EXAMINATION OF ITS IDENTITY. 189 run close past the so-called Sepulchre of Kings. I therefore know nothing that may be against the supposition, that the latter are the sepulchres of Herod it is also further confirmed by Schultz having shown, upon very good foundation, that the sepulchre of Queen Helena, of Adiabene, which Robinson sought to refer to the Sepulchre of Kings, lay upon the north-western rising ground, beyond the city. Still the question, where did the sepulchres of the Jewish kings lie, remains unanswered. Is possibly the tradition credible, according to which, the sepulchre of David lies upon the southern declivity of Zion, and which is guarded by a sheikh ? There stands, namely, beside a mosque and a former Franciscan monastery, a very ancient church of which it appears mention was made, even as early as the 4th century. Within it, an apartment is venerated as having been the scene of the Lord's Supper, as also of the descent of the Holy Ghost, and other sacred proceedings, and under this apartment it is assumed, the sepulchre of David lies. I did not myself see it, for its Mahometan guard very jealously conceals it from the eye of any Christian. On this assumption it is easily explained that this monument, the form of which resembles the sepulchre of a Santon, or Turkish saint, is nothing more than a Turkish superstructure, beneath the floor of which the real sepulchre must be concealed within the rock. But whence springs the tradition linked to it? An historical investigation shows, that the reminiscences of the Last Supper and of Whitsuntide, even as early as the 4th century, were associated with this locality, whereas the assumption of its being the sepulchre of David dates its origin subsequently to the crusades. I am in duced, therefore, to suppose that the Whitsun address of St. Peter (Acts ii. 29), "his sepulchre is with us to this day," occasioned the finding of the sepulchre at the very feet of the orator, especially as the ancient accounts of it raise no contradiction. The Rabbi Ben But a different supposition is opposed to mine. jamin, of Tudela, in the 12th century relates the following singular circumstance, in his travels which certainly does not merit the suspicion of being a forgery : "The Patriarch of Jerusalem replaced a fallen wall of the church of Zion by stones from the ancient wall of Zion. Two labourers at mid-day disrupted the stones, without their comrades, and discovered beneath one the aperture of a cavity: they went in, and found a palace standing upon richly decorated marble pillars, and in front of the palace a table, upon which lay a golden sceptre and a diadem. Similar monuments were adjacent to this, and several closed chests also lay there. But as the two men were about to enter 190 SEPULCHRE OF THE KINGS. the palace, a violent wind which blew from the aperture of the cavity, threw them down senseless upon the ground. It was not until evening that they recovered and quitted the cavity. They communicated the incident to the Patriarch, and he informed the Rabbi, Abraham the Pious, of it. The Rabbi asserted the discovered monuments to be the sepulchres of David and of Solomon. But when the two labourers were solicited to make further research they became bedridden, and were not to be persuaded to any further inspection of the remarkable cavity, from their religious fears. Upon this the place by command of the Patriarch was completely closed up again." Benjamin of Tudela further adds, that he received the account of the matter from Abraham the Pious himself. Dr. Thenius, who has recently devoted a special treatise to the sepulchres of the kings of Juda*, gives credence in the main to this narrative, and deduces from it by the conjunction of several reasons the existing tradition of the sepulchre of David. Many doubts, indeed, might be easily raised in objection to it. Nevertheless, I also participate in the opinion that, somewhere in the immediate vicinity of this traditional sepulchre, the genuine sepulchres of the kings are concealed in the bosom of the rock. Their discovery would without doubt amply reward even a laborious investigation, by its weighty results. According to Josephus treasures have been found in it twice since its origin; the High Priest Hyrcanus is reputed to have taken three thousand talents from it; and Herod, a rich raiment of gold and jewels: statements which at least may not be wholly destitute of fact. For my part, I wish to make it as credible as possible, if thereby the proper hands might be won to undertake energetically the discovery of the sepulchres of the kings of Juda. Thenius advises excavations within the walls of the American cemetery, under the pretext of erecting a charnel-house. As long as Jerusalem lingers in its present condition it would be commendable to follow this advice. BETHLEHEM. SAN SABA ON THE DEAD SEA. I have already announced my arrival at Bethlehem. I came with my two companions out of the desert of St. John, the sun was going * See Ilgen's Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie, 1844, Fart i. pp. 1-60. Die Gräber der Könige von Juda, vornehmlich durch Berichtigung der Topographie des vorexilischen Jerusalem nachgewiesen von Otto Thenius. down as I greeted the town, which is seated upon its rocky hills above a carpet of brightly glittering olives, and which the tongue of the prophet had called, "not the least among the Princes of Juda." (Matt. ii. 6.) The view of Bethlehem was indescribably delightful to me, the impression made by its appearance harmonised so thoroughly with the ideas I brought with me. It wore, as it were, the halo of transfiguration; all was as silent around me as if an instant of devotion had wholly absorbed the tumult of the day. seemed a Sunday, at once solemn and lovely. Bethlehem Sunset necessarily suggested the sunrise for which the world was indebted to this town. Who could approach it without being full of it? What would the world have been had not light arisen out of Bethlehem? As the poor Virgin became the "blessed among women" (Luke i. 28), even so was this modest mountain town of Judea selected to become the most venerated of all the cities of the earth. Since the birth of our Saviour not only has its name remained impressed in the memory of all; but its hills, its rocks, its walls, have remained irremovably fixed, before the eyes of all who have made the pilgrimage of the Holy Land, for doubt has not endeavoured to touch Bethlehem. But its celebrity extends far beyond the Christian era; a thousand years before it gave the world the King with the crown of thorns, the King of the realm of truth, it bestowed upon the house of Israel its royal Psalmist and divine hero. Both David and Christ sprang from Bethlehem ; it was this landscape which their eyes surveyed when they were first opened beneath the canopy of heaven: full of these impressions I rode forward to the monastery which, with its high walls, towers above the deep valley to the north, like the defensive Castle of Bethlehem, opposite to which, upon a neighbouring hill about a hundred paces distant, it stands in an imposing attitude. In front of the gate of the monastery, upon the broad area paved with flat stones, we met with numerous inhabitants of Bethlehem, all of whom presented a respectable appearance: upon the stone bench, close to the monastery, sat also a Franciscan, who greeted us with a friendly welcome. The monastery in its extensive area is inhabited collectively by Latins, Greeks, and Armenians, although any thing but fraternal unity prevails amongst them. Complaints of the unfriendliness and assumptions of the Greeks were among the first communications made to us by the Latin prior, after our introduction to the monastery. This same evening I visited the church. Its chief nave has a noble aspect; four rows of marble pillars, the splendour of which, however, no longer dazzles, adorn it; its roof is not arched, and 192 BIRTHPLACE OF OUR SAVIOUR. rests upon a frame-work of beams of cypress-wood: the walls are unadorned, but they appear to have been divested of some former decoration. In the arches of the windows are discerned glittering remains of the beautiful mosaics of golden glass, which still adorn the mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, as well as other ancient ecclesiastical buildings. The whole nave of this cross-shaped church is deserted and waste; the wings only of the cross are in use, and of these the Latins absolutely possess the smallest portion in their little church of St. Catherine. This little church which, to my delight, is furnished with an organ, is connected by means of a subterranean passage with the sanctuary, which lies fifteen steps below the high altar of the Armenian and Greek church. The sanctuary is a low rocky cavern, arched at the roof, its floor paved with white marble, and its marble walls hung with silken draperies. In the midst, between the two flights of stairs which lead upwards to the high altar of the church, lies, in a niche, the spot which is revered as the birth-place of our Saviour. The little flames of many silver lamps light it up night and day; a little marble table, supported by low pillars, serves for an altar; in front of it, a spot upon the floor is distinguished by a glory of inlaid jasper, and inscribed in Latin with the words" Here was Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary." At a few paces from the niche of the birth-place, stands the marble manger, and opposite the crib lies, clothed with slabs of marble, the stone upon which the Virgin sat when she received the worshipping Kings (Matt. ii. 11); an oil painting hangs over it, representing the scene, and another in the background of the grotto, depicts the Virgin with the Child in her lap. I confess the grotto made a solemn impression upon me. And I do not doubt that the text in St. Luke (ii. 7), although it only speaks of a manger outside of the inn, admits the assumption of a grotto as the birth-place of Christ; for nothing is more common, even at the present day, in Palestine and the adjacent countries of the East, than the conversion of grottoes into stables, so that St. Luke would not specially point out this circumstance. Besides, this grotto so revered, as I before mentioned *, can be proved to have acquired its actual celebrity about the middle of the 2nd century; and the church itself, which was raised there for its distinction, is a memorial of the piety of the Empress Helena. In the subterranean passage, from which about twenty steps lead upwards into the church of St. Catherine of the Latins, besides the altar of Joseph, the altar of the innocent child, the graves of Euse * See page 151. VICINITY OF BETHLEHEM. 193 bius of Cremona, as well as of the noble Roman lady Paula and her daughter, still further a chapel especially, and a sepulchre, are regarded as sacred. The latter have both reference to an individual, both monk and presbyter, hermit and learned man, whose memory is also very dear to me. The chapel, which receives its light from above, through an opening in the rock, was originally the monastic cell wherein, in spite of the rancour, contempt, and charge of heresy with which his contemporaries repaid the gratitude due to him, he for many years pursued, with iron industry, his learned labours upon the text of the Bible. The adjacent grave is the bed of repose where he, the venerable patriarch of ninety, laid down his weary head. Who does not perceive that I am speaking of St. Jerome, the translator and critic of the holy original records? I seated myself upon the stone bench in his rocky cell, my heart replete with joy that the same calling which he exercised had procured me the happiness of seeing Bethlehem. On the following morning I left early for the purpose of visiting. the monastery of San Saba. It is true that the tales of the insecurity of the road were deterring enough to check its prosecution; for, as San Saba lies about the middle of the road running to the Dead Sea, the notorious hordes of Bedouins who dwell upon its coasts are reputed to extend their predatory incursions even thus far. But I was too much interested in making myself acquainted with the celebrated library of that monastery to allow myself to be prevented by uncertain dangers from visiting it. As soon as we had passed the vicinity of Bethlehem, which even at the present day justifies, by its olives, figs, and vineyards, as well as its corn and rice fields, the name of " Ephratah," the fruitful, which was formerly given it (Micah v. 2), we were encompassed by the desert. Yellow sand surrounded us in the valleys, as well as upon the hills. Mountain deposits of limestone with a whitish glitter, and rarely a shrub or a tree: such was the character of this district. A rude morning music speedily assailed our ears; this was the howling of jackals, which are not unfrequent here. Subsequently an old jackal with three young ones, in the consciousness of perfect security, ran along the heights which closely bordered. our road. We also met some Bedouins; and even came across two small encampments in black tents, with their flocks of goats and sheep. But beyond our own considerable fears nothing molested us. After a journey of three hours we stood upon a summit of considerable elevation, in view of the neighbouring bold mountain fortress which bears the name of the monastery of San Saba. Beyond it the Dead Sea did not appear to be further off than half a league. That sea makes a sublimely beautiful impression, with its flat black mirror-like surface, lying at the foot of the waste |