later date, we may congratulate ourselves that our information is so ample, without at all approving the means by which it has been acquired'. Nearly all the points that are still open to question might be determined by careful enquiry among the Moslem inhabitants, or by a survey from the exterior, aided by a telescope, or by employing as proxy an intelligent native dragoman, who could be directed to the points of observation within the precinct, from which his master is excluded. The area abounds in Christian and Moslem traditions, (not more veritable than those that have clustered round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,) the former of which owe their origin to the Crusaders, the fruitful inventors and subjects of legendary tales. These worthless traditions it were wearisome to repeat, but it may be well to indicate the principal points of interest, in order to complete our nomenclature of the Holy City. This the lucid and minute description of an Arabic writer, compared with more modern surveys, will enable me to do with considerable accuracy. El-Haram-es-Sherif, The Noble Sanctuary, occupies 1 My authorities for the following description are, 1. Mejr-ed-din, (as cited above p. 8. note 1. no. 3) p. 83, &c. cir. A. D. 1495. 2. Ali Bey, Travels in Morocco, A.D. 1807, &c. Vol. 11. p. 214, &c.; where see the plan and section of the Haram, &c. described in a table at the commencement of Vol. 1. pp. 35-39. 3. Dr. Richardson, Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. Vol. 11. p. 285, &c. A.D. 1818. 4. General Noroff, Travels, A.D. 1830, a Russian work of great merit, considerable por tions of which the excellent author has obligingly translated into French for my use. 5. Mr. Catherwood's survey, only parts of which have yet been published; first in his own plan, then in a valuable letter contained in Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem, p. 161, &c.; and lastly, in Mr. Fergusson's Essay, whose chief or only value consists in the beautiful illustrations prepared by Mr. Arundale, who with Mr. Bonomi assisted Mr. Catherwood in the survey in A. D. 1833. a spacious enclosure on the East side of the city, contained within four walls of unequal length2, nearly facing the Cardinal points. The more ancient name of the whole enceinte, among Moslem writers, was Mesjid-el-Aksa3, "the most distant Sanctuary" (to wit, from Mecca,) and this should be distinctly marked, because, this name being now exclusively attached to a particular Mosk at the south of the enclosure, modern writers have involved themselves in endless embarrassment by supposing that the El-Aksa of the Moslem traditions is identical with that particular building, instead of being, as it is, the general name of the whole Sanctuary. None but the disciples of Islâm are permitted to set foot within this sacred enclosure, and the curious Frank is often repulsed from too near access with insults or blows, by the porters at the gates, or more ignobly by juvenile volunteers, who take especial delight in insulting a stranger under pretext of maintaining the inviolability of the Sanctuary. All may, however, survey it without molestation from the roof of the Seraîyáh, the official residence of the Pasha, at the North-west angle; and its general appearance cannot fail to recall to the mind several passages from the book of Psalms', allusive rather than descriptive, from which it is evident * The measures are very perplexing. Catherwood makes the East wall 1520 feet, the South 940, the West 1617; and the North 1020; and says that the walls stand at right-angles only at the South-west corner. er. (Bartlett's Walks, p. 174.) The Officers' survey makes the East 1520, South,877, West, 1520, North, 1180. But more of this in the sequel. This is distinctly stated by Mejred-din, 1. c. Tom. 11. p. 87. note where the translator remarks that the word Mesjid signifies the sacred enclosure in its largest sense; i. e. the whole court, while Jamy is the Mosk, properly so called. See also p. 93, and note, where he remarks that Mesjid answers to the Greek iepóv; Jamy, to vaós; and again p. 377. It is a distinction of the utmost consequence, as will appear hereafter. e. g. Psalm lii. 8. xcii. 12—14. that, after the revolutions of so many centuries, the aspect of the outer court continues such as it was in the days of Solomon, and onwards under the prophets. A profusion of trees of various kinds, among which the olive, acacia, and cypress, prevail, affords a delicious shade to idle groups of women and children in gay dresses, sauntering listlessly about the court; and where the olive-grove is thickest under the eastern wall may be found a quiet retreat for the devout Mosli in quest of seclusion, for purposes of religious meditation; and the Christian, while he blesses God that his faith debars him from entering the guarded precinct, can in some measure appreciate the glowing rhapsodies in which the Arab poets have sung the praises of their Mesjid-elAksa, in high-flown verse, such as Orientals alone can write, describing it as a terrestrial Paradise, only eighteen miles distant from heaven, the most highly-favored spot on earth for rain, and shade, and sweet water springing out of rocks and watering the earth'. There are public entrances to the outer court only on the West and on the North sides, those in the Eastern and Southern wall being no longer practicable. The names and positions of the Western gates are as follow2. The causeway named the Street of the Temple terminates in double gates, one of which is called Babes-Salsala (the Gate of the Chain), formerly the Gate of David; the other, Bab-es-Sekiné (the Gate of Tranquillity.) These, according to our Arabic author, are 1 See the extravagant verses and traditions from various sources in Mejred-din, 1. c. Tom. 11. p. 378-387, describing the beauty of Jerusalem, and the excellency of works done there. Their names as given by Mer ed-din and Ali Bey do not entirely agree. I prefer the former as more accurate. the two principal gates, and most frequented, because they lead towards the market-place and the chief streets of the town. On the contrary, Mr. Catherwood speaks of the Bab-el-Katánîn, (the Gate of the Cotton Merchants), 230 feet North of the former, as the principal entrance. It is of solid construction, and derives its name from the deserted Cotton Bazaar, into which it opens. The present gate owes its erection to Melik-en-Nasir Mohammed Ibn-Kelaûn, (A. H. 737. A.D. 1336-7,) as appeared by an inscription over the portal, cited by Mejr-ed-Din: but it was repaired at a later period by Allah-ed-dîn el-Bassir. During the time of the Frank domination there were but two gates on the West side3, probably one at the causeway, and another at this part the gate that then existed was supposed to represent the "Beautiful Gate" of the Temple, in which the Apostles SS. Peter and John healed the impotent man in the name of their Divine Master -a tradition which has been duly transmitted to the more modern gate. The Frank who would desire a nearer view of the Haram than can be obtained from the Seraîyáh, is recommended to try this gate, both because it is less frequented than others, and because, as an object of religious veneration to Christians, the Moslems are less suspicious of their close access to it. Bab-el-Hadid (the Iron Gate), 400 feet further to the North, is solid and handsome, the work of one Argûn-el-Kameli; beyond which, at a distance of 200 So William of Tyre, Historia, Lib. VIII. cap. iii. p. 748. He mentions the Porta Speciosa as one; from which time it figures in all Itineraries; but Quaresmius has proved that the tradition is of no value. Elucidatio T. S. Lib. IV. cap. xiv. Perig. x. Tom. 11. p. 340, &c.; and see Cotovicus cited above, p. 127, note 4. feet, we come to Bab-en-Nazir, (the Gate of the Inspector), anciently called the Gate of Michael the Archangel, because, according to the hesitating tradition preserved by our Arabic author, to this gate Gabriel may have bound the celestial beast Borak, on the night of Mohammed's memorable journey. Between this and the N.W. angle is another gate called Bab-el-Guánimi, formerly the Gate of Abraham. It shares its present name with a minaret hard by, and derives it from the quarter in which it is situated. Having thus arrived at the N. W. angle of the Haram, I must notice a peculiar feature which is here exhibited', viz. that its North face is formed "by the rock being cut perpendicularly to an extent of 20 feet in some parts; while, within the area also, in the direction of the Mosk, a considerable portion of the rock has been cut away" to the general level of the enclosure. I proceed now to the Northern gates. Immediately East of the Seraiyáh, 370 feet from the N. W. angle, is Bab-el-Dewátâr3 (the Gate of the Secretary), once called the Nobility of the Prophets; and 150 feet East of this Bab-el-Hitta, (the Gate of Remission of Sins), to which are attached some obscure and conflicting Moslem traditions' relating to the children of Israel: and it is remarkable that this gate and the Bab-es-Sabát (the Gate of the Tribes of Israel) at the Eastern ex |