Architecture Of Palestine From The 'Earliest Times To The Crusades.*

ting architecural monuments and transmitting them fco posterity ? We read that David and Solomon were obliged to apply to Hiram , king of Tyro , for artists and labourers to execute their magnificent works . It must be confessed that tho AA'anfc of monuments of this first epoch renders all research into the architecture of Judea exceedingly difficult . The people Avhose name it

bears has nofc even transmitted to us any historical notices on that subject . I believe that , during the frequent ; excursions which I made into the country , 'I came across the remains of walls ancl arches of that date . Tho localities in ivhich I discovered them and their construction . I shall place before you , both by means of verbal description aud by drawings .

JSplvra & lb . In thear year 1729 before Christ , "Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath . " ( Gen . xxxv . 19 ) . Six hundred and thirty-four years afterwards , Samuel said to Saul , "When thou arfc departed from me to-day , then thou shalfc fhid tivo men by Rachel ' s sepulchre iu the border of Benjamin at Zelzah . " ( 1 Sam . x . 2 . ) Upon the road

leading from Jerusalem fco Bethlehem , the monument of Jacob ' s wife is still to be seen . To the east of this monument , at a distance of 400 feet , a very ancient wall is found . This I believe to have been that of Zelzah .

The wall appears to bo of Pelasgian construction . It is composed of large blocks of stone , measuring from 3 to 8 cubic feet each . The stones are of fche greatest solidifcy at the base , aud diminish in proportion as the A-erfcical rows rise in height . Those stones are formed into broad , flat polygons , and united together without cement , bufc AA'ith some ' degree of precision , by means of small

stones employed to fill up the interstices resulting from their irregular conformation . Tho thickness of the walls at the foundation is 6 feet ; above ground , 5 feet ; its present length extends to about 208 feet . Above the foundation are five rows of stone of upequal height , averaging from 8 to 9 feet . This relic of the past has been much mutilated by Arab Vandalism , and portions

of it used for the formation of fences . Thafc a city must formerly have existed ou this spot is proved by vestiges of other walls ; by an aqueduct excavated in the rock ancl covered with large flat polygonal flags ; b }* the fact that the surrounding soil abounds AA'ith hcAvn stones , with cisterns dug out of fche rockand Avith ruinous sepulchres Avhich serve as places

, of shelter for shepherds and their flocks . This wall , of which no author has made particular mention , has some resemblance to the walls of Mantincea , Avhich I visited in Greece , inl 851 . I have met with . no similar construction in any other part of Palestine .

Dcir-el-Jjcnai . To the south of Bethlehem , and within an hour ' s distance , lies the Valley of Deir-el-Benat , AA'hieh joins that of Efcham , aboA e the Arab village IIOAV called Urfcas . Upon ascending this valley for about a quarter of an hour , the traveller sees some ancient ruins , Avhich I take to be those of Bath-rabbin of fche Song of Solomon vii .

4 . An irregularly-shaped space of ground , measuring 52 , 000 square feet , is surrounded by a Avail 5 feet in thickness , and of unequal height , vai-ying from 12 feefc to 24 feet . On the east it runs up fco the mountain : to the AA'cst ifc faces the torrent . On the latter side is a gate , 8 feet Avide and 16 feet high , with jambs formed of several stonessupporting a round-headed arch

, without the aid of a key-stouc , Avhich arch is composed , like the side posts , of stones AA'orkcd in rustication . The entire Avail is built of masses of rock roughly squared , in combination with others of polygonal' shape , bub all move or less shoAving traces of rustication . The size of tho stones in general is from 2 to 4 cubic feet . Tho spaces left in the Avail are filled up AA'ith small stones ;

and tho cement , AA'hich is not obscn'ablo in the exterior , is plainly perceptible in some parts of the interior of the Avail . An examination of the cement convinced mo thafc ifc was applied subsequently to the original construc-

Architecture Of Palestine From The 'Earliest Times To The Crusades.*

tion . Wifchin the space surrounded by this wall I discovered the rook hewn in such a manner as to form different apartments , bufc no internal construction remains . I , however , collected a number of small cubes of stones , Avhich may be found in a small portion of the ground . They measure throe or four lines each in surface , and form a mosaic , though Avithout design . The

gate is inclosed by a strong Arab wall . I endeavoured to get ifc opened ; but the Arabs , who foolishly pretend to call themselves the owners of the place , forbade my entrance . Nevertheless , I succeded , without the aid of baksheesh , in forming an aperture sufficiently large to enable me to sec that the gate opened into a vast court , roughly hewn out of the rock ; and thafc from it were

two openings leading into other chambers . The walls bear the impress of the ages which they havo seen pass aAvay , but are sfcill firmly rooted in their original spot . The same class of wall is found afc LoAver Both-Horon . As Solomon erected buildings in thafc locality , ifc might be thought by some that these were of his construction bufc this is not fche case . Such do exist ; so thafc ifc is easy to compare them , and observe that the one are much more ancient than the other . To bd continued '

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

In an account lately published in the Times , of the Prince of Wales ' s visit to the tombs of the patriarchs at Hebron , it is stated that for six hundred years no European , except by stealth , has ever set foot into the sacred precinct Avhere they lie . This is not quite correct . Sir John Maundeville indeed ( 1322 ) says thafc the Saracens suffered no Christian , to enter the place except by special grace of the Sultan , bufc afc a later period this strictness seems to have been relaxed . A German

traveller , the Hitter Avnold van Harft , Avho travelled in the Bast 1496-1499 , obtained admission apparently Avithout difficulty , and gives the following account of Avhat he saw : — " Hebron lies vipon a hill , being a town without Avails . Here dwell many good Christians , of tbe Syrians , AVIIO have their OAA ' church there . Also there stands in this town a fair mosque or heathen church , into Avhich I Avas taken in the evening .

Therein Ave saw innumerable lamps burning , and Ave Avent underneath into a vault ( In-uyfft , i . e . Graft ) also hung full of lamps , Avherein all the patriarchs—Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , and otherslie buried in splendid eoflins . " Benjamin of Tudela ( 1163 ) gives a very exact account . " The Gentiles have erected six sepulchres in this place , Avhich they pretend to be those of Abraham and Sarah , of Isaac and Eebekah , of Jacob and Leah ; the pilgrims are told that they are the sepulchres of the fathers , and money is extorted from them . But if any JBAV come Avho

gives an additional fee to the keeper of the cave , an iron door is opened , which dates from the times of our forefathers AA'ho rest in peace , and Avith a burning candle in his hands , the visitor descends into a first cave , Avhich is empty , traverses a second in the same state , and at last reaches a third , Avhich contains six sepulchres , those of Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob , and of Sarah , Ilebelcah , and Leah , one opposite the other . All these sepulchres bear inscritionsthe letters being engraved ;

p , thus , upon that of Abraham , AVO read , ' This is the sepulchre of our father Abraham , Aipovi whom-he peace , ' and so on that of Isaac , and upon all the other sepulchres . A lamp burns in the cave and upon the sepulchres continually , both night and day ; and you there see tubs filled with the bones of Isralites , for unto this day it is a custom of the house of Israel to bring thither the bones of their relicts and of their forefathers , and

to leave them , there . " From Van HarfFs account , it Avould seem , that up to the end of the fifteenth century the coffins still remained in the cave , and their present position and arrangement on the level of tho floor of the . mosque nmsfc consequently be comparatively recent . A collection of the weights and measures of the various countries of the world lias been made , under the auspices of the International Association for obtaining a uniform Decimal System of Measures , Weights , and Coins , and ivill be among the curiosities of tho International Exhibition . Few persons