35® t-LMiK&Ss 'XKiVEli 
Hebrew tombs. 3 * The Arabs upon the top of this mouiiiak 
are to be approached with caution, and with a strong guard. 
Here indeed we stood upon holy ground ; and it is a question 
which might reasonably be proposed to Jew, Christian, or Ma¬ 
hometan, whether, in reference to the history ol their respec¬ 
tive nations, it be possible to attain a more interesting place of 
observation. So commanding is the view of Jerusalem af¬ 
forded in this situation^ that the eye roams over all the streets, 
and around the walls, as if in the survey of a plan or mode! 
of the city. The most conspicuous object is the mosque 
erected upon the site and foundations of the temple of Solo¬ 
mon: this edifice may perhaps be considered as the finest 
specimen of Saracenic architecture which exists in the world. 
But this view of Jerusalem serves to strengthen the objec¬ 
tions urged against the prevailing opinion concerning the to¬ 
pography of the ancient city. IFAnville believed that an¬ 
cient and modern Jerusalem were very similarly situated; 
that by excluding what is now called Calvary, and embracing 
the whole of what is now called Mount Sion, we should have 
an area equal in extent to the space which was occupied by 
the walls and buildings before the destruction of the holy 
city by Vespasian and Tihis.f But this is by no means 
true a spectator upon the Mount of Olives, who looks 
down upon the space enclosed by the walls of Jerusalem in 
their present state, as they have remained since they were re¬ 
stored in the sixteenth century by Solyman the son of Selim, 
and perhaps have existed from the time of Adrian, must be 
convinced, that instead of covering two'conspicuous hills, Je¬ 
rusalem now occupies one eminence alone;5 namely, that of 
-■£“ Toute la coste de 3a montagne «st creusee d‘une infinite de sepulchres des an- 
. ciens Juifs, qui sonttaiiles comme des fours dans la roefce; et plus has, dans le fonds 
de la vallee, sent les sepultures de ceux,de cette nation, qui vivent A present en 
Jerusalem; qui ne sont autre chose que des losses, comme les nostre.s. converted 
d’une, deux, ou trois, pierres, mal polies et sans ornement.” Doubdan, Voyage de la 
f £. S. p. 130. Faris, 1657. 
i Seethe treatise of Mons. D’Anville (sur FAncienne. Jerusalem, Paris, 1747.) as 
(Tiled by Gibbon, vol. IV. p. 82. Lond. 1007. 
| See the observations in note (59 ) chap, xxiii. of Gibbon’s Hist. Ibid. 
§ After the city was rebuilt by Adrian, A. D. 137, or 138 . (See Tillemont, note 9. 
sur l’empereur Adrian,) and called JElia Capitolina, (which name subsisted in the age 
of Chrysostom, and is still retained in the country,) the whole of Mount Sion, and 
not part only, was excluded. See the numerous evidences adduced by Tillemont 
(Histoire des Empereurs, tom IV p. 294. Paris. 1702.) who, speaking of Mount Sion„ 
rays, “ Au milieu du iv. siecle la montagne de Sion estoit entierment inhabitee, se 
labouroit comme une plaine campagnethereby fulfilling the prophecy which de¬ 
clared (Micah iii. 12.) that Zion should be “ploughed as a field.” The authorities re¬ 
ferred to by Tillemont are derived from Eusebius,Cyril, and the Itinerary from Bor¬ 
deaux to Jerusalem, written A. D. 333. His note is founded principally upon evi- 
from Yopiscu^ Die Cassius, #erom, and Eusebius,, 
