Haifa, April 26.—The fact that I am laboring under a peculiar phase of
insanity, which takes the form of descending with a light into the
bowels of the earth with a measuring tape, and writing down cabalistic
signs of what I find there, whether it be in a cistern or a tomb, or a
natural cavern, has become pretty widely known among the inhabitants of
the neighbouring villages, and the consequence is that from time to time
I receive information which may minister to this harmless monomania. The
other day, for instance, a stonecutter whom I had employed on some
building operations came to me with the intelligence that while he and
some villagers had been getting out stone for a house at a place about
twenty miles distant they had unexpectedly come upon a series of
subterranean chambers. His account was so tempting that, though prepared
by experience for disappointment when acting upon purely native
information, I nevertheless thought the possible results worth an
effort, and proceeded therefore to the village in question, which was
situated in the centre of the Plain of Esdraelon. The sheik was at first
somewhat reluctant to show me the spot, as the fellahin have an inherent
suspicion of all investigations of this nature, believing them to be
mysteriously connected with the discovery of treasure, which, when
found, they will be accused of having concealed, and punished for it. He
finally consented, however, to lead the way, and brought me to an
opening in the earth, from the surface of which a flight of nine stone
steps led down to a small paved court, about six feet square, which had
now been emptied of the soil which had previously concealed its
existence. The sides of this court, which were about twelve feet high,
were formed of massive masonry, the blocks of stone being each from
eighteen inches to two feet square, set in mortar. A short vaulted
passage, three feet long, two feet six wide, and five feet high, led
from it into a subterranean chamber of fine workmanship, and in such a
high state of preservation that it was difficult to realize that from
fifteen hundred to two thousand years had elapsed since its stone floor
had been trodden by the foot of man. It was fourteen feet long, eight
broad, and eight feet six in height, with a vaulted roof, the walls
consisting of plain chiselled stones set in mortar, in courses of from
two feet to two feet six inches in height. On the left of this chamber
was a single koka, or tunnel, hewn in the rock for the reception of a
dead body. The roof was vaulted and of solid masonry. On the side
opposite the entrance was another vaulted passage, which was seven feet
six in length, and led into a chamber hewn out of the solid rock, twelve
feet by ten feet six, and six feet six in height. This contained three
kokim and a loculus under an arcosolium; but the side of the loculus, as
well as those of the kokim, had been much injured. The villagers, who
had opened these tombs for the first time only a few weeks before, told
us they had only found human bones in them, but I strongly suspect they
had found ornaments which they were afraid to exhibit, though I offered
them money. One or two glass bottles and earthenware jars they also said
they had found and broken.
Not far from these tombs was another smaller excavation, the entrance to
which presented the appearance of an ordinary cave, but on entering it
we found ourselves in a small, circular, rock-hewn chamber, the floor so
covered with rubble that it was not possible to stand upright. In the
centre of the roof was an aperture eighteen inches square, opening to
the sky, carefully hewn, and from it led a passage of masonry, the
stones also set in mortar, two feet six broad, and about five feet to
the point where it was completely choked with earth. Had I had time to
excavate I should no doubt have found that it led into a tomb. The
entrance to this passage was almost completely blocked by the capital of
a handsome Ionic column; the column itself was eighteen inches in
diameter. How it ever came to be wedged down in this underground passage
I cannot conceive. Among the stones in the vicinity which had been
unearthed by the natives I found one on which was carved a
seven-branched candlestick, another of Jewish moulding, a sarcophagus,
several fragments of columns, and a monolith standing ten feet from the
_débris_ at its base, with grooves and slots similar to others which I
have seen on Carmel, but taller. I can only imagine it to have formed
part of some olive-pressing machinery. In the neighbouring rocks were
hewn vats and wine-presses.
The discovery of this tomb, with the peculiar characteristics which
marked its construction, and the objects which surrounded it, afforded a
fertile subject of conjecture. In order that my readers may understand
the considerations to which it gave rise, I must enter a little more
fully than I have hitherto done into the subject of the ancient Jewish
methods of sepulture. These consist of sundry varieties, and it has been
attempted to fix their dates from the variations which have been
observed, as well as to discriminate by them between Christian and
Jewish tombs. So far as my own investigation goes, I have been unable to
fix any positive rule in the matter, my experience being that one no
sooner forms a theory based upon observation, than one makes some new
discovery which upsets it. Roughly, the tombs which I have investigated
may be divided into the following categories: 1. Rock-hewn tombs
containing nothing but loculi; 2. Rock-hewn tombs containing nothing but
kokim; 3. Rock-hewn tombs containing both; 4. Masonry tombs containing
either loculi or kokim, or both together; 5. Sarcophagi; 6. Rock-sunk
tombs. A rock-hewn tomb is an excavation made in the solid rock
(advantage generally has been taken of a natural cavern), and round the
sides of the chambers so formed, which vary in dimensions, are ranged
the receptacles for the dead. In some cases these are more than one
chamber. In Sheik Abreikh, for instance, I counted fifteen opening one
into another. Sometimes these are one above another, and one has to
enter them from below through a hole in the stone roof which forms the
floor of the upper chamber. A koka is a rectangular sloping space cut
into the rock, tunnel fashion, extending six feet horizontally,
sufficiently wide and high to admit of a corpse being pushed into it. A
loculus is a trough cut laterally into the rock, which is arched above
so as to form what is called an arcosolium. This trough is generally
about six feet long, two feet six broad, and two feet deep. It is thus
separated from the chamber by a wall of rock two feet high. A large tomb
will contain as many as twelve loculi ranged around it.
At first it was supposed that the kokim tombs were the oldest; then it
was found that loculi and kokim were sometimes found in the same tomb;
and, indeed, there seems now to be no reason to suppose that one kind is
older than the other. That the Christians used both is certain from the
fact that Greek inscriptions with Christian ornaments are to be found
over the doors of tombs containing kokim as well as loculi. Masonry
tombs are only found in Galilee, where they are very rare. Indeed, so
far as I am aware, this is only the sixth that has been discovered; but
what gave it a special interest in my eyes is the fact that the stones
were set in mortar, which is not the case with any of the others,
ancient Jewish synagogues, as well as their masonry tombs, being built
without cement. I therefore had made up my mind that this was a
Christian tomb, the early Christians having evidently continued the
Jewish method of sepulture, more especially as it is oriented, which is
not the case with Jewish tombs; and, indeed, the character of the
masonry and the fragments of columns and capitals lying about induced me
to place it in the Byzantine period, possibly as late even as the fourth
or fifth century A.D. But then I stumbled upon the stone with the
seven-branched candlestick, an unmistakably Jewish emblem, which threw
the date back. It is true that this stone was not built into the tomb,
and might have formed part of a building of a date long anterior to it.
Indeed, we know that on this spot, which is now called Jebata, and which
is undoubtedly the Biblical Gabatha, was formerly a Jewish town of some
importance, and its remains have doubtless got mixed up with those of a
later Byzantine period, to which I still think it probable that the tomb
which I discovered belongs.
It differs from any I have yet seen in the imposing character of its
entrance. Its flight of nine handsome stone steps, leading down the open
court, and the vaulted passage, with its massive masonry, give it quite
a peculiar character. The entrance to the rock-hewn tomb is usually
through a small doorway from three to four feet in height, just large
enough to permit a man to squeeze through without very great
inconvenience, and it is usually closed by a circular stone like a
millstone, which runs in a groove, and can be rolled across it, though
sometimes the door consists of a huge curved slab. The sarcophagus is
too well known to need description. The most remarkable collection of
them which I have seen is at Umm Keis, the biblical Gadara, where there
are at least two hundred, many of them ranged in two rows on either side
of the way leading out of the city. They are of black basalt, and are
often beautifully carved and highly ornamented. I do not think they were
so much used by the Jews as by Christians, though sometimes sarcophagi
are found placed in loculi. At all events, they were not the original
Jewish method of burial, and, if used by them at all, the habit was one
which they probably adopted from their Roman conquerors.
The sunk tombs are common in various parts of Galilee—especially in the
rocky hillsides of the range upon which Nazareth is situated. They
consist of rectangular troughs, sufficiently large to contain a human
body, sunk into the surface of the living rock, and covered with a huge
lid of stone, sometimes flat, but more often cut conically, so as to
have a high central ridge. I have more than once endeavoured to remove
these from the tombs, which had never been opened, where they were still
_in situ_, but never happened to be accompanied by a sufficient number
of men or to have adequate leverage appliances with me. As these stones
are generally about seven feet long, three broad, and from two to three
feet thick, they require the application of no little force to remove
them. They vary in size, however, and I have seen sunk tombs for babies
not above eighteen inches long. Apart from the interest which attaches
to the whole question of rock sepulture in Palestine, the most
interesting relics of antiquity are generally found in the tombs, while
not uncommonly valuable inscriptions are met with. Many of them are
ornamented with pictorial representations, which have been laid on with
coloured pigment, and the designs are often curious and interesting.
Altogether, although the investigation of these mortuary chambers is
often attended with great difficulty and discomfort, they frequently
furnish results which compensate for the fatigue that they involve.