Part 13 (1/2)
We insert here a plan of Solomon's Temple, largely conjectural, as neither of the descriptions is sufficiently exact for a complete knowledge. The Temple, as it afterward stood in the time of Christ, may be found described on page 139.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.]
Upon the map are noted most of the battle-fields, which may be enumerated as follows: 1. At Gibeon, the victory over Abner and the adherents of Ishbosheth. 2. At Jerusalem, its capture from the Jebusites. 3, 4. Near Jerusalem, not indicated upon the map; two decisive victories over the Philistines. 5. Gath, the capture of the Philistine capital. 6. The victory over the Moabites, probably near Ar.
7. The conquest of Zobah, north of Damascus. 8. The conquest of Damascus and its dependent places. 9. The conquest of Edom, near Sela. 10. The victory at Medeba, over the Ammonites. 11. The victory at Helam, near the Euphrates, over the Syrian allies of the Ammonites. 12. The siege and capture of Rabbah. 13. The defeat of Absalom's army in the wood of Ephraim, east of the Jordan.
OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.
I. Draw a rough map of the country from the Red Sea to the Euphrates, as in the map of the kingdom of David and Solomon, and locate upon it the land of Israel proper, showing the dominion of Saul.
II. Draw the boundary line to show the kingdom of David at Hebron, and that of Ishbosheth at Mahanaim; mention and locate the battle of Gibeon.
III. Show in order the conquests of David, writing upon the board the names of the lands conquered in order, and indicating the battles by flags.
IV. Show the dimensions of David's kingdom, by another map of the Oriental World in the time of David. Locate and drill upon the leading lands and capitals.
V. Give an account of the calamities in David's reign, show the flight of David, and locate the battle with Absalom.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHURCH OF NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: ANCIENT JERUSALEM, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT PERIOD.]
ANCIENT JERUSALEM.
I. =Names.= The city of Jerusalem has been known by a different name during each of the most important periods of its varied history. 1. In the patriarchal age it was the seat of Melchizedek's priestly kingdom, and was known as SALEM, properly p.r.o.nounced _Shalem_. (Gen. 14:18; Psa.
76:2.) 2. During the Jebusite period it was known as JEBUS. (Judges 19:10.) Probably at this time the full name was _Jebus-shalem_. 3. After the capture by David it received the name JERUSALEM, properly _Jeru-shalaim_. The earliest instance of this name is in Judges 1:7, 8, where it may have been used by antic.i.p.ation; or there may have been a change, for euphony, from Jebus-shalem to _Jeru-shalem_. The word means ”possession of peace.” The Greek form of this word is Hierosolyma. 4. It is called by the prophets by the poetical name of ARIEL, ”the lion of G.o.d.” (Isa. 29:1.) 5. More than once in the Bible it is called ”the holy city.” (Matt. 4:5; 27:53.) 6. After its destruction by t.i.tus, it was rebuilt by the emperor aelius Hadria.n.u.s, A.D. 135, and named aeLIA, or, in full, aeLIA CAPITOLINA, a name that it held until the year 536 A.D., when the ancient name Jerusalem again became prevalent. 7. It is now known to the Arabs as EL KHUDS, ”the holy.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: DAVID'S TOMB.]
II. =Location.= The city of Jerusalem stands in lat.i.tude 31 46' 45''
north, and longitude 35 13' 25'' east of Greenwich, the observations being taken from the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This may have been outside the ancient wall, but was certainly near it. The city is 32 miles from the Mediterranean, 18 from the Dead Sea, 20 from Hebron, and 36 from Samaria; and its general elevation is about 2,500 feet above the level of the ocean.
III. =Geologic Formation.= ”The vicinity of Jerusalem consists of strata of the Eocene and chalk formations, having a general dip down the watershed of about 10 east-southeast. The action of denudation has left patches of the various strata; but, generally speaking, the oldest are on the west. The upper part of the Olivet chain consists of a soft white limestone, with fossils and flint bands belonging to the Upper Chalk; beneath this are, first, a hard silicious chalk, with flint bands; second, a soft white limestone, much used in the ancient buildings of the city; third, a hard chalk, often pink and white in color, and then known as Santa Croce marble. The underlying beds belonging to the period of the Greensand are not visible, the lowest strata in the Kedron precipices belonging to the Lower Chalk epoch.” (_Encyclo. Britan._)
IV. =Valleys.= The peculiar natural features of Jerusalem, and much of its history, are due to the arrangement of its three valleys. These unite near the southeastern corner of the city. 1. _The Valley of the Kedron_, called also ”the Valley of Jehoshaphat” (perhaps referred to in Joel 3:2, 12); and ”the king's dale” (Gen. 14:17; 2 Sam. 18:18). This lies on the east of the city, between Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives. During the summer it is dry; but in the rainy season it is the bed of a brook, from which it receives its name. 2. _The Valley of the Tyropoeon_ (a word supposed to mean ”cheesemongers,” though the meaning and derivation are questioned) branches from the Kedron Valley at the southern end of Mount Moriah, and extends in a northwesterly direction.
The princ.i.p.al ravine curves in crescent form around Mount Zion, but a shallower and less noticeable branch extends further to the north. This valley is now almost obliterated by the acc.u.mulation of debris, but its ancient course has been established by recent soundings. 3. _The Valley of Hinnom_, called also, ”the valley of the son of Hinnom” (Josh. 15:8), forms the western and southern border of the city, and unites with the Kedron Valley near its junction with the Tyropoeon. Its lower portion, near the Kedron, was called Tophet, or ”place of fire” (Jer. 7:31), and Gehenna (Ge-Hinnom). It was at one time the seat of idolatrous wors.h.i.+p to Molech, and afterward became a cesspool, and place where the offal of the city was burned. Gihon (1 Kings 1:33) is located by most in the upper portion of this valley; but, by Conder and a few others, in the lower portion of the Kedron Valley, at the spring en Rogel.
V. =Mountains.= Jerusalem is and has ever been emphatically a place of mountains; as it stood anciently upon four distinct hills, with others around its walls on every side. The names of these hills are well known, but the identification of them is neither easy nor unanimous among investigators. We name the locations as given by the largest number of leading scholars.
1. _Mount Zion_ is the largest and highest of the four hills within the city. It lies on the southwestern section, between the Valleys of the Tyropoeon on the east and north, and Hinnom on the south and west. Its crown is 2,540 feet high. Upon it, probably, stood the Jebusite fortress which so long defied the Israelites, but was finally taken by David.
2. _Acra_ is a little east of north from Zion, and is an irregularly shaped eminence, now 2,490 feet high, but anciently higher, as its crest was cut down by the Maccabean princes, in order to bring it nearer to the level of the Temple-hill. It is surrounded upon the south, east and north by the two arms of the Tyropoeon Valley. On this may have stood the castle, or Millo. (2 Sam. 5:9.)
3. On the eastern side of the city is _Mount Moriah_, the place once occupied by the Temple, and now by the Dome of the Rock, mistakenly called the Mosque of Omar. It lies between the two valleys of the Kedron on the east and the Tyropoeon on the west, and is 2,432 feet high. Its southern end is a steep declivity, called Ophel (in Josephus, Ophlas), running southward to the junction of the valleys.
4. _Bezetha_ is a little west of north from Mount Moriah, and separated from it by a slight depression. It lies between the Kedron Valley and the northern branch of the Tyropoeon. Only in the later age of New Testament history was it within the walls of the city. Its height is a little over 2,500 feet.
These four mountains are all that are named as within the ancient walls.