Ezekiah's Pool (Wilson et al. 1881, I.13)

Rose early ― no sleep ― unwell. Set off at 6. Mahomed: & vast green bright plain. Gray lines of Pilgrims ― Sicily. 3½ hours of good roads ― then rocky, & continually worsening. Hard work for bad horse. Short stay for Lunch. ― On Abοu Gosh1 ― always ascending ― very rough stone roads ― valley ― ascent ― great & steep descent; ― then village of Kolonieh2 ― & thence a long & very heavy pull to the top of a great height ― whence a long road at summit ― ending in a view of the west side of Jerusalem on the same plane ― & not with a great hollow between me & it, as I expected. Entrance street crammed with crowds ― & it was very difficult to reach the Haisser’s Hotel: once there, more so to get rooms. At last I took one looking into Hezekiah’s pool. Tried afterwards to find the Holy Sepulchre church, but failed: so went with Giorgio past the English Church ― & out of the Neby Daoud3 gate ― & down the walls as far as the closed  Dung gate ―: there ― the sun was just setting, & I remembered the gates were shut then ― so we had to run back ― & got in time. Dinner at the table d’hôte.

[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]

  1. A “picturesque village” at the head of the valley of the same name with a Christian church. Patterson, James Laird. Journal of a Tour in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Greece. London: C. Dolman, 1852, 188. [↩]
  2. “The village of Kolonieh, which lies about two miles north of Ain Karim, is reached through a charming valley sprinkled with olives, the gift of springs flowing from the hill-sides. It has been thought by some to be the Emmaus of the New Testament.” Geikie, Cunningham. The Holy Land and the Bible. A Book of Scripture Illustrations Gathered in Palestine. London: Cassell & Company, 1887, vol. 2, 150. [↩]
  3. A block of houses outside the Zion Gate. Hanauer, J. E. Walks About Jerusalem. [London]: London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, 1910, 4. [↩]