reaching, base and capital included, a height of seventy feet. The whole was evidently 
constructed without mortar, but the joints of the pillars have been fixed by cramps of 
bronze. 
“ The grand doorway is of immense size, formed of vast stones, and sculptured with 
the richest decoration. From the marks of fastenings, the entrance was probably closed 
with a curtain or veil as in the Jewish Temple, and in some of the Spanish churches 
at this day. The enclosure is divided into three great Courts, in the innermost of 
which the principal building stands.” 1 
An arched avenue, or portal, 150 paces long, formed its approach. The breadth 
of the Temple itself is 32 yards; the whole length 64, of which, however, 18 are 
taken up by the Ante-Temple. 2 
1 Roberts’s Journal. 2 Maundrelfs Travels. 
JENIN. 
Jenin is a town situated at the mouth of a valley, opening into the great plain of 
Esdraelon. 1 It is the chief place of the district embracing the plain, and is the 
residence of the Governor of the district. Jenin had been supposed to occupy the 
site of the ancient Jezreel, but this opinion is strongly opposed; and the Ginasa of 
Josephus is asserted to be the original town. Its first occurrence in modern history 
is in the Crusades; but in the greater frequency of journeys to Palestine its name 
has become familiar, from its lying in the great route from Jerusalem to Nazareth. The 
town lies in the midst of plantations of fruit-trees, surrounded by fences of the prickly 
pear. The houses are of stone, and tolerably well built; the number of inhabitants 
probably two thousand. 
The site of Jezreel is a matter of interest, from its connexion with the Jewish 
history, peculiarly in the reign of Ahab. 2 It was here that the murder of Naboth 
was perpetrated, which brought down a Divine malediction on Ahab, Jezebel, and 
their dynasty. 3 It is strongly argued, that the true position is that of Zerin, a small 
village standing on the brow of a deep valley, running down E.S.E. along the northern 
wall of the mountains of Gilboa. Zerin itself lies comparatively high, and commands 
a wide and noble view; to the East extending to the mountains of Ajilun, beyond the 
Jordan, and to the West including the whole great Plain, to the long ridge of Carmel. 
It is a most magnificent site for a city. The conclusion thus drawn from locality, and 
from the historians of the Crusades, is, that here had once been the city, and is the 
Plain of the ancient Jezreel. 
1 The elevation of Jenin, and of the plain adjacent, is 515 Paris feet. Schubert, Reisc. iii. 162. 
2 1 Kings, xviii. 45, &c. 3 2 Kings, ix. 14 ; x. 1, &c. 
