Palestine and Syria: Handbook for Travelers
Jerusalem is situated on a badly watered and somewhat sterile plateau of limestone, which is connected towards the N. with the main range of the mountains of Palestine ; and it also lies on the road leading from N. to S. through the lofty central region of the country, and nearly following the watershed. The city lies in 31° 47' N. latitude, and 35° 15' E. longitude of Greenwich, 32 English miles from the sea-coast, and 14 miles from the Dead Sea. The Temple hill is 2441 ft., the hill to the N. of it 2527 ft., the old upper city 2550 ft. , and the N.W. angle of the present city wall 2589 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean. The town is enclosed by a wall 38 1/2 ft. in height, with thirty-four towers , forming an irregular quadrangle of about 2 1/2 miles In circumference. Seen from the Mt. of Olives and from the Scopus, Jerusalem presents a handsome appearance. The town possesses few open spaces ; the streets are illpaved and crooked, many of them being blind alleys, and are excessively dirty after rain. Some of the bazaar streets are vaulted over. The chief streets also form the boundaries of the principal quarters of the town. The Damascus and Bazaar streets, coming from the N. , first separate the Muslim quarter on the E. from the Christian quarter on the W., while the S. prolongation of the street separates the Jewish quarter on the E. from the Armenian on the W. The main street running from the Jaffa Gate to the Haram, towards the E., at first separates the Christian quarter (N.) from the Armenian (S.), and farther on the Muslim (N.) from the Jewish (S.).
In the wall there are eight Gates, but one has been walled up. —
(1). The Jaffa Oate (p. 81), the only one on the W. side of the town, called Biib el-Khaltl, or Gate of Hebron, by the Arabs, from the road to the left leading to Hebron. On the N. side:
(2). The New Oate (Bab 'Abdu'l Hamid; p. 80), opened in the N.W. angle of the wall in 1889;
(3). The Damascus Oate (Bab el-'Amud, or Gate of the Columns, p. 103);
(4). Herod's Oate (Bab es-Sdhireh, p. 93), On the E side:
(5). St. Stephen's Gate, so called from the place where St. Stephen was stoned (p. 75), in Arabic Bdb Sitti Maryam, or Gate of Our Lady Mary, from the road leading hence to the Virgin's Tomb ;
(6). The Golden Gate (p. 52), which has long since been walled up. On the S. side:
(7). The Moghrebins' Gate (Bab el-Maghdribeh, or Dung Gate, p. 58);
(8). The Gate ofZion, called Bab en-Nebi DdHtl, from its proximity to David's Tomb (p. 85) at the S.W. angle of the town.
As Jerusalem possesses no springs except 'Ain Sitti Maryam, or the Spring of Mary (p. 97), the inhabitants obtain their supply of water from cisterns, the roofs of the houses and every available open space being made to contribute the rain that falls upon them. Owing to the scarcity of wood the houses are built entirely of stone. The court with its cistern forms the central point of each group of rooms. A genuine Jerusalem dwelling-house consists of a number of separate apartments, each with an entrance and a dome-shaped roof of its own. These vaulted chambers are pleasantly cool in summer. The rooms are of different heights and very irregularly grouped. Between them run staircases and passages in the open air, a very uncomfortable arrangement in rainy weather, in consequence of which it has become the custom with the women to provide themselves with pattens. Some houses have flat roofs, but under these is always concealed a cupola. The cupolas do not spring from the tops of the walls, but a little within them, so that it is possible to walk round the outsides of the cupolas. The roofs are frequently provided with parapets of earthen pipes, constructed in a triangular form. Pots and troughs for flowers are built into the roofs and courts by the architects. In the walls of the rooms are niches serving as cupboards. In some of the houses there are no glass windows; nor are chimneys by any means universal, the charcoal smoke being in their absence allowed to escape by the doors and windows. The rooms are usually warmed with charcoal braziers (mankal); only houses built on the European plan and the hotels are provided with stoves. The floors are composed of very hard cement.
Government. Jerusalem is the residence of a Mutesarrif of the first class immediately subject to the Porte (see p. lvii). The organs of government are the Mejlis idâra (executive council; president, the governor) and the Mejlis beledîyeh (town-council: president, the mayor). In both these councils the fully- qualified confessions (Greeks, Latins, Protestants, Armenians, and Jews) have representatives. — The garrison consists of a battalion of infantry.
The Climate (comp. p. xlvi), on the whole, is healthy. The fresh sea breeze tempers the heat even during the hot months ; at night there is frequently a considerable fall of temperature. The cistern water, too, is good and not in the least unhealthy when the cisterns are kept clean. The water in the cisterns certainly gets very low towards autumn and the poorer classes then have recourse to water from the pools. This, combined with the miasma from the heaps of rubbish, frequently causes fever, dysentery, etc.
The mean temperature of Jerusalem in degrees of Fahrenheit is as follows :
January 48. 8°; February 47. 3°; March 55°; April 58. 1°; May 69. 8°; June 73. 4°; July 74. 5°; August 76. 1°; September 73. 4°; October 69. 4°; November 57. 7°; December 51. 3°.
Mean annual temperature 63°.
Snow and frost are not uncommon at Jerusalem. The average rainfall is 23 in. on 52 days, divided as follows: Oct. 1 1/2; Nov. 5 1/2, Dec. 9; Jan. 10; Feb. IO 1/2; March 8 1/2; April 5 1/2; May 1 1/2 days. The wind was: N., 36; N.E., 33; E., 40; S.E., 29; S., 12; S.W., 46; W., 56; and N.W., 114 days.
According to a recent estimate the Population numbers about 60,000, of whom about 7000 are Muslims, 41,000 Jews and 12,800 Christians. The Christians include 4000 Latins , 200 United Greeks, 60 United Armenians, 6000 Orthodox Greeks, 800 Armenians, 100 Copts, 100 Ethiopians, 100 Syrians, 1400 Protestants. Among the Muslim Arabs is also included a colony of Africans (Moghrebins). The different nationalities are distinguished by their costume (comp. p. Ixxxiii).
The number of Jews has greatly risen of late years. In spite of the fact that they are forbidden to immigrate or to possess landed property, the number steadily increases, both of those who desire to be buried in the Holy City and of those who intend to subsist on the charity of their European brethren , from whom they receive their regular khalûka, or allowance , and for whom they pray at the holy places. Sir M. Monteflore, Baron Rothschild, and others, together with the Alliance Israelite, have done much to ameliorate the condition of their poor brethren at Jerusalem by their munificent benefactions. — The Jews have over 70 synagogues ; in addition to the numerous places of shelter for pilgrims and the poor, the Sephardim (p. Ixxxiii) have a hospital and a school, the Ashkenazim a large school with a school for handicraft maintained by the Alliance Israelite, schools for girls and boys, and the new Rothschild hospital; a hospital, a good school, an orphanage for boys and one for girls, supported by Germans. Many Ashkenazim are under Austrian protection.
The orthodox Greek Church, whose patriarch Damianos resides at Jerusalem , is now the most powerful in the city. The Greeks possess the following monasteries and foundations : — Monastery of St. Helena and Constantine, Monastery of Abraham, Monastery of Gethsemane , Convents of St. Basil, St. Theodore, St. George, St. Michael, St. Catharine, Euthymius, Seetnagia, Spiridon, Caralombos, John the Baptist, Nativity of Mary, St. George (a second of that name), Demetrius, Nicholas (containing a printing office), Spirito (near the Damascus Gate). — They also possess a girls' school, a boys' school, a hospital, etc. — The Greek priests wear round black caps.
Tolerably independent of the Patriarchate is the Russian Mission, which has political, that is to say, national Russian, as well as religious aims. It is ruled by the Archimandrite. To it belong the great Russian buildings (p. 82 ; church, house for pilgrims, hospital), and the Russian buildings on the Mount of Olives (tower, church, houses for pilgrims). The Russian Palestine Society has also erected a large house for pilgrims close to the Russian buildings and a second new hospital opposite the Mûristân (p. 72).
The Old Armenian Church is well represented at Jerusalem, although it was not till the middle of the last century that Armenians began to settle here in any considerable number. The members of this community are said to be noted for equanimity of temper. Both Greeks and Armenians are better disposed towards the Protestants than towards their chief opponents, the Roman Catholics. The Armenian patriarch Haroutian resides in the monastery near the Gate of Zion (p. 81), which embraces a seminary, a school for boys, and one for girls. The Armenians also own a nunnery (Der ez-Zet&n) and the Monastery of Mt. Zion (p. 84). — The Armenian monks wear pointed black hoods.
The other Oriental churches are scantily represented. The Coptic Monastery (p. 72) is the residence of a bishop, besides which the Copts also have a Monastery of St. George. The Syrians of the Old Church (Jacobites) have a bishop and a small church, which they regard as the house of John surnamed Mark (Acts xii. 12). The Abyssinians have a monastery (p. 72) and a new church to the N. of the town.
Latins or Roman Catholics. In 1483 the Latin Christian community consisted of but few members, and it was not until the comparatively recent and zealous efforts of the Franciscans to promulgate their faith, that it began to assume its present importance. None of the members can now trace their descent from the Crusaders, although Frank settlers were numerous in the middle ages. In 1847 Valerga was appointed Latin patriarch, the office having been in abeyance since 1291 ; the present patriarch (app. in 1889) is Ludovico Piavi, who is assisted by a bishop and by the abbot of the Franciscan monastery, who is the 'custodian of the Holy Land'. The institutions of the Latins are :
1 . Monasteries and Churches : the patriarchal residence with a large church ; the Franciscan Monastery of St. Salvator with church, school (see below), chemist's shop, and printing office; St. Anne's Church (p. 75); Ecce Homo Church; the Chapel of the Agony ; the Monasteries of the Holy Sepulchre, of the Scourging, of the Dominicans (p. 105), the Brethren of the African Mission, the Convents of the Carmelite Sisters, the 'Dames de Sion', the Sisters of St. Joseph, the 'Sceurs duRosaire', and the Clarisses. —
2. Schools: the Seminary of the Patriarchate, orphanage for boys and girls in the monastery of St. Salvator, school for handicraft in the same building, another large handicraft school in the W. of the city (founded by P. Ratlsbonne), the boys' school of the School Brethren, the girls' school of the Franciscans, managed by the Sisters of St. Joseph, the school of the 'Dames de Sion' and a private girls' school. —
3. Hospitals: St. Louis' Hospital (French institution; physician, Dr. de Fries ; nurses, the Sisters of St. Joseph) ; the institution of the 'Soeurs de Charite-'. —
4. Houses for Pilgrims: Casa Nuova ; German Catholic Hospice ; Austrian Hospice ; large French house for pilgrims.
The Oriental churches affiliated to the Latins are those of the United Oreeks, or Greek Catholics (church in the house of the patriarchate, chapel of St. Veronica, and the large seminary St. Anna des Peres Blancs), and the United Armenians with the church of Notre Dame du Spasme (p. 77), a chapel, a hospice, and a school.
English Protestant Community. The joint Protestant bishopric, supported by England and Prussia, under an arrangement due to Frederick William IV. of Prussia, was dissolved in 1887. Since then the British and German communities have been independent in religious matters. The English Protestant community is under the headship of Bishop Blyth, consecrated in March, 1887, and now financially supported by the Jerusalem and the East Mission Fund. It is mainly a missionary community. The Church Missionary Society (about 140 souls) has a church (St. Paul's, Pl. B, 1), the boys' boarding school and seminary (p. 83) founded by Bishop Gobat, a day school for boys and girls, and a small printing office. The Mission to the Jews has a handsome church (Christ Church , PI. 26) on the traditional Mount Zion ; near It a hospital, a school for boys and girls, and a large industrial school; on the hill W. of the town a new large school for girls ; and a second large hospital in the W. of the town. Both missions work with a considerable expenditure of energy and money, but without a corresponding result (comp. p. 21). The foundation-stone of an Anglican College has been laid near the present episcopal residence adjoining the Tombs of the Kings (p. 105). — The English Knights of St. John have an eye hospital on the Bethlehem road (p. 117). — The Jerusalem Association Room of the Palestine Exploration Fund is opposite the tower of David (hours, 8-12 and 2-6) ; visitors are welcome.
The German Evangelical Community numbers about 200 souls. The large Church of the Redeemer, in the Mûristân (p. 74), the foundation-stone of which was laid in Oct., 1893, was completed in 1898. The German community possesses a pastor, an assistant preacher, and a good school, and also the following important bene volent and missionary institutions : the Hospice of St. John; the Hospital of the Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth (physician Dr. Hoffmann); the Marienstift, a hospital for children erected by the indefatigable Dr. Sandreczky; the Lepers' Hospital (p. 102), maintained by the Brethren of Herrnhut (physician, Dr. Einsler); the girls' orphanage Talitha Cumi (p. 82), conducted by the Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth ; Schneller's Syrian Orphanage for boys (p. 82). — The German Society holds a meeting every other Friday in the Lloyd Hotel; visitors are welcome and can he introduced by a member. — A branch of the German Palestine Society meets in the Lloyd Hotel; visitors are welcome.
The Templars (p. 9) have a considerable colony in the S. of Jerusalem near the road to Bethlehem ; the colony numbers 400 souls, chiefly tradesmen and workmen. The Free Oerman Society of the Templars (introduction through a member) holds its meetings every alternate Sat at Lendhold's (p. 19). The colony possesses a large hall for meetings and a lyceum (p. 101).
The sect of the Overcomers, numbering abont 160 members (chiefly Americans and Swedes), believe that the Second Coming is at hand. The members are very charitable and hospitable and devote themselves to the care of the sick.
Literature. The best works on Jerusalem are Barclay's `City of the Great King', Besant & Palmer's `City of Herod and Saladin', Warren's 'Underground Jerusalem', Tobler's 'Denkblatter' and works on the topography of Jerusalem and its environs, Zimmerman's maps, and Dr. Schick's maps of Jerusalem and its environs. For closer investigation the Jerusalem vol. of the English Palestine Survey with plans is indispensable.