(15) The Royal Quarries. Under Bezetha, the northern hill on which Jerusalem is built, extend vast caverns, reaching far into the bowels of the earth. These are the "Royal Quarries," and their vastness not only throws light upon the stonework of the temple, but itnpresses the mind with the gigantic character of the sacred edifices that once crowned the summit of Moriah. From its month the cave increases rapidly in size; the rock rises perpendicularly from the floor to the ceiling; large fragments of quarried stones lie about, and massive blocks, half cut, still ad hcrc to the wall. All this indicates that the cav ern is largely the work of man's hand. The stone was removed by cutting a nick from three to six inches wide on both sides the desired block, also at the bottom and behind. This slow, but simple, process must have been perfortned by a pick or other instrument with a long handle. By the side of each cutting may be seen a little cup shaped hollow, evidently designed to hold oil and wick to give the workmen light. The stone is a hard limestone, which when polished is almost as pure and white as marble. No doubt the Psalmist had this in mind when Ile expressed the wish that 'our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace' (Ps.cxliv: 12). From the fact that all the stonework of Jeru salem. generally speaking, is of a formation corre sponding tothe hard,limestone rock of these Royal Quarries, and from their immense size, we are led to the belief that all the stonework of the Holy City, the Temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod, the massive walls of Harem, and the encompassing walls of the city, has been ex cavated from these caverns underneath the north ern part of the ancient city. The prevailing, but mistaken notion, that Hiram sent the stone for Solomon's temple from Lebanon or Tyre arose from Solomon's request for cedar and fir trees which Hiram promised to provide (i Kings v:8).
(16) Waters of Jerusalem. Beneath the TempleHill are vast cisterns for holding the water that flowed from the hill country of Judma. Six miles from Jerusalem are the Pools of Solomon, at the head of the Wady Urtas valley. These pools cover about seven acres, and are capable of holding three million gallons of water. These wonderful architectural remains of the old Jew ish monarchy were partly excavated out of the bed of limestone rock, and partly constructed of massive blocks of masonry, by building dams across the valley. They are three in number, con nected by conduits, the lower one being the largest and finest of the three. The pools are fed by four natural springs, of which the Sealed Fountain is the largest. According to tradition Solomon shut up this spring and kept the door of it sealed with his signet, so that he might preserve the water for his own drinking in its natural fresh ness and purity. The Sealed Fountain formed a part of the water system of Solomon and is prob ably referred to in Canticles (iv :r2). These pools and their fountains have an altitude of about two hundred feet above the area of the temple, so that they could have carried water to the highest part of the Sacred City.
From the Sealed Fountain there runs a pas sage to a vault situated at the northwest corner of the upper pool. At this vault the stream from the Sealed Fountain has recently been found to have been joined by another stream flowing from the south and collecting its supply from the val ley of the Arrab, six miles from Solomon's Pools. It was conducted through a rock-bored tunnel four miles long, passing in its course under an other valley called Wady Byar, and thence on to its junction with the Sealed Fountain. With the increased volume from the Sealed Fountain the aqueduct known as the High Level passes along the slope of Wady Urtas, descending into the valley, west of Bethlehem; it ascends the northern side of the valley again, through an in verted stone syphon, constructed of perforated stone blocks firmly united by cement. This syphon is not only a work of skill in masonry, but showsa knowledge of hydrostatics not possessed by the Romans when they built the great arched struc tures in the neighborhood of Rome, for conduct ing water across valleys. The High Level aque duct has been traced far enough to make it rea sonably sure that in olden time it supplied the pool of Upper Gilion, now Birket Mamilla ; thence flowing through the channel, still existing at this part, it entered Jerusalem at the Jaffa Gate. It would then supply the Ciudel, the Pool of Heze kiah, and all points along the Tyropceon valley until it joined the Pool of Siloam. This aqueduct is of high antiquity, and according to the opinion of the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, dates from the earliest ages of the Jewish occupation. It is without doubt a part of the water system of King Solomon. While it never received any supply from Solomon's Pools, they were a part of the great water system. The skill with which they were constructed would do credit to the nineteenth century, and their massiveness suggests the reign of some energetic king. Expert opinion favors the theory that they were built by Solomon himself and are referred to in Eccl. ii :6. The water of these pools found its way to Jerusalem through the Low Level aqueduct, furnishing Bethlehem on the way. The aqueduct crosses the valley of Gihon on a causeway and enters the city near Bud Al Kibryt. Following along the western slope of the Tyropceon valley it turns eastward and communicates with the great cisterns under the Temple Hill. A few years ago this aqueduct was repaired and for a time the water flowed direct from Solomon's Pools to the cisterns of the Harem as in days of old, but the flow was shortly impeded and at pres ent the water does not get much beyond Beth lehem. This was the main supply of Jerusalem in olden times, and while the aqueduct was repaired by Pontius Pilate its construction was of the period of Solomon and ranks among the most interesting of Biblical antiquities.