Skyline Jerusalem [antikvár]

And from there to Jerusalem, a small, fortified town nesting behind three walls, with a large number of people -Ishmaelites. Jacobites, Armenians, Georgians and Franks - speaking every foreign tongue. The dyeing concession is bought each year by the Jews from the king, so that no person in the town except the Jews may engage in dyeing. There are about two hundred Jews, who live beneath David's Tower at the edge of the town. Inside the wall of David s Tower is a building whose foundation extends about ten cubits, this being part of an ancient building which our forefathers built, while the rest was built by the Ishmaelites. There is no stronger place in the entire town than David's Tower.There are two buildings there, the first being le Hospital, which is both an inn and a hospital, from which four hundred horsemen ride out. This is where all the sick people come. There they are supplied with all that they need, both while alive and after death.The second building is referred to as "Solomon's Temple," that being the palace which King Solomon - peace be upon him - constructed. That is where the horsemen dwell, and each day three hundred of them emerge to wage battle, excluding the horsemen who hail from France and from Edom. These have all taken a vow to remain there for a year or for a number of years, until the end of the period of their vows.There one also finds the Great Church, where lies buried that man whose grave all the erring Christians visit.There are four gates in Jerusalem: Abraham's Gate. David's Gate. Zion Gate, and Jehoshaphat's Gate, the latter opposite where the Temple used to be in ancient times. Omar ibn el-Khattab built a large and most magnificent dome upon that site. The Gentiles do not bring any statue or likeness into it. but merely come to recite their prayers there. Before it stands the Western Wall, one of the walls which used to be in the Holy of Holies, and it is known as the Gate of Mercy. The Jews all come to pray in the courtyard before the Wall.In Jerusalem, in Solomon's House, is the horse stable which he built, a very strong building constructed of large rocks. There is no other building to compare with it In the entire country. To this day one can see there the pool where the priests would offer their sacrifices. Those who come there from Judea write their names on the wall. When one leaves Jehoshaphat's Gate to enter the Valley of Jehoshaphat, he is already in the desert. There one finds Yad Avshalom - the memorial to Avshalom - and the grave of King Uzziah. There is also a large spring there, with the waters of the Shilo'ah in Nahal Kidron. Above the spring is a building from the days of our forefathers, but there is very little water in the spring. As to the people of Jerusalem, most drink rainwater which they keep in barrels in their homes. One ascends from the Valley of Jehoshaphat to the Mount of Olives, for Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives are both but one valley. From the Mount of Olives one can see the Sea of Sodom. From the Sea of Sodom is a distance of two parsangs (i.e about eight miles - trans.) to the Pillar of Salt, which was Lot's wife. The cattle lick at it. but it is always restored to what it was. Before Jerusalem lie three Jewish cemeteries, where they would bury their dead in those days. Each tombstone had a date on it. but the Edomites destroyed the graves and built homes from the tombstones.BENJAMIN OF TUDELA, SEFER HAMASA'OT (Itinerary) (1170)