From these interesting discoveries, made by the Rev. James King, of England, it appears that a person in ancient times standing on the Cloister wall would look down into the bed of the Kedron three hundred feet below. Thus recent excava tions have proved that the account by Josephus of the astounding height of the southeast wall is not so much exaggerated as it was once thought to be. Doubtless on the top of this wall, at the southeast corner, stood the pinnacle of the tem ple mentioned in Christ's temptation (Matt. iv: 5, 6).
(2) The East Wall. At the northeast angle of the Harem area stands the so-called Tower of Antonia, which, though having nothing to do with the Tower of Antonia, still retains that name. The part now seen above ground is only a small portion of a once colossal structure, which shows what immense deposit's of rubbish must have been made to cover this ancient forti fication.
The main east wall crosses a ravine, on the slope of which the Tower of Antonia stands. A hundred and twenty yards from the tower is the famous Golden Gate (Porta aurea) in the eastern wall of the temple area.
(3) The Golden Gate. This occupies a con spicuous place in the east wall. The present structure is no older than the time of Constan tine, but the site is doubtless the same as that of the 'Beautiful Gate of the temple' mentioned in Acts, for in the spacious porch may yet be seen two huge monolithic jambs, now used as pillars, which are vestiges of an ancient gateway. Tra dition, too, fixes this as the location of the 'Beau tiful Gate,' and, strange to say, the Greek word c'epala, beautiful, was incorrectly translated by the Latin azerea, golden, perhaps from the re semblance of the two classical words; and usage has perpetuated the error. The Arabs now call the whole gateway Bab ed Daherlyeli, the Eternal Gate, the northern arch being called Gate of Repentance, the southern, Gate of Mercy.
From the Golden Gate to the southeast corner the length of the wall is a little more than a thousand feet. Here is that part of the Kedron called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in which both Moslems and Jews believe the Last Judgment will be held. On this account it has been from ancient times a Jewish burial-ground (Joel 2, 12-14)• (4) The Red Heifer Bridge. A hundred feet north of the southeast corner is a break in the continuity of the wall, at a place where a bridge spanned the Kedron Valley. As the Red Heifer
Bridge connected the temple precincts with the Mount of Olives in ancient times, and along this the heifer destined for sacrifice was led by the high-priest, to the summit of Olivet, it is justifi able to conjecture that this was the site of the ancient bridge.
(5) Corner Stone. At the southeast corner of the wall is the interesting corner stone of the temple. To the ancient Jews this stone was the emblem of many moral and spiritual truths (Ps. cxviii :22. 23; Is. xxviii :16; Matt. xxi:42; Acts iv :1 ; Ephes. 11 :20, 21 ; 1 Pet. ii :6). It stands in the same place in which it was set three thou sand years ago in the presence of Solomon and his court. It is squared and polished, and meas ures three feet eight' inches high by fourteen feet in length. Three feet east of the angle of the corner stone the excavators found a hole cut out of the native rock, and in this an earthen jar. From its form and evident age it has been con jectured that it was deposited at the laying of the corner stone and contained the holy oil for the consecration of the foundations. The discov eries about this southeast corner have been con firmatory of the account of the building of the temple in Kings v:17, 18. The engineers found "great stones, costly and hewed," and Phcenician fragments of pottery. Phcenician marks painted on the massive blocks proclaim that the stones were prepared in the quarry by the cunning workmen of Hiram, king of Tyre: (6) The Wall of Ophel. While excavating near the southeast angle of the wall the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund found a wall of ancient date, which has been identified with the wall of Ophel, so frequently mentioned in con nection with the Roman siege. The stones are small compared with the mighty masses of the wall before mentioned; the foundations rest on clay, and the work bears the marks of haste. Ophel is the name of the ridge south of the Tetn ple Hill. Jotham built much on this wall of Ophel and Manasseh compassed about Ophel (2 Chron. xxxiii :W. This wall seems to have been rebuilt under Nehemiah after the return from captivity. There can be little doubt that this dis covery is the wall hastily built up by Nehemiah.