THE HOLY PLACES OF JERUSALEM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 100, 22 January 1919, Page 11

THE HOLY PLACES OF JERUSALEM

• A BRITISH SERGEANT'S TOUR, ' The following potter, in the London "Times," (was written without any idea ■of publication),.gives an interesting picture of Jerusalem as it strikes the British soldier. It was recently addressed; by a sergeant to his family at home:—.'. ..' . '

The Jaffa Gate, at which we began our.'tour with a Y.M.C.A. guide, is closed, as an entrance to the city was made • for the Kaiser, this"; "gentleman" being too proud, to pass through the. old'gate. When General Allonby entered Hie. city ; he' had the old gate opened, not desiring to enter the same way as the "Hun." On tho left of the gateway is a.clock and tower. The. tower itself is built of stone brought from Solomon's Temple..- . ;_ ' i

David's Tower is a most.interesting building;' also known as tho citadel of Herod. It was here (from an older tower on tho • same site) that David stood watehing and fell in love with Bath-shoba. Thus the name David's Tower; On the steps leading up. to the -tower General Allonby read the proclamation -.to : . the/inhabitants. .

We then passed down David'js Street, .very harrow and dirty. Unlike most streets it; is a series of broad steps leading dqwn.tlie.templo area. After walking for about' five minutes we reached tlie' Jews'.■-' Wailing Wall. Tins is tho nearest'approach the Jews have to tho .temple, area, .Many jews were there praying, and. our presence did not inako any,'difference to' their .worship. Between : .£he crevices In the wall are thousands of nails, forced'in by the Jews, as an .oath, to God, 'saying, "As' tho nails Tiold, so I hold to Thee, my God." Leaving the AVailing Wall wo entered, the 'temple ; area, ;a .'spot most-'■ snere'd to the' Moslems. ' Hero.wo came.'to Mosque El-Aska,' and; before entering we, had''to. remove'oiir boots so os to avoid- the beautiful,carpet being soiled. The-size and beauty of this place is beyond description. The/beams of the roof were;, brought froßi'& : oUn»;on's Tom-, pie, beautiful massive cedar wood. The dome :is simply lovely, :&•.& in uonic. of tho most wonderful work of human hands I have.ever seen!' Just underneath and-, slightly \to one-side of thedome .we were shown a niche ,in the wall wheje 'Christ'is supposed 1 to have stood: and.prayed'..' " We now crossed' over to, the.', place where..'Abraham was going to offer up his son!,.'/'-This : snot is marked by a rock called Abraham's Rock, aiid-f.. ? er it is .a beautiful mosque. The. .hme of tjnV mosque is simply marvellous, and the ■ whole, place is built.of beautiful: stones; The .rock., itself' is failed in with iron screenwork made by tho French' 800 years ago',■ "The dome,;called after Salaxlin, .is supported by r:,arblc•■pillars/ supposed to . liave Icon brought from Solomon's Temple : (they are solid green: marble). Underneath this building is a-small, cave, the alleged praying-place of Abraham, Solomon, and David:;. A'few paces away from: the large iiiosmio is a very, small one, and underneath the centre of its dome is a'black"marble slit*', supposed -to be Solomon's Judgment Seat; and even to this day certain sects of people use this place settle a big question. ■• There are also very large'vaults hewn out of tlVerock under our feet used for the storage/of .water in' Solomon's, time, partly for-washing away, the. blood-after malririgVsacrifices, :Oh 'each side of this mount.are very old churches, and the Mohammedans believe the of justice will'be hung under these on the Judgment' Day:..

The guide then pointed out the' Garden of Gethsemane, also the place of the Betrayal, and higher up : on. the Mount of Olives the place where Christ wept over Jerusalem. ■••Near here we were shown •where the-Gpldeii Gates were bricked -up';'-it'was.through .these gates'tha);'Christ rode,from the Mount of Olives to the'.Temple, arid .'■ there found the money .changers, etc.

'Wo next,-saw:.,-tho Ciate Beautiful, whore Peter, and John, cured the' lame man;, a.few yards away ! from this is Solomon 1 s Tomb,'and on. the : . bars. of the windows We noticed strips of clothes torn 'from;.pilgrim" garments and:tied for some reason-'l,have forgotferi for the -present.-:, ; Wo next tame to the Pool bfißethesdav where in the.time of Christ-the sick were cured by the moving water. .This pool has-been.cov-ered in with rubbish.for a number of years, and in. 1875 excavations were -started to uncover.it. Excavations •have also been made since, the : war started. ■'''"' ■'" - ■ ■ y '

"Leay'ing the : . Pool bf'.Bethesda, wo came to the place where Pontius' Pilate had Jesus scourged..lt is marked by a tablet in the walL' -■

Wo then proceeded to Calvary, noticing the various Stations of the Cross, etc. The fifth stage shows a spot where Simon the Cyreniaii took L-p the Cross, the sixth, stage the house of ..the- -lady who wiped the sweat off iho fate, -of Jesus, the seventh-stage'-'\vhere He fell for the second- time. -, We-then saw : the 'CrusadGrs' hospital, nimed 'after the Knigh't.of St., John, "It: is .from this hospital,thai the.Bed Cross .Ordor of St. John started.; It was in this'building ' th.it the' ! Kaiser' 'preached t<j the people,. We ■ now went .to the .Church' of • the Holy''Sepulchre'; befeie entering we crossed pver- ; the tomb of/Philip : of •Da'ubey ,[Philip d'A'uhigny],. oho.of the old Crusaders, : .said to have signed-the Magna Charta.' Next we came to the m'arblo casket,, the covering of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.' We then went on to Calvary and the tomb, which, of course, is the centre of. the world for Christians.- .Wesaw. tho chapel of Mary Magdalene and the pillar-.; to which Christ was bound. ■W« also • saw the chapel of St. Serena,- on ihe walls of which are thousands of crosses cut in by tho .'Crusaders'.'-'; We also' saw the rent in the rock made' at'/ihe time of the Crucifixion. Here we also saw,the figure of Mary, covered-with; thousands of pounds' worth' of jewels, given by pilgrims,-' etc., when visiting; .'also 'the stone of Unction, and the Sepulchre showing the stone rolled away.

; We then went'in''the tomb itself; which was most impressive.