Exploration Quarterly

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Through which Gate did make his Triumphal Entry into ?; Preparations made by the Turkish Authorities for the Visit of the German Emperor and Empress to the Holy Land in the Autumn of 1898

Conrad Schick

To cite this article: Conrad Schick (1899) Through which Gate did Jesus make his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem?; Preparations made by the Turkish Authorities for the Visit of the German Emperor and Empress to the Holy Land in the Autumn of 1898, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 31:2, 112-118, DOI: 10.1179/peq.1899.31.2.112

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/peq.1899.31.2.112

Published online: 20 Nov 2013.

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Download by: [Monash University Library] Date: 09 April 2016, At: 22:01 112 THROUGH WHICH GATE DID JESUS MAKE

1.'HROUGH WHICH GATE DID JESUS MAKE HIS TRIUl\[PHAL ENTRY INTO JERTJSALEM?

By Dr. C. SCHICK.

THIS question seems to be unnecessary, as literature shows that in nearly every age the eastern gate of the Temple, or the present" ," is the one. But as recently a sout.hern gate, generally called the "Double Gate," has been indicated as such under the name "Huldah

Gate," 1 it seems to me expedient to look a little more closely into the matter. 1. The ]j}ast Gate, now called" Golden Gate." Jesus came from: Bethany, situated east of Jerusalem, and 15 furlongs distant from it (John xi, 18). Between is the Kidron Yalley and the , which one conling from there had to cross. There are two principal roads, the direct one going over the top of the Mount, the other, more to the south, somewhat longer, and crossing the ridge where it is nluch lower. Looking closely to the history, one becomes convinced that Jesus used the direct road over the top of the mountain, for :he- passed Bethphage, situated on that road or near to it (compare Quarterl.y Statement, 1897, p. 117), and in Luke xix, 37, the" descent" is mel1t,ioned, where the city could be seen, which points to the direct way, and so it was taken in all centuries. Coming this way the "Golden Gate," or the former "east gate" of the Temple, is just opposite. Its lintel is 100 feet higher than the point where the various roads are uniting at the present Garden of Gethsemane~, And as here, or rather a little more south, the valley conling down from the neighbourhood of Jeremiah's grotto hill through falls into the Kidron Yalley, bridges crossed both and the line of the road made a curve, the first bridge crossing the Kidron westwards (as at present) to the low rocky shoulder between these two valleys, and the second crossing the other valley in a south- western direction, whence the road ascended the hill in a slope of one in three and a half, or an angle of 16 degrees, up which a donkey couid easily go. As the Golden Gate is situated further south than the bridges nlentioned, it may be, and most probably was, that a flight of steps went down direct into the valley and up again on the other side for people Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 walking and using the southern road over the ridge of Olivet. It has to be remarked that about 50 feet east of the Temple wall the city wall runs at a somewhat lower level than the sill of the Golden Gate, which wall had certainly also a door or gate, but of an inferior kind, with on~y a single entrance, whereas all the Temple gates had double entrances,

1 It seems that recently " Huldah Gate" was explained to the German Emperor to be the gate through which Jesus entered six days before ,. when the people were excited und cried, "Hosunna in the highest." Several members of the Emperor's suite asked me afterwards about it. HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM? 113

'3.S the Golden Gate has to this day. The latter was called in Jewish time" Miphkad" (Neh. iii, 31), and according to the Talnlud " Shushan" ; wherels the gate in the outer wall was called "Sur" (2 Kings xi, 6). Between this city wall and the Temple wall were houses, forming a kind of suburb. Here riders had to dismount, as it was not lawful to pass the Temple gates riding. At the gates there was always a large free space or square, so when Jesus dismounted from the ass it caused some halting, and the people, who were crying" Hosanna!" pressed nlOre together, so that even the city became aroused (Matt. xxi, 10). Having entered the Temple gate and passed its long vestibule, Jesus went up the flight of steps into the outer court, where, instead of pious, devotional people, he found market business going on, which he cast out (Matt. xxi, 12). There is nothing, either in the locality or in history, against the idea that this gate was the one by which Jesus entered on ,that solemn occasion. This is mentioned by the earliest Christian writer, the Bordeaux Pilgrim, A.D. 330, as the" Eastern Gate." And Antoninus, about A.D. 560 to 570, says :-" From Gethsemane we ascended by many steps to the brate of Jerusalem. This is the gate of the city, which adjoins what was IQncethe of the 'remple, the threshold and posts of which

still stand." 1 Here we have the steps which I have nlentioned above, also the city gate in t.he outer wall, and near it the" Gate of the Temple," ()r the present Golden Gate, of which at that time stood the lower parts, which, even now, after the restoration, are still recognisable. 'The restoration of this old Tenlple gate is generally ascribed to Justinian, but as that emperor died in A.D. 562, and even later, according. to Antoninus, as quoted, the gate was still in ruins, it must have. been built by one of his followers, between A.D. 560 and 629,2 at which time it may have stood when: Heraclius entered the city -with, the Holy Cross, on coming back fronl Persia, though I think the city wall gate probably then still existed and the Golden Gate lay in ruins, and that Reraelius took up the idea to build it again, and in a more nlOnumental manner, as a memorial, first, of Christ's entry on , and secondly, of his own triulllphal entrance when bringing back the Cross of Christ. It then became a proper eastern gate, and the gate, with much of the remaining wall, was removed, so as no more to project above the

Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 surlace of the g:r;ound,even as it is to-day, for underground Sir Charles Warren still found the ancient wall (" Recovery of Jerusalem," pp. 156, 157).' This work, however, was not :finished when eight yeal s afterwards, A.D. 637, Omar took the city, and all building operations were arrested.~ The openings of this double gate were walled up

1 Hayter Lewis, "The Holy Places of Jerusalem," London, 1888, p. 91. 2 "Bredeker" (German edition), 1891, p. 56. It dates most probably from the seventh century after Christ. 3 This explains the unfinished condition or the bu~]ding as at present: seen. tt 114 THROUGH WHICH GATE DID JESUS MAKE

by Onlar, and remained so for someeenturies, as neither of the pilgrims. speak of it until the, Crusaders got possession of the place, A.D: .1102. Saewul£ mentions it, and says:-" There is the gate of the city at the eastern part of the Temple" (no more in the city wall), "which is called the Golden, Gate. . . ". By the same gate the Lord J esus, co~ing from Bethany on Palm Sunday, entered the city sitting on an ass, the children singing' Hosanna to the son of David!' By that same gate the Emperor Heraclius returned triumphant from Persia, with the Cross of our Lord.'~ Every year twiee, on Palm Sunday and on the .Feast of the Cross, in memory that Heraclius brought the Cross back through this' gate, the pr()cession came from the Mount of Olives and through this gate, the, Patriarch riding on an ass. Hence it was open again, and provided with wooden ,doors, so that on other days it could be locked.l But when the Moslems, in A.D. 1187, again got possession of the Holy City it was ~aned up again, as it is to-day, and Christians could n,o more perforrri. their ceremonies there, but had thento enter the city through the .2 This ceremony was observed until the year 1738, when it was abandoned. So we ·s~e that in all ages this' eastern (or Gold~n) gate was con"': sidered to be the gate through which Jesus entered on Palm, Sunday; the Huld~h Gate is never mentioned.

2. The Huldah Gate, i.e., the present" Double Gate." This gate is situated in the south wall of the Haram es Sherif, or the old Temple wall. It is mentioned by (" Antiq.," 15, 11, 5) and the Talnlud (Middoth, 1,3), where it is called the" two gates of Huldah." Huldah is the name of the weasel,:: so some think these gates were called so, because they are like tunnels-people going in at one end and dis- appearing 'and coming out at the other, just as these animals do; but others, and,the greater p~:rt,think the name is derived from the Proph'etess Hnldah (2 Kings xxii, 14 ;2 Obron. xxxiv, 22), that her tomb was in the neighbourhood of the gate, and so the gate was called after her. For the Talmud says that besides the tombs of the kings, also the tomb of Huldah was inside the city, but no other-in what part of the city we do not know. According to the Scripture texts her house was in the" College," as the English Bible gives it, but others translate, in the" second qua:rter"

Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 of the city. The text nlakes the remark," in Jerusalem." When this word is used for a certain part of the Holy City in respect to another part, it means the town on the western hill, whereas the part on the eastern hill was the Temple, 'with its surroundings,' and Ophel. So I

1 Theodoric!1,.A.D. 1172, says that near the Garden of Gethsemane, where the crowdsmet our Lord with palm branches, tllcre was a high place built up 9£ stoneswhere the Patriarch blessed the palm branches. 2 See Quaresmius and others. (Tobler,~' Golgo~ha," St. Gallen, 1851, p.448,f·) , 3 Levit. xi, 29. HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM? 115

conclude the lodging of the prophetess was on the western and not on the eastern hill, and as nlost likely she was buried at the place where she had lived, her tomb could be in the neighbourhood of the Temple. This is also clear from the fact that the King had to send a deputation to her to ask her advice. If she had lived at, or very close to, the Temple or king's house, things would have been much sinlpler. Her h011semust have been at some considerable distance from the King's house, which latter was close to the Temple; and the double gate (or Huldah Gate) was situatecl at that time in the King's house itself. Besides all this, the · celebrated for a long time the tomb of Huldah on the Mount of Olives, now called Pelagia. All this proves that the tomb of Huldah was after 'the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldreans, and so in the time of the , no longer known, although the gate in question may have been called Huldah Gate for some reason. But all this has no bearing on the question through what gate did .Jesus enter on this solemn occasion 1 The;re was no special reason why He should have used this Huldah Gate. Besides this, there are other objections: coming from Bethany, and intending to go into the Temple, the Golden Gate was~he very one and not any other. To use the Hnldah Gate Jesus had not only to make a very much longer way, but to gQdown the Valley Kidron· as far as the spot where the slope of the Ophel hill was such that a donkey could easily go up. This is in the neighbour-. hood of the Pool of Siloam, about 100 feet deeper than the ground near the Garden of Gethsemane, and so Jesus would have had to descend 100 feet deeper, and instead of only rising about 100 feet at the Garden of Gethsemane, where the ascent is even easier than at any place on the eastern side of Ophel or the , had to rise 200 feet. Besides all this, the idea that Jesus might have used the Huldah Gate is not old but modern. Professor Dr. Sepp is the originator of it, asserting in "Jerusalem und das Pihige Land," Schaffhausen, 1873, vol. i, p. 393, the double or Huldah Gate to be the one the IJord Jesus passed through under the hosanna shouting of Palm Sunday. " For at the Golden Gate the ascent wOllld have been too rugged and bold/ whereas at Ophel it was Sill:ooth and passing the whole street of the town, where the people became aroused" (Matt. xxi, 10). So he asserts, for the first time,in direct opposition to the tradition that the Huldah Gate was the, real one and not the Golden Gate.

Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 The Huldah Gate idea is therefore only 25 years old, whereas the tradition lasted for 1800 years, and will, as is shown above, overcqnle qr outlive the other.

1 If the Emperor Heraclius could perform the task of entering by the Golden Gate, and afterwards, in the Crusading time, the Patriarch do the same,. also riding on an as~, cet'tainly also Jesus could do it, and in a time when Palestine was thoroughly cultivated more than ·it was in later ,times after s~· many disturbances and destructions. n2 116 PREPARATIONS MADE Fon VISIT OF THE GRHMAN

PREPARATIONS 1vIADE BY THE TURKISH AUTHORI- TIES FOR THE VISIT OF THE GERl\fA.N EMPEROR AND E~1.PRESS TO THE HOLY LAND IN" THE AUTU:niN OF 1898.

By DR. CONRAD SCHICK.

1. At Haifa· was made a pier on the seashore for landing at the German Colony, about half a mile west of the city. 2. The road from Haifa to was made so that carriages nlight safely pass; especially the bridges were restored. 3. The carriage road from Jaffa to Jerusalem was repaired, also that from J erusalenl to Bethlehem. 4. From Jerusalem to the telegraph line was prolonged, so that even from Jericho telegrams could be sent to Europe. As the Emperor did not go there this line was not used at all. One day the wire was cut, and in consequence about 30 people were irnprisoned. 5. In' Jerusalem, close to the , a new and wide entrance into the city was made (see Quarterl.1J Statement, January, 1899). 6. In the street going from the J atfa Gate eastward down to Christian Street, and further on to the three-fold Soak (or ]\t[arket), the sheds over the fronts of the shops, consisting of all sorts of things, were taken down, so that the street looked wide and open. The walls were whitewashed, and all wooden things painted. So it was done also in Christian Street and other parts. The private houses, and especially the Convents, did the necessary reparations, whitewashings, and paintings. The same was done at the Gate Tower of the Castle, and also at the Barracks there. Many flagstaffs were put up, on which were placed the Turkish and German flags. I send a photograph and description of what was done at the New Erloserkirche. The city gates were also decorated. 7. Chiefly for the use of the Empress a carriage road was made to the Mount of Olives (see Plan). It begins at the Damascus- Gate, going northward on the main Nftblus road, but a branch was made fronl the Inlperial CanIp, which nlet the same at the so-called TOlllbs of the Kings,

Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 where it crosses the upper part of the , here called "Wady el J-oz." The bridge-like dam which is here was made higher, and on the .northern slope the new road branches off eastward and goes on a kind of shoulder, conlparatively..level to the house of the l\lufti, where it bends northwards. It .crosses the shallow valley by a bridge and then goes ~n a north-easterly and easterly direction up to the top of the mountain, .and on it south-eastwards, and finally southwards to the village et Till', ;so that on the one side. there is a prospect from it of the Kidron "Valley and Jerusalem, and on· the other of the nlany hilltops and the descents to the Jordan Valley, and beyond them 'of the- mountains EMPEROR AND EMPRESS TO THE HOLY LAND. 117

bey,ond the Jordan. To see the village, the Ascension Chapel, the Russian Ground, and Tower, one must walk, and then return by the carriage the'sanle road. For the natives the new road is not of much use, but for the citizens it nlakes a fine drive, affording good air and fine views. In the field north of the village et Ttlr, old foundations of former houses were met with when the road was made, proving that once many more buildings were standing on the top of 1fount Olivet than at present. 8. From the Guard-house near the Hospital of the Municipality on the , about one mile west of the city, to the gate, on botlt ~ides of the road were put flag posts, about 10 metres distant one from the other, and connected with a kind of garland made of branches of trees; further -were put up posts for lanterns on the one and on the other side of the road, just as it was convenient, and about 75 feet. apart. The lamps were burning all night during the Emperor's stay. Such lantern posts were also put along the side road, beginning at the former Austrian Consulate, passing the English Hospital, the German Consulate, the German Hospital, Dr. Schick's house, to the Imperial Camp, and lower down to the main road. 9. Outside the gate of Neby Dattd the road along the city wall was made wider,· and the re::;t made so that one could drive out through the gate of N eby Dattd, and to the place the Emperor took possession of, and if desired return from there to the Jaffa Gate. 10. At Bethlehem a road was made branching off eastward from the Hebron" road for driving up to the Gernlan Evangelical Church and School, and from the. latter through the city down eastward to the Church of the Nativity, for which, in order to get the proper width, a few houses had to be taken down. Further, a new carriage road was made fronl the German Church southward through the vineyard about one mile long to the new German Orphan Home, built recently, from which a road goes also down to meet the Hebron road. 11. Not only all the German residents of Jerusalem, but many others had their houses decorated and with many flags (so, for instance I had on my house about 15 flags, besides smaller decorations). Even many Moslems had put flags on their houses, aud on the night of the day on which the Church was consecrated there was a gen"eral illumination with :fireworks sent by the Sultan, and let off by a Turkish officer opposite the Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 Ern peror's Camp, on the roof of the Rev. A. H. Kelk's house, so that the display could be seen in the whole town and neighbourhood. The fire- works lasted for about two hours. 12. The many beggars were gathered before the arrival of their -1\-Iajesties and sent by escorts to villages some distance from Jerusalem; and it seems that even the dogs, which at night make so much noise, were diminished. 1

1 Another account which has reached the office of the Fund states that

during the Imperial visit" the street dogs were catched and housed in cn,ges! U tIS A NEWLY DISCOVEHED HEBREW AND GREEK INSCRIPTION.

13. At the Haram es Sherif much restoration and oil-painting were done, also many architectural decorations; for instance, the arches over the pillars on the stairs of the platform were plastered over, so that the stones can no more be seen, and then painted fantastically, and so also the front of the Aksa Mosque, which now looks yellow as if gilded and has a ve'ry strange appearance. Other things were done with better taste.

A NEWLY DISCOVERED HEBREW AND GREEK INSCRIPTION, RELATING TO THE BOUNDARY OF' GEZER.l

By Prof. CHARLESCLERl\10N'l'·GANNEAU,LL.D;, lrfentbre de l'Institut, Professeu1' a'u Oollege de FTance.

IT is 'well known that.the town of Gezer has played an important })art in the history of Palestine. It was already in existence before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan; in fact, the Book of Joshua mentions the Canaanitish King of Gezer 'as one of those with wllom the ne,v conquerors. had a quarrel to pick, and. the testimony of the Bible on this point bas been clearly confirmed by the cuneiform tablets discovered at Tell el-Amarna, as well as by the Egyptian records: amongRt others, the stela of Merenptah, the date of which is £xed at about the year 1230 B.C. A sacerdotal town under' Israelitish dominion, the poi~t of inter- section of the boundaries of the territories of' Ephraim, Dan, and Judah, a frontier town in the extreme east of the territory of the Philistines, captured and burnt by one of the Pharaohs of Egypt -Gez;er had been given by this Pharaoh to his daughter as a dowry when she entered the harem of , and the ancient city, originally Cal1aanitish, subsequently Philistine, and finally

Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 22:01 09 April 2016 Je'wish, 'was rebuilt by the Israelitish monarch. During the period of the Maccabees Gezer figures continually in the course of the long struggles carried on by the Jews against the Seleucidre, and becomes one of the, chief bulwarks of the Asrnonooanprinces. LasLly, considerably later, Gezer-which, as I have already shown,2

1 Read at the .Academie des IllscriptiollS et Belles-lettres, at the meeting 6f October 28th, 1898. ~ "Recueil d' .Archeologie Orientale," vol. i, pp. 352-391: ..'If:ont Gisart et Tellel.J ezer.