'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎497] (586/905)

CHAP. XX.]
REMARKABLE BUILDINGS.
497
and, lastly, the eastern side runs almost north and south
along the valley of Jehoshaphat, having in the centre the
gate of St. Stephen : just southward of the latter, rising above
the walls, is Mount Moriah, whose buildings are the fore
ground and principal part of the panorama. The quadrangular
terrace on which they stand occupies about one-fifth of the
area of the city, being about 500 yards from north to south,
with an average width of nearly 300 yards from east to west.
Almost in the centre are the graceful minarehs of the mosque
of Omar, which, with its arcades, courts, and innermost
enclosure, almost rivals the great and costly edifice of Solomon,
which it has replaced.
The body of the Kubbet es Sukhrah, or Dome of the Rock, Dome of the
is octagonal, very spacious, and of Arabian architecture; its Rock ■
eight sides being much ornamented with bright coloured
porcelain and rich fret-work, and it is surmounted by a
spacious cupola. Beneath the latter is the celebrated Hadjar,
the concealed stone of the Muslims, who designate the whole
enclosure El Harim (the holy) ; also El Harim esh Sherif,
(the noble sanctuary).
On the same terrace, a little way southward, there is another The Mesjid-ei
but inferior building, designated, par excellence, the Mesjid- Aksa '
el-Aksa, 1 which has a portico of seven arches, with a glittering
arabesque cupola, and is supposed to occupy the site of a very
ancient place of worship. The extensive crypts and gateway
below this building are undoubtedly ancient, and the arches
apparently Roman, probably of the age of Herod. 2
Extending from Mount Moriah towards the northern and
north-western walls, is the second and inferior quarter of the
town, which, with its gardens and olive groves, covers the
hill of Bezetha.
Akra, the third and most extensive division, touches the 'Akra.
preceding quarters on their western sides, and has in its
centre the three domes of the Holy Sepulchre; a little way
from thence are the Greek, Syriac, and Coptic convents, and
1 Ordinarily this means a mosque, with all its enclosures.
s Mrs. Bonomi; see Hogg's visit to Alexandria, p. 282, &c.
VOL. I. 3 s