481 
of Edinburgh, Session 1879 - 80 . 
Next in importance to the exploration of the Sanctuary ramparts 
must be ranked that of the subterranean passages and chambers 
within the enclosure, which were most carefully examined by 
Colonels Wilson and Warren, and the most important of which I 
have also frequently visited. 
Two great passages lead from the two ancient gateways in the 
southern walls ; two others lead from similar entrances on the west. 
The first two portals are each double, with an internal vestibule 
supported on pillars. The western gates are single, and the passages 
are half the width of the former two. The gateways in each case 
are ancient, with massive lintels above, having marginal drafts round 
the edges. The masonry of the passages, however, is in every case 
of more modern character, apparently belonging to the period of 
restoration under Justinian. 
In addition to these vaults, there are no less than thirty large 
cisterns within the area, the aggregate capacity of which is calculated 
at about ten million gallons. Most of these great tanks are rock-cut, 
and some, which are closed at the ends with masonry and cemented 
inside, seem originally to have been passages like those above 
mentioned, but have been subsequently utilised as cisterns. 
The measurements taken in the mouths and roofs of these cisterns 
have served to define generally the original rock surface of the ridge 
enclosed within the ramparts of the Sanctuary — a narrow spur 
running north and south with steep western slopes and more gradual 
eastern declivities. The rock at the north-west angle of the enclosure, 
standing 40 feet above the inner court, dominates the whole en- 
closure ; but the ridge rises gradually to a point near the centre of 
the Sanctuary, where a rough rock surface is exposed beneath the 
beautiful “ Dome of the Rock, ” at a level about 20 feet higher than 
that of the average surface of the enclosure. The broadest and 
flattest part of the ridge is found in the immediate neighbourhood 
of this rock, which forms the top of the hill included in the area. 
The level of the crest falls gradually southwards towards the tongue 
of land called Ophel, south of the Sanctuary ; and the lowest point 
of rock within the area is at the south-east angle, where the founda_ 
tion of the wall is 160 feet below the top of the Sakhrah , or sacred 
rock visible in the Dome of the Rock. 
Such, briefly described, are the leading facts recovered with regard 
