The Mount of Olives was situated to the east of Jerusalem, and
divided from the city only by the brook Kidron, and by the valley of
Jehoshaphat, which stretches out from the north to the south. It was
upon this mount that Solomon built temples to the gods of the Ammonites,
1 Kings xi, 7, and the Moabites, out of complaisance to his wives of
those nations. Hence it is that the Mount of Olives is called the
mountain of corruption, 2 Kings xxiii, 13. The Mount of Olives forms
part of a ridge of limestone hills, extending to the north and the south
west. Pococke describes it as having four summits. On the lowest and
most northerly of these, which, he tells us, is called Sulman Tashy, the
stone of Solomon, there is a large domed sepulchre, and several other
Mohammedan tombs. The ascent to this point, which is to the north-east
of the city, he describes as very gradual, through pleasant corn fields,
planted with olive trees. The second summit is that which overlooks the
city: the path to it rises from the ruined gardens of Gethsemane, which
occupy part of the valley. About half way up the ascent is a ruined
monastery, built, as the monks tell us, on the spot where our Saviour
wept over Jerusalem. From this point, the spectator enjoys, perhaps, the
best view of the holy city. On reaching the summit, an extensive view is
obtained toward the east, embracing the fertile plain of Jericho,
watered by the Jordan, and the Dead Sea, enclosed by mountains of
considerable grandeur. Here there is a small village, surrounded by some
tolerable corn land. This summit is not relatively high, and would more
properly be termed a hill than a mountain: it is not above two miles
distant from Jerusalem. At a short distance from the summit is shown the
supposed print of our Saviour’s left foot; Chateaubriand says the mark
of the right was once visible, and Bernard de Breidenbach saw it in
1483! This is the spot fixed upon by the mother of Constantine, as that
from which our Lord ascended, and over which she accordingly erected a
church and monastery, the ruins of which still remain. Pococke describes
the building which was standing in his time, as a small Gothic chapel,
round within, and octagonal without, and tells us that it was converted
into a mosque. The Turks, for a stipulated sum, permit the Christian
pilgrims to take an impression of the foot print in wax or plaster, to
carry home. Twice,” says Dr. Richardson, I visited this memorable spot;
and each time it was crowded with devout pilgrims, taking casts of the
holy vestige. They had to purchase permission of the Turks; but, had it
not been in the possession of the Turks, they would have had to purchase
it from the more mercenary and not less merciless Romans or Greeks.” On
ascension eve, the Christians come and encamp in the court, and that
night they perform the offices of the ascension. Here, however, as with
regard to Calvary and almost all the supposed sacred places,
superstition has blindly followed the blind. That this is not the place
of the ascension, is certain from the words of St. Luke, who says that
our Lord led out his disciples as far as Bethany, and lifted up his
hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he
was parted from them, and carried up to heaven,” Acts i. Bethany is a
small village to the east of the Mount of Olives, on the road to
Jericho, not farther from Jerusalem than the pinnacle of the hill. There
are two roads to it; one passes over the Mount of Olives; the other,
which is the shorter and easier, winds round the eastern end, having the
greater part of the hill on the north or left hand, and on the right the
elevation called by some writers the Mount of Offence, which is,
however, very little above the valley of Jehoshaphat. The village of
Bethany is small and poor, and the cultivation of the soil is much
neglected; but it is a pleasant and somewhat romantic spot, sheltered by
Mount Olivet on the north, and abounding with trees and long grass. The
inhabitants are Arabs.
The olive is still found growing in patches at the foot of the mount to
which it gives its name; and as a spontaneous produce, uninterruptedly
resulting from the original growth of this part of the mountain, it is
impossible,” says Dr. E. D. Clarke, to view even these trees with
indifference.” Titus cut down all the wood in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem; but there would seem to have been constantly springing up a
succession of these hardy trees. It is truly a curious and interesting
fact,” adds the learned traveller, that, during a period of little more
than two thousand years, Hebrews, Assyrians, Romans, Moslems, and
Christians, have been successively in possession of the rocky mountains
of Palestine; yet, the olive still vindicates its paternal soil, and is
found, at this day, upon the same spot which was called by the Hebrew
writers Mount Olivet and the Mount of Olives, eleven centuries before
the Christian era,” 2 Sam. xv, 30; Zech. xiv, 4.
divided from the city only by the brook Kidron, and by the valley of
Jehoshaphat, which stretches out from the north to the south. It was
upon this mount that Solomon built temples to the gods of the Ammonites,
1 Kings xi, 7, and the Moabites, out of complaisance to his wives of
those nations. Hence it is that the Mount of Olives is called the
mountain of corruption, 2 Kings xxiii, 13. The Mount of Olives forms
part of a ridge of limestone hills, extending to the north and the south
west. Pococke describes it as having four summits. On the lowest and
most northerly of these, which, he tells us, is called Sulman Tashy, the
stone of Solomon, there is a large domed sepulchre, and several other
Mohammedan tombs. The ascent to this point, which is to the north-east
of the city, he describes as very gradual, through pleasant corn fields,
planted with olive trees. The second summit is that which overlooks the
city: the path to it rises from the ruined gardens of Gethsemane, which
occupy part of the valley. About half way up the ascent is a ruined
monastery, built, as the monks tell us, on the spot where our Saviour
wept over Jerusalem. From this point, the spectator enjoys, perhaps, the
best view of the holy city. On reaching the summit, an extensive view is
obtained toward the east, embracing the fertile plain of Jericho,
watered by the Jordan, and the Dead Sea, enclosed by mountains of
considerable grandeur. Here there is a small village, surrounded by some
tolerable corn land. This summit is not relatively high, and would more
properly be termed a hill than a mountain: it is not above two miles
distant from Jerusalem. At a short distance from the summit is shown the
supposed print of our Saviour’s left foot; Chateaubriand says the mark
of the right was once visible, and Bernard de Breidenbach saw it in
1483! This is the spot fixed upon by the mother of Constantine, as that
from which our Lord ascended, and over which she accordingly erected a
church and monastery, the ruins of which still remain. Pococke describes
the building which was standing in his time, as a small Gothic chapel,
round within, and octagonal without, and tells us that it was converted
into a mosque. The Turks, for a stipulated sum, permit the Christian
pilgrims to take an impression of the foot print in wax or plaster, to
carry home. Twice,” says Dr. Richardson, I visited this memorable spot;
and each time it was crowded with devout pilgrims, taking casts of the
holy vestige. They had to purchase permission of the Turks; but, had it
not been in the possession of the Turks, they would have had to purchase
it from the more mercenary and not less merciless Romans or Greeks.” On
ascension eve, the Christians come and encamp in the court, and that
night they perform the offices of the ascension. Here, however, as with
regard to Calvary and almost all the supposed sacred places,
superstition has blindly followed the blind. That this is not the place
of the ascension, is certain from the words of St. Luke, who says that
our Lord led out his disciples as far as Bethany, and lifted up his
hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he
was parted from them, and carried up to heaven,” Acts i. Bethany is a
small village to the east of the Mount of Olives, on the road to
Jericho, not farther from Jerusalem than the pinnacle of the hill. There
are two roads to it; one passes over the Mount of Olives; the other,
which is the shorter and easier, winds round the eastern end, having the
greater part of the hill on the north or left hand, and on the right the
elevation called by some writers the Mount of Offence, which is,
however, very little above the valley of Jehoshaphat. The village of
Bethany is small and poor, and the cultivation of the soil is much
neglected; but it is a pleasant and somewhat romantic spot, sheltered by
Mount Olivet on the north, and abounding with trees and long grass. The
inhabitants are Arabs.
The olive is still found growing in patches at the foot of the mount to
which it gives its name; and as a spontaneous produce, uninterruptedly
resulting from the original growth of this part of the mountain, it is
impossible,” says Dr. E. D. Clarke, to view even these trees with
indifference.” Titus cut down all the wood in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem; but there would seem to have been constantly springing up a
succession of these hardy trees. It is truly a curious and interesting
fact,” adds the learned traveller, that, during a period of little more
than two thousand years, Hebrews, Assyrians, Romans, Moslems, and
Christians, have been successively in possession of the rocky mountains
of Palestine; yet, the olive still vindicates its paternal soil, and is
found, at this day, upon the same spot which was called by the Hebrew
writers Mount Olivet and the Mount of Olives, eleven centuries before
the Christian era,” 2 Sam. xv, 30; Zech. xiv, 4.