The valley runs for the way down to Jerusalem. fifteen minutes directly towards the city; it is here shallow and broad, and in some parts tilled, though very stony. The road follows along its bottom to the same point. The valley now turns nearly East, almost at a right angle, and passes to the northward of the Tombs of the Kings and the Muslim Wely before mentioned. Here it is about two hundred rods distant from the city; and the tract between is tolerably level ground, planted with olive-trees. The Nâbulus road crosses it in this part, and ascends the hill on the North. The valley is here still shallow, and runs in the same direction for about ten minutes. It then bends again to the South, and following this general course, passes between the city and the Mount of Olives. Before reaching the city, and also opposite its northern part, the valley spreads out into a basin of some breadth, which is tilled, and contains plantations of olive and other fruit-trees. In this part it is crossed obliquely by a road leading from the N. E. corner of Jerusalem across the northern part of the Mount of Olives to 'Anâta. Its sides are still full of excavated tombs. As the valley descends, the steep side upon the right becomes more and more elevated above it; until at the gate of St. Stephen, the height of this brow is about 100 feet. Here a path winds down from the gate on a course S. E. by E. and crosses the valley by a bridge; beyond which are the church with the Tomb of the Virgin, Gethsemane, and other plantations of olive-trees, already described.2 The path and bridge are on a causeway, or rather terrace, built up across the valley, perpendicular on the S. side; the earth being filled in on the northern side up to the level of the bridge. The bridge itself consists of 1) Page 355. 2) See page 345-347. an arch, open on the S. side, and 17 feet high from the bed of the channel below; but the N. side is built up, with two subterranean drains entering it from above; one of which comes from the sunken court of the Virgin's Tomb, and the other from the fields further in the Northwest.1 The breadth of the valley at this point, will appear from the measurements which I took from St. Stephen's Gate to Gethsemane, along the path, viz. 1. From St. Stephen's Gate to the brow of the descent, level, proper The last three numbers give the breadth of the bottom of the valley at this spot, viz. 435 feet, or 145 yards. Further North it is somewhat broader. Below the bridge the valley contracts gradually, and sinks more rapidly. The first continuous traces of a water-course or torrent-bed commence at the bridge; though they occur likewise at intervals higher up. The western hill becomes steeper and more elevated; while on the East the Mount of Olives rises much higher, but is not so steep. At the distance of 1,000 feet from the bridge on a course S. 10° W. the bottom of the valley has become merely a deep gully, the narrow bed of a torrent, from which the hills rise directly on each side. Here another bridge is thrown across it on an arch; and just by on the left are the alleged tombs of Jehoshaphat, Absalom and others; as also the Jewish cemetery. The valley now continues of the same character, and follows the same 1) This bridge too has been ascribed to Helena; Breydenbach in Reissbuch des heil. Landes, p. 111. Adrichom. Theatrum Terræ Sanct. page 171. course (S. 10° W.) for 550 feet further; where it makes a sharp turn for a moment towards the right. This portion is the narrowest of all; it is here a mere ravine between high mountains. The S. E. corner of the area of the mosk overhangs this part, the corner of the wall standing upon the very brink of the declivity. From it to the bottom, on a course S. E. the angle of depression is 27°, and the distance 450 feet; giving an elevation of 128 feet at that point; to which may be added 20 feet or more for the rise of ground just North along the wall; making in all an elevation of about 150 feet. This however is the highest point above the valley; for further South, the narrow ridge of Ophel slopes down as rapidly as the valley itself. In this part of the valley one would expect to find, if anywhere, traces of ruins thrown down from above, and the ground raised by the rubbish thus accumulated. Occasional blocks of stone are indeed seen; but neither the surface of the ground, nor, the bed of the torrent, exhibits any special appearance of having been raised or interrupted by masses of ruins. Below the short turn above mentioned, a line of 1,025 feet on a course S. W. brings us to the fountain of the Virgin, lying deep under the western hill. The valley has now opened a little; but its bottom is still occupied only by the bed of the torrent. From here a course S. 20° W. carried us along the village of Siloam (Kefr Selwân) on the eastern side, and at 1,170 1) The first time we passed along the western brow of the Valley of Jehoshaphat in this part, in company with Mr. Nicolayson, and looked down upon it from above at the S. E. corner of the area of the mosk, we all judged the depth to be 200 feet. By an error, which is very remarkable in him, Niebuhr estimates the general depth of the valley here at only 40 or 50 feet; Reisebeschr. III. p. 54; Anhang p. 143. Olshausen's Topogr. des alt. Jerus. pp. 72, 73.—The measurement given in the text, although only an approximation, is yet near enough to the truth to correct both these estimates. feet we were opposite the mouth of the Tyropoeon and the Pool of Siloam, which lies 255 feet within it. The mouth of this valley is still 40 or 50 feet higher than the bed of the Kidron. The steep descent between the two has been already described as built up in terraces; which, as well as the strip of level ground below, are occupied with gardens belonging to the village of Siloam. These are irrigated by the waters of the Pool of Siloam, which at this time were lost in them. In these gardens the stones have been removed, and the soil is a fine mould. They are planted with fig and other fruit-trees, and furnish also vegetables for the city. Elsewhere the bottom of the valley is thickly strewed with small stones. Further down, the valley opens more and is tilled. A line of 685 feet on the same course (S. 20° W.) brought us to a rocky point of the eastern hill, here called the Mount of Offence, overagainst the entrance of the Valley of Hinnom. Thence to the well of Job or Nehemiah, is 275 feet due South. At the junction of the two vallies, the bottom forms an oblong plat, extending from the gardens above mentioned nearly to the well of Job, and being 150 yards or more in breadth. The western and northwestern parts of this plat are in like manner occupied by gardens; many of which are also on terraces, and receive a portion of the waters of Siloam. Below the well of Nehemiah, the Valley of Jehoshaphat continues to run S. S. W. between the Mount of Offence and the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called. At 130 feet is a small cavity or outlet by which the water of the well sometimes runs off. At about 1,200 feet or 400 yards from the well, is a place under the western hill, where in the rainy season water flows out as from a fountain. At about 1,500 feet or 500 yards below the well, the valley bends off S. 75° E. for VOL. I. 51 half a mile or more; and then turns again more to the South and pursues its way to the Dead Sea. At the angle where it thus bends eastward, a small Wady comes in from the West, from behind the Hill of Evil Counsel. The width of the main valley below the well as far as to the turn, varies from 50 to 100 yards; it is full of olive and fig-trees, and is in most parts ploughed and sown with grain.-Further down, it takes the name among the Arabs of Wady er-Râhib, "Monks' Valley," from the convent of St. Saba situated on it; and still nearer to the Dead Sea it is also called Wady en-Nâr, "Fire Valley." The channel of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Brook Kidron of the Scriptures, is nothing more than the dry bed of a wintry torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of water. No stream flows here now except during the heavy rains of winter, when the waters descend into it from the neighbouring hills. Yet even in winter there is no constant flow; and our friends, who had resided several years in the city, had never seen a stream running through the valley. Nor is there any evidence, that there was anciently more water in it than at present. Like the Wadys of the desert, the valley probably served of old, as now, only to drain off the waters of the rainy season. Valley of Hinnom. This valley is so called in the Old Testament; though more commonly in the fuller form, Valley of the Son of Hinnom.' The Arabian writer Edrîsi in the twelfth century apparently includes the lower part of it under the name Wady Jehennam; and this is the usual name for the whole 1) Josh. xv. 8. Jer. xix. 2, 6. Hence are derived the Greek Tisvva, and the corres ponding English forms Gehinnom, Gehenna. |