What Did Jerusalem Look Like 150 Years Ago? American Author Mark Twain Tells Us

In 1867, the American humorist author Mark Twain boarded the cruise ship 'Quaker City' on his way to the Holy Land. This was the first organized cruise of American tourists across the Atlantic Ocean, and Twain joined a large group of Americans, most of them devoted Christians, eager to see the land of the Bible. Twain, who wasn't particularly religious, joined the trip out of sheer curiosity and hope that the journey would provide plenty of interesting material for his humorous columns.

This hope was not in vain. The collection of columns Twain sent from his travels was published two years later under the title 'The Innocents Abroad.' It remains an enjoyable and beloved travel book to this day. But the descriptions of the Land of Israel in general, and Jerusalem in particular, are especially captivating.

So how did Jerusalem appear to an outsider 150 years ago? The name of the city, of course, was familiar to anyone exposed to the Bible, and the associations it invoked were those of majesty and grandeur, royalty and prophecy, holiness and purity.

Twain describes the arrival in Jerusalem thusly: "Eventually, midday, the ancient pieces of wall and crumbling arches began to appear on the horizon. We climbed one more hill—and every pilgrim and sinner among us lifted his hat high: Jerusalem!"

But after the initial excitement subsided, the small size of the city mainly astonished Twain and his companions. "So small! It is no more than an American village of four thousand inhabitants... Jerusalem has a total of only 14,000 people."

"A good walker can circle the Jerusalem walls in an hour. I don't know how else to make people understand just how small it is...the streets are narrow and poorly paved, and cats easily leap from one roof to another across the street, and they could even if the streets were twice as wide... Needlessly to say that these streets are too narrow for carriages to pass."

Jerusalem's population did not impress Twain either: "Rags, misery, poverty, and dirt everywhere..."...lepers, cripples, blind, and crazy people swarm upon you from all sides, and it turns out they know only one word in one language – the eternal 'bakshish.' The masses of the cripples, maimed, and sick gather at holy places and block the gates... Jerusalem is a gloomy, desolate, lifeless city. I would not want to live there."

Twain describes the Western Wall and its worshippers as follows: "The part of the ancient wall called the 'Jews' Wailing Place,' where Hebrews gather every Friday to kiss the holy stones and lament Zion's loss of glory."

And after a short tour, stopping at several churches, the tourists decide it's time to move on. "There is nothing more to see in Jerusalem."

In 1867, a Jew visiting or living in Jerusalem could hardly fail to feel the destruction. The city that had lost the splendor of ancient times, the city where the majority of its population was poor and ignorant gentiles. The city that tourists come to visit and find nothing notable other than a few Christian sites and the Dome of the Rock. A city barely numbering 14,000 souls, with narrow streets that are a perfect playground for cats.

Today, when Jerusalem is a vast metropolis, it's hard to remember that for almost two thousand years, the defeated city was insignificant and neglected. Foxes walked through it. We are living the miracle that began with the physical ability to rebuild Jerusalem, turning it from a gloomy and desolate place, as described by Twain, into a beautiful, giant, bustling capital. But for most of the exile years – Jerusalem was a pitiful city. We should remember this on the 17th of Tammuz, as we mourn the destruction and pray for the city's renewed life – a spiritual revival, not just a physical one.