between them in the valley lies the city of Shechem.

From the latter place it is a distance of four parasangs to Mount
Gilboa, which the Christians call Mont Gilboa; it lies in a very
parched district. And from there it is five[75] ..., a village where
there are no Jews. Thence it is two parasangs to the valley of
Ajalon[76], which the Christians call Val-de-Luna. At a distance of
one parasang is Mahomerie-le-Grand, which is Gibeon the Great; it
contains no Jews.

From there it is three parasangs to Jerusalem, which is a small city,
fortified by three walls. It is full of people whom the Mohammedans
call Jacobites, Syrians, Greeks, Georgians and Franks, and of people
of all tongues.

[p.35]

It contains a dyeing-house, for which the Jews pay a small rent
annually to the king[77], on condition that besides the Jews no other
dyers be allowed in Jerusalem. There are about 200 Jews who dwell
under the Tower of David in one corner of the city[78]. The lower
portion of the wall of the Tower of David, to the extent of about ten
cubits, is part of the ancient foundation set up by our ancestors, the
remaining portion having been built by the Mohammedans. There is no
structure in the whole city stronger than the Tower of David. The city
also contains two buildings, from one of which--the hospital--there
issue forth four hundred knights; and therein all the sick who come
thither are lodged and cared for in life and in death[79]. The other
building is called the Temple of Solomon; it is the palace built by
Solomon the king of Israel. Three hundred knights are quartered there,
and issue therefrom every day for military exercise, besides those who
come from the land of the Franks and the other parts of Christendom,
having taken upon themselves to serve there a year or two until their
vow is fulfilled. In Jerusalem is the great church called the
Sepulchre, and here is the burial-place of Jesus, unto which the
Christians make pilgrimages.

[p.36]

Jerusalem[80] has four gates--the gate of Abraham, the gate of David,
the gate of Zion, and the gate of Gushpat, which is the gate of
Jehoshaphat, facing our ancient Temple, now called Templum Domini.
Upon the site of the sanctuary Omar ben al Khataab erected an edifice
with a very large and magnificent cupola, into which the Gentiles do
not bring any image or effigy, but they merely come there to pray. In
front of this place is the western wall, which is one of the walls of
the Hol