After descending from Bethphage for abou_Jerusalem Explored, Volume 1—Text Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City, with Numerous Illustrations Consisting of Views, Ground Plans and Sections

and stony path, we come to the village of Bethany. It may perhaps be

asserted, that this way going from the Mount of Olives through Bethphage

and Bethany was not in existence in former times, and is rather a

cattle-track than a road, but it is mentioned by S. Epiphanius[707]:

"Then he (Marcion) does not give any account of His journey from Jericho

until He arrives at Bethany and Bethphage. But there was an ancient road

which led from Jerusalem by Mount Olivet, which those who traverse these

regions are acquainted with." Therefore it is evident that this road was

more ancient than that which went from Jerusalem to Bethany by the Mount

of Offence. The former is the one which we suppose our Lord to have

traversed on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and on other

occasions. Bethany was a Jewish fortress on the eastern slope of Olivet:

it was the home of Lazarus and his sisters[708], and is frequently

mentioned in the Gospels[709], being the favourite resort of Jesus and

His disciples. The position of the village is incontestably fixed by

history, tradition, and the locality itself.

We are told by S. John[710] that Bethany was about 15 stadia, or nearly

2 Roman miles, from Jerusalem, and the present village is that distance.

We may fairly suppose that the house of Lazarus must have been of

considerable size from the allusions to it in the Gospels[711], and

consequently it and the village could hardly have been destroyed without

leaving some ruins to mark the spot; and therefore the tradition would

be preserved until the fourth century, when monuments were erected by

the Christians on the sites connected with the life of Christ. It is

then only necessary to examine into the accuracy of the tradition during

the first three centuries; but here the same arguments that we used in

the case of the Sepulchre of Christ may be applied to Bethany, and

especially to the Tomb of Lazarus. The present condition of the place

may also persuade those who distrust tradition, for there are still very

many ruins there, and consequently must have been more in the first ages

of Christianity. If it be urged that they are the effects of the ravages

of the Saracens on the work of the Crusaders, I admit the objection to

be partly true, but reply that the eye can readily distinguish these

from the more ancient Jewish remains. In a word, there is no other place

on the eastern slope of Olivet, which so perfectly fulfils all the

requisite conditions, as the present village of Bethany: and even its

Arab name _El-Azirieh_ still retains that of Lazarus. The Mohammedans

themselves so fully believe that this is the scene of the raising of

Lazarus, that they come as pilgrims from distant countries to supplicate

health for themselves and their sick children, in faith that if they

touch the rock of the tomb their prayers will be granted by God. In 1859

some labourers discovered, at the distance of a few yards from the

village, to the east, near the road going to the Jordan, a wall which

had all the characteristics of ancient Jewish work of the age of the

Herods. Its shape and position seem to indicate that it had formed part

of an enclosure; the continuation of which was observed a little to the

south, and also to the north-west of the Arab houses. Near it a great

quantity of materials of the Herodian epoch were discovered, scattered

about in the ground, with several deep cisterns entirely excavated and

vaulted in the rock, full of fragments of ancient masonry. These also

occur in other parts of the village. After carefully examining the

boundary wall, wherever it could be found, I have arrived at the

conclusion that the traditional House and Tomb of Lazarus are outside

it. Thus the objection often brought against them, that they are inside

the village, in opposition to the Jewish law, does not apply. For a long

time past the peasants of Bethany have been accustomed to find dressed

stones in their fields, which they have either broken up, in order to

carry them away easily into the city, or have burnt for lime. If, then,

we do not suppose the ancient village to have been there, I do not see

how we can explain the presence of these remains. The eastern part of

the present village occupies a portion of the old site, and the western

was built when memorials were erected by the Christians over the Holy

Places. Bethany is now a wretched spot, consisting of about forty

cottages, built on ruins and heaps of rubbish. A short distance from the

entrance to the village, on the west, is a splendid ruin, the remains of

a building of considerable size, which is shewn as the House of Lazarus.

To the east of this, among the houses, is the mosque[712], and near it

the Tomb of Lazarus. The houses of Martha, Mary, and Simon the Leper,

are also shewn by the natives; but as these exhibit no signs of

antiquity, and the first two are obviously improbable, I pass them by

without further notice, to consider the Tomb of Lazarus. This, like most

of the Jewish sepulchres, consists of two underground chambers, namely,

a vestibule and a tomb properly so called. The latter is entirely

excavated in the rock, while the former is of masonry, together with the

walls of the staircase leading down to it, which dates (according to

Mariti[713]) from the beginning of the seventeenth century; that is,

from 1612 to 1615, when Father Angelo of Messina was Guardian of the

holy mountain of Sion, and built this approach to the tomb. Mariti adds,

that it was made because the ancient one was in the adjoining mosque,

formerly a Christian church. With this I cannot agree, because, after

examining the interior of the mosque, I have been unable to find any

trace of a communication with the inside of the tomb; and in the

interior of the latter there are no signs of a walled-up door, to give

access to this supposed passage. The locality has undergone so many

alterations, that it is now impossible to fix the relative positions of

the church and the tomb; but the former must have been different in plan

and in dimensions from the small mosque, which, as I believe, retains

few, if any, remains of the ancient Christian church. The tradition

indicating this spot as the scene of the miracle is as early as that of

Bethany itself. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux, A.D. 333, writes, "There is a

crypt there, where Lazarus, whom the Lord raised, was laid." He does not

allude to any building erected there by S. Helena, therefore I doubt the

truth of the following statement of Nicephorus Callistus[714]: "Thence

having gone on to Bethany, she erected a noble temple to Lazarus the

friend of Christ. That place is two miles from Jerusalem." S.

Jerome[715] (who died A.D. 420) speaks of this tomb and of a church

there, but does not say that it was built by the Empress Helena[716].

At a later period the tomb and church were seen by Antoninus of Piacenza

and Arculf; the latter of whom "visited at Bethany a certain small field

surrounded by a great olive-grove, on which stands a large monastery,

and a large church built over the cave, from which our Lord raised up

Lazarus after he had lain dead four days[717]." Bernard, the Wise[718],

writes thus: "Thence we proceeded to Bethany on the descent of Mount

Olivet, where is a monastery whose church marks the Tomb of Lazarus."

This place is also mentioned by Sæwulf, so that tradition and local

evidence bring it down to the epoch of the Latin kingdom. The tomb must

have been altered by the Crusaders, whose work we recognize in the

vestibule leading into the sepulchre; but we have no record of the

general appearance of the exterior of the church after their

restoration. We see, therefore, that an unbroken tradition has been

attached to this tomb from the beginning of the Christian era to the

present day.

Let us now visit the ruins of the so-called House of Lazarus, which are

a short distance to the west of the tomb. All that we can distinguish

here with certainty is the ruin of a square tower, the masonry of which

is of the time of the Crusades. The presence of a quantity of small

white tesseræ encouraged me to excavate inside its walls, when I found

in its foundations stones with rude rustic-work; and in removing the

rubbish, saw some other stones in which were holes, apparently made to

receive lead or iron clamps, to bind them together. Hence I consider

that the Crusaders' building partly rests upon ancient Jewish

foundations; and that it is not by any means improbable that this is the

actual site of the House of Lazarus. The walls and portion of the tower

now remaining are the ruins of a hospice, which was rebuilt by Queen

Milisendis[719] in the first half of the twelfth century; the original

building (dating from the sixth century and visited by Antoninus of

Piacenza) having been destroyed by the Saracens. Milisendis obtained for

this purpose the church of Bethany, and all the land belonging to it,

from the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, giving them in exchange the town

of Tekoa, near Bethlehem. The deed of exchange, dated on the nones of

February 1138, is preserved in the Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre[720],

and also the bull of Celestine II., A.D. 1143, confirming it[721]. The

queen considering that the convent, being in a lonely situation and a

considerable distance from the city, would be in danger of attack in

case of war, built there with squared and dressed stones a very strong

tower, containing the necessary offices, as a refuge for the nuns, until

succours arrived from Jerusalem[722]. This it is whose ruins we now see.

She also amply endowed the convent, assigning to it the revenues of

Jericho and its dependencies, with many other gifts, recorded by William

of Tyre in the passage just cited. The same author goes on to inform us

that when the work was finished, Milisendis established there a

community of Benedictine nuns, presided over by an abbess, "an aged and

venerable matron, of approved piety," after whose death, "returning to

her (original) purpose, she placed her own sister, with the consent of

the Lord Patriarch and assent of the sisterhood, at the head of the

nunnery;" giving at the same time yet more gifts, such as chalices,

books, and other ornaments used for ecclesiastical purposes; nor did she

cease all her life according to the desire of her heart, and for the

sake of her sister, whom she specially loved, to shew kindness to the

place. The name of the first abbess was Matilda[723]. Juveta is

mentioned as abbess of the nunnery of S. Lazarus at Bethany, in a

contract for the exchange of some rents between her and the nuns of the

Hospital of S. Lazarus at Jerusalem. It bears the date A.D. 1157, in the

reign of Baldwin III. After the witnesses' signatures we find written,

"All these things were confirmed in the presence of Queen Milisendis."

To the document a seal is attached mentioned by Paoli[724]. In the

middle of it is the figure of a lady, partially effaced, holding against

her breast a book bearing a cross. The legend is JUDITTA ABBATISSH. On

the reverse is our Saviour recalling Lazarus to life, with the legend

RESUCTATIO LAZARI. On the invasion of Saladin the nuns retired to S.

Jean d'Acre, and the convent was destroyed, since which period it has

remained in ruins.

Thus, having completed our examination of Bethany, let us return by the

road passing on the south of the Mount of Olives. This was the ancient

military way from Jerusalem to Jericho and the left bank of the Jordan,

and is still the usual route to the same places. Traces of the old

paving are yet to be seen at certain points. Near the Mount of Offence

the local guide stops the visitor to shew him the fig-tree which

withered away at our Lord's command[725]; and, if he is well up to his

work, will not forget to point out the tree on which Judas hanged

himself. But let us enter the Valley of Hinnom.

This was the boundary-line between Judah on the south and Benjamin on

the north[726]. The Arabic name is _Wady er-Rabab_, the Hebrew,

_Ge-Hinnom_ or _Ben-Hinnom_ (the valley of the son of Hinnom). The

bloody rites of Moloch[727] and Baal gave it its evil fame, which were

celebrated more especially in the place called Tophet[728]; this was,

according to Jerome, the lower (eastern) part of Hinnom. S. Jerome[729]

asserts that Christ was the first to use this word in the sense 'hell;'

an application which the abominable idolatrous rites that had been

enacted there rendered most appropriate. The Prophet Jeremiah frequently

mentions Tophet, but one passage is very remarkable from the manner in

which its fulfilment is evident at the present day. "Behold, the days

come, saith the Lord, that it shall be no more called Tophet, nor the

valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall

bury in Tophet till there be no place[730]." Now, whichever way we turn,

our eyes rest on tombs, many broken as the nation that once profaned

this spot: so that no one can tread these rocks heedless and unmoved.

To the south of the Valley of Hinnom is the hill, called by the

Christians the Hill of Evil Counsel, because of a legend, that in a

village on its western side, all trace of which has now disappeared, was

a house belonging to Caiaphas; where the Priests and Pharisees assembled

to compass the capture and death of Christ. Pompeius encamped upon its

summit after he had taken Jerusalem[731]. The Arabs call it _Jebel

el-Kubur_ (Mount of the Tombs); a most appropriate name, as it is in

reality one great necropolis; now, however, inhabited by many peasants

of Siloam, who have housed themselves and their crops in some of the

sepulchral chambers, and converted others into cisterns. We will visit

all the more interesting objects which we meet as we ascend from the

Well of Job. At the bottom of a narrow trench, sloping steeply

downwards, is a frontispiece[732], decorated with a triangular pediment,

with a trefoil as finial, above a small doorway. On each side of this is

a pilaster; these are still visible, though partly covered with soil.

The interior[733] has this peculiarity, that the arches forming the

roofs of the sepulchral niches are not very nearly semicircular, but

extremely depressed; and a trough-shaped cavity or sarcophagus takes the

place of the shelf for the corpse; an arrangement which does not occur

in the tombs on the north of the city, or in the Kidron Valley. While I

was engaged in making my Plan, I found a great number of bones in the

interior; and in the chamber furthest to the east four perfect

skeletons, which I discovered must have been placed there a few months

before. I consider these tombs, as well as the others so common in the

vicinity, to be more recent than those which are found elsewhere in the

neighbourhood of the city; certainly they did not exist in the time of

the Jewish kings, when Tophet was considered an accursed place. I think

that they were excavated during the Asmonæan period, as the prejudice

against the site might by that time have diminished. The simple but

careful ornamentation of these tombs, the whiteness of the surface, and

the absence of certain marks on the stone, characteristic of the

instruments of the earlier period, all lead me to the same conclusion.

A few yards to the west of the last tomb is another remarkable for its

elaborate façade[734]. This is of the Doric order. The frieze is divided

by triglyphs, having eight metopes, each charged with a patera of a

different pattern. Some traces of fresco painting are still seen on the

soffit of the vestibule and in the inner chambers, which induce me to

think that it has been used as a chapel. According to tradition the

Apostles concealed themselves here also after our Saviour was taken

prisoner; and at a later period S. Onuphrius lived and died here in

retirement. For this cause it was converted into a chapel dedicated to

this Saint, and it is still visited by the Greeks once a year to offer

up prayers. Schultz considers it to be the monument of Ananus the

High-priest; a point in the wall of circumvallation constructed by

Titus[735]. As its decoration is probably of the Herodian age, I agree

with him.

On the west of this we find, after passing Aceldama, a tomb[736], which

gives us a good idea of what the Sepulchre of Jesus was formerly like.

When Constantine embraced Christianity, this hill, as well as the

others, was occupied by anchorites, who lived in the tombs and caverns.

So we are told by Antoninus of Piacenza[737]. "Within the very

sepulchres are the cells of the servants of God, wherein many virtues

are displayed." So again we find in the Geography of Edrisi: "Near this

are a number of houses excavated in the rock, inhabited by pious

hermits[738]."

Almost half way up the hill is a building which has retained the name

Aceldama (Price of Blood[739]). An uninterrupted tradition identifies

this with the Potter's field, bought as the burial-place of

strangers[740]. This place recalls to the mind one of the most sublime

prophecies of Jeremiah[741], of which it may have been the scene; when

he broke the potter's earthen vessel before the ancients of Israel,

crying, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people

and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made

whole again"--words which still are fulfilled by Jerusalem and the Jews.

In the field is a great subterranean chamber, excavated in the rock,

enclosed by a wall supporting a vaulted roof, and pierced by holes,

through which the corpses were let down. In the lower part of the west

side is an aperture formed in the rock, perhaps to admit servants to

gather together the ashes after the corpses were consumed; but of these

no traces can now be found. In the interior on the south side is a great

pier made out of the rock, and strengthened with masonry, which divides

the chamber into two on that side. Nicephorus Callistus attributes this

monument to S. Helena[742]. After examining the walls I have come to the

conclusion that they are of two periods, the first that of S. Helena,

to which I refer the inside wall, especially in the lower parts; and the

second that of the Crusades, which is the date of the part above ground

and the vaulting. At that time the Hospitalers interred here those who

died in the Hospital, as we learn from the following passage: "On the

left hand the valley had a charnel-house called Chaudemar. Therein they

cast the pilgrims who died in the Hospital at Jerusalem. This piece of

land, where the charnel-house lay, was bought with the money for which

Judas sold the dear Jesus Christ, as saith the Evangelist[743]." A

church also stood on this spot, as is shewn by a document entitled,

"Archives of the Hospitalers in the year 1143," in which we find, "I

William, by the Grace of God, Patriarch of Holy Jerusalem ... proclaim

that I have granted for ever to the Hospital which is in Jerusalem, a

certain church, situated in the field called _Achel-demach_, where the

bodies of strangers are buried; together with all the land, divided by

the ancient Syrians in our presence." No trace now remains of this

church, but it was probably built over the vault, and was only a

consecrated room to be used as a mortuary-chapel. Popular superstition

attributes to the soil of Aceldama the property of consuming the corpses

buried there in twenty-four hours; for which reason it was carried away

to be used in Christian burial-places. S. Helena transported 270

ship-loads to Rome. The Pisan Crusaders on their return from Syria

brought back a great quantity of it, which was deposited on their Campo

Santo, A.D. 1218. I was anxious to test the truth of the belief, and so

buried at a depth of four feet the body, not indeed of a human being,

but of a lamb. After eight days I disinterred it, and unfortunately for

my sense of smell, found that although I had carefully selected a piece

of natural ground free from rubbish, the experiment was unsuccessful; I

am therefore driven to conclude that the soil has lost its former

virtue. I also filled a box with the soil, and placed therein birds,

small quadrupeds, and reptiles; but in all cases the flesh was consumed

slowly. I also planted flowers in some of it, at my own house, and found

that they flourished perfectly.

Many persons have laid much stress on the fact that a great quantity of

broken earthenware vases has been found about Aceldama, which they have

considered to be of great age, and proofs of its former use; but in what

part of the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and indeed of all the towns and

villages of Palestine are not similar remains found? Hewers of stone,

labourers, shepherds and many others, pass whole days away from their

houses, especially in places where there are tombs, and always bring

with them vessels of water, many of which get broken from time to time;

a circumstance which accounts for these fragments being found especially

in the neighbourhood of the more populous cities.

From Aceldama we can ascend to the top of the hill to visit the ruins of

_Deir-Kaddis-Modistus_. This appears to have been an ancient convent, at

the time when the anchorites inhabited the caverns. Now we see a

Mohammedan tomb, and two Arab cottages, erected by the Greek

Archimandrite, Nicoforus, who has purchased a large estate there; and in

a few years the mountain-side, after so many centuries of sterility,

will be again fertile. When these were being built, I often visited the

place, and noticed that, as the rubbish was cleared away, some remains

of ancient Jewish and Roman walls were discovered; the occurrence of

which, renders it not at all improbable that a fortress occupied the

position in the time of the Maccabees.

We descend the Hill of Evil Counsel to the Bethlehem road, and follow

this northward till we reach the valley of Gihon on the north-west. On

our left is a new mulberry plantation, in the middle of which stand a

small tower and the beginning of a house, all the work of Nicoforus, who

intends to establish here a spinning-mill for silk. This spot is _Kasr

el-Asfur_ or _el-Ghazal_ (House of the young sparrow, or of the

gazelle)[744]. Here we find many cisterns entirely excavated in the

rock, and a quantity of hewn rock, still bearing marks characteristic of

the ancient tools. Dressed stones and fragments of walls of the Jewish

period are not unfrequently found here by the labourers, when digging

deep to bring the ground under cultivation; but unfortunately the

Archimandrite is not as fond of archæology as of farming; and these

remains are blown up with gunpowder to gain two or three inches more

soil for the roots of a tree, so that the traces of ancient works, of

the highest importance in determining the former topography of the

neighbourhood of the city, are thus obliterated.

A little to the north of _Kasr el-Asfur_ is a large plot of land

enclosed by a new Arab wall, on which stands a long building, certainly

not remarkable for its good architecture and internal arrangement. It is

a hospice for Jews, founded in 1858 by Sir Moses Montefiore of London,

with the assistance of others professing the same creed. It has been

erected to supply lodgings for the poor, where they may enjoy a purer

air than they do in their own quarter of the city. Behind the principal

building, to the west, Sir Moses Montefiore erected a wind-mill, which

would be of the highest value to the whole country if only its

advantages were understood; but the Arabs still prefer using their own

miserable hand or horse-mills, which spoil their flour, to the trouble

of carrying the grain this short distance from the city. In time, no

doubt, they will perceive the obligation they are under to this

philanthropic Israelite.

In the lower part of the valley, to the east of the above-named

establishment, is a very large pool excavated in the rock, except on

the north and south side, where its waters are retained by walls. It is

the largest in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and bears the name

_Birket es-Sultan_ (Prince's Pool). It is so called because the popular

belief is that it was originally constructed by David or Solomon, and

afterwards repaired by various sultans. An Arabic inscription on the

frontispiece of a fountain (now dry) to the south, called _Aïn

el-Melik_, informs us that it was restored by the Mamaluke Sultan

el-Melik en-Naser-Mohammed, between the years 693 and 741 of the Hejra

(from 1294 to 1340 A.D.). It was also repaired by Sultan Solyman I. in

the sixteenth century. Owing to a mistake made by Bonifacius[745] it has

been wrongly supposed to be the Pool of Bersabeë (Bathsheba), where the

wife of Uriah the Hittite was bathing, when she was seen by David. This

is however obviously contrary to the words in the Bible[746], that

"David walked upon the roof of the King's house, and from the roof he

saw a woman washing herself, &c." Besides, it is in the last degree

improbable that a woman of good reputation would bathe in a pool by the

side of a public road. It is more likely that it bears the name of

Bethsabeë or Bersabeë, because it is at the beginning of the road

leading to the city of Bersabeë[747]. I have no doubt that this is the

'lower pool' mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah[748]; but I shall discuss

this question in the Chapter on the Waters, and give an account of the

aqueduct, which runs along its western side, and then after turning

eastward goes to Sion. In the middle ages it was repaired by one

Germanus, as the following passage shews: "When they had descended the

mount," it is told in our account of the thirteenth century, "they found

a pool in the valley, called Germanus' Pool, because Germanus

constructed it to catch the water that descended from the hills when it

rained; there the horses of the city used to drink[749]." It is true

that the above quotation asserts that Germanus made the pool, but I

understand this only to mean repaired; because it is far too great a

work to have been undertaken in the time of the Crusades, simply to form

a watering-place for horses, when other ponds in the neighbourhood of

the city would have served for this purpose. It is also mentioned in the

Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre in the year 1177. The pool is now dry,

and even after rain the water does not remain in it, although it could

be restored for a small sum. During the harvest the farmers dry and

thresh out their crops in it.

Hence we return to the city by ascending the rough road leading up to

that part of the wall enclosing Mount Sion, which bears the name of

_Abraj Ghazzah_ (towers of Gaza), and after passing the south-west

corner of this, we arrive on the plateau of the hill, which is occupied

by a cemetery, divided among the different Christian communities in

Jerusalem. At the south-east corner of this stands a group of buildings,

known by the names of the Tomb of David and the Coenaculum. A small

dome, surmounted by a crescent, marks the position of the former[750].

That this is the site of the tomb of the Royal Psalmist and his

successors, I trust to shew by the aid of the Bible, of history, of

tradition, and of local evidence at the present time. We find the

following passages in the Bible: "David took the stronghold of Sion, the

same is the city of David.... So David dwelt in the fort, and called it

the city of David[751]. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried

in the city of David[752]." Again, after the death of the Psalmist,

several of his successors are mentioned as being buried "with their

fathers in the city of David[753]." But this is not all; in the Book of

Nehemiah[754] we find "the gate of the fountain repaired Shallum ... and

the wall of the pool of Siloah by the King's garden, and unto the stairs

that go down from the city of David. After him repaired Nehemiah ...

unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool

that was made, and unto the house of the mighty." From this it is clear

that the wall, in coming from the direction of the King's garden and the

pool of Siloam, mounted the eastern slope of Sion as far as the Tomb of

David, and that the 'pool that was made' is _Birket es-Sultan_, and

possibly the 'house of the mighty' may be the citadel. Hence the Tomb of

David must have been well known to the Jews of later ages. Again,

Josephus[755] states that Solomon buried great treasures in his father's

tomb, and that Hyrcanus the High-priest broke open the tomb and took

therefrom three thousand talents. This happened about 129 B.C. In

another place[756] we find, "As for Herod, he had spent vast sums about

the cities, both without and within his own kingdom, and as he had

before heard that Hyrcanus, who had been king before him, had opened

David's sepulchre, and had taken out of it three thousand talents of

silver, and that there was a much greater number left behind, and indeed

enough to suffice all his wants, he had a great while an intention to

make the attempt; and at this time he opened the sepulchre by night and

went into it, and endeavoured that it should not be at all known in the

city, but took only his most faithful friends with him. As for money he

found none, as Hyrcanus had done, but that furniture of gold and those

precious stones that were laid up there, all which he took away.

However, he had a great desire to make a more diligent search, and to go

further in, even as far as the very bodies of David and Solomon; where

two of his guards were slain by a flame that burst out upon those that

went in, as the report was. So he was terribly affrighted, and went

out, and built a propitiatory monument of that fright he had been in,

and this of white stone, at the mouth of the sepulchre, and at a great

expense also." This took place about the year 12 B.C. Had the tomb been

outside the walls, it is less likely that it would have escaped

destruction in the various sieges of Jerusalem; and the account just

cited produces the impression that it was within the city. S.

Peter[757], addressing the Jews, says, "Let me freely speak unto you of

the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre

is with us unto this day." This brings us down to the year 34 A.D. Dio

Cassius[758] states that part of the Tomb of David fell down of itself

in the time of Hadrian, which was considered by the Jews to be an evil

omen. S. Jerome[759] also informs us that it was visited by the

Christians, when he says to S. Paula and S. Eustochium her daughter,

"When shall we be allowed to enter the Sepulchre of the Redeemer, and to

pray in the Tomb of David?" He does not indeed expressly say that it was

within the city, but we may infer it from his mentioning it together

with the Sepulchre of Christ, and not alluding to it when he describes

the visits to the Sanctuaries in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. This

evidence brings us down to the fifth century. The Jewish tradition also

on this point is of real weight, because it has never placed the tomb

otherwise than on Sion, outside the present city-walls, though without

fixing its exact position. Benjamin of Tudela[760], who wrote A.D. 1173,

relates that about fifteen years before his arrival at Jerusalem one of

the walls of the oratory on Mount Sion fell down, and that while it was

being repaired two of the workmen went on with their labour while the

rest were absent, and broke away a stone that formed the mouth of a

cavern; into this they agreed to enter in search of treasure, "and they

proceeded until they reached a large hall, supported by pillars of

marble incrusted with gold and silver, before which stood a table with a

golden sceptre and crown. This was the Sepulchre of David, King of

Israel.... They further saw chests locked up, the contents of which

nobody knew, and were on the point of entering the hall when a blast of

wind like a storm issued forth from the mouth of the cavern, so strong

that it threw them down almost lifeless on the ground. There they lay

until evening, when another wind rushed forth, from which they heard a

voice like that of a man calling aloud, Get up and go forth from this

place." Now I do not attempt to deny that this story may be false or

greatly exaggerated, but at any rate it proves that the Tomb of David

was clearly pointed out by tradition at that time as being on Sion. A

Florentine lady, Sophia degli Arcangeli, erected a hospice containing

200 beds near the Coenaculum, in the year 1354, to entertain pilgrims

to the Holy City, and then began to excavate on Sion a subterranean

chamber to bury the Latins who died during their visit. When the work

was commenced in the Latin cemetery, near to the boundary of that

belonging to the Armenians, the ground gave way, and a great underground

cavern appeared. For this reason the attempt was abandoned lest it

should lead to disputes with the neighbours. Now this fact does not give

us any indication of the place of the Tomb of David, but it proves the

existence of a cavern, such as is now seen, with its opening on the west

side of Sion. This then especially occupied my attention, as I thought

it would afford the means of determining the Tomb of David, which all

the Jews now in Jerusalem unanimously assert to be on Sion. They do not

indeed generally assign any exact position to it, not I believe from

ignorance, but from religious scruple; some however less anxiously

cautious, say that it is on the site usually pointed out, namely at

_Neby Daûd_, which is the Arab name for the eastern part of the building

attached to the Coenaculum. Quaresmius[761], who was Guardian of the

Holy Land in 1630, and visited the tomb with the interpreter of the

Latin convent, assures us that nothing remains under the present place.

I allude to this to shew that the tradition of the tomb being near the

Coenaculum was also current among the Franciscan monks.

Before bringing forward my own investigations, and the conclusions

derived from them, I quote the words of M. Mislin[762]: "I visited the

Tomb of David, April 1, 1855. It was three o'clock in the afternoon;

Kiamil Pasha and the chief personages awaited us in a small court, the

entrance to which is on the left-hand side of the great doorway. We at

once descended by a staircase of only six or eight steps into a low

vaulted chamber, which, so far as I can judge, is situated exactly under

the Church of the Institution of the Eucharist, of which it is only the

crypt. No doubt it was one of the three churches, placed one on the

other, mentioned by Fabri[763]. 'It had consecrated places on three

different levels, namely a crypt underground, a church above ground, and

over that another decorated tabernacle.' After passing through the

vestibule we arrived at the part corresponding with the single nave of

the church above. Here however the nave is divided into two by a row of

massive piers of rock in the middle, supporting the vaulted roof. The

latter half, or rather part of this crypt, for it is smaller than the

other, is separated by a transverse railing, and is itself divided by

another railing at right angles to the former, so as to form two spaces

at the southern end of the chamber. The entrance is by that on the right

hand, and the tomb occupies almost the whole of that on the left. When

we had entered the former chamber, which I will call the _Mihrab_,

because in it is the niche for prayers, ... the place in which we were

was very dark, and the neighbouring chamber was worse; so that all that

we could see on the other side of the railing separating us from it, was

a carpet, which was not enough to satisfy our curiosity. Kiamil Pasha

remarked to the Sheikh that we were come to see the tomb; he then opened

the door with a very good grace. The Pasha kneeled down and pressed the

fringe of the carpet covering the tomb to his mouth and forehead for a

moment, and then allowed us to examine it at our pleasure. Before us was

a sarcophagus about seven feet high, and twelve long. It was covered

with seven very rich carpets. The upper was blue silk with large deeper

coloured stripes; it was worked over with texts from the Koran. In the

middle of the sarcophagus there is also a square piece of stuff richly

embroidered, with a gold fringe; on it also are texts from the Koran,

worked in gold thread. It was the gift of the Sultan Abdul-Medjid. The

second carpet is bright blue with flowers worked in silver thread. The

others are well worn and less rich than these. From the roof a canopy of

silk is suspended, striped white and blue. The Sheikh who accompanied us

raised a corner of the carpet, so that I was able to touch the

sarcophagus; but owing to the many folds of the cloth, I had great

difficulty in forming an opinion of its shape and material. Observing

that I was not yet satisfied, he then took courage and raised the whole

of the carpet from the part where there was the best light. By this

means I saw the entire front of the sarcophagus, which appeared to me to

be made of unpolished grey marble. In the middle was a medallion of

darker colour, and I asked its meaning. The Sheikh informed me that it

marked the position of the Prophet's navel. I examined the walls; they

are covered with earthenware tiles with a blue pattern on a white

ground. Bronze lamps are placed here and there around the tomb. Near the

door, on the left hand on going out, is a chain suspended from the wall,

with oblong links. The Sheikh told me it was a model of one made by

David himself.... The Mohammedans act wisely in keeping this tomb

concealed, in order to invest it with some importance." The last is an

unfortunate remark; the Mohammedans, and especially the Sheikhs who are

in charge of the place, know very well what they are about, as I will

presently shew.

I visited the chamber described by M. Mislin in February 1859; having

obtained admission from the same Santon in return for certain services I

had rendered him, also by bribes and presents at various times, by the

recommendation of Surraya Pasha, and by having won the good will of the

Mohammedan families who occupy the houses about _Neby Daûd_; most of

whom let out horses and beasts of burden for hire, and were under

obligations to me for recommending them to travellers. For all these

reasons, and after much expenditure of money and patience, I gained

entrance into the Sepulchre of David, visited his pretended tomb, and

made the observations I am about to describe. The description of M.

Mislin is very accurate, but I am able to make the following additions

to it: (1) Under the earthenware tiles in the chamber of the

sarcophagus, I discovered, by means of an examination made from the

outside, the walls of an ancient Jewish building, combined, in the parts

above the floor, with masonry of a later date, which has been introduced

during repairs. This is to be found especially on the east and north

sides. (2) The sarcophagus is not of unpolished grey marble, but of

whitish Palestine breccia, called marble by the ancients, from its

resemblance in working and polish. The greyish colour is due to its age,

and perhaps also to the bad light or to the shade cast by the upraised

carpets on the small part of it that was examined. (3) The medallion

does not mark the position of the Prophet's navel, as the Sheikh said,

but is a simple decoration attached to the sarcophagus; it is repeated

on each of the other sides. Neither is it of darker marble, but as it is

continually kissed by devotees its colour has been altered. (4) The form

of the sarcophagus is a rectangular parallelepiped, formed of different

blocks of breccia well fitted together without mortar. The lid is _à dos

d'âne_[764], of several pieces of stone; at least so it appears at each

end, but in the middle and on the top I have been unable to detect the

divisions. All this shews that it is not a real sarcophagus, but only an

imitation or cenotaph erected on the spot to conceal something below.

(5) On lifting up the mats at the corners of the chamber and near the

tomb, I found that the pavement is laid upon the rock, which corresponds

in its nature with that exposed all about the upper part of Sion. I

carefully examined the north side and the base of the monument, in the

hope of discerning signs of an opening, but in vain. When I asked the

Sheikh for information on the point, he appeared surprised at my

question, and from that moment endeavoured to get me out of the place as

quickly as possible; and under the circumstances I had no choice but to

comply.

I did not, however, believe that I had visited the Tomb of David, but

was convinced that there was below or on the north side of the chamber

containing the sarcophagus, a communication with the true tomb, which

must be excavated in the solid rock; and, like all the other very

ancient sepulchres, consist of many chambers, in which were sarcophagi,

differing in their arrangement from those at the Tombs of the Kings and

Judges, on the north of Jerusalem[765]. I accordingly determined to

descend into the vault, which I have already mentioned as having an

opening on the western side of the hill[766]. After I had descended a

steep sloping plot of land, I found some steps forming the commencement

of a staircase cut in the rock; which, however, is now almost covered

with soil, ashes, and bones. Below was a huge vault, which I perceived

to run under a large portion of the cemetery above; and so understood

how it was that they came upon it in excavating a burial-place in 1354.

It is now almost full of bones, which are thrown in whenever they are

found in digging graves. As I unfortunately made the examination in the

rainy season, it was not very successful; the water had soaked through

and run down into the interior, so that I was impeded by mud composed of

wet soil, ashes, and bones; and I do not know whether I should have been

able to extricate myself from the fetid quagmire, if I had not had two

men with me, and taken my usual precaution, when visiting an unexplored

place, of fastening a rope round my body. Consequently I was obliged to

wait for a better opportunity. At the same time I examined the ground in

the neighbourhood of the opening, and not only found the rock all round

it at a slight depth, but also ascertained that it had once been larger,

and had been reduced in size by masonry, so that it could be closed with

a stone. The rock, when uncovered, shewed traces of the iron tools with

which it had been wrought, and also exhibited the small holes made to

admit clamps of iron or lead to fasten down the stones that were laid

upon it. These marks have brought me to the conclusion, that this must

have been the entrance into the Tomb of the Jewish Kings, and that here

Herod erected his monument in order to render the place secure. Hence

the sarcophagus, which is called David's Tomb, is only a representation

of it, after the usual custom of the Mohammedans, who indeed have

another repetition of it in wood on the upper floor; which is placed

there to content the believers who come to pray, and saves the Sheikh

the trouble of conducting them down into the lower chamber. It may not

be out of place to observe here, that I made a report to Surraya Pasha,

that the principal causes of the constant fevers in Jerusalem were the

shallowness of the graves on Sion, which were so dug to avoid coming

upon this vault by going too deep; and the presence of this

charnel-house. At the same time I proposed a plan by which, at a small

expense, the sepulchres of Aceldama might be restored, and the remains

of the corpses removed to them; a change which would have produced the

best possible effect on the sanitary state of the city. The Pasha

understood this, but unfortunately, owing to the number of previous

formalities which were requisite, the execution of the design was almost

impossible. I must confess that the public good was not my only motive

on this occasion, as the opportunity it would have afforded me for

making researches, and excavating inside the cavern, would probably have

furnished me with most valuable information to aid in identifying this

place with the Tombs of the Jewish Kings.

In the month of May in the same year I was able with much difficulty to

examine, to some extent, the above-named cavern: not indeed as

thoroughly as I could have wished, but as far as circumstances would

allow. I was obliged to remove a quantity of skulls, masses of bones,

and other materials, and this with the help of only one European

servant; as I was unable to find any other assistant, owing to the

disgusting nature of the labour. It was further impossible to get help

from the Arabs, who would not have aided me for any price that I could

have offered, and who would very likely have embroiled me with the

inhabitants of _Neby Daûd_. By little and little, on many days, I was

able to make a Plan of the place[767]; I do not claim for this very

strict accuracy as regards the measurements, but its shape and bearings

are to be trusted, up to the part where it narrows on the east. Although

I saw the beginning of the corridor on the east, I was unable to enter

it, as it was quite filled with rubbish, and I have only inferred its

junction with the chamber containing the sarcophagus which passes for

David's Tomb. I found over a large part of the cavern the marks of the

tools used in excavating it. At some places there appeared to be the

upper parts of doorways; these perhaps might be entrances into other

vaults; the mass of rubbish however made it impossible to determine

this. I also thought that the vaulting was supported by piers; but was

unable to satisfy myself on this point, as what I saw might have been

caused by a settlement of the ground above that had brought the roof

into contact with the rubbish accumulated inside, which was in such

quantities, that I could not without great labour have distinguished the

one from the other. As then I cannot conceive this great work undertaken

for any other than an important purpose, I believe that it is the

vestibule of the Tombs of the Jewish Kings; but of course to establish

this we must wait until the rubbish is cleared out of it. It is in the

fortress of Sion, the city wherein David dwelt, and no other place in

Jerusalem agrees so well with the _data_ of the Bible and Josephus, and

with tradition, as this position, which has in its favour every argument

derived from the configuration of the ground. I hope to be able to renew

my investigations here; but if unhappily I am prevented from carrying my

intention into effect, I recommend archæologists to devote themselves to

the subject; trusting that in that case they will find that I have

directed them to the real tombs of the Jewish Kings on Sion.

Let us now consider the 'Coenaculum;' the name of which is derived

from the belief that it is the place where our Saviour ate the last

Paschal supper with His Apostles. The Bible[768] tells us no more than

that it was a large upper-room, but the tradition is of very great

antiquity. It asserts that here the Apostles met after the Resurrection,

when the Saviour shewed them His wounds; that here He ate before them,

and breathed on them that they might receive the Holy Ghost[769]; that

here Thomas was convinced[770], and Matthias elected an Apostle[771];

that here the Holy Ghost descended on the day of Pentecost[772], and

the first converts were added to the Church by S. Peter[773]. A church

must have been erected on this spot at a very early period, for S.

Epiphanius[774] says, with reference to Hadrian's journey in Palestine:

"He found Jerusalem levelled with the ground, the Temple itself

destroyed and trodden under foot, save only a few houses, and a certain

small Christian church which had been built upon that spot on which the

disciples, after that the Saviour had ascended into heaven, assembled

together in the Coenaculum." We read in the Catechetical Lectures of

S. Cyril[775]: "The Holy Ghost, who spake in the Prophets, and who on

the day of Pentecost descended on the Apostles in the form of fiery

tongues, here in Jerusalem in the Upper Church of the Apostles." This

shews that the church was divided then, as it now is, into two floors.

It is not known who built it. Nicephorus Callistus[776], an author of

the fourteenth century, attributes it to S. Helena; but Eusebius does

not mention it, and the Bordeaux Pilgrim only says: "Continuing along

the same road up Mount Sion, you may see the place where was the house

of Caiaphas the priest; and to this time the column still remains where

they scourged Jesus." S. Jerome[777], in his Itinerary of Paula, writes

thus: "The column was shewn there, supporting the portico of a church,

stained with the Lord's blood, to which He is said to have been bound

and scourged. The place is pointed out where the Holy Ghost descended

upon one hundred and twenty believers." In the year 415, on Dec. 26th,

the remains of the Proto-martyr S. Stephen were transported to the

Apostles' Church, during the patriarchate of John[778]. Antoninus of

Piacenza, Arculf, Willibald, and Bernard the Wise, in the sixth,

seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries respectively, mention the basilica

on Sion[779]. Arculf describes its plan without details as a regular

parallelogram of considerable length. We do not know whether the church,

described by these authors, was the same as that spoken of by S. Cyril;

but it is very probable that, owing to the persecutions suffered by the

Christians, the fabric was destroyed and rebuilt more than once. At any

rate, by the end of the eleventh century it had entirely fallen to ruin,

as we find from the Gesta Francorum[780]. The Crusaders rebuilt it, and

though their church no longer exists, we possess an accurate description

of it by the authors of the twelfth century. I abbreviate this from the

work of M. de Vogüé[781], who has derived it from the anonymous writers

of the manuscripts of Vienna and of Paris, and from John of Würtzburg

and John Phocas. "The church was composed of two parts: the lower,

consisting of a nave and two aisles, with barrel-vaults, was

terminated, like most of the buildings of the period of the Crusades, by

three apses at the east. In the apse most to the north was an altar,

supposed to mark the place where the Virgin died.... That on the south

was supposed to indicate where Christ appeared to His disciples after

His Resurrection. In this lower church, sometimes called the crypt in

the middle ages, they say that Our Saviour washed the Apostles' feet.

The upper church had a groined roof, with a central dome. This was the

Coenaculum, properly so called, where tradition placed the scene of

the Last Supper in the nave, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost in the

principal apse. The two floors communicated one with another by means of

an inner staircase of 61 steps (this number, given by Phocas, is

evidently exaggerated), which opened from the ground-floor in the

southern apse. The interior of these two churches, in the time of the

Latin Kings, was covered with wall-paintings, representing the subjects

of the traditions attached to the spot." After giving a list of these,

M. de Vogüé goes on to say, that "on the left of the principal church

was a small one dedicated to S. Stephen, in remembrance of a very

ancient tradition, according to which the martyr's body was removed from

its first resting-place at Caphar Gamala to this place. A convent had

been built in the neighbourhood, occupied by a chapter of Augustinian

Canons, who had the care of the Sanctuaries under the direction of an

Abbot. The society bore the twofold name of S. Mary of Mount Sion and of

the Holy Ghost." M. de Vogüé then describes the seal of the convent, and

gives a list of the Abbots.

The buildings around the Coenaculum were not destroyed at the entrance

of Saladin, A.D. 1187. Willibrand of Oldenburg, A.D. 1219, found them

inhabited by Syrians, who paid tribute to the conquerors; but in the

thirteenth century they were in ruins. In 1336, in consequence of the

treaty (A.D. 1333) concerning the restoration of the Holy Places to the

Friars Minor, between the Sultan of Egypt on one side, and Robert King

of Sicily and his wife Sancia on the other, it was agreed to

re-establish the church and monastery on Sion. After a heavy expenditure

this was done, and the Franciscans took up their quarters there; as is

proved by a bull of Clement V., dated at Avignon, November 21, 1342.

Queen Sancia erected a convent enclosing the Coenaculum on Sion, and

richly endowed it for the support of twelve monks and some lay brothers.

An idea of it may be obtained from the present buildings, allowing for

some modifications. Besides the church and the monks' cells, it included

a large hospital, founded A.D. 1354, by a Florentine lady, Sophia degli

Arcangeli. This was placed under the care of the Fathers by Pope

Innocent in the following year[782]. They were unable to enjoy the

advantages bestowed upon them, owing to the persecution of the

Mohammedans, who not only plundered them by their heavy exactions, but

also put them to death. Indeed, in 1368 all of them were massacred; in

1391, four out of the nine who had succeeded these martyrs; in 1432,

one, John of Calabria; in 1537, all of them were seized, and part

imprisoned in the Tower of the Pisans, while the rest were sent to

Damascus[783]. I have already observed, that, at this time, the Latins

being anxious to preserve certain articles, valuable both from their

sacred nature and intrinsic worth, entrusted them to the Armenians, who

afterwards refused to restore them. The possession of the Sanctuaries on

Sion was confirmed to the Franciscans by several Sultans of Egypt and

Constantinople; this, however, did not prevent their being driven from

the place in 1561; under the twofold pretext, that Sion was fortified,

and so might at any time aid the Christians in making themselves masters

of Jerusalem, and also that it was unbecoming that infidels should

possess the Tomb of David. The monks thereupon retired into a small

house, until they purchased from the Georgians the Convent of the

Column, as I have already mentioned[784]. The Mohammedan Santons

occupied their place; and those who live there at the present time,

according to an order of the Pasha, Governor of the city, countersigned

by the Effendis of his Council, allow the Fathers, or certain pilgrim

priests, to celebrate mass in the building; they also, for a small sum,

permit pilgrims to see the Franciscan Church[785], with the upper part

of the Tomb of David. This, however, probably only occupies a portion of

the earlier church. Like its predecessors, it is divided into two

floors; the lower of which is formed by the substructure of the ancient

building, and consists of two chambers, one of which has a vaulted roof

supported by two piers, and is called the Hall of the Washing the Feet;

the other (and smaller) is also vaulted, and bears the name of the Tomb

of David. The upper story is given on my Plan. The chamber on the east

above the Tomb of David is not always opened to the Christians; this is

shewn as the place of the Descent of the Holy Ghost: the other, on the

west, is the Coenaculum, a Gothic building in the style of the

fourteenth century, erected by the Franciscans. It is divided down the

middle by two granite columns, and half-columns project from the side

walls to correspond with them. I conclude this subject by observing,

that in the buildings on the south and on the west large pieces of

masonry of the time of the Crusades still remain; and that the stables

on the west are the work of Ibrahim Pasha, who, with his attendants,

occupied the whole of the Coenaculum.

Outside the building of _Neby Daûd_, and a little to the north, is the

site of a house, where the Virgin Mary is said to have passed the last

years of her life. Some large stones, on one of which a cross is carved,

mark the spot, in which I have no great belief. Sanutus[786] thus

speaks of it: "Near this spot, a stone's throw to the south, is the

place where the blessed Virgin dwelt after her Son's Ascension into

heaven, and the cell wherein she departed this life." In the

neighbourhood was a chapel dedicated to S. John the Evangelist, which

was seen by Sanutus, who goes on to say, "There also is the Church of

the Blessed John the Evangelist, which was, as it is said, the first of

all the churches; in it this Apostle was wont to offer mass to that most

blessed Queen while he lived in this world."

We have now only to visit the walled enclosure to the south of the Sion

Gate. This is a small Armenian convent, which is said to occupy the site

of the house of Caiaphas: the tradition dates from the fourth century. I

have already said that the Pilgrim of Bordeaux mentions it, without

however stating that a church stood there. We find in the writings of

Nicephorus Callistus[787], that S. Helena built a church there, and

dedicated it to S. Peter; but this is not confirmed by any one besides.

None of the authors, contemporary with or posterior to S. Helena, allude

to it; and we cannot suppose that this Sanctuary would be omitted in the

Itinerary of S. Paula, which names all the others that were then in

existence. It was unknown at the time of the Crusades, as it is not

recorded by Edrisi, who wrote A.D. 1151, nor by Phocas, in his journey

in Palestine, A.D. 1185. Marinus Sanutus, in the fourteenth century, is

the first writer who mentions it. He calls it the Church of S. Saviour;

the name it still bears[788]. Hence I infer that the church and the

convent adjoining were erected at the end of the thirteenth century, or

at the beginning of the fourteenth. Although the tradition concerning

the House of Caiaphas goes back as far as the fourth century, I believe

it would be difficult to maintain its correctness, as we have no _data_

whatever from the Bible to assist us in fixing the position of the

High-priest's dwelling. The entrance is by a small door on the north,

near the north-west corner. The church is oblong in plan (50 feet long

by 25 wide), without any architectural features worthy of notice. The

pictures on the walls are ugly and grotesque. In the central altar at

the east end two large pieces of stone are exhibited, which are said to

have formed part of the mass that closed the door of the Sepulchre of

Christ. Their genuineness would be difficult to establish; but, be that

as it may, the Armenians ought to be ashamed of shewing them, as they

were entrusted to them by the Franciscans in 1570, at the time of the

war with Cyprus, and afterwards dishonourably appropriated. There is

neither history nor tradition to support the claims of these stones, and

the Latin Fathers suffer their loss with patience, since their thickness

would not correspond with the size mentioned by the Evangelist[789],

and the little that can be seen of them is enough to shew that they

cannot have belonged to a stone of the right shape. On the south of the

altar is a very small square-headed door leading into a narrow chamber,

in which two persons can scarcely stand. This is said to be the prison

where Jesus was kept during the remainder of the night after he was

brought to Caiaphas. The walls shew no signs of antiquity; the pavement

rests upon a mass of rubbish; the tradition is unfounded, and the place

perhaps was formerly only a closet. In the courts before the church they

point out the spot on which S. Peter stood when he denied his Master,

and where the cock crew! In the interior of the convent the Armenian

Patriarchs and Bishops are buried. I must not forget to observe that a

great number of stones are to be seen in the outer wall and on the

ground, which have been used in monuments; on them are some ancient

Armenian inscriptions. This is an easy way of employing tombstones, when

they lie too close on the ground of a cemetery.

Before entering the city we descend the eastern slope of Sion by a

foot-path leading to Siloam, and arrive at a small cave, surrounded by

some ruins, which are the remains of the Church of S. Peter at the

Cock-crow, destroyed since the thirteenth century. Tradition reports

that S. Peter retired to this spot to lament his sin after denying his

Redeemer. The church was standing in the ninth century; for Bernard the

Wise writes: "Towards the east is a church in honour of S. Peter, on the

spot where he denied his Lord[790]." John of Würtzburg informs us that

it belonged to the Greeks in the twelfth century. We read in La Citez de

Jherusalem[791]: "There was a church called S. Peter at the Cock-crow.

In this church was a deep ditch, wherein S. Peter hid himself when he

had denied Jesus Christ, and there he heard the cock crow, and bewailed

his sin." We read also in Edrisi[792]: "From the Sion Gate the road

descends into a ravine called the Valley of Hell, at the end of which is

a church in honour of S. Peter." A few yards to the east of this is a

small Jewish cemetery, now abandoned. Turning back northward from this,

we reach the road which, passing along under the city-wall, leads to the

Sion Gate.

On entering this we see by the side of the wall to the east some poor

dwellings, built on a level plot of ground, composed of stones and clay.

These are the abodes of the lepers of Jerusalem, where these unhappy

beings live until released by death from their misery. They are called

by the Arabs _Beiût el-Masakîm_ (Houses of the Unfortunate), and are

occupied by men, women, and children. Most of them are Mohammedans, but

there are some Christians among them. This leprosy is not white, like

that described in the Bible[793], but is the kind called Elephantiasis.

The skin of the afflicted persons assumes a violet or reddish-grey tint,

and tumours are formed in it, which turn into ulcers of the most

horrible appearance; little by little the extremities of the limbs drop

off, leaving only shapeless stumps behind; the roof of the palate

becomes inflamed and then ulcerates, so that the voice grows harsh, and

at last guttural; and the face and limbs are swollen. This terrible

calamity, which refuses to yield to the efforts of science, is not

contagious, but hereditary. The lepers are not, however, so poor as they

are usually supposed to be. We will not dwell further upon this

miserable sight, but will continue our observations in another chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[532] Plate XVII.

[533] Plate XLIX.

[534] Early Travels, Bohn's Ant. Lib. pp. 4, 19.

[535] Joel iii. 2.

[536] Joel iii. 12; Note I.

[537] 2 Kings xxiii. 6.

[538] Jer. xxvi. 23.

[539] Adric. Theat. Terræ Sanctæ. De Vall. Jehosh.

[540] Acts vii. 58.

[541] Dr Robinson, Biblioth. Sac. III. p. 639. Williams' Holy City, II.

p. 432 (2nd Ed.). Les Églises, &c. pp. 332, 333.

[542] Note II.

[543] 2 Sam. xv. 23.

[544] 1 Kings xv. 13.

[545] 2 Chron. xxix. 16; xxx. 14.

[546] S. John xviii. 1.

[547] Some of these are now in the collection of the Rev. Churchill

Babington, B.D. Fellow of S. John's College, Cambridge, a distinguished

numismatist.

[548] Plate L.

[549] Plate LI.

[550] Niceph. Hist. Eccl. VIII. 30; Note III.

[551] Orat. II. De Assumpt. Quoted by Quaresmius, E. T. S. Lib. IV. Pereg.

7, c. 2, Vol. II. pp. 241, 242, ed. 1639.

[552] Theophanes, Chron. ann. 443.

[553] Note IV.

[554] See Euthymius, Lib. III. ch. 40.

[555] E. T. S. Lib. IV. Pereg. 7, c. 2, Vol. II. p. 242.

[556] Ant. Piac. XVII.

[557] Seb. Pauli, Codex Diplomaticus, S. Mil. ord. Jerusal. Said Ibn

Batrik, II. 212; Note V.

[558] See Theophanes, Chron. ann. 683.

[559] Early Travels, &c. Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 19.

[560] Ibid. p. 28.

[561] Note VI.

[562] Les Églises, &c. p. 308.

[563] Ibid. p. 307.

[564] Note VI.

[565] Les Églises, &c. p. 307; Note VII.

[566] Alb. Aquens. Lib. VII. c. 21; Lib. IX. c. 52. Gesta Dei, &c. Vol.

I. pp. 299, 344.

[567] C. X. Pez. Thes. Anec. Nov. Tom. I. p. 523.

[568] De Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 309.

[569] Cod. Dipl. Vol. I. p. 10.

[570] Citez de Jherusalem.

[571] Note VIII.

[572] Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, Lib. III. pars 14, c. 9, p. 256

(ed. 1611).

[573] Note IX.

[574] Note X.

[575] Plates L., LI.

[576] Note XI.

[577] Lib. XVIII. c. 32, Gesta Dei, &c. Tom. II. p. 953 (ed. 1611).

[578] See Plate LI. (Plan).

[579] Note XII.

[580] Page 148.

[581] Plate LI.

[582] S. Matt. xxvi. 39; S. Luke xxii. 44.

[583] S. Matt. xxvi. 36; S. Mark xiv. 32; S. John xviii. 1.

[584] Liber de Situ et Nom. Loc. Heb. (Gethsemane).

[585] Early Travels, &c. Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 4.

[586] Leo Allat. Sym., p. 57.

[587] Quoted by M. de Vogüé, Les Églises, &c. p. 314.

[588] Eluc. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 5, c. 9, Tom. II. p. 160.

[589] Voyage nouveau de la T. S. 1679, I. III. c. 3.

[590] Plate LII.

[591] S. Luke xxi. 37; xxii. 29.

[592] Jewish War, VI. 1, § 1.

[593] Note XIII.

[594] S. Matt. xxvi. 38, 40; S. Luke xxii. 45.

[595] See his description of the city, Note XI, Ch. II.

[596] Loc. Terræ Sanctæ Descriptio, Ch. XLIII.

[597] See Plates LV., LX., which shew the Plan and Elevation.

[598] 1 Kings xxii. 50.

[599] Plate LVIII.

[600] Guide D'Orient, p. 805.

[601] Holy City, Vol. II. pp. 451, 452 (2nd Ed.).

[602] See the elevation and details to Plates LX., LXI.

[603] Mariti, p. 152.

[604] Le Pieux Pélerin, p. 404.

[605] 2 Sam. xviii. 17.

[606] Ant. VII. 10, § 2.

[607] 2 Sam. xviii. 6.

[608] 2 Sam. xviii. 18.

[609] 2 Kings xxv. 4.

[610] Ant. VII. 10, § 3.

[611] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 5, c. 13, Tom. II. p. 169.

[612] Plate LX.

[613] 1 Cor. xv. 7; S. Jerome, de vir. ill. c. 2, from the Gospel of the

Nazarenes; Quaresmius, E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 7, c. 10.

[614] Ap. Euseb. H. E. II. 23, § 12.

[615] Plates LX., LXI.

[616] 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21.

[617] S. Matt. xxiii. 35.

[618] 2 Kings xxi. 18, 26.

[619] Narrative of a Journey round the Red Sea, &c. Vol. II. pp. 223-244

(edited by Count E. de Warren).

[620] Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 521 (First Ed.).

[621] Chap. III. p. 94.

[622] Isai. viii. 6.

[623] Nehem. iii. 15.

[624] S. John ix. 7.

[625] Jewish War, II. 16, § 2; V. 4, §§ 1, 2; V. 9, § 4.

[626] S. John vii. 37, 38.

[627] Succah, v.

[628] Jennings, Jewish Antiquities, Book 3, c. 6.

[629] Comment in Is. Lib. III. c. 8.

[630] Hist. Eccl. Book VIII. c. 30.

[631] Itiner. Chap. XX.

[632] De Perenni Cultu T. S. Lib. II.

[633] Hist. Hieros. VI. 6. G. D. p. 276.

[634] Fabri, I. 420.

[635] Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Hierusalem.

[636] See the chapter on the Waters.

[637] Histor. de Hierosolymitano itinere. Duchesne, Hist. Franc. Script.

Vol. IV.

[638] S. John ix. 7.

[639] Jewish War, V. 4, § 2. See also p. 31.

[640] See Origen, Comment. in Matt. Tom. X. c. 18, and Ep. ad Africanum,

c. 9, also Homil. in Isa. I. c. 5 (ed. 1740); also Tertull. de

Patientia, c. 14; and Jerome Comment. in Isaiam, Lib. XVI. c. 57 (ad

fin.).

[641] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. p. 206.

[642] Ch. II. p. 26.

[643] 2 Kings xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7.

[644] Plate XLVIII.

[645] 2 Maccab. i. 19, 22.

[646] 2 Maccab. i. 33-36. For Nephi the Greek text has Nephthaei.

[647] Josh. xv. 7, 8; xviii. 16.

[648] 2 Sam. xvii. 17.

[649] 1 Kings i. 9.

[650] See Chapter II. p. 21.

[651] Descrip. T. S. Pez. Thes. Anec. Nov. Tom. I. pars 3, p. 509.

[652] Plate LXI.

[653] S. Luke xiii. 4.

[654] Ch. II. p. 21; Plate LII.

[655] S. Luke xix. 37-41.

[656] S. Luke xix. 37.

[657] Fetell. de Situ Jherusalem, 236.

[658] Fabri, I. 387.

[659] Acts i. 11.

[660] Acts i. 9-11.

[661] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 11, Tom. II. p. 320.

[662] Note XIV.

[663] Acts i. 12.

[664] S. Luke xxiv. 50, 51.

[665] Histoire de l'État présent de Jer. p. 157.

[666] Dan. xi. 45.

[667] De Vita Christi, Pars II. c. lxxxii.

[668] Rosh Hashanah, c. II. hal. 2, 3.

[669] Hist. Eccl. Lib. IV. c. 5. Mentioned also by Socrates, Hist. Eccl.

Lib. II. c. 28, as seen at Antioch.

[670] Jewish War, V. 2, §§ 3, 4.

[671] Plate I.

[672] Lament. i. 1.

[673] Lament. i. 12.

[674] Plate LIII.

[675] Vita Const. III. 43.

[676] Liber nom. loc. ex Actis 'Mons Oliveti.'

[677] Jerome, Ibid. Cf. Epit. Paulæ. Euseb. Vita Const. III. 40.

Paulinus, De Cruce Christi.

[678] Baron. Ann. Eccl. 616.

[679] Adamn. de Loc. Sanct. Lib. I. c. 17. Quoted by Quaresm. E. T. S.

Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 6, Vol. II. p. 310. Abridged in Early Travels,

Bohn's Ant. Lib. p. 5, cf. p. 19.

[680] James de Vitry, c. LVIII. Gesta Dei &c. Vol. II. p. 1078.

[681] Citez de Jherusalem; Les Églises &c. p. 444.

[682] Les Églises &c. p. 316.

[683] The building is certainly not accurate: the range of variation of

the sides is rather more than M. de Vogüé represents it to be.

[684] Very great want, they are all different.

[685] None of the ancient wall remains; all that is there is common Arab

work, therefore I attach no weight to this argument.

[686] Eluc. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 9, c. 8, Tom. II. p. 313.

[687] Radulph. Coggesh. Chron. T. S. apud Martene et Durand. Tom. V. pp.

566, 567.

[688] For details, see Plate LIII.

[689] Itiner. in Symmik. Leo Allatius (p. 150, ed. 1653).

[690] Plate LX.

[691] Vita Const. Lib. III. c. 43.

[692] Cf. Citez de Jherusalem, De Vogüé, p. 444.

[693] Gesta Francorum expugnantium Hierosol. 25.

[694] S. Matt. v. 1; vi. 9.

[695] S. Luke xi. 1.

[696] The Holy City, Vol. II. p. 446 (2nd Ed.).

[697] Quoted by Quaresmius, Lib. II. pereg. 9, c. 1, Tom. II. p. 302.

[698] S. Mark xiii. 3.

[699] Plate LIV.

[700] Voyage nouveau de la Terre Sainte, III. c. 4.

[701] Matt. xxiii. 29.

[702] Luke xi. 47.

[703] Comment in c. xxi. p. 435, ed. 1685.

[704] Comment in c. xxi. Evang. Matt. Lib. III.

[705] Ep. CVIII. _Ad Eustochium Virginem_ (Vol. I. p. 837, Ed. Migue).

[706] E. T. S. Lib. IV. pereg. 10, c. 11, Tom. II. pp. 333, 334; S. Matth.

xxi. 1, 2.

[707] Epiph. adv. Hæret. Lib. I. Tom. III. Refut. 53 (p. 340, ed. 1622).

[708] S. John xi. 1-40.

[709] S. Matt. xxvi. 6-9; S. John xii. 3.

[710] S. John xi. 18.

[711] S. John xi. 19; xii. 1-3.

[712] Plate LIV.

[713] Mariti, c. XV. § 8.

[714] Hist. Eccl. Lib. VIII. c. 30.

[715] Jerome, Epitaph. Paulæ, Ep. CVIII. (_Ad Eustochium Virginem_).

[716] Jerome, Onomastic. ad vocem Bethan., Ep. CVIII. (_Ad Eustochium

Virginem_).

[717] Acta Sanct. ord. Bened. sæc. iii. p. 2. Early Travels, p. 6.

Bohn's Ant. Lib.

[718] Itinerarium in Loc. S. (Acta Sanct. ord. Bened. sæc. iii. p. 2).

After descending from Bethphage for about half a mile by a very steep