It must not be conceived, that the few edifices hitherto named exhaust the curious and venerable remains of the capital of the Jews. On the contrary, they are so nume lous, that authors divide them into six different classes : 1. Those purely Jewish ; 2. Greek and Roman monum ments in the time of the Pagans ; 3. Greek and Roman monuments under Christianity ; 4. Arabian or Morisco monuments ; 5. Gothic monuments under the kings of France ; 6. Turkish monuments. Many places without the walls of the city are alike interesting, as the brook Kedron, the pool of Siloe, the valley of Jebosaphat, and the mount of Olives. On this last, which is called Djebel Tor by Mahometans, the Christians assert 7200 prophets have been buried ; and here also is a Christian church, contain ing a marble slab with an impression of the foot of Christ left as he ascended to heaven. The city occupies a por tion of mount Sion. In the neighbourhood there are nu merous ancient catacombs excavated in the sides of the hills, where brief Greek inscriptions are seen on some of the tombs, and ancient paintings on the walls,'executed after the manner of those discovered in the subterraneous cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
According to the Jewish chronology, Jerusalem was founded by their high priest Melchisedeck in the year of the world 2032, and was originally named Salem, which signifies peace. But its principal glory was reserved for Solomon, a wise and politic prince, who lived a thousand years later, and founded the celebrated temple, whose riches are the admiration of posterity. The history of the temple is thenceforward in a great measure to be consi dered as the history of Jerusalem. It was destroyed 600 years anterior to the Christian era, but afterwards rebuilt ; and Alexander the Great is said to have offered a sacrifice in it to the deity worshipped by the Jews. Jerusalem fre quently became an object of contention among surrounding nations, and suffered all the vicissitudes common to east ern cities. It was repeatedly pillaged ; its inhabitants slain or led into captivity ; and the conquerors erected statues of their own divinities in the temple. At length Judaea be came a Roman province, and our Saviour was soon after put to death by order of the governor, for declaring that he was king of the Jews. Probably the governor thought the punishment too severe ; but being viewed as a political offence, he found it expedient to yield to the voice of the people. being treated as a conquered country, the
inhabitants revolted ; which led to the celebrated siege of All Jerusalem by Titus, in the year 71. A1 the sufferings induced by famine were endured ; the vilest substances were welcome Mod ; and parents even devoured their The city was stormed, after a brave and vigorous defence ; and the miserable citizens inhumanly tortured to death and butchered by the ferocious Homan soldiery. Not less than 200,000 were computed to have died of hunger,. and 1,100,000 perished in the assault. In a new revolt of the Jews, Adrian, in the year 118, completed the detraction of what had been spared by Titus : but a new city call ed /Elia Capitalism was immediately built, where the pre sence of the Jews was absolutely prohibited. The name of Jerusalem at length became so utterly obliterated, that, dur ing the pet secution of Dioclesian, a martyr having said he belonged to it, the governor Who heard him supposed it some factious city secretly erected by the Jews. ro.. wards the close of the seventh century, its new name Capitolina was still retained. The Christian religion at length found a protector in the empress Ilelena, and her son Constantine, who demolished the images of hea then deities, to make way for the erection of crucifixes. An attempt to rebuild the temple by the mild and philoso phic emperor Julian, about 37 years later, is recorded to have proved abortive, from fiery eruptions escaping out of the earth and dispersing the workmen. Jerusalem was taken by Chosroes, King of Persia, in 613, but recaptured by Heraclius in 627, Nine years later, it fell into the power of the Caliph Omar, the third in succession rain Mahoniet, after a seige of four months ; and having under gone still farther revolutions, suddenly became an object of ambition among European potentates, who, notwithstand ing their reciprocal contentious, united in disturbing the peaceful possessors of Palestine. During the crusades of 1099, they conquered Jerusalem, and established a sove reignty in Syria, which continued with some interruption until the year 1291, when they were totally expelled. Selim, emperor of the Turks, early in the sixteenth cen tury, finally annexed all Syria to the Ottoman empire, tinder which it still remains. (r)