'T'he fields around were celebrated for the rich ness of their verdure, affording fine pasturage 19 Tabor is a lofty conical mountain, which rises boldly from the midst of the broad, ver dant, and richly cultivated plain of Jezreel, oi Esdrælon, one of the largest and most remark able plains in the world, having been the sceno of innumerable battles in the time of the wars between Israel and Judah, and afterward between the Christian and the Turk. The mountain itself is a beautiful object, rising thus abruptly and regularly from the plain. 20. From its summit a vast and beautiful landscape is presented on every hand; on the south, the mountains of Samaria; upon the north, the Mount of Beatitudes, where Christ delivered his sermon to the assembled multitudes; the Sea of Galilee upon the north-east ; and the mountains that guard the shores of the Mediterranean, upon the west. It was upon this mountain that Christ is supposed to have been transfigured before his disciples, "when his countenance was altered, and his face shone like the sun." CHAPTER IV. JERUSALEM. 1 Or this once fruitful and delightful coun. try, Jerusalem was the capital, and by far the largest city. It is supposed to have been founded by Melchizedek, and was at that time called Salem. In the time of Joshua it was in the hands of the Jebusites, by whom it was called Jebus. 2. It was taken from them by him, but seems to have fallen again into their hands, as it was reconquered by David. The city was at first built upon two hills, encompassed upon every side with mountains. The soil upon which it stood was barren and stony, but the adjacent valleys were well watered; having the fountains of Gihon and Siloam, and the brook Kedron, at the foot of its walls. 3. Jebus, the ancient city taken by David, was upon a hill toward the south; opposite it was Mount Zion, where David built a new city, called by his own name, and where stood his royal palace, and afterward the temple of the Lord; for Moriah was one of the hills belonging to Mount Zion. Between these two mountains lay the Valley of Millo, afterward filled up by David and Solomon. 4. The Mount of Olives, called so doubtless from the great number of olive-trees that once grew there, was situated upon the east of Jeru salem, parted from the city by the deep Valley of Jehoshaphat, at the bottom of which runs the brook Kedron. Just over this brook, in the days of Christ, was the garden of Gethsemane, and the Mount of Olives, which were places of frequent resort for solitude and prayer, by our blessed Redeemer, when attending the feasts at Jerusalem. 5. Upon the west, just outside the gates of ancient Jerusalem, was the hill Calvary, receiving its name, perhaps, from its resemblance to a human skull, or a man's head. Here our Saviour was crucified, and from this we may presume that it was the place of common execution. The hill shown as Calvary, by the monks, at the present time, is within the walls of the city, and, together with the supposed place of his burial, is covered with a massive and elegantly adorned church. Whether they have fixed upon the spot or not is a question still, but its determination is of but little importance to the Christian, for Christ is no longer there, "but risen." 6. The Valley of Hinnom, or of the sons of Hinnom, lay to the south of the city, and was noted, in the times of Jewish idolatry, as being the place where the barbarous worship of Mo loch was celebrated. Here parents made the.r children pass through the fire, or burned them as sacrifices to that hideous idol. To express their abhorrence of this worship, it was afterward used as the receptacle of the city offal and the carcasses of dead animals, and a perpetual fire was kept up to consume this offensive matter. This afforded the Saviour, while addressing the Jews, a good illustration of that fire that is not quenched, and therefore he compares hell to Ge-henna, or the Valley ci Hinnom 7. The whole ancient city was surrounded by high, massive walls, with lofty towers, perfectly impregnable, had not the Almighty, on account of their crimes, given them into the hands of their enemies. 8. The most stupendous edifice, and, indeed, the glory of Jerusalem, was its temple. When Solomon came to the throne, his kingdom enjoying a general peace, and having at his command the most extensive resources, he set himself about the work of erecting this building, partially planned by his father David. 9. He employed upon it 180,000 laborers, and was seven years and a half in completing it. It was covered with gold and silver. It sparkled with precious stones, and was filled with the most highly wrought and elegant furniture. This temple, together with the city, was pillaged and burned by Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king, and was again rebuilt under the direction of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. 10. Before the advent of our blessed Saviour, Judea had become a Roman province, and Herod, succeeding his father in the government, took to himself the title of king, and built a splendid palace in Jerusalem. He also enlarged and embellished the city; but his most important work was the taking down and rebuilding of the temple. For nine years he employed 80,000 workmen upon this vast underaking and even after this the Jews continued o ornament it: so that there was nothing inconsistent in their asserting that "forty and six years had their temple been in building." 11. At length, in the year of our Lord 66, the Jews revolting from the Romans, Titus, with an immense army, laid siege to Jerusalem. It being the time of the passover, two or three millions of the Jews had collected in the city. Dreadful dissensions soon arose within the walls; bloody struggles were witnessed throughout the city; a frightful pestilence began to rage, and swept off thousands; and then came famine in its most appalling features, so that mothers devoured their own children. 12. At length the ramparts were carried by the Romans, and an awful massacre and burning commenced. Titus attempted to save the temple, but a soldier hurling into it a burning fire-brand, it fell amid the fearful outcries of the burning Jews, who had fled thither in great multitudes for refuge. Not "one stone was left apon another," and the whole city became a heap of ruins. 13. Since then the city has suffered every variety of fortune, having been destroyed and rebuilt several times, until it came into the hands of the Turks, or the followers of Mohammed. From them it was retaken by the crusaders in the tenth century, who erected |