that one who had been into it could at once be detected by the odour, and people used to say as they sniffed it, "A h ! So and so has been in the Sakhrah." So great, too, was the throng that people could not perform their ablutions in the orthodox manner, but were obliged to content themselves with washing the soles of their feet with water, wiping them with ' green sprigs of myrtle, and drying them with their pocket-handkerchiefs. The doors were all locked, ten chamberlains were posted at each door, and the mosque was only opened twice a week—namely, on Mondays and Fridays ; on other days none but the attendants were allowed access to the buildings. Ibn 'Asâkir, who visited Jerusalem early in the twelfth century of the Christian era, tells us that there were 6000 planks of wood in the Masjid used for roofing and flooring, exclusive of wooden pillars. It also contained fifty doors, amongst which were :—Babel Cortobi (the gate of the Cordovan), Bab Dâud (the gate of David), Bab Suleiman (the gate of Solomon), Bâb Mohammed (the gate of Mohammed), Bâb Hettah (the gate of Bemission*), Bâb el Taubah(the gate of Reconciliation), where God was reconciled to David after his sin with Bathsheba, Bâb er Bahmeh (the gate of Mercy), six gates called Abwâb al Asbât (the gates of the tribes), Bâb el Walid (the gate of Walid), Bâb el Hâshimi (the gate of the Hâshem Family), Bâb el Khidhir (the gate of St. George or Elias), and Bâb es Sekinah (the gate of the Shekina). There were also 600 marble pillars ; seven mihrabs (or prayer niches); 385 chains for lamps, of which 230 were in the Masjid él Aksa, and the rest in the Cubbet es Sakhrah ; the accumulative length of the chains was 4000 cubits, and their weight 43,000 ratals (Syrian measure). There were also 5000 lamps, in addition to which they used to light 1000 wax candles every Friday, * Cf. Cor'ân, cap. ii. v. 55, " Enter the gate with adoration, and say ' Eeinission.' "