Antonia continually went the round in order to keep watch upon the multitude within. The Inner Court, including the Court of the Priests, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Women, was surrounded with a balustrade 3 cubits high. Within this fourteen steps led up to the higher inner platform. Then came the Ḥêl, or "Terrace," 10 cubits wide, and then a series of gateways opening between exedra that inclosed the court on all sides. These gateways were nine in number, four on the north, four on the south, and one on the east. They had double doors 30 cubits high and 15 cubits broad that were adorned with gold and silver. The gate on the east that led into the Court of the Women was specially magnificent. It was made of Corinthian bronze and was so heavy that it could scarcely be shut by twenty men. The chambers around the inner walls of the Court of the Women were used as treasuries, and in front of them stood boxes for collecting the money-offerings of the worshipers. Between the Court of the Women and the Court of Israel lay the Beautiful or Nicanor Gate, 50 cubits high, with two doors 40 cubits in height covered with massive gold and silver ornaments. The Court of Israel, that was open only to male Israelites who were ceremonially clean, was surrounded with exedra like the Court of the Women, and was entered by three gates on the north and three on the south, besides the gate leading from the Court of the Women. At its western end was the Court of the Priests, inclosing the Sanctuary and the Altar, and separated from the Court of Israel by a beautifully ornamented stone balustrade I cubit in height. The main body of the Sanctuary was 100 cubits long, 60 cubits broad, and 100 cubits high. The front on the eastern end was expanded with wings 20 cubits square, so that it formed a sort of propylaeum 100 cubits long and 100 cubits high. The Sanctuary was thus more than twice as large as that of Solomon. It was built of immense blocks of white marble, covered on the front, and perhaps all around on the lower courses, with plates of gold. The wealth spent in its adornment was enormous, and made it one of the wonders of the world. Its white courts, porches, and buildings rose tier upon tier, so that it looked like a great snow-covered mountain, and its marble and gold gleamed so brilliantly in the sun that the eye could scarcely bear to look upon them (Ant., xv, 11; War, v, 5; Babylonian Talmud, Middoth, ii). The best and most recent recon

struction of the ground-plan of Herod's Temple is that of Sanday and Waterhouse. With the courteous permission of the publishers it is reproduced on the preceding page.

The Xystus, or Forum, is not mentioned before the time of Herod, and was probably laid out by him. According to War, v, 4:2, it lay near the inner wall on the north at the point where it crossed the Tyropoeon Valley to join the west porch of the Temple. According to War, ii, 16:5, it was near the end of the bridge that led from the Upper City to the Temple (cf. vi, 6:2). It was the final point of attack of the Romans after the outer and middle walls on the north had fallen. According to War, ii, 16:3, it was used as a meetingplace for public assemblies.

The Hippodrome, which is first mentioned in the year 4 B. C., was probably also the work of Herod. It was occupied as a stronghold by the Jews in their fight with the quaestor Sabinus whose headquarters were in Herod's Palace. It seems, therefore, to have stood upon high ground on the western hill. Spiess plausibly conjectures that it lay on the site of the modern Hâret el-Maidân or "District of the Racecourse" (cf. Ant., xvii, 10:2; War, ii, 3:1, 2).

The Council House and Archives were probably also the work of Herod, since they are not mentioned before his time. They lay near together, since both were set on fire by the Romans at the same time (War, vi, 6:3). The Council House, according to War, v, 4:2, lay near the inner wall on the north, between the Xystus and the west porch of the Temple. Both buildings, apparently, were situated in the Tyropoeon Valley close to the west wall of the Temple, and were south of the inner wall on the north, since they were not burned by the Romans until after the Upper City had been captured.

The Serpent's Pool (Birket Mamilla), the Pool Amygdalon (Birket Ḥammâm el-Baṭraq), and the Pool Struthion (Birket Isra¶l) are not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor by Josephus before the time of the siege of Jerusalem. It is possible, therefore, that they also may have been the work of Herod, and may have been designed to supply his Palace and the Castle of Antonia with water.

7 Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels (Oxford, 1903), p. 116.

8 Das Jerusalem des Josephus, p. 30.

9 See pp. 35-44.

CHAPTER XII

JERUSALEM IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES

In spite of Herod's undertakings the general appearance of the city remained the same as it had been in earlier times. The southeast hill, or Lower City, was inclosed with its original line of fortifications, and was known as the City of David, or the Akra. In it the Tomb of David was still shown (Ant., xiii, 8:4; xvi, 7:1; War, i, 2:5; Acts 2:29). The name Ophel still clung to the region immediately south of the Temple (War, v, 4:2; 6:1; vi, 6:3). The Temple stood on the same spot as Solomon's Temple, and was defended on the north with the wall that Solomon had built. The southwest hill, or Upper City, was still inclosed on the north and west with Solomon's wall (No. 2) and on the south with Hezekiah's wall (No. 3). The ancient gates were still in use, although their names seem to have changed. The Mishneh, or Second Quarter, added by Manasseh's second wall on the north (No. 4), was still a distinct part of the city and was known as the Fore-City or Suburb (πρоάoтELOV). Many of the Old Testament names for places in the vicinity were still in common use. Among these may be mentioned Kidron (John 18:1; War, v, 2:3; 6:1; 12:2; vi, 3:2), Gihon (Ant., vii, 14:5), Siloam (Luke 13:4; John 9:7; War, V, 4:1; 9:4; 12:2; vi, 7:2; 8:5 et al.), Solomon's Pool (War, v, 4:2), and the Mount of Olives (Matt. 21:1; 24:3; Mark 13:3; 14:26; Luke 19:29, 37; 21:37; 22:39; John 8:1; Acts 1:12; Ant., xx, 8:6; War, v, 2:3, 4, 5; 3:5). On the whole, Jerusalem in the time of Christ was still practically the same city that it had been in pre-exilic times, and was full of interesting associations for one familiar with the Old Testament. As Jesus walked its streets, or looked down upon it from the surrounding hills, he must often have been reminded of the kings, prophets, and psalmists of ancient Israel.

On account of the hostility of the Jewish authorities, Jesus never took up his abode in Jerusalem. Nazareth remained his home, and

he came to the capital only for occasional visits. For this reason the connections of the gospel history with the holy city are fewer than might have been expected. The first three references are to the Temple. Luke 2:22-39 records that when Jesus was thirty-four days old he was brought to be presented in the Temple with a sacrifice of a pair of turtle-doves according to the law of Lev. 12:6, and was blessed by the aged Simeon and Anna who recognized in him the long expected Messiah. This presentation must have taken place in the Court of the Women. It probably occurred at the Beautiful Gate, where a flight of steps led up to the Court of Israel. Here the priest received the offerings from the mother and carried them to be sacrificed on the altar.

The second visit, as narrated in Luke 2:41-50, was at the feast of Passover, when Jesus was twelve years of age. On this occasion he must have entered the Court of the Men of Israel with Joseph, and have performed the ceremony by which he assumed the obligations of an adult Israelite.

The third visit is the one narrated in John 2:13-22 immediately after Jesus' first appearance as a teacher in Galilee:

And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the Temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the Temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables; and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? The stalls of the traders and money-changers must have been situated in the Great, or Outer Court of the Temple, the Court of the Gentiles, and were probably near the chief entrances. If, as is commonly supposed, the concluding words of the Jews refer to the literal Temple and not to Jesus' body, they are an indication that this event occurred in 26 A. D., since the Temple was begun by Herod in 20 B. C.

The fourth visit, as recorded in John 5, was at the time of an unnamed feast. On this occasion Jesus healed a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda. In a previous discussion of the location of the Pool