Travels in Palestine, through the countries of Bashan and Cilead, east of the River Jordan; including a visit to the cities of Geraza and Gamala, in the Decapolis . OMON. W^E left Bethleliem about ten oclock, and di-recting our course still to the southward, inclin-ing easterly, through a stony valley, and overthe barest and most rugged hills, we came, inabout an hour, to the large reservoirs, which arecalled the Cisterns of Solomon. It is thoughtthat these pools were the work of that king, andthat they are the places alluded to by him, whenhe says, * I made me great works : I builded mehouses
Travels in Palestine, through the countries of Bashan and Cilead, east of the River Jordan; including a visit to the cities of Geraza and Gamala, in the Decapolis . OMON. W^E left Bethleliem about ten oclock, and di-recting our course still to the southward, inclin-ing easterly, through a stony valley, and overthe barest and most rugged hills, we came, inabout an hour, to the large reservoirs, which arecalled the Cisterns of Solomon. It is thoughtthat these pools were the work of that king, andthat they are the places alluded to by him, whenhe says, * I made me great works : I builded mehouses : I planted me vineyards: I made megardens and orchards, and I planted trees inthem of all kinds of fruits: I made me pools ofwater to water therewith the wood that bringethforth trees. Maundrells description of them is so accurate,that nothing can be added to it. They are seatedin a valley, and are three in number, each occu-pying a different level, and placed in a right linewith each other, so that the waters of the onemay descend into the next below it. Their figureis quadrangular ; the first, or southern one being VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 349. 350 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. about three hundred feet long, the second fourhundred, and the third five hundred, the breadthof each being about two hundred feet. Theyare all lined with masonry, and descended to bynarrow flights of steps at one of the corners ; thewhole depth when empty, not exceeding twentyor thirty feet. They were, at the present mo-ment, all dry ; but though they may be consi-dered useful works in so barren and destitute acountry as Judea, yet they are hardly to be reck-oned among the splendid monuments of a luxu-rious sovereign*s wealth or power, since thereare many of the Hindoo tanks in Bombay, theworks of private individuals, in a mere commer-cial settlement, which are much more elegant intheir design, and more expensive in their con-struction than any of these. Near these reservoirs there are
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