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20 September 1879 — Jerusalem | |
Saturday. 20th September [1879]. The first thing after breakfast we went off to see the Mosque of Omar the most holy a Musulman site after Mecca & which is built on the site of the Temple of the Jews. We were met by the chief mullah and all the dignitaries of the mosque—& taken round to see it first putting on slippers over our boots. The chief mullah was a kind intelligent old gentleman & very polite to us. Certainly the mosque is one of the most beautiful & striking edifices I ever saw. It is built round the bare rock, wh is supposed to be the one Mahomet rode to heaven on—& wh he bade return to its place. There are the most beautiful marble columns, & ornaments—some gilt—some plain—the windows are a kind of plaster arabesque with tiny bits of coloured glass lit in– The outside of the building is lined with curious old coloured tiles & there are beautiful fountains & old cypresses & the simplicity of the design of the architecture is most impressive. We were looking about when the old mullah begged Henry to observe that there was not a proper chandelier and said that their old one had fallen down & got broken to pieces & he asked him to get the Sultan to send him another—also he said that he was waiting for some tiles to repair the outside wh were to come from Consple. Henry promised to see about it. We went into another mosque in the same enclosure wh had once been a Christian Church & then across the great platform to what is called Solomon’s stables—a kind of reservoir of very fine arches under the platform. We went to see what is called the Beautiful Gate of the temple—a most remarkable & interesting piece of masonry. One could see the carved moulding of the interior of the archway and even the stones where the socket of the Gates had turned. We left this part of Jerusalem with the greatest regret as it is so interesting & we went [to] the Greek Convent where we took the usual refreshments & then went on to [the] English hospital & schools & then to the Armenian Convent where we were received by the Patriarch and had more refreshments and then we went along the roof of the convent to a photographic studio where one of the priests took Henry’s photo & then a group of Henry, me, Mr Nicholson, Sir Alfred, Alice, Mr Moore & Mr Salami & then we examined the convent & church & saw some of the valuable MSS with their splendid bindings set with precious stones & then returned to the hotel to lunch. Directly after lunch we drove in 2 carriages out to Bethlehem. The road was a very primitive one but had been repaired on purpose for us & there were even still people at work at it as we passed. The views were bleak & the hills bare & the only fertile place was a village where there was a Greek convent in wh the Moores had rooms & were then living. We did not stop but went on– We passed the Tomb of Rachel—an old tomb wh might have been hers & we soon had a view of Bethlehem on the side of the hill; as we got near the place we found that all the population had turned out to meet us—& there were some most strikingly picturesque costumes & wonderfully handsome women. The men were in the streets—the women looked from their windows or housetops. The men wore the turban & the women wear a most picturesque dress of dark blue with a veil over the head—& the dress is embroidered in front with red—they wore on their heads & hanging down to their chins strings of coins– In fact the dress reminds one of the blue veiled & robed Madonna of the old Italian pictures & the type is so much the same that almost anyone of the women might have been the model who had sat to Titian Raphael or any great master– The crowd followed us as we went along (we had a Turkish escort) & when we reached the square before the church of the nativity we found it full. At the gates of the church we were met by the high priests of all denominations & even the Latins had spurred up for the occasion. In the church itself we found a guard of Musulman soldiers who are constantly kept there to prevent any quarrels between the Christians. It was a very humiliating sight. The church was a fine old early Christian Roman with some remains of mosaics. The heads of all the sects came out to meet us & the Greeks took us at once to the Holy Manger & birthplace & presented us with some shell carved representations of the event wh lay ready blessed on the spot for us. It was in a kind of cave & we were told that it was the scene of many of the worst fights between the priests. The Latin monks pointed out with great unction that the hangings were of a kind of wood tapestry hung up by the French. It appears the stuff hangings had invariably been burned & in the scuffles as to who had the right of decorating the cave. In there we went to some Latin chapels & the monk who led us & showed it all invited Henry to turn into the parlour close by & rest a moment. All unsuspicious Henry was on the point of doing this when Mr Moore rushed up & said that the Greeks were to have the honor of the first visit & that knowing this, the monk had laid a trap for Henry & even on the very threshhold Henry had to turn back & went & partook of coffee—syrup & liqueur with the Greeks. From thence we went to the Latins & after the same refreshments we went to the Armenians—very nearly ill from all the sweet stuffs we had been obliged to swallow. We then left the church & returned to the crowded square & streets & drove off amongst the salutes of the population—some pouring coffee under our feet—some offering their work for sale & some frantically thrusting petitions into the carriage; on our way back to Jerusalem we stopped at the Greek convent of where the bell was jangling to & fro to greet us & we climbed to the top of the edifice to pay Mrs Moore a visit as she & her family are spending the hot months there during the superiors absence. They gave us tea & then we set off taking Mrs & Miss Moore with us to the town & we got home just about sunset. We had to hurry our dressing & then set off on horse & donkey back to dine with the Governor. We had men with lanterns & cavasses to accompany us & we got safely thro’ the dark illpaved & deserted streets. We were received with music, fireworks & illuminations. We were a small party only the Moores, ourselves & the Pasha’s dragoman. The dinner was dull & bad. We found the soup already put for us when we went in to dinner and our plates overflowing. As we were forced to leave half of it the inexperienced waiters stood waiting not venturing to remove the plates. When the Pasha had to take me in to dinner he was evidently at a loss how to do it & made a dash at my arm instead of offering me his—so I clutched at his arm & carried him off in triumph. After dinner the young people went off to help fire off the rockets on the roof while the gentlemen smoked their nargilehs. Abt 12 we went back to the hotel in the same procession as we came in glad to get to bed. | |
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