The Rand-McNally Bible Atlas Part 13

We insert here a plan of Solomon's Temple, largely conjectural, as neither of the descriptions is sufficiently exact for a complete knowledge. The Temple, as it afterward stood in the time of Christ, may be found described on page 139.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.]

Upon the map are noted most of the battle-fields, which may be enumerated as follows: 1. At Gibeon, the victory over Abner and the adherents of Ishbosheth. 2. At Jerusalem, its capture from the Jebusites. 3, 4. Near Jerusalem, not indicated upon the map; two decisive victories over the Philistines. 5. Gath, the capture of the Philistine capital. 6. The victory over the Moabites, probably near Ar.

7. The conquest of Zobah, north of Damascus. 8. The conquest of Damascus and its dependent places. 9. The conquest of Edom, near Sela. 10. The victory at Medeba, over the Ammonites. 11. The victory at Helam, near the Euphrates, over the Syrian allies of the Ammonites. 12. The siege and capture of Rabbah. 13. The defeat of Absalom's army in the wood of Ephraim, east of the Jordan.

OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.

I. Draw a rough map of the country from the Red Sea to the Euphrates, as in the map of the kingdom of David and Solomon, and locate upon it the land of Israel proper, showing the dominion of Saul.

II. Draw the boundary line to show the kingdom of David at Hebron, and that of Ishbosheth at Mahanaim; mention and locate the battle of Gibeon.

III. Show in order the conquests of David, writing upon the board the names of the lands conquered in order, and indicating the battles by flags.

IV. Show the dimensions of David's kingdom, by another map of the Oriental World in the time of David. Locate and drill upon the leading lands and capitals.

V. Give an account of the calamities in David's reign, show the flight of David, and locate the battle with Absalom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHURCH OF NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANCIENT JERUSALEM, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT PERIOD.]

ANCIENT JERUSALEM.

I. =Names.= The city of Jerusalem has been known by a different name during each of the most important periods of its varied history. 1. In the patriarchal age it was the seat of Melchizedek's priestly kingdom, and was known as SALEM, properly p.r.o.nounced _Shalem_. (Gen. 14:18; Psa.

76:2.) 2. During the Jebusite period it was known as JEBUS. (Judges 19:10.) Probably at this time the full name was _Jebus-shalem_. 3. After the capture by David it received the name JERUSALEM, properly _Jeru-shalaim_. The earliest instance of this name is in Judges 1:7, 8, where it may have been used by antic.i.p.ation; or there may have been a change, for euphony, from Jebus-shalem to _Jeru-shalem_. The word means "possession of peace." The Greek form of this word is Hierosolyma. 4. It is called by the prophets by the poetical name of ARIEL, "the lion of G.o.d." (Isa. 29:1.) 5. More than once in the Bible it is called "the holy city." (Matt. 4:5; 27:53.) 6. After its destruction by t.i.tus, it was rebuilt by the emperor aelius Hadria.n.u.s, A.D. 135, and named aeLIA, or, in full, aeLIA CAPITOLINA, a name that it held until the year 536 A.D., when the ancient name Jerusalem again became prevalent. 7. It is now known to the Arabs as EL KHUDS, "the holy."

[Ill.u.s.tration: DAVID'S TOMB.]

II. =Location.= The city of Jerusalem stands in lat.i.tude 31 46' 45''

north, and longitude 35 13' 25'' east of Greenwich, the observations being taken from the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This may have been outside the ancient wall, but was certainly near it. The city is 32 miles from the Mediterranean, 18 from the Dead Sea, 20 from Hebron, and 36 from Samaria; and its general elevation is about 2,500 feet above the level of the ocean.

III. =Geologic Formation.= "The vicinity of Jerusalem consists of strata of the Eocene and chalk formations, having a general dip down the watershed of about 10 east-southeast. The action of denudation has left patches of the various strata; but, generally speaking, the oldest are on the west. The upper part of the Olivet chain consists of a soft white limestone, with fossils and flint bands belonging to the Upper Chalk; beneath this are, first, a hard silicious chalk, with flint bands; second, a soft white limestone, much used in the ancient buildings of the city; third, a hard chalk, often pink and white in color, and then known as Santa Croce marble. The underlying beds belonging to the period of the Greensand are not visible, the lowest strata in the Kedron precipices belonging to the Lower Chalk epoch." (_Encyclo. Britan._)

IV. =Valleys.= The peculiar natural features of Jerusalem, and much of its history, are due to the arrangement of its three valleys. These unite near the southeastern corner of the city. 1. _The Valley of the Kedron_, called also "the Valley of Jehoshaphat" (perhaps referred to in Joel 3:2, 12); and "the king's dale" (Gen. 14:17; 2 Sam. 18:18). This lies on the east of the city, between Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives. During the summer it is dry; but in the rainy season it is the bed of a brook, from which it receives its name. 2. _The Valley of the Tyropoeon_ (a word supposed to mean "cheesemongers," though the meaning and derivation are questioned) branches from the Kedron Valley at the southern end of Mount Moriah, and extends in a northwesterly direction.

The princ.i.p.al ravine curves in crescent form around Mount Zion, but a shallower and less noticeable branch extends further to the north. This valley is now almost obliterated by the acc.u.mulation of debris, but its ancient course has been established by recent soundings. 3. _The Valley of Hinnom_, called also, "the valley of the son of Hinnom" (Josh. 15:8), forms the western and southern border of the city, and unites with the Kedron Valley near its junction with the Tyropoeon. Its lower portion, near the Kedron, was called Tophet, or "place of fire" (Jer. 7:31), and Gehenna (Ge-Hinnom). It was at one time the seat of idolatrous wors.h.i.+p to Molech, and afterward became a cesspool, and place where the offal of the city was burned. Gihon (1 Kings 1:33) is located by most in the upper portion of this valley; but, by Conder and a few others, in the lower portion of the Kedron Valley, at the spring en Rogel.

V. =Mountains.= Jerusalem is and has ever been emphatically a place of mountains; as it stood anciently upon four distinct hills, with others around its walls on every side. The names of these hills are well known, but the identification of them is neither easy nor unanimous among investigators. We name the locations as given by the largest number of leading scholars.

1. _Mount Zion_ is the largest and highest of the four hills within the city. It lies on the southwestern section, between the Valleys of the Tyropoeon on the east and north, and Hinnom on the south and west. Its crown is 2,540 feet high. Upon it, probably, stood the Jebusite fortress which so long defied the Israelites, but was finally taken by David.

2. _Acra_ is a little east of north from Zion, and is an irregularly shaped eminence, now 2,490 feet high, but anciently higher, as its crest was cut down by the Maccabean princes, in order to bring it nearer to the level of the Temple-hill. It is surrounded upon the south, east and north by the two arms of the Tyropoeon Valley. On this may have stood the castle, or Millo. (2 Sam. 5:9.)

3. On the eastern side of the city is _Mount Moriah_, the place once occupied by the Temple, and now by the Dome of the Rock, mistakenly called the Mosque of Omar. It lies between the two valleys of the Kedron on the east and the Tyropoeon on the west, and is 2,432 feet high. Its southern end is a steep declivity, called Ophel (in Josephus, Ophlas), running southward to the junction of the valleys.

4. _Bezetha_ is a little west of north from Mount Moriah, and separated from it by a slight depression. It lies between the Kedron Valley and the northern branch of the Tyropoeon. Only in the later age of New Testament history was it within the walls of the city. Its height is a little over 2,500 feet.

These four mountains are all that are named as within the ancient walls.

Calvary was not a mountain, but merely a place outside the city where the crucifixion of Jesus took place; so that it is not to be counted in the list. But we must notice, in addition, the most important of the "mountains round about Jerusalem."

5. _The Mount of Olives_ lies east of the Kedron Valley, and is a range of hills having several summits, which are a little under 3,000 feet in height. (1.) The northern peak, called _Scopus_, lies northeast of the wall, and is supposed to be the point from which t.i.tus obtained his first view of the doomed city. (2.) The second is called _Viri Galilaei_, "men of Galilee," from a tradition that the angels, at the time of Christ's ascension, appeared upon it. (Acts 1:11.) (3.) The central summit is the _Mount of Ascension_, 2,665 feet high, and directly east of the Temple. It is probable that the true place of the ascension is to be found on the eastern slope of this hill, near Bethany, and not in sight of Jerusalem. (4.) The next peak southward is called "_The Prophets_," from a tradition that some of the prophets were buried upon its side near the Kedron. (5.) The southern peak is called the _Mount of Offense_, from the idol wors.h.i.+p which Solomon established upon it. (1 Kings 11:7.)

6. South of the Valley of Hinnom, and directly opposite to Mount Zion, is an eminence known as the _Hill of Evil Counsel_, where Judas is said to have bargained for the betrayal of his Lord. Upon the slope of this hill is the traditional Aceldama, "the field of blood." (Matt. 27:7, 8.)

VI. =Walls.= Of these, three are named by the early historians and mentioned in the Bible. 1. The first wall was built by David and Solomon, and surrounded what was known as "the city of David." It included Zion, Moriah, Ophel, and the southern portion of the Tyropoeon Valley. The lines of this wall may still be traced and the ancient foundations shown in various places. 2. The second wall, including Acra, extended in a curved line from the tower Antonia, north of the Temple, to a point not yet marked with certainty, on the northern border of Mount Zion. The location of Calvary and the place of the Saviour's burial depend upon the question, whether this wall ran outside or inside of the place where now stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. For, as these were "outside the gate," if the wall include the traditional localities, they are wrongly located, and the true places must be sought elsewhere, perhaps near the so-called Grotto of Jeremiah, north of the city. We indicate both localities, but regard the northern as preferable. 3. The third wall was not built until after the time of Christ, but was begun by Herod Agrippa, and was completed not long before the Roman siege. This section was called "the new city," and included Mount Bezetha, and the region north and northwest of Mount Zion. Only a small portion of the wall can be located with certainty.

VII. =History of Jerusalem.= This may be briefly noticed under seven periods.

1. _The Patriarchal Period_ (B.C. 2000-1300). The earliest mention of Jerusalem is that in Gen. 14:18, which, taken with Psa. 76:2, seems to indicate the place, though the ident.i.ty is questioned by some scholars.

In the time of Abraham, B.C. 1918, according to the common chronology, Jerusalem was the seat of a kingdom under the priest Melchizedek, who received homage and t.i.thes, as G.o.d's representative, from the patriarch.

At that time it was a centre, not only of political power, but of a religious wors.h.i.+p which was recognized by Abraham as divine and spiritual.

2. _The Jebusite Period_ (B.C. 1300-1003). The next reference to Jerusalem (and the earliest certain account) is at the time of the conquest, B.C. 1210. At that period it was held by the Jebusites, a race of Canaanite origin, small in numbers, but of indomitable courage and resolution, since they were able to hold their city for four centuries against all the power of Israel. Their king, Adoni-zedek (Josh. 10:1), may have been a descendant of the pious Melchi-zedek, as the names are similar; but the ancient purity of the people's wors.h.i.+p had been lost in the idolatry of the surrounding races. The little city of Jebus, as it was then called, formed a confederation with the other clans of the south to resist Joshua's invading host. But in the decisive battle of Beth-horon the Canaanites were routed, their five kings were slain (among them the king of Jerusalem), and the alliance was broken up. For the present, Jerusalem was not attacked, but its territory was a.s.signed to the tribe of Benjamin. (Josh. 18:28.) Soon after the death of Joshua, however, it was besieged by the united tribes of Judah and Simeon, as dangerous to the northern frontier of the former. From Judges 1:8, and the history of Josephus, we learn that the lower city (perhaps on Acra) was taken and burned; but the fortress was found impregnable "by reason of its walls and also of the nature of the place."

(Josephus.) The city was soon rebuilt (Judges 19:11), and remained in Jebusite hands through all the age of the Judges and the reign of Saul.

3. _The Royal Period_ (B.C. 1003-587). With the accession of David a new era began in Israel, and every part of the kingdom soon felt the strong hand of its new master. He was not one to brook a foreign fortress in the centre of his realm, and in the first year of his reign over united Israel he marched against it, and demanded its surrender. Trusting to their strong situation, the Jebusites refused, and, as an insult, placed "the blind and the lame" on its walls in mockery of his attempt. But, under the valiant Joab, the height was scaled, the fortress was taken, and Jerusalem was thenceforth "the city of David." (2 Sam. 5.) David made it his capital, brought thither the ark of the covenant, and surrounded it with a new wall. Solomon enriched it with treasures, and with its greatest glory, the Temple on Mount Moriah. After the division it remained the capital of Judah, though close to the border of the Ten Tribes. It was taken without resistance from Rehoboam, by s.h.i.+shak, the king of Egypt, and robbed of its wealth, 930 B.C. In the reign of Jehoshaphat it was restored to something like its former prosperity; but under his son Jehoram, B.C. 840, it was taken by a sudden attack of the Philistines and Arabians, and again plundered. Under Athaliah it became a shrine of abominable Baal wors.h.i.+p, but was reformed by Jehoiada in the earlier days of the reign of Joash. Joash, however, in his later years allowed the people to relapse into idolatry, with the usual result; for, about B.C. 800, the powerful Hazael, king of Syria, overran the Shefelah, defeated the Judaites, and was only kept from entering the city by a gift of its treasures. Amaziah, the next king, elated by a victory, offered battle at Beth-shemesh to Joash, king of Israel, then the most powerful state between Egypt and a.s.syria. He was defeated; and, as a result, Jerusalem was entered by the Israelites, its wall was thrown down, and it was again plundered. The city suffered during the wicked reign of Ahaz, but was restored and divinely protected from its a.s.syrian besiegers in the good reign of Hezekiah. After the death of Josiah it was entered by the Egyptians under Necho; but its final destruction was wrought by Nebuchadnezzar, of the Babylonian empire.

Twice he visited it with a heavy hand, setting up one king after another; and, when his va.s.sal Zedekiah again rebelled, he besieged it for more than a year, with some intermissions, and at last, in B.C. 587, made a breach in its walls and took it by storm. Then, for the first time, the city was absolutely destroyed, and made a heap of ruins, while its people were carried into captivity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATURAL FEATURES OF JERUSALEM.]

4. _The Period of Restoration_ (B.C. 587-70 A.D.). After lying desolate for 50 years, the city was again occupied under Zerubbabel, by the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 536. For nearly a century it remained unwalled and was thinly inhabited, until its wall was rebuilt by Nehemiah, B.C. 445.

Thenceforward it grew rapidly, and soon became again the metropolis as well as the capital of the Jewish state. Alexander the Great visited it, B.C. 332, and gave the Jews certain privileges in his empire. The city was taken by Ptolemy Soter, king of Egypt, B.C. 320, because the Jews would not fight on the Sabbath. In B.C. 203 it was taken by Antiochus, the king of Syria, and, after a revolt, again by his son, Antiochus Epiphanes, in B.C. 170 and B.C. 168. The latter capture was followed by a bitter persecution of the Jewish religion, in which thousands of lives were sacrificed. But a deliverer arose, in the family of the priest Mattathias, whose son, Judas Maccabeus, rescued the city and restored the wors.h.i.+p in the Temple. Under the Maccabean princes Jerusalem was generally prosperous, though with occasional reverses. The Romans first besieged and took the city under Pompey, B.C. 65. Herod the Great beautified the city, erected many buildings, and rebuilt the Temple throughout. But the most terrible of all scenes in Jerusalem's annals, were those which took place in the revolt of the Jews against the Roman empire, and the destruction of the city by t.i.tus, A.D. 70. For years it was the arena of riot, of the b.l.o.o.d.y strife of factions, and of ma.s.sacre, which scarcely ceased during the final siege. At last the city and Temple were taken by t.i.tus, demolished and burned, and for a second time Jerusalem was left an utter desolation.

5. _The Roman Period_ (A.D. 70-637). For fifty years after its destruction Jerusalem is not mentioned, and probably remained uninhabited. But, after the attempt of the false Messiah Bar-cocheba to rebuild the city and Temple, and restore the independence of the Jews,--an attempt which was only quelled by calling forth all the power of the empire,--the emperor Hadrian resolved to establish a heathen city upon its site. He named it aelia Capitolina, built on Moriah a temple to Jupiter, and allowed no Jews to enter the walls, a prohibition which remained until the empire became Christian. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, restored the ancient name; and his mother, Helena, made a pilgrimage to the city, A.D. 326, which now began to be regarded as a sacred place by Christians. At this time the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built, over the place where Helena discovered the tomb of Jesus. The emperor Julian, A.D. 362, out of hatred to the Christians, undertook to rebuild the Temple, and make it once more a Jewish centre; but was defeated in his plans by earthquakes and the leaping forth of subterranean fires, as is related by Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus, himself a heathen, the friend and companion in arms of the emperor. He states: "Horrible b.a.l.l.s of fire, breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place from time to time inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and, the victorious element continuing in this, obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking was abandoned." In 529 A.D. the emperor Justinian founded a church upon the site where now is the Mosque el Aksa, and a tide of pilgrims, increasing with each generation, began to pour upon the holy places. In 614 A.D.

the city was taken by the Persian king, Chosroes II., the churches were destroyed, and mult.i.tudes of priests and monks were slain; but 14 years afterward it was retaken by the emperor Heraclius, and held, though but for a short time, by the Christians.

6. _The Mediaeval Period_ (A.D. 637-1517). In 637 Palestine and Jerusalem pa.s.sed under the dominion of the Moslems, then ruled by the Caliph Omar; but the holy places were respected, and the Christians were allowed to retain their churches. Under the Fatimite caliphs of Cairo the Christians were persecuted, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was several times destroyed and rebuilt. The pilgrims from Europe brought trade and tribute, so that the city flourished, in spite of frequent pillagings and captures by various Arab and Turkish hordes. On July 15, 1099, it was taken by the Crusaders, after a terrible a.s.sault, and for 88 years was the seat of a Christian kingdom. Saladin reconquered it in 1187; and various changes in its government and several sieges followed, until 1517, when it finally pa.s.sed under the rule of the Turks, who have since been its masters.

7. _The Modern Period_, from A.D. 1517 until the present, has witnessed comparatively few changes in the city's condition. The present wall was built by the sultan Suleiman in 1542. In 1832 it was seized by Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt, but was again restored to the sultan, through the interference of the European powers. It is now a city of a population variously estimated at from twenty to fifty thousand.

OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.

Have two blackboards (or a large one), and use one for the outline of the lesson, the other for the map.

I. Teach the _Names_. Salem, Jebus, Jerusalem, Ariel, aelia Capitolina, El Khuds.

II. _Location._ 1. Lat.i.tude. 2. Longitude. 3. Distances. 4. Elevation.

III. _Geologic Formation._

IV. _Valleys._ Draw a rough map showing the valleys, and name them, indicating them by initial letters on the map. 1. Kedron. 2. Tyropoeon.

3. Hinnom.