hills which extend through the whole the upper plateau from which they country from the plain of Esdraelon commenced their descent. Thus, to the desert. Every wanderer, every while on the north there is no mateconqueror, every traveller who has rial difference between the general trod the central route of Palestine level of the country outside the walls, from N. to S. must have passed and that of the highest parts of the through the table-land of Jerusalem. city, on the other three sides, so steep It was the water-shed between the is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like streams, or, rather, the torrent beds, their character, and so close do they which find their way eastward to the keep to the promontory at whose feet Jordan, and those which pass west- they run, as to leave on the beholder ward to the Mediterranean" (Stan- almost the impression of the ditch at ley, S. & P. 176). This central po. the foot of a fortress, rather than of sition, as expressed in the words of valleys formed by nature. Ezekiel (v. 5), "I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the nations and countries round about her," led in later ages to a definite belief that the city was actually in the centre of the earth -in the words of Jerome, "umbilicus terræ," the central boss or navel of the world.

The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to north, rising gradually from the south like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, and dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that

To convey an idea of the position on the west is the higher and more of Jerusalem, we may say roughly, massive—the Mount Zion of modern and with reference to the accompany-tradition. It was the citadel of the

fortress of Zion,

ing plan, that the city occupies the Jebusites, and the southern termination of a table-land, which David built. The hill on the which is cut off from the country east is considerably lower and smallround it on its west, south, and east er, so that, to a spectator from the sides, by ravines more than usually south, the city appears to slope sharpdeep and precipitous. These ravines ly toward the east. Here was the leave the level of the table-land, the lower city of the Jebusites, Mount one on the west and the other on the Moriah, the "Akra," or "lower city," north-east of the city, and fall rapid- of Josephus, now occupied by the ly until they form a junction below great Mohammedan sanctuary, with its south-east corner. The eastern its mosques and domes. This central one-the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, runs nearly straight from north to south. But the western one-the Valley of Hinnom-runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the Valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent, may be gath-New-town. ered from the fact that the level at the is still preserved in the large reservoir point of junction-about a mile and a with two arches, usually called the quarter from the starting-point of each Pool of Bethesda, near the St. Ste --is more than 600 feet below that of phen's Gate.

valley, at about half-way up its length, threw out a subordinate on its left or west side, the "Tyropœon Valley " of Josephus.

One more valley must be noted. It was on the north of Moriah, and separated it from a hill on which, in the time of Josephus, stood a suburb or part of the city called Bezetha, or the Part of this depression

Mount Zion.

Plan of Jerusalem.

2. Moriah. 3. The Temple. 4. Antonia. 5. Probable site of Golgotha. 6. Ophel. 7. Bezetha. 8. Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 9. 10. The Upper and Lower Pools of Gihon. 11. Enrogel. 12. Pool of Hezekiah. 13. Fountain of the Virgin. 14. Siloam. 15. Bethesda. 16. Mount of Olives.

17. Gethsemane.

§ 1. Character of Solomon's reign. § 2. His marriage with Pharaoh's daughter-Alliance with Hiram-The High Places retained-God appears to him at Gibeon-His choice of wisdom-The Judgment of Solomon. §3. Solomon's court and revenues-His personal qualitiesHis knowledge, writings, and conversation-The Proverbs. § 4. Building of the Temple-Arrangements with King Hiram-Materials for the house-Hiram the architect. § 5. Description of the edifice. § 6. Dedication of the Temple-The prayer of Solomon. § 7. Completion of Solomon's buildings-God's second appearance to him. § 8. His works in the provinces-Conquest of Hamath-Building of TadmorSolomon's commercial enterprises-Voyages to Tharshish and OphirHis works in gold, ivory, etc. § 9. Visits of foreign kings-The Queen of Sheba. § 10. Solomon's declension-His tyrannical government and idolatries. § 11. Troubles from Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam-Prophecy of Ahijah. § 12. Last days of Solomon-Book of EcclesiastesDeath and burial of Solomon-Records of his reign.

§ 1. THE epoch of Solomon's reign marks the climax of the Hebrew monarchy, and, according to the usual law of human

greatness, the beginning of its decline. Starting from the vantage-ground on which the kingdom had been placed by the conquests of David, through the favor of Jehovah, he preserved its ascendency by a wisdom which has become proverbial, and prepared its downfall by his luxury and arrogance. Having achieved the greatest work done by any ruler of Israel since Moses, the building of the house of God upon Mount Moriah, and the settlement of His worship, he left to after times the name of

"That uxorious king, whose heart, though large, Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell

To idols foul."

The author and compiler of the richest maxims of wisdom in the literature of the world, he so used up the resources of intellectual as well as sensual pleasure, as to end with the confession "Vanity of vanities! All is emptiness and vexation of spirit!"

The life of Solomon presents a striking contrast to his father's in its uneventful character. His great work was the building of the HOUSE OF GOD, commonly called the Temple,' at Jerusalem. The rest of the history of his reign is chiefly occupied with the description of his magnificence and wealth, as the sovereign of what was then the greatest monarchy of Western Asia.

We have already related his birth as the son of Bathsheba, his proclamation as king at the time of the rebellion of Adonijah, his second and more solemn anointing at the last assembly held by David, and the measures of severity forced upon him by the new conspiracy of Joab and Abiathar with Adonijah after his father's death, as well as the punishment of Shimei, though this was full three years after his accession. We now return to the narrative of his reign.

2

§ 2. The date of Solomon's accession as sole king can be fixed with precision to the year 1015 B.C. Jewish tradition makes him eighteen years old at this epoch, which agrees with the date of the Scripture narrative. He reigned forty years, or, more precisely, thirty-nine years and a half, the sum of his own and his father's reign being eighty years.

1 The distinction here implied is not merely one of words; for the use of the name borrowed from heathen antiquity tends to conceal the fact, which is made prominent in the scrip-| tural phrase, that the edifice was the

chosen abode of Jehovah in the midst of his chosen people. Thus St. Stephen says, "But Solomon built him an house" (Acts vii. 47).

2 See note to chap. iii. On Scripture Chronology. B.C. 1015-975.