Page 971 : JET — JEWS
be strange, if much would be left of the city of Herod, to say nothing of the city of Solomon. There is, however, more than might have been expected — more in proportion than is left of old Rome — far more than is left of Tyre. Carthage or Corinth. Excavations have been made by the English, Russians, French and Germans. The old tombs of the kings, part of David’s first wall, the area which was the site of the temple and the Pool of Bethesda are certainly known, and the sites of many other features of the old city are probably known. However, scholars are not agreed as to the site of the Holy Sepulchre, which has long been a vexed question.
The present city, the chief town of a Turkish province, has a population of over 80,000, of whom half are Jews, a quarter Moslems and the rest Christians. Of late years it has grown outside its walls, the windowless, one-storied houses stretching on every side. There are banks, hotels and a railroad to Joppa. See Warren and Conder’s Jerusalem and Besant and Palmer’s Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin.
Jet, a mineral of a perfectly black color, capable of being easily cut and carved and taking a very beautiful polish. It was first found in Asia Minor. In Great Britain it is obtained chiefly at Whitby in Yorkshire. Very large quantities are found in France, where it gives employment to many of the people of Aude. It is made into rosary beads, crosses and other ornaments. As a material for mourning jewelry it is especially valuable, and for that purpose is largely used. Imitations of jet are made from hardened india-rubber, called vulcanite or ebonite, and from glass.
Jette, Sir Louis A., was born at L’Assomption, Quebec, in 1836, and was called to the bar in 1857. He for some time was a journalist; was elected to the House of Commons for Montreal East in 1872; and was appointed judge of the Superior Court in 1878. He became professor of civil law at Laval and subsequently dean of the taculty. In 1903 he was appointed one of the Alaskan boundary commissioners. In 1898 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Quebec.
Jet′ty, an embankment or pier extending into the water, built of earth, stone and wood. Jetties are built in rivers and harbors to increase the depth of the water by narrowing the channel and thus increasing the scouring action of the current. Jetties are particularly valuable where a river empties into a sea which is more or less tideless, as the Danube into the Black Sea and the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. In these cases the river is continually bringing down sediment, and this is deposited at the mouth, forming a delta. There is little or no scouring action due to the flow and ebb of the tide. The jetties at the mouth of the Danube were commenced in 1858, completed in 1861, and improved in 1868. The depth of water was increased from 9½ feet to 22 feet. The Mississippi jetties put in by James B. Eads in 1875–9 are notable among modern engineering achievements. They are embankments made by sinking mattresses of interwoven osiers and covering these with stones and concrete. These embankments prolonged a channel 1,000 feet in width for 2¼ miles seaward. The depth was increased from 8 feet to 30 feet by the scour of the river. As the deposit accumulates, it will be necessary to prolong the jetties seaward in order to scour away the fresh deposits. There are many smaller harbors and rivers in the United States which have been deepened and made safer by building jetties.
Jew′ett, Sarah Orne, an American author, was born at South Berwick, Me., Sept. 3, 1849, and was educated at Berwick Academy. She wrote many short stories and a number of novels, and was quite successful in the portrayal of rural and provincial life. Among her novels are Deephaven, Old Friends and New, A Marsh Island, The King of Folly Island, The Life of Nancy and The Tory Lover. She died June 24, 1909.
Jew′ish Lit′erature. See Literature.
Jews, the name given since the exile in Babylon to the descendants of Abraham, who, about 2000 B. C., emigrated from east of the Euphrates to Canaan or Palestine. Their first name was Hebrews. Jacob settled with his family in Goshen, Egypt. Here the Hebrews remained 430 years. At first they were well-treated, but a new dynasty reduced them to cruel slavery. Moses led them from Egypt about 1320 B. C. The wandering in the wilderness of the Sinaitic peninsula seems to have lasted 40 years, the chief event of which was the giving of the law to the people through Moses. The “land of promise” became theirs under Joshua about 1274 B. C. Yet not all the natives were driven out, or even conquered, till long afterward. The fine grazing-lands east of the Jordan were given to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh; while the land west of the Jordan was parceled out to Judah, Simeon, Dan, Benjamin, Ephraim (the second half-tribe of Manasseh), Issachar, Zebulon, Naphtali and Asher. Levi received no province, but, instead, 48 cities and a tenth of the fruits of the field, and were allowed to settle wherever they chose.
After the death of Joshua (about 1254 B. C.), the bond between the tribes became
Image: SIR LOUIS A. JETTE
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