we entered the inclosure, and came up on the east front of the Dome of the Rock, probably so named from the fact that the dome of this structure stands over an exposed portion of the natural rock, fifty-seven feet long, forty-three feet wide, and rising a few feet above the floor.  After putting some big slippers on over our shoes, we entered the building and saw this great rock, which tradition says is the threshing floor of Araunah, and the spot where Melchizedek sacrificed.  It is also the traditional place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac, and it is believed that David built an altar here after the angel of destruction had put up his sword.  It is furthermore supposed that the great altar of burnt offerings stood on this rock in the days of Solomon’s Temple, which is thought to have been located just west of it.  This is the probable location of Zerubbabel’s Temple, and the one enlarged and beautified by Herod, which was standing when Jesus was on earth, and continued to stand until the awful destruction of the city by the Roman army in A.D. 70.

The modern visitor to this fine structure would have no thought of the ancient temple of God if he depended upon what he sees here to suggest it.  All trace of that house has disappeared.  The Dome of the Rock, said to be “the most beautiful piece of architecture in Jerusalem,” belongs to the Turks.  It has eight sides, each about sixty-six and a half feet long, and is partly covered with marble, but it is, to some extent, in a state of decay.  Between the destruction of the temple and the erection of this building a heathen temple and a church had been built on the spot.

The Mosque El Aksa was also visited, but it is noted more for its size than the beauty of its architecture.  The Turkish Governor of Palestine comes here every Friday to worship at the time the Sultan is engaged in like manner in Constantinople.  Solomon’s Stables next engaged our attention.  We crossed the Temple Area to the wall on the southeastern border, and went down a stairway to these underground chambers, which were made by building about a hundred columns and arching them over and laying a pavement on the top, thereby bringing it up on a level with the rest of the hill.  The vaults are two hundred and seventy-three feet long, one hundred and ninety-eight feet wide, and about thirty feet high.  They were not made for stables, but were used for that purpose in the middle ages, and the holes through the corners of the square stone columns show where the horses were tied.  A large portion of these chambers has been made into a cistern or reservoir.