Jerusalem Explored Part 38

Germanion.

Gordius.

Narcissus (a second time).

212. Alexander, martyr.

250. Mazabanes.

265. Hymenaeus.

298. Zabdas.

302. Hermon.

313. Macarius I. During his episcopate Constantine laid the foundations of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

335. Maximus III., who consecrated the Church of the Resurrection.

NOTE III. Eusebius, Life of Constantine, book III. chap. 27 and following (English Translation, Bagster and Sons, London, 1845). After giving an account of the demolition of the temple of Venus, he proceeds, "Nor did the Emperor's zeal stop here; but he gave further orders that the materials of what was then destroyed should be removed, and thrown as far from the spot as possible; and this command was speedily executed. The emperor, however, was not satisfied with having proceeded thus far: once more, fired with holy ardour, he directed that the ground itself should be dug up to a considerable depth, and the soil, which had been polluted by the foul impurities of demon wors.h.i.+p, transported to a far distant place.

This also was accomplished without delay. But as soon as the original surface of the ground, beneath the covering of earth, appeared, immediately, and contrary to all expectation, the venerable and hallowed monument of our Saviour's resurrection was discovered. Then indeed did this most holy cave present a most faithful similitude of His return to life, in that, after lying buried in darkness, it again emerged to light, and afforded to all who came to witness the sight, a clear and visible proof of the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene."

Chap. x.x.xI. (_Continuation of a Letter from Constantine to the Bishop Macarius._) "It will be well therefore for your sagacity to make such arrangements and provision of all things needful for the work, that not only the church itself as a whole may surpa.s.s all others whatsoever in beauty, but that the details of the building may be of such a kind that the fairest structures in any city of the empire may be excelled by this.

And with respect to the erection and decoration of the walls, this is to inform you that our friend Dracilia.n.u.s, the deputy of the Praetorian Prefects, and the governor of the province, have received a charge from us. For our pious directions to them are to the effect that artificers and labourers, ... shall forthwith be furnished by their care. And as to the columns and marbles, whatever you shall judge, after actual inspection of the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be diligent to send information to us in writing, in order that whatever materials, and in whatever quant.i.ty we shall esteem from your letter to be needful, may be procured from every quarter, as required. With respect to the roof of the church, I wish to know from you whether in your judgment it should be ceiled, or finished with any other kind of workmans.h.i.+p. If the ceiling be adopted, it may also be ornamented with gold."

Chap. x.x.xIII. "This was the emperor's letter; and his directions were at once carried into effect. Accordingly, on the very spot which witnessed the Saviour's sufferings, a new Jerusalem was constructed, over against the one so celebrated of old, which, since the foul stain of guilt brought upon it by the murder of the Lord, had experienced the last extremity of desolation, the effect of Divine judgment on its impious people. It was opposite this city that the emperor now began to rear a monument to the Saviour's victory over death."

Chap. x.x.xIV. &c. _Description of the Holy Sepulchre._ "This monument, therefore, first of all, as the chief part of the whole, the emperor's zealous magnificence beautified with rare columns, and profusely enriched with the most splendid decorations of every kind. The next object of his attention was a s.p.a.ce of ground of great extent, and open to the pure air of heaven. This he adorned with a pavement of finely-polished stone, and enclosed it on three sides with porticoes of great length. For at the side opposite to the Sepulchre, which was the eastern side, the church itself was erected; a n.o.ble work rising to a vast height, and of great extent both in length and breadth. The interior of this structure was floored with marble slabs of various colours; while the external surface of the walls, which shone with polished stones, accurately fitted together, exhibited a degree of splendour in no respect inferior to that of marble.

With regard to the roof, it was covered on the outside with lead, as a protection against the rains of winter. But the inner part of the roof, which was finished with sculptured fretwork, extended in a series of connected compartments, like a vast sea, over the whole church; and being overlaid throughout with the purest gold, caused the entire building to glitter as it were with rays of light.

"Besides this were two porticoes on each side, with upper and lower ranges of pillars, corresponding in length with the church itself; and these also had their roofs ornamented with gold. Of these porticoes, those which were exterior to the church were supported by columns of great size, while those within these rested on piles of stone beautifully adorned on the surface. Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive those who entered the church.

"Opposite these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere,"

(apparently an altar of a hemicylindrical form,) "which rose to the very summit of the church. This was encircled by twelve columns, (according to the number of the apostles of our Saviour,) having their capitals embellished with silver bowls of great size, which the emperor himself presented as a splendid offering to his G.o.d.

"In the next place, he enclosed the atrium which occupied the s.p.a.ce leading to the entrances in front of the church. This comprehended, first the court, then the porticoes on each side, and lastly the gates of the court. After these in the midst of the open market-place, the entrance gates of the whole work, which were of exquisite workmans.h.i.+p, afforded to pa.s.sers by on the outside a view of the interior, which could not fail to inspire astonishment."

Such is Eusebius' account of the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem: he makes no mention of Calvary, and I make no doubt that, if its site had then been discovered, the historian of Constantine would not have pa.s.sed it over without notice.

An eye-witness of the magnificence of Constantine's Church is found in the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, who visited Jerusalem about 333 or 334. He speaks of it in his description of the Holy City, quoted in the notes to the first chapter.

NOTE IV. _Description of S. Arculf, who visited the Holy places in 680_ (Acta Sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti. Saec. III. part 2, p. 504).

"On these points we have inquired very particularly of S. Arculf, and specially concerning the Sepulchre of our Lord, and the church erected over it, the plan of which he drew for us upon a waxen tablet. It is a large church built entirely of stone, forming a perfect circle, and rising from its foundations with three walls. Between each pair of walls is a broad s.p.a.ce forming a corridor, and at three points in the middle wall are three altars of wonderful workmans.h.i.+p. This round church is occupied by the three altars above mentioned, one facing the south, another the north, and the third towards the west. It is supported by twelve stone columns of wondrous size. It has eight doors, or entrances, through the three walls with the corridors intervening, four of which doors face the south-east, while the rest face the east. In the middle s.p.a.ce of the inner circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, in which nine men can pray standing, and the roof of which is about a foot and a half above the head of a man of ordinary stature. The entrance to this grotto is on the eastern side, and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice marble, the apex being adorned with gold, and supporting a golden cross of considerable size. Within, on the north side of this grotto, is the tomb cut out of the same rock: but the floor of the grotto is lower than the level of the tomb, for from the former to the lateral margin of the tomb is a height of about three palms.

"In this place we must mention a discrepancy of names between the monument and the tomb; for the round grotto mentioned above is otherwise called the Monument of the Evangelist: and they say, that to the mouth of this the stone was rolled, and from it rolled away, at our Lord's resurrection; while the name of sepulchre is applied to the chamber within the grotto that is on the north side of the monument, in which the Lord's body lay wrapt in fine linen. The length of this S. Arculf measured with his own hands, and found it to be seven feet. This tomb is not, as some persons wrongly imagine, divided in two by a stone cut out of the wall, itself forming a s.p.a.ce for two legs and thighs, by coming between and separating them; but is undivided from the head to the foot, with sufficient room for one man lying upon his back, so forming a kind of cavern with an entrance at the side opposite to the south part of the monumental chamber. It has a low apex projecting above it, carved in the rock, and contains twelve lamps burning continually day and night, corresponding to the number of the twelve apostles. Four of these are placed at the foot of the sepulchral couch, and the other eight towards the head, on the right hand side, all of them being constantly fed with oil.

"As to the stone which after our Lord's crucifixion and burial was rolled to the mouth of the said monument by the united efforts of many men, Arculf relates that he found it broken in two parts. The lesser part, squared by the chisel, forms the altar which stands before the entrance of the aforesaid round church, while the larger, also chiselled like the former, is the square altar, covered with linen cloths, on the eastern side of the same.

"As regards the colours of the stone out of which the aforementioned grotto is hollowed by the tools of the stone-workers, with the Lord's Sepulchre on its north side cut from the same rock as the grotto itself, Arculf told me in answer to my questions, that the said grotto of the monument of our Lord, being covered with no ornament within, bears to this day upon its vaulted surface the marks of the tools used by the masons and stone-workers in the work: but the colour of the said stone appears not to be uniform, but a mixture of two, to wit, red and white, and the said stone is shewn as the stone of two colours.

"This round church, so often mentioned above, which is called the Anastasis, or Resurrection, and is built on the spot which witnessed our Lord's resurrection, is joined on the right by a square church dedicated to S. Mary the mother of G.o.d.

"Moreover another large church is built on the eastern side on the spot which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: from the ceiling of which is suspended by ropes a brazen wheel with lamps, and beneath it is a large silver cross fixed in the very place where stood the wooden cross on which the Saviour of the human race suffered.

"Adjoining this square-built church on the site of Calvary, on the east, is the famous stone church built with great magnificence by the Emperor Constantine, and called the Martyrdom, erected, as they say, in the place where the cross of our Lord and the other two crosses were found by divine revelation, two hundred and thirty-three years after they had been buried. Between these two churches is the famous spot where the patriarch Abraham built an altar, and laid upon it the bundle of wood, and seized the sword already drawn from its scabbard to sacrifice his son Isaac; where is now a wooden table of moderate size, on which the offerings of the people for the poor are deposited.

"Between the Anastasis or round church so often mentioned above, and the basilica of Constantine, a short open street extends to the church on Golgotha, in which are lamps burning night and day. Also between the basilica on Golgotha and the Martyrdom is a seat, in which is the cup of the Lord, which, after blessing it with His own hand during the supper before His pa.s.sion, He Himself handed to the Apostles that sate at meat with Him. It is a silver cup, holding about a French quart, and having two handles set over against each other on opposite sides. In this cup is the sponge, which they that crucified our Lord filled with vinegar, and put upon hyssop, and held up to His mouth. From this same cup, it is said that our Lord drank in company with His Apostles after His resurrection."

NOTE V. _Extracts from the description of Saewulf._ (Translated in Mr Wright's "Early Travels in Palestine.")

"The entrance to the city of Jerusalem is from the west, under the citadel of King David, by the gate which is called the Gate of David.

The first place to be visited is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Martyrdom, not only because the streets lead most directly to it, but because it is more celebrated than all the other churches.... In the middle of this church is our Lord's Sepulchre, surrounded by a very strong wall and roof, lest the rain should fall upon the Holy Sepulchre, for the church above is open to the sky.... In the court of the church of our Lord's Sepulchre are seen some very holy places, namely, the prison in which our Lord Jesus Christ was confined after He was betrayed, according to the testimony of the a.s.syrians; then, a little above, appears the place where the holy cross and the other crosses were found, where afterwards a large church was built in honour of Queen Helena, which however has since been utterly destroyed by the Pagans; and below, not far from the prison, stands the marble column to which our Lord Jesus Christ was bound in the common hall, and scourged with most cruel stripes. Near this is the spot where our Lord was stripped of His garments and clad in a purple robe by the soldiers, and crowned with the crown of thorns, and they parted His raiment amongst them, casting lots. Next we ascend Mount Calvary, where the patriarch Abraham raised an altar, and prepared, by G.o.d's command, to sacrifice his own son; there afterwards the Son of G.o.d, whom he prefigured, was offered up as a sacrifice to G.o.d the Father for the redemption of the world. The rock of that mountain remains a witness of our Lord's pa.s.sion, being much cracked near the hole, in which our Lord's cross was fixed, because it could not suffer the death of its Maker without rending, as we read in the Pa.s.sion, 'and the rocks rent.' Below is the place called Golgotha, where Adam is said to have been raised from the dead by the stream of the Lord's blood which fell upon him, as is said in the Lord's Pa.s.sion, 'And many bodies of the saints which slept arose.' But in the Sentences of S. Augustine, we read that he was buried at Hebron, where also the three patriarchs were afterwards buried with their wives; Abraham with Sarah, Isaac with Rebecca, and Jacob with Leah; as also the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel carried with them from Egypt. Near the place of Calvary is the church of S. Mary, on the spot where the body of our Lord, after having been taken down from the cross, was anointed with spices and wrapt in a linen cloth or shroud.

"At the head of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the wall outside, not far from the place of Calvary, is the place called _Compas_, which our Lord Jesus Christ Himself signified and measured with his own hands as the middle of the world, according to the words of the Psalmist, 'For G.o.d is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.'

Some say that this is the place where our Lord Jesus Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene, while she sought Him weeping, and thought He had been a gardener, as is related in the Gospel.

"These most holy places of prayer are contained in the court of our Lord's Sepulchre, on the east side. In the sides of the church itself are attached, on one side and the other, two most beautiful chapels in honour of S. Mary and S. John, who, sharing in our Lord's sufferings, stationed themselves one on each side of Him. On the west wall of the chapel of S. Mary is seen the portrait of the mother of our Lord, who once, by speaking wonderfully through the Holy Spirit, in the form in which she is here painted, comforted Mary the Egyptian, when she repented with her whole heart, and sought the help of the mother of our Lord, as we read in her life.

"On the other side of the church of S. John is a very fair monastery of the Holy Trinity, in which is the place of the baptistery, to which adjoins the chapel of S. James the Apostle, who first filled the pontifical chair at Jerusalem. These are all so composed and arranged, that any one standing in the furthest church may clearly scan the five churches from door to door.

"Without the gate of the Holy Sepulchre, to the south, is the church of S. Mary, called the Latin, because the monks there perform divine service in the Latin tongue; and the a.s.syrians say that the blessed mother of our Lord, at the crucifixion of her Son, stood on the spot now occupied by the altar of this church. Adjoining this church is another church of S. Mary, called the Less, occupied by nuns who serve devoutly the Virgin and her Son. Near which is the Hospital, where is a celebrated monastery founded in honour of S. John the Baptist."

NOTE VI. William of Tyre, VIII. 3. "On the eastern slope of the same hill is the Church of the Resurrection in the form of a rotunda, which being situated on the slope, and almost over-topped by the hill close to it, and so darkened, has a roof composed of beams placed upright, and wrought together by wondrous art into the shape of a crown, uncovered, and always open, by which the necessary light is conveyed into the church. Under this opening is the tomb of our Saviour. Beyond the entrance for the Latins is the scene of our Lord's pa.s.sion, which is called Calvary, or Golgotha; where it is said that the wood of the life-giving cross was found, and where our Saviour's body, having been taken down from the cross, is said to have been embalmed with spices and wrapt in fine linen, as was the Jews' custom of burial. Beyond the limits of the Calvary aforesaid are many small houses of prayer. But after that the Christians, by the help of the divine goodness, occupied the city with a strong hand, the aforesaid building appeared to them too contracted, and by enlarging the church with most solid and excellent work, and enclosing the old building within the new, they succeeded wonderfully in putting together in one the aforementioned places."

John of Wurtzburg, who visited the Holy Land in the twelfth century, when the Crusaders had already completed their works in the Church of the Resurrection, has transmitted to us a valuable detailed description, the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sages of which I quote: "Whilst everything was in preparing for the crucifixion," he says, "our Lord was kept bound in a place at some distance from Calvary, which served as a prison: this place is marked by a chapel, and is called to this day the prison of our Lord, and is on the side opposite to Calvary, on the left of the church.... To the right of the entrance in the greater church is a place forming a portion of Calvary, in whose upper part is shewn a rent in the rock. In the same is depicted in fine mosaic work the Pa.s.sion of Christ, and His burial, together with the testimony of the prophets, agreeing on all sides with the fact.

"In the middle of the choir, not far from the site of Calvary, is a spot where an altar has been formed of raised slabs of marble, supported by a trellis of iron. Beneath these slabs are some small circles traced in the pavements, which, they say is the centre of the earth, according to the saying, 'In the middle of the earth He hath wrought salvation.'

"A building of large dimensions, erected in a circular form round the monument, has at its further end a continuous wall adorned by different statues, and lighted by several lamps. In the inner circle of this larger building are eight round columns, on square bases, adorned on the outside with the same number of square slabs of marble, and erected all round the building, so as to sustain the weight of the building and the roof, which, as we have said, is open in the middle.

"We have said that the columns are placed round the building to the number above mentioned, but towards the east their positions and number have been altered, owing to the addition of a new building, which has its entrance-door on that side. This new church, just added, contains a wide and roomy choir, and a s.p.a.cious chapel, in which is the high altar, consecrated to the honour of the Anastasis, or Resurrection, as the mosaic above it distinctly proves. For in it Christ is depicted as having broken the bars of h.e.l.l, and rising again from the dead, and as bringing back thence our first father Adam. Without this chapel, and within the cloisters, is a wide corridor leading round the new building and also the older building of the monument aforesaid, suited for a procession. At the head of the said new church, towards the east and close to the choir-screen, is a well-lighted subterranean pa.s.sage like a crypt, in which Queen Helena is said to have found our Lord's cross.

Accordingly there is within an altar dedicated to the honour of the said S. Helena. The greater part of the sacred wood she took with her to Constantinople, the remainder however was left at Jerusalem, and is carefully and reverently kept in a certain place on the other side of the church opposite to Calvary."

NOTE VII. The whole of the dome has been covered with sheet-lead, which has disappeared on the south-west side (Plate x.x.xI.), where are the Greek terrace-roofs. Consequently the damp is every day destroying the wooden supports, and in the absence of such covering the ground below is flooded in the rainy season. Throughout the rest of its circ.u.mference, on the side of the Mohammedan terrace, the dome is in good condition, and the lead is intact. Why then, it may be asked, is it thus damaged only on the side belonging to the Greeks? We are told in reply, that the wind detaches the sheets of lead, (which, be it observed, are fastened by nails,) and carries them away; but it must be remarked that it is the north wind only, and not the others, which blows with great force over the city. It may be inferred from this how necessary it is that the whole covering of the Holy Sepulchre should belong exclusively to the church, and that no one should come near it or use it, in which case disputes would diminish, and the interior of the building would be less injured by damp.

NOTE VIII. The two gates, the one on the west, the other on the east, through which the square in front of the Church of the Resurrection is reached, are very narrow and low, so that strangers are surprised to find such a form used in places frequented by many visitors. This is not the work of the Mohammedans, but was done by agreement of the different religious bodies, in order to prevent beasts of burden from penetrating into these sacred places. Without some such precaution their owners, and especially the camel-drivers, would not fail to instal them there for the night, simply because of the convenient situation of the square.

Besides this, these two gates form the barrier for the Jews of Jerusalem, beyond which they cannot pa.s.s without exposing themselves to insults, and perhaps to blows, or even worse, from the Christians of Jerusalem, who imagine the place profaned by the pa.s.sing of a Jew: though they themselves think nothing of behaving irreverently while the holy offices are being celebrated. If, however, a Jew is accompanied by some one who can inspire them with fear or respect, these good Christians will perhaps mutter and grumble, but venture no further. If a slight _baks.h.i.+sh_ be administered, they will even salute him, and call their correligionists a set of ignoramuses, though they themselves held the same views before receiving _baks.h.i.+sh_.

NOTE IX. The fact that there is only one entrance to the Church of the Resurrection is the cause of many serious accidents at times when there is any great gathering of people, particularly at Easter. This is especially the case when the times of the celebration of this festival by the different sects coincide. During the eight years which I spent at Jerusalem, not an Easter pa.s.sed without some such casualty. Some were suffocated; some fainted in the crush, were trampled upon, and received serious injuries; some had their limbs broken. These accidents are constantly repeated, yet no one ever thinks of taking any means to avoid them, though it would be so easy to open the other door. It is well known how in 1836 Ibrahim Pasha attended the Greek service of the Holy Fire, and a quarrel arose betwixt the Greeks and the Armenians: the whole mult.i.tude sought some way of escape, and such was the crowding at this the only single door, that the conqueror got out with much difficulty by pa.s.sing over thirty dead bodies that lay there, the victims of the crush. (See Curzon's Monasteries of the Levant, chap.

16.)

NOTE X. The following is Edrisi's account of the western gate. "The church is entered by the western gate, and the traveller finds himself under the cupola, which covers the whole of the enclosure, and which is one of the most remarkable things in the world. The church is lower than this door, and it is not possible to descend to the lower part on this side of the building. Entrance is to be had on the north side by a door which opens at the head of a staircase of thirty steps, which door is called Bab-Sitti Mariam."

NOTE XI. The Abbe Mariti, who visited the Sepulchre before the fire of 1808, found in Adam's Chapel, on the right, the tomb of G.o.dfrey de Bouillon, and on the left, opposite the former, the tomb of Baldwin I., his successor; they were of marble, or of a kind of stone which much resembles it[900]. The following is the inscription on G.o.dfrey's tomb:

HIC JACET INc.l.i.tUS DUX G.o.dEFRIDUS DE BULLON QUI TOTAM TERRAM AQUISIVIT CULTUI KRANO CUI ANIMA REGNET c.u.m XRO AMEN.

_Here lies the ill.u.s.trious Captain G.o.dfrey de Bouillon, who won all this land for the Christian faith. May his soul reign with Christ. Amen._

That engraved on Baldwin's tomb is as follows:--

REX BALDEWINUS IUDAS ALTER MACHABEUS. SPES PATRIE VIGOR ECCLIE VIRT' UTRIUSQ' QUEM FORMIDABANT CUI DONA TRIBUTA FEREBANT CEDAR EGYPT' DAN.

AC HOMICIDA DAMASCUS PROH DOLOR IN MODICO CLAUDITUR HOC TUMULO.

_King Baldwin, a second Judas Maccabaeus, the hope of his country, the strength of the Church, the mainstay of both, to whom Kedar, Egypt, Dan and the murderous Damascus in fear brought gifts and tribute, is pent up, alas! within this narrow tomb._

He also found in the same chapel an old tomb without any inscription, fastened into the wall, which he was told was the _tomb of Melchizedek_.