(6) Mosque el Aksa. South of the dome of the rock stands a large and beautiful old Basilica. called mosque el Aksa. It was built 798 A. D., is two hundred and seventy-two feet long and one hundred and eighty-four wide, having a ground area of fifty thousand square feet ; has seven aisles and forty-five columns. It' is declared to be in the exact center of the earth.
(7) Other Features of Interest. Close by are Solomon's stables and the Tower of David.
On the northwest of the city may be seen the ex tensive Russian buildings. Here is a large Greek church, a hospice for males, and another for fe males, where pilgrims are entertained who come to visit the sacred places. There is also a good school building here, and a number of dwelling houses are being built in this quarter outside the city walls. "Talitha Cumi" is a large mission school for girls, on the Joppa road, a little west of the city. Jeremiah's grotto is under the beau tiful little hill, covered with Mohammedan graves. outside the northern wall. It is claimed that the prophet lived here for many years, and wrote the book of Lamentations in the small cavern. This hill is now believed to be the true Calvary, and the facts seem to prove the same, both from Bib lical and historic authority. Other principal features of the city are elsewhere mentioned.
(8) The Zionist Movement. The so-called Zionist movement which is the colonization of Jews in Jerusalem and Palestine is meeting with considerable success. A steady, although at pres ent not a very large, stream of Jewish immigra tion is setting in that direction. There is now a railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and other roads are under construction.
The visit of the emperor of Germany to Jerusa lem in 1898 created great interest in religious cir cles, and gave an added impetus to the resettle ment by the Hebrew people in the land of their fathers.
(9) Present Population, ete. The present population of Jerusalem is variously estimated at from 4o,000 to 6o,000, of whom about five tenths are Jews, three tenths Mohammedans and two tenths Christians. "There is no wartn nor bright color here; all is grim and gray except the blue tiles in the Mosque of Omar. The shadow of the Crucifixion rests on the place for ever ; a strange stillness reigns, and laughter would seem like laughter heside an open grave. Women, veiled in white, glide through the dark, crooked alleys like tenants of a city of specters, and even the children, subdued by the overwhelm ing gloom, are silent beyond the wont of Ori entals. Ruins, ruins at every hand! Well has
the prophecy been fulfilled: 'Jerusalem shall be come heaps.' The very stones of the streets are dismal, worn away with burdens borne since they rang with the tramp of legions and glittered with the brassy armor of the masters of the earth. Outside the walls—saddest sight where all is sad ness—are ancient Jews come merely to die in the land of their love. A few in whom there is much guile offer for sale talismans, gems of magic, rings of occult power. The greater number sit in the sun, motionless as statues, without the dignity that should accompany age,in poverty past telling. dreaming away the day and night—ap parently without hope. except to have a little holy dust laid on their eyelids when they shall have closed them to sleep with patriarchs and seers in the Valley of Jehoshaphat." 8. Recent DiscoVeries. Within the last twenty-nine years excavations have been made on Temple Ilill by the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, who have overcome almost insuperable obstacles by their skill, daring, and energy. A brief outline of the great work which they have accomplished is hereby presented.
(1) Temple Hill. The massive walls and towers that formed the defense of the Temple Hill have been found intact in many places, the stones resting just as they were pined by the workmen of Solomon and Hiram. Throughout its course the wall rests on a solid foundation of living rock and rises sometimes to a height of more than one hundred and fifty feet. These "sure foundations" of the massive walls of the Holy City often form the theme of Hebrew poetry and ethics. The Psalmist's words, 'her foundations are upon the holy hills,' are literally true, and Isaiah speaks of the 'sure foundations' of Zion.
At the southeast angle of the wall, the height of the masonry has been found to be one hun dred and fifty-six feet and nine inches. In an cient days the wall of the Royal Cloister sur mounted this, adding not less than fifty feet to the height, so that at this point in the days of Christ the wall of the temple, from foundation to summit, would be considerably over two hun dred feet in height. The valley at this point is now filled with rubbish, covering the wall to a considerable height and raising the bed of the Kedron about forty feet above its true level.