List of Contributors to Volume XI. REV. PROFESSOR B. W. BACON, D.D. REV. PROFESSOR VERNON BARTLET, M.A. REV. PROFESSOR W. H. BENNETT, D.D., LITT.D. VERY REV. PROFESSOR J. H. BERNARD, D.D. THE EXPOSITOR. EDITED BY THE REV. W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D. SIXTH SERIES Volume XI London: HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MCMV. SION: THE CITY OF DAVID. 1 City, and just These reasons IN previous papers under this title reasons were given for the opinion now prevailing with the majority of scholars that the Jebusite fortress of Jerusalem lay upon the eastern of the two hills which form the site of the above the spring called the Virgin's Well. were derived from the topography. The western ridge, though higher than its fellow, is not so suitable for the site of a hill fort, and lies besides at an inconvenient distance from the only sources of water known to us to have existed in ancient times. It is true that the frequent disturbance of the district by earthquakes, as well as the manifold deposits of débris left by a score of sieges upon the original surface prevent us from excluding from the data of our argument the possibility of there having been formerly other vents for the underground waters which now issue in the Kidron Valley. But we have at least evidence which identifies the present Virgin's Well with the Old Testament Giḥon, and proves that Gihon was already a sacred, and therefore an ancient, fountain before 1000 B.C. The ridge immediately above this spring is more suitable for a small hill-fort than the western ridge. Narrow as it is and overlooked from the north, it has been accepted by military authorities of our own day3 as a sufficient site for the Jebusite stronghold. |