152 PROF. HDLL^ LL.D., F.R.S., ON HOLY SCRIPTURE, KTC. 



The Ordnance Survey calls the Western Pools " Pools of 

 Gihon," because that was their traditional name from the twelfth 

 century down to 1879, when I raised the question, and pointed out 

 that the lower Pool was made by the Teutonic knights in the 

 twelfth century, and was then called the "New Pool." 



The syphon of the Virgin's Pool is not the only one in Syria. 

 The Sabbatic River and the great lake on Hernion owe their inter- 

 mittent flow to the same natural cause, which has long been 

 indicated by various writers. 



I am sorry that the term " Mosque of Omar " still survives. 

 The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, and it was built half a 

 century after Omar died. His in.osque was a wooden structure 

 which was then pulled down. 



I do not know why Dr. Hull thinks that the Holy Rock Avas 

 the site of the Brazen Altar. In Herod's Temple the altar was a 

 mass of rubble and mortar, standing on the flat floor of the court. 

 In my opinion the Holy of Holies stood on this rock, which is 

 called the " Stone of Foundation " in the Talmud. It is only by 

 such an arrangement that the levels of the Temple Courts can be 

 made to agree with the actual rock levels of the Haram, without 

 supposing enormous foundations of which no trace exists. 



In regard to the foregoing, the author replies : — 



I am obliged for these remarks ; and feel I should apologise for 

 the use of the term "Mosque of Omar," which I shall henceforth 

 discard. I am pi'obably in error in placing the brazen altar on the 

 Holy Rock, and I find that Col. Conder's view that the Holy of 

 Holies stood on the Holy Rock is supported by the elaborate 

 description of the site of the Temple by Lieut.-Col. Watson, B.E., 

 in the Quarterly Statement P.E.F., for January, 1896, which 

 ever}- one interested in the subject ought to consult. 



