"so just, that no architect, with levels and plummets, "could build a room more regular. From this room you 66 pass into six more, one within another, and all of the "same fabric with the first, except that the two inner"most are deeper than the rest, and have a descent of "about six or seven steps into them. In every one of "these rooms (except the first) were coffins of stone, placed in niches, along the sides of the room, and "amounted in all to about fifty."

This is, in all probability, the only real work that now remains of the Old Jerusalem; and, what makes it justly looked upon as a wonder is, that the ceiling, the doors, as well as all the rest, their hinges, posts, frames, &c. are all cut out of the same continued rock. It may, therefore, be worth our enquiry to what purposes these structures were used, and who, possibly, might be the persons deposited in them.

It is the opinion of the generality of those who have inspected these subterraneous structures, that they were not the sepulchres of the kings of Judah, because the Scripture tells us (1 Kings ii. 10. and xi. 43.) that David and Solomon, and most of their successors, were buried in the City of David; and yet these grots lie without the gate of Damascus (as it is now called) at a considerable distance from that part of Jerusalem. But how far the City of David did formerly extend, or where we shall find any other signs of the places where David, and the other kings, his successors, were buried, we have not any hints given us. The Reverend Mr Maundrel (from the following passage in Scripture, and Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David) is of opinion, that this was the place where Hezekiah, and the sons immediately born to David, that were not deposited in the royal sepulchres, were buried. But it is much more probable (and what both the Syriac and Arabic versions seem to confirm) that, by the sons of David here we are not to understand his immediate sons, properly so called, but, rather, the kings that succeeded him. This is a form of speech frequently made use of by the Sacred Writers; and therefore the sense of Hezekiah's being buried in the sepulchres of the sons of

David must be, that he was buried in the sepulchres of the kings descended from David.

To the opinions already given of these repositories of the dead, we shall add that of Le Bruyn, who supposes, they were the sepulchres of Manasseh, his son Amon, and his grandfather Josiah, kings of Judah. Of Manasseh, the scripture expressly tells us, that he was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah, 2 Kings xxi. 18. 26.

And of Amon it is said, that he was buried in the garden of Uzzah, which garden Mannasseh might, very probably, purchase, and, being taken with the pleasantness of it, might there build him a house, which is here called his own house, in contradistinction to his royal palace, which was built and inhabited by his ancestors on Mount Zion. Of Josiah indeed, the sacred history does not say expressly, that he was buried here; all that it tells us is, that he was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers, but whether in the city of David, or in the garden of Uzzah, it makes no mention: And therefore, since both his father and grandfather were buried in this garden, there is reason to think, that Josiah was here buried likewise; especially considering, that, in one of these subterraneous rooms, (as Le Bruyn tells us) which seemed to be more lofty than the rest, there were three coffins curiously adorned with carved works, which he took to be the coffins of these three kings.

But of all the buildings that ancient Jerusalem had to boast of, the Temple, which David designed, and Solomon perfected, was the most magnificent. We are not however to imagine, that this Temple was built like one of our churches; for it did not consist of one single edifice, but of several courts and buildings, which took up a great deal of ground. The place whereon it was erected, was the top of mount Moriah, and the building all together made an exact square of eight hundred cubits, or one thousand four hundred and sixty feet long on each side, exactly fronting the east, west, north, and south.

To make this building more firm and secure, it was thought necessary to begin the foundation at the bottom of the mount; so that the sides were three hundred and thirty-three cubits (or about 608 feet high) before they

were raised to the level of the temple; and this afforded a most noble prospect towards the chief part of the city, which lay westward. It is impossible to compute the labor of laying this foundation, because it is impossible to tell how much of the mountain must, in some places, be removed, and in others filled up, to bring it to an exact square for so great a height. "The foundation (as Josephus tells "us) was laid prodigiously deep, and the stones were not 66 only of the largest size, but hard and firm enough to "endure all weathers, and be proof against the worm. "Besides this, they were so mortised into one another, "and so wedged into the rock, that the strength and 66 curiosity of the basis was not less admirable, than the "intended superstructure, and the one was every way "answerable to the other."

The ground-plot, upon which the temple was built, was a square of six hundred cubits every way. It was encompassed with a wall of six cubits high, and the same in breadth, and contained several buildings for different uses, surrounded with cloysters supported by marble pillars. Within this space was the Court of the Gentiles, fifty cubits wide, and adorned, in like manner, with cloysters and pillars. To separate this court from the Court of the Israelites, there was a wall of of five hundred cubits square. The Court of the Israelites was an hundred cubits. It was paved with marble of different colors, and had four gates, to every quarter one, and each rising with an ascent of seven steps. To separate this court from the Court of the Priests, there was a wall of two hundred cubits square; and the priests court was an hundred cubits, encompassed with cloysters, and apartments, where the priests, that attended the service of the temple, were used to live. This court had but three gates, to the east, to the north, and to the south, and were approached by an ascent of eight steps. These courts were all open, and without any covering, but, in case of rain, or other bad weather, the people could retire under the cloysters, that were supported with rows of pillars, and went round every court.

In the Israelites Court, over-against the gate of the Priests' Court, was erected a throne for the king (which

was a magnificent alcove) where he seated himself when he came to the temple.

In the Priests' Court was the Altar of Burnt-Offerings, which was much larger than that of the tabernacle, having ten brazen lavers four cubits high, each standing on ten bases. There was likewise a great basin (which the tabernacle had not) called the Brazen Sea: it was five cubits high, and ten cubits in diameter, and was supported by twelve brazen oxen resting on bases, each of which had four wheels.

On the west side of the Altar of Burnt-Offerings was an ascent of twelve steps, which led to what may be properly called the Temple; and this consisted of three parts, namely, the Porch, the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies.

The Porch was about twelve cubits long and twenty broad, at the entrance, of which, stood the two famous pillars called Jachin and Boaz, whose names import, that God alone was the support of the temple; and its gate was fourteen cubits wide.

The Sanctuary, or Nave of the Temple, was forty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth. In it were the Altar of Incense, and the Table of Shew-Bread; but because the temple was larger, and required more light than the tabernacle, instead of one, it had five golden candlesticks.

The Holy of Holies was a square room of twenty cubits, in which was placed the Ark of the Covenant, containing the two tables of stone, on which were engraved the ten commandments as delivered by God to Moses. The two cherubims were made of olive-wood covered with gold: they were ten cubits high, and their wings five cubits long: they stood upright, having their wings stretched out, one of each of which touched the wall on either side, and the other two met in the centre, covering the Ark.

According to the account given by the celebrated Jewish Historian Josephus, round the temple, and against its walls, were built thirty cells, or little houses, which served as so many buttresses, and were, at the same time, no small ornament to it; for there were stories of these cells one above another, whereof the second was narrower than the first, and the third than the second, so that their roofs and ballustrades, being within each other, made three different terraces (as it were) upon which a person might walk round

the temple. Within, these little houses were ceiled with cedar, their walls were wainscotted with the same, and embellished with carving and fretwork, inlaid with gold, which, with their dazzling splendor, made every thing about them look truly magnificent.

Upon the whole, we may observe, that the glory of this temple did not consist in the bulk or largeness of it, (for in itself exclusive of the surrounding courts, it was but a small pile of building, no more than a hundred and fifty feet in length, and a hundred and five in breadth,) but its chief grandeur and excellency lay in its out-buildings and ornaments, in its workmanship, which was every where very curious, and its overlayings, which where vast and prodigious; for the overlaying of the Holy of Holies only, (which was a room but thirty feet square, and twenty high) amounted to six hundred talents of gold, which comes to four millions three hundred and twenty thousand pounds of our sterling money.

We shall conclude our account of this famous building with the words of Josephus: "The whole frame, says he, "was raised upon stones polished to the highest degree of "perfection, and so artificially put together, that there was "no joint to be discerned, no sign of any working tools "being upon them; but the whole looked more like the "work of Providence and Nature, than the product ❝of Art, and human invention. As for the inside, whatever carving, gilding, embroidery, rich silks, and fine "linen would do, of these there was the greatest profusion. "The very floor of the temple was overlaid with beaten "gold, the doors were larger, and proportioned to the height of the walls, twenty cubits broad, and still gold upon gold." In a word, it was gold all over, and nothing was wanting, either within or without, that could contribute to the glory and magnificence of the work.

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To the beforementioned account given of the ancient state of Jerusalem, it may not be improper to subjoin a few observations relative to its present state, as given by that celebrated and much admired Geographer, Charles Theodore Middleton, Esq.*

The excellent Work, from which we have taken this extract, is the most modern on the subject, and contains many more particulars VOL. ii. K