Footnote 1 – Charles Warren vs. James Fergusson

Incidentally, Charles Wilson expressed his agreement with Warren that Robinson’s Arch supported a stairway, not a bridge. In his 1880 book, Jerusalem, the Holy City, Wilson clearly echoes Warren’s view that Robinson’s Arch “formed the first of a series of arches which supported a broad flight of steps leading from the Tyropoean Valley to the center aisle of the Royal Stoa, which ran along the south wall of Herod’s Temple.” (See Charles W. Wilson, Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt: Vol. 1, Jerusalem the Holy City [London: Virtue & Co., 1880], p. 39.)

Claude Conder was less judicious in his terminology and referred to Robinson’s Arch as part of “a great bridge” which spanned the Tyropoean Valley. (Claude R. Conder, Tent Work in Palestine: A Record of Discovery and Adventure, 2 vols. [London: Bentley, 1879], vol. 1, p. 351; and The City of Jerusalem [London: Murray, 1909], p. 137.)