphat, which lies between this mountain 

 and the hills on which Jerusalem is built, is still used as a burial- 

 place by the modern Jews, as it was by their ancestors. It is, gen- 

 erally speaking, a rocky flat, with a few patches of earth here and 

 there, about half a mile in breadth from the Kedron to the foot of 

 Mount Olivet, and nearly of the same length from Siloa to the gar- 

 den of Gethsemane. It is filled with tombs everywhere dug in the 

 rock, some of them large, indicating the superior condition of their 

 ancient possessors, but the greater part are small and of the ordina- 

 ry size. Many of the stones are covered with Hebrew inscriptions ; 

 and, to the learned in Rabbinical lore, this ancient grave -yard would 

 furnish an interesting field for investigation. The Jews have a 

 tradition, evidently founded on taking literally the passage, Joel iii. 

 ]2, that this narrow valley will be the scene of the final judgment. 

 The prophet Jeremiah evidently refers to the same valley under 

 the name of the valley of the son of Hinnom, or the valley of To- 

 phet, the situation being clearly marked as being by the entry of 

 the east gate. 



BETHLEHEM. 



From the scene of our Lord's crucifixion and ascension, the pil- 

 grim proceeds to visit the place of his nativity. There arc two 

 roads from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. That which is used at pres- 

 ent is the shortest ; the old road is more to the west. Passing out 

 of the Jaffa gate, the traveller turns to the left, and, descending the 

 sloping bank into the ravine, leaves on his right the pool of Heze- 

 kiah ; he then ascends the rocky flat on the other side, and pro- 

 ceeds in a south-west direction, over rocky and barren ground, ex- 

 hibiting, in a few cultivated patches, some scanty crops of grain, 

 and in other parts, a covering of grass and wild flowers. The first 

 part of the road possesses little interest. The ruined town of Sim- 

 eon, the Greek monastery of Elias, and the tomb of Rachel, are 

 pointed out by the guides : the last is a Turkish oratory, with a 

 rounded top, like the whitened sepulchre of an Arab sheikh, and 

 the Turks are said to have a superstitious regard for the spot as a 

 burial-place. Dr. Clarke describes the first view of Bethlehem as 

 imposing. The town appears covering the ridge of a hill on the 

 southern side of a deep and extensive valley, and reaching from 

 east to west. The most conspicuous object is the monastery erect- 

 ed over the supposed ' Cave of the Nativity ; ' its walls and battle* 

 ments have the air of a large fortress. From this same point, the 

 Dead Sea is seen below on the left, seemingly very near, but,* 

 says Sandys, ' not so found by the traveller ; for these high, declin- 

 ing mountains are not to be directly descended.' The road winds 

 round the top of a valley which tradition has fixed on as the scene 

 of the angelic vision which announced the birth of our Lord to the 



