Forlong - Rivers of Life

182
Rivers of Life, or Faiths of Man in all Lands.
believed that pure water exists here, though the highest point of the hilly range.
The mass above the well—the Yoni or womb, is of course the Umbo or 'Omfij, the oracle
or Pi of Am or Ham—the sun or heat; and the whole, “the Omphalos of the earth.”
Plutarch in his Is. et Osir. 42, tells us that Omphia was an Egyptian deity Eugergetis
'Euergštij, or Benefactress; and we know that anciently all such spots were called
Har-Al-Ompi, which Greeks called for brevity Al-Ompi, or 'Olumpoj; Delphi was such a
place, and called Omphi-El, or umbilicus of the world. Temples built on such
stops were often called Prutaneia or Puratheia, and had a tumulus or high altar
for fire rites, for Siva or the Sun is nothing separated from Agni
I wish my readers very clearly to understand what we have here on this Jerusalem
Omphi—Moriah, or Meroo, now surmounted by what Europeans call the Mpsk of
Omar. The proper name for this fine building is Kabet-Es-Sakra, usually translated
the Dome of the Rock, but which appears to me to have meant originally the Kaber or
Tomb of the rock, or cave, or rocky abyss; for this cave is, I think, here the principal
and most revered object, but the people seeing only a Kabet or dome instead of a
tomb or cave, would cease to call it a Kaber. Under or below the cave floor we have
a “well of spirits” called locally Bir-Aruan, the entrance of which is. shut and
forbidden to all unbelievers. It is thus the ancient Ark or IOna. I extract the following
details from the handbooks of 1872, given to visitors of Mr Wm. Simpson’s beautiful
paintings of “Underground Jerusalem” in the Pall Mall Gallery.
The Sacred Cave under the Sakrah.—“It is thought that this cave extended under the rock beyond
its present dimensions. The wall on the north sounds hollow when struck, which confirms this idea.
There are four stations. The one at the foot of the stair is that of David. It is a Gothic niche of
marble. The Place of Abraham is the square hole in the right. The Place of Solomon is a fragment
of marble on the left, and that of Elias, also called St. George, is the largest structure on the right. The
Hole in the Sacred Rock has a light suspended through it. The circular plate in the floor is the hole
leading down to the Bir Aruan, or “Well of Spirits,” a second cave beneath. The slanting pillar across
the stair was put to preserve the rock (which was supposed to hang in the air) from falling, and causing
accidents. This cave, according to Mr. Fergusson’s theory of the topography of Jerusalem, is the real
Holy Sepulchre; the splendid building above, called the Mosk of Omar, being, according to this theory,
the church built by Constantine.
The Sakrah, or Sacred Rock.—“The so-called Mosk of Omar is called the Kubbet-es-Sakrah, or
Dome of the Rock, because it is built over this holy stone, supposed to have been the threshing-floor of
Araunah the Jebusite, and hence the traditional site of the Temple. According to some theories, the ark
was placed on this rock; according to others, it was the site of the great altar. The Sakrah was described
by Sephronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to Omar, as ‘the rock on which God spake to Jacob; which
Jacob called the Gate of Heaven; the Israelites, the site of the Holy of Holies, which is on the middle of
the earth, and was the holy place of Israel, and is held by them in such veneration that, wherever they
are, they turn their faces towards it when they pray.’ ‘The Franks (Christians) had built an oratory
and altar over the Sakrah itself, and filled it with images and idols;’ these Saladin removed, and re-
stored it to its original condition as a mosk. The Christians are also said to have cut off portions of
the Sakrah, and sold them in Sicily and Constantinople for their weight in gold.’ In the present day the
traditions respecting this wonderful rock are principally Mahomedan. Moslems believe that it is ‘the
centre of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection the angel Israfel will stand upon it to blow the last
trumpet. It is also eighteen miles nearer heaven than any other place in the world: and beneath it, is
the source of every drop of sweet water that flows on the face of the earth, that is of all female energies.
It is supposed to be suspended miraculously between heaven and earth. They believe that it came from