Note 65 — Chapter XVIII

Jos. Ant. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. Ib. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 15. Ib. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 1. The height of these walls must strike the reader as almost beyond belief; and I confess that I hesitated about repeating them from the Jewish historian, till I came to reflect on the size of similar structures in other eastern cities. The walls of Nineveh are reported on good authority to have been 100 feet in height, and to have been strengthened by 1500 towers 200 feet in elevation. The height of the temple of Belus, at Babylon, formed altogether of bricks, is computed by Major Rennel at 500 feet, and by Prideaux at 600; its ruins still form a mound 200 feet in height. The royal palace in the same city was nearly as large as the temple; and the ruins of a castle are still seen 140 feet in height, and half a mile in circuit. The walls of this city were 34 miles in circuit—according to some writers 60; and were broad enough for six chariots to drive abreast upon them; and appear to have been originally 300, or 350 feet in height; having been reduced from this to 75 feet by Darius Hystaspes in order to check the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants.

The Egyptian pyramids still afford us a proof of the colossal nature of such undertakings in ancient times. The largest two of these, as has been already stated in this work, being 470 and 456 feet high, by 704 and 654 on each side.

When we reflect on the sacred character of Jerusalem in the eyes of all the Jews; how deeply the temple worship was wrought into all their systems, both civil and religious; how earnest their zeal, how entire their devotedness as regards this structure—we are prepared for something extraordinary.

Josephus computes the number of “pure” persons who came up yearly to the feast of the Passover at about 3,000,000. (De Bel. lib. 11. cap. 14. § 3. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.) The vanity of the historian may have led him to some exaggeration, but still the number was prodigiously great. Many of these brought rich presents to the temple, and all were ready to contribute their labor as well as means whenever called upon. Agrippa, at one time, had 18,000 men employed in repairing the Temple. (Jos. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. ix. § 7.) Solomon employed 80,000 men to cut stone; 70,000 to transport the materials, and 10,000 men constantly on Mount Lebanon to cut wood for the Temple, and was seven years in completing it.

The space comprehended by these lofty walls was not entirely filled with earth, a large portion being occupied with vaults and subterranean passages. Their extent and the subsequent violence will account for the complete abrasion of this mountain. See Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iii. § 1. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. ii. § 7.