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of Edinburgh, Session 1867 - 68 . 
have been when entirely exposed to view! No wonder that pro- 
phets and psalmists should have rejoiced in the “ walls ” and 
“ bulwarks ” of the Temple, and that Tacitus should have described 
it as modo arcis construction. u Walk about Zion, and go round 
about her ; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, con- 
sider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generations following.” 
Now, as the lower part of this wall is manifestly a substratum, 
in order to increase the platform space for the Temple area, which 
must always have been at its present elevation, that of the Sakhra, 
or central rock, the question naturally arises whether there are 
not subterranean chambers beneath those already known and de- 
scribed underneath the Aksa. Now, beneath the Huldah gate, 
in the south wall of the Haram, is an ancient double passage or 
tunnel. At the north end of this is a vaulted chamber 17 feet 
square, recently discovered, but further than this no explorations 
have yet been made. 
To proceed to the south. The wall of Ophel has been discovered 
abutting on that of the Temple area at the south-east, and has been 
traced 300 feet from the Haram area to the south. A tower has been 
discovered, a face of 29 feet 6 inches projecting about 8 feet beyond 
the wall, built by Jotham, king of Judah (2 Chron. xxvii. 3). 
The bases on which the piers of the arches of the substructure rest 
on this point are 80 feet above the rock, and it is likely there is 
another system of older arches underneath those visible at present. 
The courses of this south wall are from 3 feet 3 inches to 4 feet in 
height ; and 20 feet below the surface of the Haram walls, or 60 feet 
below the area of the Haram, has been found a passage from 12 
to 16 feet high, and in it the check where a metal gate was swung, 
and the marks of its abrasion on the stones. 
In the double passage is what is called the “ Well of the Leaf,” 
at the bottom of which was found a curious arch of tiles, perhaps 
an outlet to some subterranean flow of water. 
Lieutenant Warren is inclined to doubt that the masonry west of 
Robinson’s arch was a pier, as the ancient masonry is not in keeping 
with the Haram wall. It is 15 feet above the rock, and the re- 
mains of a house rest on the top of the wall. The pier itself is 
12 feet 2 inches thick, and the distance to the Haram wall 41 feet 
6 inches. 
