Rabbi Moses Basola, 1520-1523

Describes his visit to the holy places in and around the Kedron Valley:

Jerusalem is on one mountain; across from it is the Mount of Olives, and there is a narrow valley between them, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I went down into it, and at one end there is a large hole which looks like a kind of cave. They say that the mouth of Gehenna is there for the time to come, when Gog comes. Below this there are graves of Jews on the whole slope of the mountain, and a few on the incline of the mountain of Jerusalem. Half a mile below them are the waters of Siloam, and on the plain there are many beautiful gardens watered by those waters. It goes out from the mountain of Jerusalem, and no one knows from where it flows. On the visible end, there is a building which was once beautiful, with domes. They say that Solomon, may he rest in peace, minted coins there.

At the bottom of the mount of Olives, I saw the cave of Zachariah the Prophet, which is very lovely; it is all carved as one piece-- the mountain is around it-- and it is made into twelve columns, and its top is pointed, also all of one piece. Near it is a pit called the "Pit of the Daughters." They say that the daughters of Israel threw themselves into it at the time of the Destruction. There are two fine caves there, one made into niches all around, and one of fingers. Under them is a wide tower pointed at the top, which is Absalom's monument mentioned in the book of Samuel [2 Sam 18:18].

Above, near the top of the mountain, is the cave of Haggai the Prophet, may he rest in peace, and below are caves large in width and circumference. Above the caves is the cave of Haggai, and below are the caves of his students and others besides. At the top of the Mount of Olives there is a large building, and there in a beautiful pavilion is Huldah the Prophetess in a marble grave. Also, one must pay an Ishmaelite guard there four dirhams to enter, and contribute oil for lighting, for there are perpetual lamps there.

His view of the Temple and visit to Mount Sion:

In Jerusalem I rented a room in a large house called the house of Pilate. I lived on an upper storey, and from there I could see the whole Temple enclosure, into the courtyard. There is no house in Jerusalem from which as much can be seen; God has brought it about for me. There, every morning at dawn, I recited the prayer facing the temple before going to the synagogue. Blessed by the Lord who has found me worthy of this.

When one stands at the top of the Mount of Olives and looks across to Jerusalem, he sees the whole Temple, the courts and gardens. On that side, the eastern, the Temple has two closed iron gates whose ends are embedded in the earth. They call this the Gates of Mercy [the Golden Gate]. They say that bridegrooms entered through one and mourners through the other. Near the Temple on the south side is a building called Solomon's Academy [the Aqsa Mosque].

Outside Jerusalem on the south side is Mount Sion; the Nagid, may his Rock and Creator preserve him, told me that the place of the Jews also went from Mount Sion up to the Temple; and it stands to reason. And that is the true interpretation of the verse: "Sion, in the far north" [Ps 48:3]. On Mount Sion there is a place for [Christian] priests, like the conventi of Italy. Adjoining it is a iron door; they say that David and Solomon are buried there. The Ishmaelites never allow anyone to enter these two places. On that side is a well-fortified citadel: they call it David's Tower. The tomb of Jesus is in Jerusalem, to the west; two churches, one opposite the other; a market passes between them, and there is a small square in front of one of the churches…

That much almost any tourist in Jerusalem would have seen, but when it comes to the Jewish quarter and the buildings and population there, we hear new information:

There is only one synagogue in Jerusalem. It is beautiful, with four columns in a row; it is sixty-three feet long and twenty-eight wide. In front of the Ark is a room with Torah scrolls all around-- there are more than sixty. They pray towards the east, facing the Temple. The synagogue has no light except from the entrance, which is on the west, and there is a small window over it. They also use the lamps that they light all about for light during the day.

As way already becoming apparent in the Mamluk era, the Jewish population of Jerusalem was not merely growing, it was becoming increasingly diverse. The Christian reconquest of Spain, which had been energetically pursued for centuries and was completed by 1493, set large numbers of Jews in motion, first to the Maghreb, the western provinces of Islam in North Africa, and ever eastward, to Egypt and Palestine. Many who came to the Holy Land settled in Safed and other places in Galilee, but Jerusalem too received its share of new immigrants:

The congregation (in Jerusalem) is of all kinds. There are fifteen Ashkenazi householders, but the majority are Spanish; and there are Arabized (Jews), who are Moorish, long-ago natives of that country, and "westerners" who come from Barbary. In all there are about three hundred householders, excluding widows, who number more than six hundred, and who are well provided for in Jerusalem, for they do not pay any tax or levy. The community is financed because of them, for when they die it receives everything is there is no heir, and from this most public works have been done. Those who receive charity number more than two hundred souls. The Ashkenazi poor are not included in this category because their support becomes from Venice.

Men of note in Jerusalem: the father of them all is his Honor Rabbi Isaac Shollal, who is crowned with the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty and wealth. And the crown of a good name, because of all the good works he does for the poor and students of Torah, rises on top of them all; his Honor Rabbi David ibn Shoshan, physician and head of the Spanish (Sephardic) Yeshiva; and with him an honored and humble man, his Honor Abraham Ha-Levi, who wrote "The Untyer of Knots." Eight of nine Sephardis gather with them and had been learning the tractate Yom Tov; his Honor Rabbi Israel, head of the Yeshiva of the Ashkenazis; and with him Rabbi Peretz who had recently come from Germany. They are learning tractate Babe Metzia. Four or five of the Arabized Jews gather there, as well as Rabbi Judah of Corbeil, who is Spanish, and rabbi Shlomo of Camerino-- twelve or thirteen in all.

Each sage served as judge in Jerusalem for one year, and then a man named Rabbi David Aroch, who is a worker of gold and silver, served as judge; now there is a judge from among the Arabized, who serves permanently. There is also an honored man who teaches beginning students named Rabbi Joseph. Each sage reads from Maimonides in the synagogue after morning prayers for one month. All his fellows listen to him then go to the Yeshiva. (Ya'ari 1976: 140-145, trans. M. Swartz)

From F.E. Peters, Jerusalem: The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims, and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times