on the west it sinks down by an offset into a range of lower hills which lie between it and the great plain along the coast of the Mediterranean. The upper part of this ridge forms, in fact, a high, uneven table-land, the surface of which is everywhere rocky and mountainous, and is, moreover, cut up by valleys which run east or west towards the Jordan or the Mediterranean. The mountainous country formed by this ridge gradually rises as the traveller proceeds southward, and forms the tract anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and of Judah. It reaches its highest point at Hebron, which is not less than 3000 feet above the level of the sea. More to the north than this, on a line drawn westward from the north end of the Dead Sea, the ridge is not more than 2500 feet above that level; and it is here, upon its very summit, that the city of Jerusalem stands, in the geographical position of 31° 46′ 43′′ north latitude, and 35° 13′ east longitude.

The site is an elevated promontory, or tongue of land, connected with the general table-land on the north-west, but on all other sides surrounded and isolated by valleys of various depth and breadth, beyond which rise hills, some of them considerably above the level of the

isolated platform on which the city stands, and which inclose it as in a basin. This platform is nearly three quarters of a mile across, from the brink of the eastern to that of the western val

ley, and its extreme length, as a promontory, may be reckoned at nearly a mile and a half; but as the site is not physically circumscribed on the north-west, it is difficult to fix the exact length; and building might, in fact, be extended almost indefinitely in that direction. In proceeding to indicate the more prominent characteristics of this site, it will be necessary, for the sake of distinctness, to use the names by which different parts of it were eventually known, without being sure that many of these names were known, and being sure that some of them could not have been known, in the time of David.

The site itself is uneven, being marked by swells or hills, which were anciently more distinguishable than at present, when, on occasions which will be hereafter described, the summit of at least one of the hills has been considerably levelled, and the separating valleys have been partly reduced or filled up, either by the accumulated rubbish of the many destructions which Jerusalem has undergone,

or with the intention of reducing the inequalities of the surface.

Of these swells or hills, the southernmost and highest was Mount Zion, on which was the citadel, or fortress, taken by David from the Jebusites, and which from that circumstance, and from the great improvements made thereon by this king, acquired also the name of "the city of David." Josephus calls it the Upper City, to distinguish it from the Lower City, in which the mass of the ordinary population resided. This lower city covered a separate and lower hill, called by Josephus, Acra, which was separated from that of Zion by a valley called, in Scripture, Millo, but by Josephus the Тугорœоп.

East of Acra, and north-east of Zion, was the Mount Moriah on which the Temple was eventually built. This was, in the time of David and long after, separated from Acra by a wide valley; but this valley was filled up by the Maccabæan princes, so that afterwards the two mounts were reckoned as one. A ridge, or southward prolongation of Mount Moriah, known by the name of Ophel, stretches down by the east side of Zion, from which it is separated by the lower part of the Tyropoon valley. There is another hill lying

to the north of Moriah, which is higher than Moriah, and perhaps as high as Zion. This was, during the whole period covered by Scripture history, beyond the limits of the city, but was, after the time of Christ, included within it.

The surface of the elevated promontory which forms the site of Jerusalem, besides being broken by these swells, has a general and somewhat steep slope or declination towards the east, terminating on the brink of the valley of Jehoshaphat. One interesting effect of this is, that, in the view of Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives, on the opposite side of that valley, the whole city, in all its parts, lies fully and distinctly exposed to view.

The promontory which has thus been described as the proper site of Jerusalem, lies in the fork of two valleys, one called the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the other the valley of Gihon, the continuation of which is called the valley of Hinnom. The valley of Jehoshaphat bounds the site on the north and east. It is two miles long, and about a quarter of a mile broad in the widest part; while, in the narrowest, it is merely a deep gully, the narrow bed of a orrent. That torrent is the Brook Kidron, whose channel

traverses the valley through its whole extent, but whose stream is dry during the greater part of the year. The valley of Gihon bounds the site on the south-west, and then, bending eastward, takes the name of Hinnom, and forms the southern boundary of the site under the Mount Zion, opposite the south-east corner of which it unites with the valley of Jehoshaphat. Both valleys are shallow at their commencement, but in their progress south become deep, narrow, and precipitous.

All around these valleys, rise hills higher than the inclosed promontory which forms the site of Jerusalem. On the east is the Mount of Olives; on the south, the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called, rising directly from the vale of Hinnom. On the west the ground rises gently, so that a traveller approaching in that direction-say, upon the road from Jaffa (Joppa)-obtains, at the distance of two miles, a fine view of the walls and domes of Jerusalem, with the Mount of Olives beyond. On the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the Mount of Olives bounds the prospect at a distance of above a mile. Towards the south-west, the view is somewhat more open; for here lies the plain of Rephaim, which