REV. JAMES ROSE MACPHERSON, B. D.

 

 LONDON:

24, Hanover Square, W.

1895

 

 

PREFACE.

NOTHING appears to be known of Arculfus, the pilgrim of whose travels this work is a narrative, beyond the very slight notices of him contained in the work itself and in a reference to it by the Venerable Bede in his `Ecclesiastical History.' From these we learn that he was a native of France (Gaul), and that at the time when he undertook the journey referred to he had attained the rank of Bishop; but we have no information at all as to the see over which he presided. It is stated by Bede that his bishopric was in France, and, although this might be a mere supposition grounded on the references in the record itself, we need not hesitate to accept it as being correct. His pilgrimage to the East was undertaken about the year A.D. 670, according to the calculation of Dr. Tobler (Société de l'Orient Latin), and it must have occupied some time. He spent nine months in the city of Jerusalem (possibly during that period he may have made shorter visits to the south or the north of Palestine), and he gives us an account of the chief places of interest to the west of the Jordan, including in the south, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Galgal, and the Dead Sea,—and in the north, Sichem, Mount Tabor, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and the sources of the Jordan. After extending his travels as far as Tyre and Damascus, and returning to Jerusalem, he sailed from Joppa to Alexandria, taking forty days to accomplish the voyage. From Egypt he passed to Crete, spending some days there, and thence to Constantinople, where he stayed for some months—from Easter to Christmas. On his voyage homewards he visited Sicily and proceeded to Rome. Here, however, his good fortune ceased, as the ship in which he had hoped to reach his home after leaving Rome was caught in a violent storm, which drove it so completely out of its course that it was cast on one of the western points of Scotland, and we find Arculf `at length, after many dangers,' at Iona, the guest of Adamnan, the Abbot of the Monastery of Hy, who, according to Bede's narrative (book v., cap. 15), `found him to be learned in the Scriptures, and acquainted with the Holy Places, so that he received him most willingly, and heard him more willingly; so much so that he himself caused to be at once committed to writing whatever he testified to be worthy of mention of all that he had seen in the Holy Places. Adamnan, in his own narrative, represents himself as sedulously asking Arculf to tell him his experiences, and writing them down at once, as they were dictated, on waxed tablets, from which he afterwards compiled this work, with such additional information as he thought it advisable to insert from the works of other writers with which he was acquainted, and with the omission of a good deal of matter which was already sufficiently well known from those other works. Arculf had, in part of his travel, been accompanied by a Burgundian monk, whom he calls Peter, who acted as his guide, and of whose haste he at times complains. Peter, according to one MS. (Codex Caduinensis), had been for a long time in exile for the Lord's sake: lie was well acquainted with the Holy Places in Palestine, and he is represented as living in a `solitary place,' which he was apparently desirous of returning to more hurriedly than accorded with the wishes of his companion.

It would be out of place to enter here on any general details as to the life and position of Adamnan, who is the actual writer of this work. A native of Ireland (probably of Donegal), where he was born in 624, belonging to a noble family, he is first known to us as entering the brotherhood of Iona, probably during the abbacy of Seghine, fifth abbot, 623-652, Here, during several years, he so commended himself to his brethren by his character and his learning, that on the death of Failbhe, eighth abbot, in 679, he was elected his successor. He had at some time or other, whether in Ireland or in Iona, been brought in contact with Aldfrid, the exiled prince of Northumbria, who is spoken of in the Irish legends as the `alumnus' of Adamnan. Whatever this relationship may have actually been, it led Adamnan, on the restoration of Aldfrid in 685, to undertake an embassy to his court, with a view (apparently) to plead the cause of some Irish captives. It is in his account of this visit to Aldfrid that the Venerable Bede introduces his reference to this work: `This same man wrote a book about the Holy Places, which is most useful to many readers; its real author, by instruction and by dictation, was Arculfus, a French Bishop (Galliarum Episcopus), who for the sake of the Holy Places had gone to Jerusalem, and having passed over all the Land of Promise, visited also Damascus, Constantinople, Alexandria, and many islands of the sea; and as he was returning to his native land by sea, he was carried by the violence of a tempest to the western shores of Britain: and after many [dangers], he came to that servant of Christ, who has been mentioned, Adamnan, who found him to be learned in the Scriptures, and acquainted with the Holy Places, so that he received him most willingly, and heard him more willingly; so much so that he himself caused to be at once committed to writing whatever he testified to be worthy of mention of all that he had seen in the Holy Places. And he made a work, as I have said, which is of much use, and specially so to those who are so far distant from those places in which the patriarchs and the apostles lived that they can learn as to them only what they can inform themselves about by reading. Now, Adamnan brought this book to King Aldfrid, and by his liberality it was read by men of humbler station. The writer also was himself presented by him with many gifts, and sent back to his country' (`Eccles. Hist.,'book v., cap. 15). The presentation of the work to Aldfrid is postponed by Dr. Reeves to a second journey made by Adamnan in 688, when he stayed for some time in Northumbria.

The work, `De Locis Sanctis,' thus written by Adamnan, is divided into three books; the first two of which are of about the same length, the third much shorter. The First Book opens with a description of the city of Jerusalem, and proceeds to describe the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the neighbouring buildings, the description being of the greatest importance, as showing the actual position (at least, as understood by the writer) at a period separated from that of Antoninus Martyr, the next preceding pilgrim whose narrative is in our possession, by the Persian invasion under Chosroes II., when the city was all but ruined, and by that of the Arabs under the Caliph Omar. It has not been found to be practicable to insert in this volume a satisfactory note on these details as recorded from Arculf's account, but this will follow later. The narrative is interrupted by a long, and to the modern mind most useless, chapter as to the napkin that covered the head of the Lord in the sepulchre, and it is followed in this book by an account of the sites in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Mount of Olives, and Bethany. The Second Book opens with Southern Palestine, represented by Bethlehem and Hebron, with the places of interest in their neighbourhood; it then brings us again northward to Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the different Holy Places on and near the Jordan; thence it passes somewhat erratically over Shechem, Mount Tabor, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the sources of the Jordan, and closes with allusions to Damascus and Tyre, and a longer description of Alexandria, with its harbour. The Third Book describes Constantinople, relates some marvellous incidents in connection with St. George the Confessor, and, after a reference to Mount Vulcan, closes with an Epilogue.

The work appears to have attained very considerable acceptance over Europe. Disfigured as it is to our minds, no less by the insertion of much that is now regarded as simply rubbish, than by the omission of so much that we should have greatly welcomed, the numerous copies of it scattered over the Continent show the esteem in which it was held. The Venerable Bede prepared an abbreviation of it, which is also translated in this volume, and of which he inserted some portions in his history. In addition to the MSS. used by Dr. Tobler for his edition of the work, copies are found at the monastery of S. Germanus a Pratis (eighth century, probably the Corbey MS. used by Mabillon for his edition), at Berne (tenth century), at Rheinau (eleventh century), and at Salzburg (ninth or tenth century) (Reeves, pp. 8, 58). The first printed edition was published by Gretser, at Ingoldstadt, in 1619, from a MS. sent to him by Father Rosweyd `ex intima Holandia' (Proleg., p. 22). The text was again published, at Venice, in 1734., from better manuscripts, by Mabillon (Actt. SS. Ord. Bened., saec. iii., part 2).

A certain special interest would attach to this work, as the undoubted composition of a prior of the Scotic monastery of Iona, and some information might be gathered from it as to the exact belief of the Celtic Church on certain questions, were it not that Adamnan labours under the disadvantage for this purpose of having so strenuously endeavoured to introduce the Roman usages into that Church. The tract must have been written before the second visit to King Aldfrid, during which his discussions with Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow, as to Easter and the tonsure, resulted in his adoption of the Roman usage; but it seems scarcely possible to use it in this connection, although one who has studied the question closely might be able to make some interesting deductions as to the customs of the Celtic Church.

Dr. Reeves, the editor of Adamnan's other work, `The Life of St. Columba' (published for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, Dublin, 1857; republished, with a translation, in the series of `The Historians of Scotland,' Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas, 1874; the references are to the former edition), says (p. lxi.) that `Of Adamnan's two Latin works, the tract `De Locis Sanctis' is the better written and more flowing; but it bears a striking resemblance to the other in many particulars of style, and the use of peculiar words and phrases.' As to the latter, one has only, after studying the Latin text of the present work, to turn to the Glossary provided by Dr. Reeves, in order to realize how similar the vocabulary of the two works is. [I have to express my indebtedness to this Glossary for aid in one or two cases, such as the peculiar use of `pyramis,' pp. 30, 31.] But if this work is really the better written and more flowing of the two, one may express one's condolence with Dr. Reeves in the difficulty of the task he undertook, for even in this tract there are several passages in which the author's meaning is scarcely distinguishable, and where all one can do is to make what seems to be the best guess at the translation. This has been specially the case in the chapter dealing with Alexandria; and a very distinguished friend, whose assistance was asked as to another passage, p. 37, characterizes the connection of the words as passing all human comprehension. Among the marked peculiarities that one at once recognises with Dr. Reeves, are `the liberal employment of diminutives, so characteristic of Irish composition, used without any grammatical force, and commutable, in the same chapters, with their primitives;' `the use of frequentatives and intensitives; 'the occasional use of Greek or Greco-Latin words; `above all, the artificial, and often unnatural, interweaving of his words in long sentences, and the oft-recurring ablative absolute in awkward position' (Reeves, p. lxi.).

Reference has been made already to the abbreviation of Adamnan's narrative made by the Venerable Bede, and a translation of this work is also included in this volume. Nothing need be said as to its author, and it is useless to ask whether there can have been any connection at all between him and Adamnan. He professes to have done nothing more than `follow trustworthy histories, and especially that of Arculf, a Bishop of Gaul' (p. 87). He has not in any way felt bound to follow the order of the former work, but has at times shown considerable ingenuity in passing from page to page. He traverses practically the whole range of that narrative, but in about one-third of the space.

Bede, after referring to the work of Adamnan in the passage already quoted, devotes two chapters of his `Ecclesiastical History' (book v., 16, 17) to extracts from this work of his own in which he has abbreviated the longer narrative. It seems to have been generally assumed that the extracts are from the larger work, and Bede has used words in introducing them that certainly favour the idea and might mislead writers; but they are taken almost word for word from the shorter tract, and differ altogether both in form and in language from the former text. They consist of the following passages: cap. viii., § I, except the last sentence; cap. ii., § I; cap. vii., § I; cap. ix., except the last sentence. The misapprehension as to the exact source has been shared by Dr. Reeves in both editions of his `Life of St. Columba,' and also in his article on 'Adamnan' in Dr. Smith's `Dictionary of Christian Biography' (vol, i., p. 42), as well as Mr. Deedes in his article on `Arculf' in that Dictionary (vol. i., p. 154) The tract has apparently been at times known as `Libellus de Situ Jerusalem, sive de Locis Sanctis,' and is referred to only under the former part of this title by the Bishop of Oxford, in his notice of 'Bede' in the same work (vol i., p. 303), but there is no reason for regarding this otherwise than as a mistake.

The translation has been made as literal as possible in passages where the exact rendering was of any controversial or archaeological importance, as in the description of sites and buildings; but in some other cases greater freedom has been used. There has been inserted as an Appendix, at the suggestion of Sir Charles W. Wilson, the rendering of some passages as given in Professor Willis' `Holy Sepulchre.' Sir Charles Wilson has also contributed some notes of special value, besides making several important suggestions as to the translation.

The text used is that of the Society de 1'Orient Latin, (Itinera et Descriptiones Terrae Sancta Lingua Latino, Saec. IV.-XI. Exarata, sumptibus Societatis Illustrandis Orientis Latini Monumentis, edidit T. Tobler, Geneva, 1877, i., pp. 139-140). The variations of the different MSS. have been noted when the sense was in any way affected, and the readings of the Codex Caduinensis have been specially noted. That MS. of the twelfth century gives a greatly abbreviated text, with a few interesting additions. These additions are always given, but the notice of the omissions would have involved the preparation of a separate translation, which would have been without any gain. Tobler has in a similar way appended to the text of Bede the somewhat shorter text of the Codex Wirziburgensis, a MS. of the ninth century, but in this case there are no such additions to note.

The following are the MSS. used by Tobler:

ARCULFUS DE LOCIS SANCTIS.

L. British Museum, Cotton. Tib. D.V., folio, viii.-ix. cent.

B. Public Library of Brussels, 292, small quarto, ix. cent

Bern. Library of the City of Berne, 582, quarto, ix. cent.

P. National Library, Paris, Lat. 13048, ix. cent.

P. National Library of Paris, Lat. 12943, xi. cent.

G. Abbey of St. Gall, 320, small octavo, xii. cent.

C. Abbey of Caduinum, smallest folio, xii. cent.

V. Vatican Library, 636, A, folio, xiii. cent.

R. Library of Queen Christina (Rome), 61,8, xv. cent.

BEDA VENERABILIS DE LOCIS SANCTIS.

Ma. Public Royal Library of Monaco, 6389, quarto, ix. cent.

W. Library of the University of Wirtzburg, Mp. Th. f. 74, folio, ix. cent.

Med. Ambrosian Library of Milan, x. cent.

Pa. National Library of Paris, Lat. 2321, x. cent.

Mb. Public Royal Library of Monaco, 13002, larger folio, xii. cent.

Pb. National Library of Paris, Lat. 14797, xii. cent.

L. British Museum, Cotton. Faust A., vii., quarto, xii-xiii. cent.

O. Lincoln's College, Oxford, 96, xiii, cent.

Pc. National Library of Paris, Lat. 12277, xi. cent.

References to Antonius Maryr, the Bordeaux Pilgrim, the Abbot Daniel, etc. are to the translations already published by this Society.

References to Dr. Reeves' works are to the edition of the 'Life of St Columba' published at the University Press, Dublin, for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, 1857.

ARCULF'S NARRATIVE ABOUT THE

HOLY PLACES, WRITTEN BY ADAMNAN.

INTRODUCTION.

IN the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I am about to write a book concerning the Holy Places.

Arculf, a holy bishop, a Gaul by nation, well acquainted with many far distant lands, a truthful and right worthy witness,⁽¹⁾ who dwelt in the city of Jerusalem for a space of nine months, and examined the Holy Places by daily visits, told me, Adamnan, all that is hereafter to be written, as I sedulously asked him to tell me his experiences, which at first I wrote down on tablets as he dictated in a faithful and unimpeachable narrative, and now briefly inscribe upon parchment [membranes].⁽²⁾

I--THE SITUATION OF JERUSALEM, THE GATES OF THE CITY, THE YEARLY MARKET, THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE, THE ORATORY OF THE SARACENS, THE GREAT HOUSES.

AS to the situation of Jerusalem, we shall now write a few of the details that the sainted Arculf dictated to me, Adamnan; but what is found in the books of others as to the position of that city, we shall pass over. In the great circuit of its walls, Arculf counted eighty-four towers and twice three gates, which are placed in the following order in the circuit of the city: The Gate of David, on the west side of Mount Sion, is reckoned first; second, the Gate of the Place of the Fuller⁽¹⁾; third, the Gate of St. Stephen; fourth, the Gate of Benjamin; fifth, a portlet, that is a little gate, by which is the descent by steps to the Valley of Josaphat; sixth, the Gate Thecuitis.

This then is the order round the intervals between those gates and towers: from the above-mentioned gate of David it turns towards the northern part of the circuit, and thence towards the east. But although six gates are counted in the walls, yet of those the entries of three gates are more commonly frequented; one to the west, another to the north, a third to the east; while that part of the walls with its interposed towers, which extends from the above-mentioned Gate of David across the northern brow of Mount Sion⁽²⁾ (which overhangs the city from the south), as far as the face of that mountain which looks eastwards, where the rock is precipitous, is proved to have no gates.

But this too, it seems to me, should not be passed over, which the sainted Arculf, formerly spoken of, told us as to the honour of that city in Christ: On the fifteenth day of the month of September yearly, an almost countless multitude of various nations is in the habit of gathering from all sides to Jerusalem for the purposes of commerce by mutual sale and purchase. Whence it necessarily happens that crowds of various nations stay in that hospitable city for some days, while the very great number of their camels and horses and asses, not to speak of mules and oxen, for their varied⁽³⁾ baggage, strews the streets of the city here and there with the abominations of their excrements. the smell of which brings no ordinary nuisance to the citizens and even makes walking difficult. Wonderful to say, on the night after the above-mentioned day of departure ;with the various beasts of burden of the crowds, an immense abundance of rain falls from the clouds on that city, which washes all the abominable filths from the streets, and cleanses it from the uncleannesses. For the very situation of Jerusalem, beginning from the northern brow of Mount Sion, has been so disposed by its Founder, God, on a lofty⁽⁴⁾ declivity, sloping down to the lower ground of the northern and eastern walls that that over abundance of rain cannot settle at all in the streets, like stagnant water, but rushes down, like rivers, from the higher to the lower ground : and further this inundation of the waters of heaven, flowing through the eastern gates, and bearing with it all the filthy abominations, enters the Valley of Josaphat and swells the torrent of Cedron and after having thus baptized Jerusalem, this over abundance of rain, always ceases. Hence therefore we must in no negligent manner note in what honour this chosen and glorious city is held in the sight of the Eternal Sire,⁽⁵⁾ Who does not permit it to remain longer filthy, but because of the .honour of His Only Begotten cleanses it so quickly, since it has within the circuit of its walls the honoured sites of His sacred Cross and Resurrection.

But in that renowned⁽⁶⁾ place where once the Temple had been magnificently constructed, placed in the neighbourhood of the wall from the east, the Saracens now frequent a four-sided house of prayer, which they have built rudely, constructing it by raising boards and great beams on some remains of ruins: this house can, it is said, hold three thousand men at once.

Arculf, when we asked him about the dwellings of that city, answered: `I remember that I both saw and visited many buildings of that city, and that I very often observed a good many great houses⁽⁷⁾ of stone through the whole of the large city, surrounded by walls, formed with marvellous skill.' But all these we must now, I think, pass over, with the exception of the structure of those buildings which have been marvellously built in the Holy Places, those namely of the Cross and the Resurrection as to these we asked Arculf very carefully, especially as to the Sepulchre of the Lord and the Church constructed over it, the form of which Arculf himself depicted for me on a tablet covered with wax.⁽⁸⁾

II.-THE ROUND CHURCH BUILT ABOVE THE SEPULCHRE OF THE LORD.

And certainly this very great Church,⁽⁹⁾ the whole of which is of stone, was formed of marvellous roundness in every part, rising up from the foundations in three walls, which have one roof at a lofty elevation⁽¹⁰⁾ having a broad pathway between each wall and the next ; there are also three altars in three dexterously formed places of the middle wall⁽¹¹⁾ This round and very large church, with the above-mentioned altars, looking one to the south, another to the north, a third towards the west, is supported by twelve stone columns of marvellous size. It has twice four gates, that is four entrances, through three firmly built walls which break upon the pathways in a straight line, of which four means of exit look to the north-east⁽¹²⁾ (which is also called the `cecias' wind), while the other four look to the south-east.

In the middle of the interior of this round house is around cabin (tugurium)⁽¹³⁾ cut out in one and the same rock, in which thrice⁽¹⁴⁾ three men can pray standing; and from the head of a man of ordinary stature as he stands, up to the arch of that small house, a foot and a half is measured upwards. The entrance of this little cabin looks to the east, and the whole outside is covered with choice marble, while its highest point is adorned with gold, and supports a golden cross of no small size. In the northern part of this cabin is the Sepulchre of the Lord, cut out in the same rock in the inside, but the pavement of the cabin is lower than the place of the Sepulchre; for from its pavement up to the edge of the side of the Sepulchre a measure⁽¹⁵⁾ of about three palms is reckoned. So Arculf, who used often to visit the Sepulchre of the Lord and measured it most accurately, told me.

Here we must refer to the difference of names between the Tomb and the Sepulchre; for that round cabin which we have often mentioned, the Evangelists called by another name, the Tomb: they speak of the stone rolled to its mouth, and rolled back from its mouth, when the Lord rose. That place in the cabin is properly called the Sepulchre,which is in the northern side of the Tomb, in which the body of the Lord, when buried, rested, rolled in the linen cloths: the length of which Arculf measured with his own hand and found to be seven feet. Now this Sepulchre is not, as some think, double, having a projection left from the solid rock, parting and separating the two legs and the two thighs, but is wholly single, affording a bed capable of holding a man lying on his back from his head even to his soles. It is in the manner of a cave, having its opening at the side, and opposite⁽¹⁶⁾ the south part of the sepulchral chamber. The low roof is artificially wrought above it. In the Sepulchre there are further twelve lamps according to the numbers⁽¹⁷⁾ of the twelve Apostles, always burning day and night, four of which are placed down below in the lowest part of the sepulchral bed, while the other twice four are placed higher above its edge on the right hand ; they shine brightly, being nourished with oil.

But it seems that this also should be noted, that the Mausoleum or Sepulchre of the Saviour (that is, the often mentioned cabin), may rightly be called a Grot or Cave, concerning which, that is to say, concerning our Lord Jesus Christ being buried in it, the prophet prophesied: 'He shall dwell in a most lofty cave of a most strong rock.'⁽¹⁸⁾ And a little after, to gladden the Apostles, there is inserted about the Resurrection of the Lord: `Ye shall see the King with glory.⁽¹⁹⁾

The frontispiece shows, accordingly, the form of the above-named church with the round little cabin placed in its centre, in the northern side of which is the Sepulchre of the Lord, and also the forms of the other three churches about which we shall speak below.

We have drawn these figures of the four churches according to the model which, as has been said above, the sainted Arculf drew on a waxed tablet,⁽²⁰⁾ not that a likeness of them can be given in a drawing, but in order that the Tomb of the Lord, be it in however poor a representation, may be shown placed in the middle of the round church, and that the church more properly belonging to this, or the one placed further off, may be made clear.

But among these things, it seems that one ought to tell briefly about the stone, mentioned above, which was rolled to the mouth of the Tomb of the Lord, after the burial of the crucified Lord slain⁽²¹⁾ by many men: which, Arculf relates, was broken and divided into two parts, the smaller of which, rough hewn with toils, is seen placed as a square altar in the round church, described above, before the mouth of that often-mentioned cabin, that is, the Lord's Tomb; while the larger part of that stone, equally hewn around, stands fixed in the eastern part of that church as another four-sided altar under linen cloths.

As to the colours of that rock, in which that often mentioned chapel was hollowed out by the tools of hewers, which has, in its northern side, the Sepulchre of the Lord cut out of one and the same rock in which is also the Tomb, that is, the cabin, Arculf when questioned by me, said: That Cabin of the Lord's Tomb is in no way ornamented on the inside, and shows even to this day over all its surface the traces of the tools, which the hewers or excavators used in their work: the colour of that rock both of the Tomb and of the Sepulchre is not one, but two colours seem to have been intermingled, namely red and white, whence also that rock appears two-coloured. But as to these points let what has been said suffice.

As to the buildings of the holy places, some few details must be added. The four-sided Church of St. Mary, the mother of the Lord, is adjoined on the right side by that round church which has been so often mentioned above, and which is also called the Anastasis, that is the Resurrection, because it was built on the spot of the Lord's Resurrection.

Vl.-THE CHURCH THAT IS BUILT ON THE SITE OF CALVARY.

Another very large church, looking eastwards, has been built on that place which, in Hebrew, is called Golgotha,⁽²²⁾ high up in which a great circular chandelier of brass with lamps is hung by ropes, below which has been set up a great cross of silver, fixed in the same spot where once stood fixed the wooden Cross, on which suffered the Saviour of the human race.

In the same church a cave has been cut out in the rock below the site of the Cross of the Lord, where sacrifice is offered on an altar for the souls of certain specially honoured persons whose bodies are meanwhile placed lying in a court⁽²³⁾ before the gate of that Church of Golgotha, until the holy mysteries on their behalf are finished.

VII-THE BASILICA WHICH CONSTANTINE BUILT CLOSE TO THE ABOVE-NAMED CHURCH ON THE SPOT WHERE THE CROSS OF THE LORD, WHICH HAD BEEN BURIED IN RUINS, WAS FOUND, WHEN AFTER MANY CENTURIES THE EARTH WAS DUG UP.

This four-sided church, built on the site of Calvary, is adjoined on the east by the neighbouring stone Basilica,constructed with great reverence by King Constantine which is also called the Martyrium⁽²⁴⁾ built, as is said, on that spot where the Cross of the Lord, which had been hidden away under the earth, was found with the other two crosses of the robbers, after a period of two hundred and thirty-three years, by the permission of the Lord Himself.

⁽²⁵⁾ laid on it the pile of wood, and seized the drawn sword to offer in sacrifice his own son, Isaac: where is now a wooden table of considerable size on which the alms of the poor are offered by the people. This also the sainted Arculf added, as I enquired of him more diligently: Between the Anastasis, that is the round church we have often mentioned above, and the Basilica of Constantine, lies a small square extending to the Church of Golgotha, where lamps burn always by day and night⁽²⁶⁾

Between that Basilica of Golgotha and the Martyrium⁽²⁷⁾ there is a recess (exedra)⁽²⁸⁾ in which is the Cup of the Lord, which He blessed and gave with His own hand to the Apostles in the supper on the day before He suffered, as He and they sat at meat with one another; the cup is of silver, holding the measure of a French quart,⁽²⁹⁾and has two little handles placed on it, one on each side. In this cup also is the sponge which those who were crucifying the Lord filled with vinegar and, putting it on hyssop, offered to His mouth. From the same cup, as is said, the Lord drank after His Resurrection, as He sat at meat with the apostles. The sainted Arculf saw it and touched it with his own hand, and kissed it through the opening of the perforated cover of the case within which it is concealed indeed, the whole people of the city resort greatly to this cup with immense veneration.

X.-SPEAR OF THE SOLDIER WITH WHICH HE PIERCED THE SIDE OF THE LORD.

Arculf also saw that spear of the soldier with which he smote through the side of the Lord as He hung on the Cross. The spear is fixed in a wooden cross in the portico of the Basilica of Constantine, its shaft being broken into two parts: and this also the whole city of Jerusalem resorts to, kisses, and venerates.

XI.-THE NAPKIN WITH WHICH THE HEAD OF THE LORD WAS COVERED IN THE SEPULCHRE⁽³⁰⁾

As to the sacred napkin which was placed upon the head⁽³¹⁾ of the Lord in the Sepulchre, we learn from the narrative of the sainted Arculf, who inspected it with his own eyes.

The whole people of Jerusalem bear witness to the truth of the narrative we now write. For on the testimony of several faithful citizens of Jerusalem, the sainted Arculf learned this statement which they very often repeated to him as he listened attentively : A certain trustworthy believing Jew, immediately after the Resurrection of the Lord, stole from His Sepulchre the sacred linen cloth and hid it in his house for many days; but, by the favour of the Lord Himself, it was found after the lapse of many years, and was brought to the notice of the whole people about three years⁽³²⁾ before [this statement was made to Arculf].⁽³³⁾ That happy, faithful thief, when at the point of death, sent for his two sons, and, showing them the Lord's napkin, which he had at first abstracted furtively, offered it to them, saying: `My boys, the choice is now given to you. Therefore let each of you say which he rather wishes to choose, so that I may know without doubt to which of you, according to his own choice, I shall bequeathe all the substance I have, and to which only this sacred napkin of the Lord.' On hearing this, the one who wished to obtain all his sire's wealth, received it from his father, according to a promise made to him under the will. Marvellous to say, from that day all his riches and all his patrimony, on account of which he sold the Lord's napkin, began to decrease, and all that he had was lost by various misfortunes and came to nothing. While the other blessed son of the above-named blessed thief, who chose the Lord's napkin in preference to all his patrimony, from the day when he received it from the hand of his dying sire, became, by the gift of God, more and more rich in earthly substance, and was by no means deprived of heavenly treasure. And thus this napkin of the Lord was faithfully handed down as an heirloom by the successive heirs of this thrice blessed man to their believing sons in regular succession, even to the fifth generation. But many years having now passed, believing heirs of that kindred failed, after the fifth generation, and the sacred linen cloth came into the hands of unbelieving Jews, who, while unworthy of such an office, yet embraced it honourably and, by the gift of the Divine bounty, were greatly enriched with very diverse riches. But an accurate narrative about the Lord's napkin having spread among the people, the believing Jews began to contend bravely with the unbelieving Jews about the sacred linen cloth, desiring with all their might to obtain possession of it, and the strife that arose divided the common people of Jerusalem into two parties, the faithful believers and the faithless unbelievers.

Upon this, Mavias,⁽³⁴⁾ the King of the Saracens, was appealed to by both parties to adjudicate between them, and he said to the unbelieving Jews who were persistently retaining the Lord's napkin;⁽³⁵⁾ `Give the sacred linen cloth which you have into my hand.' In obedience to the king's command, they bring it from its casket and place it in his bosom. Receiving it with great reverence, the king ordered a great fire to be made in the square before all the people, and while it was burning fiercely, he rose, and going up to the fire, addressed both.contending parties in a loud voice : `Now let Christ, the Saviour of the world, who suffered for the human race, upon whose head this napkin, which I now hold in my bosom, and as to which you are now contending, was placed in the Sepulchre, judge between you by the flame of fire, so that you may know to which of these two contending hosts this great gift may most worthily be entrusted.'Saying this, he threw the sacred napkin of the Lord into the flames, but the fire could in no way touch it, for, rising whole and untouched from the fire, it began to fly on high, like a bird with out-spread wings, and looking down from a great height on the two contending parties, placed opposite one another as if they were two armies in battle array, it flew round in mid air for some moments; then slowly descending, under the guidance of God, it inclined towards the party of the Christians, who meanwhile prayed earnestly to Christ, the judge, and finally it settled in their bosom. Raising their hands to heaven, and bending the knee with great gladness, they give thanks to God and receive the Lord's napkin with great honour, a gift to be venerated as sent to them from heaven; they render praises in their hymns to Christ, who gave it, and they cover it up in another linen cloth and put it away in a casket of the church.

Our brother Arculf saw it one day taken out of the casket, and amid the multitude of the people that kissed it, he himself kissed it in an assembly of the church; it measures about eight feet⁽³⁶⁾ in length.⁽³⁷⁾ As to it let what has been said suffice.

Arculf saw also in that city of Jerusalem another linen cloth of larger size, which, as is said, St. Mary wove, and which, on that account, is held in great reverence in the Church and by all the people. In this linen cloth the forms of the twelve Apostles are woven, and the likeness of the Lord Himself is figured; one side of the linen cloth is of red colour, while the opposite side is green.⁽³⁸⁾

We must speak briefly about a very lofty column, standing in the middle of the city, which meets one coming from the sacred places northwards. This column is set up on that spot where a dead young man came to life again when the Cross of the Lord was placed on him, and marvellously in the summer solstice at mid-day, when the sun comes to the centre of the heaven, it casts no shadow; for when the solstice is passed, which is the 24th⁽³⁹⁾ of June, after three days, as the day gradually lessens, it first casts a short shadow, then a longer one as the days pass. Thus this column, which the brightness of the sun in the summer solstice at mid-day, as it stands in the centre of the heaven,⁽⁴⁰⁾ shining straight down from above, shines upon all round from every quarter, proves that the city of Jerusalem is situated in the middle of the earth. Whence also the Psalmist, prophesying on account of the sacred sites of the Passion and the Resurrection which are contained within that Aelia, sings: `But God, our King, before the ages has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth,⁽⁴¹⁾ that is, in Jerusalem, which, being in the middle, is also called the navel of the earth.⁽⁴²⁾

XIV.--THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY BUILT IN THE

VALLEY OF JOSAPHAT, IN WHICH IS HER TOMB.

That sedulous visitor of the Holy Places, the sainted Arculf, visited the Church of St. Mary,⁽⁴³⁾ in the Valley of Josaphat, which is built in two stories, the lower of these being a round structure, under a marvellous stone roof, with an altar in its eastern part, while on the right side of it is the empty stone sepulchre of St. Mary, in which for a time she rested after her burial.⁽⁴⁴⁾ But how or when or by whom her sacred body was raised from that sepulchre, or where it awaits the Resurrection, it is said that no one knows certainly.⁽⁴⁵⁾ Those who enter this lower round Church of St. Mary see inserted, on the right of the wall, that stone above which, on the night when He was betrayed by Judas into the hands of sinful men, the Lord prayed in the field of Gethsemane, on bended knees, before the hour of His betrayal: and in this rock are seen the marks of His two knees, as if they had been very deeply impressed in the softest wax. Thus we were informed by our brother, the sainted Arculf, the visitor of the holy places, who with his own eyes saw what we describe. In the upper Church of St. Mary, which is also round, there are shown to be four altars.

In the same valley that has been mentioned above, not far from the Church of St. Mary, is shown the Tower of Josaphat, in which his sepulchre is seen.

This⁽⁴⁶⁾ little tower is joined on the right hand by a stone house, cut out of the rock and separated from the Mount of Olivet, within which are shown two sepulchres cut out with iron tools, destitute of ornament. One of these is that of Simeon, the just man, who, having embraced the little Infant, the Lord Jesus, in the Temple in both his hands, prophesied about Him. The other is that of Joseph, the spouse of St. Mary, and the upbringer of the Lord Jesus.

In the side of the Mount of Olivet is a cave, not. far from the Church of St. Mary, placed on the higher ground across the Valley of Josaphat, having in it two very deep wells, one of which descends to a great depth under the mountain,⁽⁴⁸⁾ while the other is in the pavement of the cave, its immense cavity being, as is said, directed in a straight course, descending into the depth; these two wells are always closed. In the same cave are four stone tables, of which the one nearest the entrance of the cave on the inside is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, His seat beyond doubt adjoining His little table; here He was in the habit sometimes of sitting at meat with His twelve Apostles, who at the same time sat at the other tables in the same place. The closed mouth of the well, referred to above as being in the pavement of the cave, is shown to belong especially to the tables of the Apostles. The little doorway of this cave is closed by a wooden gate, as the sainted Arculf, who so often visited that cave of the Lord, relates.

The Gate of David adjoins a slight rising of Mount Sion on the west. Those going out of the city through it, leaving the Gate and Mount Sion next their left hand, come to a stone bridge,⁽⁴⁹⁾ directed for some distance in a straight line across the valley to the south, raised on arches,⁽⁵⁰⁾ close to the middle of which, on the west side, is the spot where Judas of Iscarioth, driven by despair, hanged himself by a rope.⁽⁵¹⁾ There is still shown here to this day a fig-tree of large size, from the top of which, as is said, Judas hung in a halter, as Juvencus,⁽⁵²⁾ a versifying presbyter, has sung

`From fig-tree top he snatched a shapeless death.'

XIX.-THE FORM OF THE GREAT BASILICA BUILT ON MOUNT SION, AND THE SITUATION OF THAT MOUNTAIN.

Mention was made of Mount Sion a little above, and here a short and succinct notice must be inserted of a great Basilica constructed there, a drawing of which is given here

PLAN OF THE BASILICA ON MOUNT SION, SHOWING THE SITES ON

THE SUMMIT OF THE MOUNTAIN.

Here is shown the rock upon which Stephen, being stoned without the city, fell asleep. Beyond the great church described above, which embraces within its walls such holy places, there stands another memorable rock, on the west side of that on which, as is said, Stephen was stoned.⁽⁵³⁾ This Apostolical Church, as is said above, was built of stone on a level surface in the higher ground of Mount Sion.⁽⁵⁴⁾

This small field,⁽⁵⁵⁾ which is situated towards the southern quarter of Mount Sion, was often visited by our Arculf ; it has a stone boundary-wall, and in it a considerable number of pilgrims⁽⁵⁶⁾ are very carefully interred, while others are left unburied very carelessly, merely covered with rags or skins, and so, lying on the ground, putrefy.

From AElia northwards to the City of Samuel, which is called Armathem,⁽⁵⁷⁾ the ground is rocky and rough, in which, however, there are intervening spaces, thorny valleys also lying up to the Tanitic region. Another description of country is seen from the above-named AElia and Mount Sion westwards extending to Cesarea of Palestine; for though there maybe at intervals some narrow, small, rough places, yet for the most part wider downs are met with, enlivened by olive groves scattered over them.

Other kinds of trees than the vine and the olive can, as Arculf relates, rarely be found on the Mount of Olivet, while very fine crops of corn and barley are raised on it. For the character of that soil is shown not to be adapted for trees, but for grass and flowers. Its height, moreover, seems to be equal to that of Mount Sion,⁽⁵⁸⁾ although Mount Sion seems small and narrow when compared to the Mount of Olivet as regards its geometrical dimensions--namely, breadth and length. In the middle, between these two mountains, lies the Valley of Josaphat, of which we spoke above, stretching from north to south.

On the whole Mount of Olivet there seems to be no spot higher than that from which the Lord is said to have ascended into the heavens, where there stands a great round church, having in its circuit three vaulted porticoes covered over above. The interior of the church, without roof or vault, lies open to heaven under the open air, having in its eastern side an altar protected under a narrow covering. So that in this way the interior has no vault,⁽⁵⁹⁾ in order that from the place where the Divine footprints are last seen,⁽⁶⁰⁾ when the Lord was carried up into heaven in a cloud, the way may be always open and free to the eyes of those who pray towards heaven.⁽⁶¹⁾

For when this basilica, of which I have now made slight mention, was building, that place of the footprints of the Lord, as we find written elsewhere, could not be enclosed under the covering⁽⁶²⁾ with the rest of the buildings. Whatever was applied, the unaccustomed earth, refusing to receive anything human, cast back into the face of those who brought it. And, moreover, the mark of the dust that was trodden by the Lord is so lasting that the impression of the footsteps may be perceived ; and although the faith;of such as gather daily at the spot snatches away some of what was trodden by the Lord, yet the area perceives no loss, and the ground still retains that same appearance of being marked by the impress of footsteps.

Further, as the sainted Arculf, who carefully visited this spot, relates, a brass hollow cylinder of large circumference, flattened on the top, has been placed here, its height being shown by measurement to reach one's neck.⁽⁶³⁾ In the centre of it is an opening of some size, through which the ;uncovered marks of the feet of the Lord are plainly and clearly seen from above, impressed in the dust. In that cylinder there is, in the western side, as it were, a door; so that any entering by it can easily approach the place of the sacred dust, and through the open hole in the wheel may take up in their outstretched hands some particles of the sacred dust.

Thus the narrative of our Arculf as to the footprints of the Lord quite accords with the writings of others--to the effect that they could not be covered in any way, whether by the roof of the house or by any special lower and closer covering; so that they can always be seen by all that enter, and the marks of the feet of the Lord can be clearly seen depicted in the dust of that place. For these footprints of the Lord are lighted by the brightness of an immense lamp hanging on pulleys above that cylinder in the church, and burning day and night. Further in the western side of the round church we have mentioned above, twice four windows have been formed high up with glazed shutters, and in these windows there burn as many lamps placed opposite them, within and close to them. These lamps hang in chains, and are so placed that each lamp may hang neither higher nor lower, but may be seen, as it were, fixed to its own window, opposite and close to which it is specially seen. The brightness of these lamps is so great⁽⁶⁴⁾ that, as their light is copiously poured through the glass from the summit of the Mountain of Olivet, not only is the part of the mountain nearest the round'⁽⁶⁵⁾ basilica to the west illuminated, but also the lofty path which rises by steps up to the city of Jerusalem from the Valley of Josaphat, is clearly illuminated in a wonderful manner, even on dark nights; while the greater part of the city that lies nearest at hand on the opposite side is similarly illuminated by the same brightness. The effect of this brilliant and admirable coruscation of the eight great lamps shining by night from the holy mountain and from the site of the Lord's ascension, as Arculf related, is to pour into the hearts of the believing onlookers a greater eagerness⁽⁶⁶⁾ of the Divine love, and to strike the mind with a certain fear along with vast inward compunction.

This also Arculf related to me about the same round church: That on the anniversary of the Lord's Ascension, at mid-day, after the solemnities of the Mass have been celebrated in that basilica, a most violent tempest of wind comes on regularly every year, so that no one can stand or sit in that church or in the neighbouring places, but all lie prostrate in prayer with their faces in the ground until that terrible tempest has passed.

The result of this terrific blast is that that part of the house cannot be vaulted over; so that above the spot where the footsteps of the Lord are impressed and are clearly shown, within the opening in the centre of the above-named cylinder, the way always appears open to heaven. For the blast of the above-mentioned wind destroyed, in accordance with the Divine will, whatever materials had been gathered for preparing a vault above it, if any human art made the attempt.

This account of this dreadful storm was given to us by the sainted Arculf, who was himself present in that Church of Mount Olivet at the very hour of the day of the Lord's Ascension when that fierce storm arose. A drawing of this round church is shown below, however unworthily it may have been drawn; while the form of the brass cylinder is also shown placed in the middle of the church.i

PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION.

This also we learned from the narrative of the sainted Arculf: That in that round church, besides the usual light of the eight lamps mentioned above as shining within the church by night, there are usually added on the night of the Lord's Ascension almost innumerable other lamps, which by their terrible and admirable brightness, poured abundantly through the glass of the windows, not only illuminate the Mount of Olivet, but make it seem to be wholly on fire; while the whole city and the places in the neighbourhood are also lit up.

XXIV.-THE SEPULCHRE OF LAZARUS AND THE CHURCH

BUILT ABOVE IT, AND THE ADJOINING MONASTERY.

Arculf, the visitor of the above-mentioned holy places, visited a little plain at Bethany, surrounded by a great wood of olives, where there are a great monastery and a great basilica built over the cave from which the Lord recalled Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days.

As to another more celebrated church built towards the southern side of Bethany, on that spot of the Mount of Olivet where the Lord is said to have addressed the disciples, I think that we must write briefly.

Hence we must carefully inquire what address and at what time or to what special individuals of His disciples the Lord spoke.⁽⁶⁷⁾ These three questions, if we will open the writings of the three Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, will be clearly answered, for the Evangelists speak of the character of the address in complete harmony with one another. As to the place of that meeting, no one can have any doubt, or as to the address and the place, who will read Matthew speaking about the Lord: `And as He sat upon the Mount of Olivet, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age?' (St. Matt. xxiv. 3). As to the persons who asked Him, Matthew has kept silence; but Mark has not, and he tells us: `Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately' (St. Mark xiii. 3)--in reply to whose question He delivered the address referred to by the three Evangelists we have mentioned above, of which the character is shown in His words: `Take heed lest any man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ' (St. Mark xiii. 5, 6) and the rest that follows as to the last times and the consummation of the age, which Matthew records at great length, down to the place where the same Evangelist clearly shows the time of this lengthened address, as he mentions the words of the Lord: `And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, Ye know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed to be crucified,' etc. (St. Matt. xxvi. 1, 2). It is thus shown distinctly that it was on the fourth day of the week, when two days remained to the first day of the Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, that the Lord delivered the lengthened address mentioned above, in answer to the question of the four above-named disciples. On the place where the address was given a church was founded in its memory, which is held in great honour.

Let it suffice to have thus far described the holy places of the city of Jerusalem, and Mount Sion, and the Mount of Olivet, and the Valley of Josaphat, which lies between these mountains, in accordance with the accurate narrative of the sainted Arculf, the visitor of those places.

In the beginning of this Second Book we shall briefly write a few notes about the situation of the city of Bethlehem,⁽²⁾ which our Saviour thought worthy to be the place where He should be born of the Holy Virgin. This city, according to the narrative of Arculf who visited it, is not so remarkable for situation as for its glorious fame, which has been published throughout the churches of all nations; it is situated on the narrow ridge of a mountain, surrounded on all sides by valleys, the ridge of ground stretching from east to west for about a mile; round the level plain on the top of it is a low wall without towers,⁽³⁾built right round the brow of that little mountain, which overhangs the little valleys lying around on both sides, while the dwellings of the citizens are scattered over the intervening ground within the wall, along the longer diameter.

II.-THE PLACE OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD, THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY.

In the extreme eastern angle of this city is a sort of natural half cave,⁽⁴⁾ the extremity of the interior of which is the Manger of the Lord, in which His mother laid the newborn babe; while another, contiguous to the manger we have just mentioned,⁽⁵⁾ is shown to such as enter, as being the traditional site of His real nativity. The whole of this cave of the Manger of the Lord at Bethlehem has been adorned on the inside with precious marble, in honour of the Saviour, while in the half cave, above the stone chamber, there has been built the Church of St. Mary, above the place where the Lord is said to have been actually born, which is a grand structure.

III.-THE ROCK SITUATED BEYOND THE WALL, UPON WHICH THE WATER, IN WHICH HE WAS FIRST WASHED AFTER HIS BIRTH, WAS POURED.

Here I think I must briefly mention the rock lying beyond the wall, upon which the water of the first bathing of the Lord's body after His birth, was poured from the top of the wall out of the vessel into which it had been put. This water of the sacred bath, poured from the wall, found a receptacle in a rock lying below, which had been hollowed out by nature like a trench: and this water has been constantly replenished from that day to our own time during the course of many ages, so that the cavity is shown full of the purest water without any loss or diminution, our Saviour miraculously bringing this about from the day of His nativity, of which the prophet sings: `Who brought water out of the rock;⁽⁶⁾ and the Apostle Paul, 'Now that Rock was Christ,'⁽⁷⁾ who, contrary to nature, brought water or a stream out of the hardest rock in the desert to console His thirsting people. Such is the power of God and the wisdom of God, who brought out water also from that rock of Bethlehem and keeps its cavity always full of water; this our Arculf inspected with his own eyes, and he washed his face in it.

IV.-ANOTHER CHURCH IN WHICH THE TOMB OF

DAVID IS SEEN.

Arculf, when I asked him about the Sepulchre of King David,⁽⁸⁾ gave us this answer: I myself inquired very carefully about the Sepulchre of King David, in which he was buried in the earth, and visited it. It lies in the middle⁽⁹⁾ of the pavement of the church, without any overlying ornament, surrounded only by a low fences of stone,⁽¹⁰⁾ and having a lamp shining brightly placed over it.

This church is built outside the wall of the city in an adjoining valley, which joins the Hill of Bethlehem on the north.

V.-THE CHURCH WITHIN WHICH IS THE SEPULCHRE

OF ST. HIERONYMUS [JEROME].

As we inquired with like solicitude as, to the Sepulchre of St. Hieronymus,⁽¹¹⁾ Arculf told us. I saw the Sepulchre of Hieronymus, as to which you inquire, which is in a church built in a valley beyond that little city,⁽¹²⁾ which is conterminous with the ridge of the Hill of Bethlehem, mentioned above, and lies to the south of it. This Sepulchre of St. Hieronymus is of similar workmanship to the Tomb of David, and is unornamented.

VI.-THE TOMBS OF THE THREE SHEPHERDS, AROUND WHOM, WHEN THE LORD WAS BORN, THE HEAVENLY BRIGHTNESS SHONE; AND THEIR CHURCH.

Arculf gave us a short account of the tombs of those shepherds, around whom, on the night of the Lord's Nativity, the heavenly brightness shone: I visited, he said, the three tombs of those three shepherds who are buried in a church near the Tower of Gader,⁽¹³⁾ which is about a mile to the east of Bethlehem, whom, when the Lord was born, the brightness of the angelic light⁽¹⁴⁾ surrounded at that place, that is near the Tower of the Flock ; where that church has been built, containing the sepulchres of those shepherds.

The Book of Genesis relates that Rachel was buried in Ephrata, that is, in the district of Bethlehem, and the `Book of Places ' relates that Rachel was buried in that district close to the road. In answer to my questions about this road, Arculf said: There is a royal road which leads from AElia southwards to Hebron, close to which, six⁽¹⁵⁾ miles from Jerusalem, is Bethlehem on the east, while the Sepulchre of Rachel is at the end of this road on the west, that is, on one's right hand as one goes to Hebron; it is a building of common workmanship and without ornamentation, surrounded by a stone fence.⁽¹⁶⁾ There is shown even at the present day the inscription with her name, which Jacob, her husband, erected above it.⁽¹⁷⁾

Hebron, which is also Mambre, was once the metropolis of the Philistines and inhabited by giants; David reigned in it for seven years, and, as the sainted Arculf relates, it is not now surrounded by walls. Some traces of the city, which was long ago destroyed, appear in remnants of ruins; but it has some poorly built villages, fields, and farmhouses, some lying within, others without, those remains of the destroyed walls, scattered over the surface of the plain, while a multitude of people live in those villages and farms.

To the east of Hebron is a field with a double cave, looking towards Mambre, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a double sepulchre.⁽¹⁸⁾

In the valley of this field the sainted Arculf visited the site of the Sepulchre of Arba, that is, of the four patriarchs, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Adam, the first man, whose feet are not, as is customary in other parts of the world, turned towards the east in burial, but are turned to the south, and their heads to the north. The site of these sepulchres is surrounded by a low rectangular⁽¹⁹⁾ wall. Adam, the first created, to whom, when he sinned, immediately after the sin was committed, God the Creator said: `Dust thou art, and to the dust thou shalt return,'⁽²⁰⁾is separated somewhat from the other three, next the northern side of the rectangular stone rampart, buried not in a stone sepulchre cut out in the rock above ground, as other honoured men of his seed lie, but buried in the ground, covered with earth, and himself, dust, turned into dust, rests waiting the resurrection with all his seed. And thus in that sepulchre is fulfilled the divine sentence uttered to him as to himself.⁽²¹⁾

And after the example of the Sepulchre of the first parent, the other three Patriarchs also rest in sleep covered with common dust, their four Sepulchres having placed above them small monuments, cut out and hewn from single stones, in the form of a basilica, and formed according to the measure of the length and the breadth of each Sepulchre. The three adjoining Sepulchres of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are protected by three hard white stones, placed over them, formed according to the shape of which we have now written, as has been said above; while Adam's Sepulchre is also protected by a stone placed over it, but of darker colour and poorer workmanship. Arculf saw also the poorer and smaller monuments of the three women, namely Sara, and Rebecca, and Lia, buried in the earth. The sepulchral field of those patriarchs is found to be one furlong from the wall of that most ancient Hebron, towards the east. This Hebron, it is said, was founded before all the cities, not only of Palestine, but also preceded in its foundation all the cities of Egypt, although it has now been so miserably destroyed.

Thus far let it suffice to have written as to the Sepulchres of the Patriarchs.

A mile to the north of the Tombs that have been described above, is the very grassy and flowery hill of Mambre, looking towards Hebron, which lies to the south of it. This little mountain, which is called Mambre, has a level summit, at the north side of which a great stone church has been built, in the right side of which between the two walls of this great Basilica, the Oak of Mambre,⁽²²⁾ wonderful to relate, stands rooted in the earth; it is also called the oak of Abraham, because under it he once hospitably received the Angels. St. Hieronymus elsewhere relates, that this tree had existed from the beginning of the world to the reign of the Emperor Constantine; but he did not say that it had utterly perished, perhaps because at that time, although the whole of that vast tree was not to be seen as it had been formerly, yet a spurious trunk still remained rooted in the ground, protected under the roof of the church, of the height of two men; from this wasted spurious trunk, which has been cut on all sides by axes, small chips are carried to the different provinces of the world, on account of the veneration and memory of that oak, under which, as has been mentioned above, that famous and notable visit of the Angels was granted to the patriarch Abraham. Around the church, which is built there in honour of that place, a few dwellings of monks are shown. ut as to these, let it suffice to have said this; let us go on to other points.

As we leave Hebron, we come, at a distance of three miles, to the north of the city, and in a wide plain not far from the side of the road on the left hand, to a hill of no great size covered with pines. From this pine forest, wood is carried to Jerusalem on camels fur burning in fires-on camels, I say, for, as Arculf relates, carts or waggons can rarely be found throughout all Judaea.

Our sainted Arculf saw the site of the city of Jericho, which Joshua destroyed, after crossing the Jordan, slaying its king, in the place of which Hiel⁽²³⁾ of Bethel, of the tribe of Ephraim, built another city, which our Saviour thought fit to honour with His presence. At the time when the Romans attacked and besieged Jerusalem, this city was taken and destroyed on account of the perfidy of its inhabitants, In its place a third was built, which also after a long interval of time was itself destroyed; of its ruins, as Arculf relates, some traces are shown. Marvellous to say, even after these three successive cities have been destroyed on the same site, there still remains only the house of Raab the harlot,⁽²⁴⁾ who hid the two spies, whom Joshua Ben-Nun sent across, concealing them in flax straw in the garret. The stone walls of her house remain, but without a roof. The whole site of the city is left without human habitation, not even having a house of rest, and produces corn and vines.⁽²⁵⁾ Between the site of this destroyed city and the river Jordan are great palm groves, throughout which are scattered spots where there are nearly countless houses inhabited by sorry fellows of the race of Channan.⁽²⁶⁾

Arculf, of whom I have spoken, saw a large Church in Galgal, built on the spot where the children of Israel, after crossing the Jordan, encamped for the first time in the land of Chanaan. In this church too the sainted Arculf noted the twelve stones as to which, after the crossing of the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Josue:⁽²⁷⁾ Choose twelve men, one for each tribe, and command them to take from the middle of the channel of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests have stood, twelve very hard stones, which ye shall place on the site of your camp, where ye shall pitch your tents this night. These, I say, Arculf saw, six of them lying on the pavement on the right side of the church, and an equal number on the north side, all of them unpolished and common; each of them is so large that, as Arculf himself relates, two strong young men of this time can scarcely raise it from the earth; while one had by some unknown accident been broken in two parts, and has been artificially joined again by an iron clamp. Galgal,⁽²⁸⁾ where the above-mentioned church is built, lies to the east of the most ancient Jericho on this side of the Jordan, in the lot of the tribe of Juda, at the fifth milestone from Jericho; the Tabernacle was fixed here for a long time; and in this place, as is said, the above-named church was built, in which are the above-mentioned twelve stones; it is held in marvellous reverence and honour by the people of that district.

XIV.-THE PLACE WHERE OUR LORD WAS BAPTIZED

BY JOHN.

That sacred and honoured place, where the Lord was baptized by John, is always covered by the waters of the river Jordan, and as Arculf, who went to the place, relates, he passed backwards and forwards to it⁽²⁹⁾ through the river; in that sacred place a wooden cross of great size is fixed, close to which the water comes up to the neck of the tallest man, or, at a time of great drought, when the waters are diminished, up to his breast; but when the river is in flood, the whole of the cross is covered over by the additional waters. The site of that cross, accordingly, marking the place where, as has been said above, the Lord was baptized, is on this side⁽³⁰⁾ of the bed of the river, and a strong man can with a sling throw a stone from it as far as the other bank on the Arabian side. From the site of the above-mentioned cross, a stone bridge is carried on arches to the bank, across which men go to the cross and descend by a slope to the bank, ascending as they return.⁽³¹⁾ At the edge of the river is a small square church, built, as is said, on the spot where the garments of the Lord were taken care of at the time when He was baptized. This is raised, so as to be uninhabitable, on four stone vaults, standing above the waters which flow below. It is protected above by slacked lime,⁽³²⁾and below, as has been said, is supported by vaults and arches. This church is in the lower ground of the valley through which the river Jordan flows; while on the higher ground, overhanging it, a great monastery of monks is built on the brow of the opposite hill. There is also enclosed within the same wall as the monastery, a church in honour of St. John Baptist, built of squared stones.

The colour of the river Jordan appears from Arculf's narrative to be white on the surface, like milk, and as it enters the Salt Sea its colour can easily be distinguished from that of the Dead Sea for a long distance along its course.⁽³³⁾

In great tempests the Dead Sea casts up salt on the ground by the dashing of its waves, and this can usually be had in abundance along its circuit, affording a very large supply, not only to those in the vicinity but also to far-distant nations; it is sufficiently dried by the heat of the sun. Salt is otherwise obtained in a mountain of Sicily; for the stones of that mountain, when turned out of the earth, prove to be naturally most salt to the taste, this being properly called Earth Salt. Sea salt, however, is usually given a different name from earth salt. From this the Lord is believed to have derived His simile when He says to the Apostles in the Gospel: 'Ye are the salt of the earth,' etc. As to this earth salt found in the mountain of Sicily, we were told by the sainted Arculf, who spent some days in Sicily, and who proved by sight and taste and touch that it was really the very saltest of salt.

He informed us also as to the salt of the Dead Sea, which he said he had similarly made proof of by the same three senses named above; he visited also the sea-shore of that lake we have mentioned above, the length of which, extending to Zoar of Arabia,⁽³⁴⁾ is 580 furlongs; the breadth in the neighbourhood of Sodom is 150 furlongs.

Our Arculf proceeded also to that place in the province of Phenicia, where the Jordan seems to emerge from two neighbouring fountains at the roots of Lebanon, one of which is called Jor and the other Dan, which, mingling together, give rise to the compound name Jordan.⁽³⁵⁾ But it is to be noted that the source of the Jordan is not in Paneum, but in the district of Trachonitis, at a distance of 120 furlongs⁽³⁶⁾ from Caesarea Philippi, which is now Paneas, a name taken from the mountain Paneum, which is in Trachonitis.⁽³⁷⁾ Phiala, which is always full of water, whence the Jordan flows through underground channels, bubbles up also in Paneum, in two divisions, which, as has been said above, are usually called Jor and Dan. On leaving this, after some interval, they flow together so as to form one river, which thence directs its course for 120 furlongs, without receiving any additions⁽³⁸⁾ as far as the city of Julias.⁽³⁹⁾ Afterwards it flows through the middle of the lake, called Genezar, whence, after wandering through a considerable desert tract, it is received in the Asphaltic Lake, and is lost in it. Thus having passed victoriously through two lakes, its course is stayed by a third.

The sainted Arculf, who has been so often mentioned, went round the greater part of the Sea of Galilee, which is also called the Lake of Cinnereth and the Sea of Tiberias, and which is closely surrounded by great woods. The lake itself, the size of which almost entitles it to the name of a sea, extends in length to 140 furlongs, and in breadth stretches over 40;⁽⁴⁰⁾ its waters are sweet and good for drinking, since they receive nothing that is thick with marsh mud or turbid, because it is surrounded on all sides by a sandy shore, wherefore its water is purer and better⁽⁴¹⁾ for use. Of fish, moreover, no finer kinds, either in taste or in appearance, can be found in any other lake.⁽⁴²⁾

We have taken these short particulars as to the source of the Jordan and the Lake of Cinnereth partly from the third book of the Jewish Captivity, partly from the experience of Arculf. He relates with perfect certainty that he went in eight⁽⁴³ days from that place where the Jordan emerges from the gorge of the Sea of Galilee to that where it enters the Dead Sea. This most salt sea the sainted Arculf very often gazed at from the summit of the Mount of Olivet, as he himself narrates.

Arculf, the sainted priest, passed through the district of Samaria, and came to the city of that province which is called, in Hebrew, Sichem, but is named Sicima by Greek and Latin custom; it is also often called Sichar, however improperly. Near that city he saw a church built beyond the wall, which is four-armed, stretching towards the four cardinal points, like a cross, a plan of which is drawn below.⁽⁴⁴⁾ In the middle of it is the Fountain of Jacob, which is also often called a well, looking towards its four divisions, upon which the Saviour, wearied out with the toil of His journey, sat one day at the sixth hour, when the woman of Samaria⁽⁴⁵⁾ came to that well at mid-day to draw water. As to this well, the woman, among other things, said in answer to the Lord: `Lord, neither hast Thou anything to draw with, and

PLAN OF THE CHURCH BUILT ABOVE JACOB'S WELL

Sichem, or Sichema, was once a priestly city and a city of refuge; it was included in the tribe of Manasseh and in Mount Ephraim, where Joseph's bones were buried.

Arculf, whom we have often mentioned, saw in a desert a small clear fountain, from which St. John Baptist is said to have drunk; it is protected by a stone covering besmeared with lime.

As to the same John, the Evangelists write: `Now his food was locusts and wild honey.'⁽⁴⁸⁾ Our Arculf saw, in that desert where John dwelt, a very small kind of locusts, the bodies of which are small and short like the finger of a hand, and which are easily captured in the grass, as their flight is short like the leaps of light frogs; cooked in oil, they afford food for the poor.⁽⁴⁹⁾As to the 'wild honey,' Arculf gave us this as his experience: In that desert I saw some trees, with broad round leaves which are of the colour of milk and have the taste of honey;⁽⁵⁰⁾ they are naturally very fragile, and those who wish to eat them first rub them in their hands and then eat them. This wild honey is thus found in the woods.

Our Arculf, whom we have often mentioned, came to this place, where a grassy and level plain has never been ploughed from the day when on it the Saviour satisfied five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes; no buildings are to be seen on it; Arculf saw only a few⁽⁵¹⁾ columns of stone lying at the margin of the fountain from which they are said to have drunk on that day when the Lord refreshed them, in their hunger, with such a refection. This place is on this side of⁽⁵²⁾ the Sea of Galilee, looking to the city of Tiberias which is to the south of it.⁽⁵³⁾

Those who, coming down from Jerusalem, wish to reach Capharnaum, proceed, as Arculf relates, through Tiberias in a straight course, and thence along the Lake of Cinnereth, which is also the sea of Tiberias and the sea of Galilee; they pass the site of the above-mentioned Blessing, at a point where two ways meet, and proceeding along the margin of the above-mentioned lake, at no great distance they come to Capharnaum, on the sea coast, upon the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim. Arculf, who observed it from a neighbouring mountain, relates that it has no wall and is confined in a narrow space between the mountain and the lake, extending along the sea coast for a long distance; having the mountain on the north and the lake on the south, it stretches from west to east.⁽⁵⁴⁾

XXIV.-NAZARETH AND ITS CHURCHES.

The city of Nazareth, as Arculf who stayed in it relates, is situated on a mountain. It is, like Capharnaum, unwalled, yet it has large houses built of stone, and also two very large churches. One of these, in the middle of the city, is built upon two vaults, on the spot where there once stood the house in which our Lord the Saviour was brought up.⁽⁵⁵⁾ Among the mounds below this church,⁽⁵⁶⁾ which, as has been said, is supported upon two mounds and intervening arches, there is a very clear spring, frequented by all the citizens, who draw water from it, and from the same spring water is raised in vessels to the church above by means of wheels. The other church is reputed to be built on the site of the house in which the Archangel Gabriel came and addressed the Blessed Mary, whom he found there alone at that hour.⁽⁵⁷⁾ This information as to Nazareth we have obtained from the sainted Arculf, who stayed there two nights and as many days, but was prevented from staying longer in it, as he was compelled to hasten onwards by a soldier of Christ, well acquainted with sites, a Burgundian living a solitary life, Peter by name, who thence returned circuitously to that solitary⁽⁵⁸⁾ place where he had formerly stayed.

Mount Tabor is in Galilee, three miles from the Lake of Cinnereth, marvellously round on every side, looking from its northern side over the lake we have just named. It is very grassy and flowery, having an ample plain on its pleasant summit, and is surrounded by a very large wood. In the middle of this level surface is a great monastery of monks, with a large number of their cells. For its summit is not drawn up to a narrow peak, but is spread over a level surface of twenty-four⁽⁵⁹⁾ furlongs in length, while its height is thirty furlongs.⁽⁶⁰⁾

On this higher plain are also three very celebrated churches⁽⁶¹⁾of no small construction, according to the number of those tabernacles of which Peter spoke to the Lord on that holy mountain, while he rejoiced in the heavenly vision, but yet was terrified by it, saying: `It is good that we should be here; if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias.⁽⁶²⁾ The buildings of the monasteries and the three churches mentioned above, with the cells of the monks, are all surrounded by a stone wall.⁽⁶³⁾ There the sainted Arculf spent one night on the top of that holy mountain, for Peter, the Burgundian Christian, who was his guide in those places, would not allow him to stay in one hospice longer, but hurried him on.⁽⁶⁴⁾

It should here be noted that the name of that famous mountain ought to be written in Greek with 0 and long w, and in Latin with the aspirate Thabor, the letter o being long. The proper orthography of the word is found in Greek books.⁽⁶⁵⁾

Damascus, according to the account of Arculf, who stayed some days in it, is a great royal city, situated in a wide plain, surrounded by an ample circuit of walls, and further fortified by frequent towers. Without the walls there are a large number of olive groves round about, while four great rivers flow through it, bringing great joy to the city. The king of the Saracens has seized the government, and reigns in that city, and a large church has been built there in honour of St. John Baptist. There has also been built, in that same city, a church of unbelieving Saracens which they frequent.

Our Arculf, who visited so many districts, also entered Tyre, the metropolis of the province of Phenicia, which in Hebrew and Syriac is called Tsor, and which is said in Greek and Latin and barbarous histories to have had no approach from the land. But some say that afterwards mounds were thrown up by Nabuchodonosor, King of the Chaldeans, and that a place was prepared for darts and battering-rams in the assault, so that the island became part of the level plain.⁽⁶⁶⁾ This city was beautiful and very noble, and it is not unworthily rendered in Latin `narrow,' for the island and the city have the same characteristic narrowness. It is situated in the land of Chanaan, where the Chananite or Tyrophenician woman lived, who is mentioned in the Gospel.

It is to be noted that the account of the site of Tyre and the site of Mount Thabor,⁽⁶⁷⁾given by the sainted Arculf, is in complete accordance with what we have excerpted above from the commentaries of St. Hieronymus. Also what we have above stated as to the site and form of Mount Thabor, according to the narrative of the sainted Arculf, in no way differs from what St. Hieronymus narrates as to the situation and the marvellous roundness of that mountain. From Mount Thabor to Damascus is a seven⁽⁶⁸⁾ days' journey.⁽⁶⁹⁾

That great city, which was once the metropolis of Egypt, was formerly called in Hebrew No.⁽⁷⁰⁾ It is a very populous city, deriving its name of Alexandria, a name known and famous among all nations, from its founder Alexander, the king of Macedonia, from whom it received both the magnitude of a city and its name. As to its situation, Arculf gave us an account, which differs in no way from what we have learned in the course of our previous reading.

Going down from Jerusalem and beginning his voyage at Joppa, he had a journey of forty days to Alexandria, of which Nahum the prophet speaks briefly, when he says: `Water round about it, whose riches are the sea, waters are its walls.'⁽⁷¹⁾ For on the south it is surrounded by the mouths of the river Nile, while on the north,⁽⁷²⁾ as the outline of its position clearly shows,it is situated upon⁽⁷³⁾ the Nile and the sea, so that on this side and on that it is surrounded by water. The city lies like an enclosure between Egypt and the Great Sea, without a [natural] haven, difficult to approach from without. Its port is more difficult than others, in form like the human body, more capacious at the head and the roads, but narrower in the straits, in which it receives the movements of the sea and ships, by which some aids to breathing are given to the port. When one has escaped the narrows and mouths of the port, a stretch of sea is spread out before one, far and wide, like the form of the rest of the body. On the right side of the port there is a small island, on which is a very high tower, which the Greeks and the Latins have in common called, from its use, Pharus,⁽⁷⁴⁾ because it is seen by voyagers at a great distance, in order that, before they approach the port, they may, specially during the night, recognise the proximity of land by the light of the flames, that they may not be deceived by the darkness and fall upon rocks or fail to recognise the boundaries of the entrance. Men are accordingly employed there by whom torches and other masses of wood which have been collected are set on fire to serve as a guide to the land, showing the narrow entrance of the straits, the bosom of the waves, and the windings of the entrance, lest the slender keel should graze the rocks and in the very entrance strike upon the rocks that are hidden by the waves. Accordingly a ship ought to be somewhat deflected from the straight course, to prevent its running into danger from striking on hidden stones. For the approach in the port is narrower on the right side, but the port is wider on the left. Round the island also, beams of immense size have been regularly laid down, to prevent the foundations of the island from yielding to the constant collision of the rising sea, and being loosened by the injury. So that the middle channel, among rugged rocks and broken masses of earth, is beyond doubt always unquiet, and it is dangerous for ships to enter through the roughness of the passage.

The port extends in size over thirty furlongs, and it is quite safe even in the greatest storms, as the abovementioned straits and the obstacle of the island repel the waves of the sea, the bosom of the port being so defended by them as to be removed from the reach of tempests and at peace from breakers by which the entrance is made rough. Nor are the safety and the size of the port undeservedly so great, since there must be borne into it whatever is needful for the use of the whole city.⁽⁷⁵⁾ For the needs of the innumerable population of those districts give rise to much commerce for the use of the whole city, and the district is very fruitful, and, besides abounding in all other gifts and ;trades of the earth, it supplies corn for the whole world, and other necessary merchandise. The region is beyond doubt wanting in rain, but the irrigation of the Nile supplies spontaneous showers, so that the fields are tempered at once by the rain of heaven and by the fruitfulness of the hearth; and the situation is thus convenient both for sailors and for husband men. These sail, those sow; these are borne round on their voyages, those till the land, sowing without need of ploughing, travelling without waggons. You see a country intersected by watercourses, and houses throughout the land raised as it were upon walls, on the banks of the navigable rivers, standing on the edge of each bank of the river Nile. The river is navigable, they say, up to the city of Elephanti; a ship is prevented from proceeding further by the cataracts, that is, flowing hills of water, not from want of depth, but from the fall of the whole river and the downward rush of the waters.

The narrative of the sainted Arculf about the situation Alexandria and the Nile is proved not to differ from what we have learned from our reading in the books of others. We have, indeed, abbreviated some excerpts from these writings and inserted them in this description, as to the havenlessness of this city or the difficulty of its haven, as to the island and the tower built on it, as to the terminal position of Alexandria between the sea and the mouths of the river Nile, etc, Hence it happens beyond doubt that the site of the city, which is as it were choked between these two limits, extends from west to east very far along a narrow stretch of ground, as the narrative of Arculf shows;⁽⁷⁶⁾ he relates that he began to enter the city at the third hour of the day in the month of October, and on account of the length of the city could hardly reach the other end of its length before evening. It is surrounded by along circuit of walls, fortified by frequent towers, constructed along the margin of the river and the curving shore of the sea.

Further, as one coming from Egypt enters the city of Alexandria, one meets on the north⁽⁷⁷⁾side a large church, in which Mark the Evangelist is buried; his sepulchre is shown before the altar in the eastern end of this four-sided church, and a monument of him has been built above it of marble.

So much, then, about Alexandria, which, as we have said above, was called No before it was so much enlarged by Alexander the Great, and which, as we further said above, adjoins what is called the Canopean mouth of the river Nile, separating Asia from Egypt and also Lybia. On account of the inundation of Egypt by the river Nile, they construct raised mounds along its banks, which, if they should be broken by the negligence of the watchmen or by too great an irruption of water, by no means irrigate the flooded fields, but spoil them and lay them waste. On this account a considerable number of the inhabitants of the plains of Egypt, according to the narrative of the sainted Arculf, who often sailed over that river in Egypt, live above the water in houses supported on transverse beams.

Arculf relates that crocodiles live in the river Nile, quadrupeds of no great size, very voracious, and so strong that one of them, if it can find a horse or an ass or an ox eating grass on the river bank, suddenly rushes out and attacks it, or even seizing one foot of the animal with its jaws, drags it under the water, and completely devours the entire animal.

ARCULF, who has been mentioned so often, on his return from Alexandria, stayed for some days in the island of Crete, and sailed thence to Constantinople, where he spent some months. This city is, beyond doubt, the metropolis of the Roman Empire. It is surrounded by the waves of the sea except on the north; the sea breaking out from the Great Sea for forty miles,⁽¹⁾ while from the wall of Constantinople it still further stretches sixty miles⁽²⁾ up to the mouths of the river Danube. This imperial city is surrounded by no small circuit of walls, twelve miles in length;⁽³⁾ it is a promontory by the sea-side, having, like Alexandria or Carthage, walls built along the sea coast, additionally strengthened by frequent towers, after the fashion of Tyre; within the city walls it has numerous houses, very many of which are of marvellous size; these are of stone, and are built after the fashion of the dwelling-houses of Rome.

As to its foundation the citizens relate this tradition, which they have received from their ancestors: The Emperor Constantine, having gathered together an infinite multitude of men, and collected from all sides infinite supplies, so that all other cities were almost stripped bare, began to build a city to bear his name on the Asian side that is, in Cilicia, across the sea which, in these districts, separates Asia from Europe. But one night, while the innumerable forces of workmen were sleeping in their tents ;over the vast length of the camp, all the different kinds of tools used by the artificers of the different works were suddenly removed, no one knew how. With dawn, many of the workmen, troubled and downcast, brought before the emperor Constantine himself a complaint as to the sudden occult removal of the tools; and the King consequently inquired of them: `Did you hear of other things being abstracted from the camp? 'Nothing,' they say,' but all the work-tools.' Then next the King commands them: ' Go quickly to the sea coasts of the neighbouring districts on both sides [of the straits] and search them carefully, and if you chance to find your tools in any place in the country, watch over them there meanwhile, and do not bring them back here, but let some of you return to me, so that I may have accurate information as to the finding of the tools.'

On hearing this, the workmen follow out the King's directions, and going away did as he ordered, searching the boundaries of the territories next the sea on both sides. And behold, on the European side, across the sea, they found the tools gathered together in a heap in one place between two seas. On making the discovery, some of them are sent back to the King, and on their arrival they announce the finding of the tools in such a place. On ;learning this, the King immediately orders trumpeters to pass through the camp, blowing their trumpets and ordering the force to move its camp, saying: `Let us remove from this place to build a city on the spot divinely pointed out o us;' and at the same time he had ships made ready, and crossed over with his whole force to the spot where the tools were found, as he knew that the place thus shown to him by their removal was that designed by God for the purpose.⁽⁴⁾ There he at once founded a city, which is called Constantinople, the name being compounded of his own name and the Greek word for city, so that the founder's name is retained in the former part of the compound.

Let this description of the situation and the foundation of that royal city suffice.

But we must not be silent as to that most celebrated round church in that city, built of stone and of marvellous size. According to the narrative of the sainted Arculf, who visited it for no short time, it rises from the bottom of its foundations in three walls, being built in triple form to a great height, and it is finished in a very round simple crowning vault of great beauty. This is supported on great arches, with a wide space between each of the above-mentioned walls, suited and convenient either for dwelling or for praying to God in. In the northern part of the interior of the house is shown a very large and very beautiful ambry, in which is kept a wooden chest, which is similarly covered over with wooden work: in which is shut up that wooden Cross of Salvation on which our Saviour hung for the salvation of the human race. This notable chest, as the sainted Arculf relates, is raised with its treasure of such preciousness upon a golden⁽⁵⁾ altar, on three consecutive days after the lapse of a year. This altar also is in the same round church; being two cubits long and one broad. On three successive days only throughout the year is the Lord's Cross raised and placed on the altar, that is, on [the day of] the Supper of the Lord,⁽⁶⁾ when the Emperor and the armies enter the church and, approaching the altar, after that sacred chest has been opened, kiss the Cross of Salvation.

First of all the Emperor of the world kisses it with bent face, then one going up after another in the order of rank or age, all kiss the Cross with honour. Then on the next day, that is, on the sixth day of the week before Easter, the Queen, the matrons, and all the women of the people, approach it in the above-mentioned order and kiss it with all reverence. On the third day, that is, on [the day of] the Paschal Sabbath,⁽⁷⁾ the bishop and all the clergy after him approach in order, with fear and trembling and all honour, kissing the Cross of Victory, which is placed in its chest. When these sacred and joyful kissings of the Sacred Cross are finished, that venerable chest is closed, and with its honoured treasure is borne back to its ambry.

But this also should be carefully noted that there are not two but three short pieces of wood in the Cross, that.is, the cross-beam and the long one which is cut and divided into two equal parts; while from these threefold venerated beams when the chest is opened, there arises an odour of a wonderful fragrance, as if all sorts of flowers had beep collected in it, wonderfully full of sweetness, satiating and gladdening all in the open space before the inner walls of that church, who stand still as they enter at that moment; for from the knots of those threefold beams a sweet-smelling liquid distills, like pressed-out oil, which causes all men of whatever race, who have assembled and enter the church, to perceive the above-mentioned fragrance of so great sweetness. This liquid is such that if even a little drop of it be laid on the sick, they easily recover their health, whatever be the trouble or disease they have been afflicted with.

But as to these let this suffice.

Arculf, the sainted man, who gave us all these details as to the Cross of the Lord, which he saw with his own eyes and kissed, gave us also an account of a Confessor named George,⁽⁸⁾ which he learned in the city of Constantinople from some well-informed citizens, who were accustomed to narrate it in this form:

In a house in the city of Diospolis there stands the marble column of George the Confessor, to which, during a time of persecution, he was bound while he was scourged, and on which his likeness is impressed; he was, however, loosed from his chains and lived for many years after the scourging. It happened one day that a hard-hearted and unbelieving fellow, mounted on horseback, having entered that house and seen the marble column, asked those who were there, `Whose is this likeness engraved on the marble column?' They reply, `This is the likeness of George the Confessor, who was bound to this column and scourged.' On hearing this, that most rough fellow, greatly enraged at the insensible object, and instigated by the devil, struck with his lance at the likeness of the sainted Confessor. The lance of that assailant penetrating the mass in a marvellous manner, as if it were a ball of snow, perforated the exterior of that stone column, and its iron point sticking fast was retained in the interior and could not be drawn out by any means. Its shaft, however, striking the marble likeness of the sainted Confessor, was broken on the outside. The horse also of that wretched fellow, on which he was mounted, fell dead under him at that moment on the pavement of the house. The wretched man himself too, falling to the ground at the same time, put out his hands to the marble column, and his fingers, entering it as if it were flour or clay, stuck fast impressed in that column. On seeing this, the miserable man, who could not draw back the ten fingers of his two hands, as they stuck fast together in the marble likeness of the sainted Confessor, invokes in penitence the. name of the Eternal God and of His Confessor, and prays with tears to be released from that bond. The merciful God, who does not wish the death of a sinner but that he may be converted and live, accepted his tearful penitence, and not only released him from that present visible bond of marble, but also mercifully set him free from the invisible bonds of sin, saved by faith.

Hence it is clearly shown in what honour George has been held with God, whom he confessed amid tortures, since his bust, which, in the course of nature, is impenetrable, was made penetrable by penitence,⁽⁹⁾ which also made the equally impenetrating lance of his adversary penetrating, and made the weak fingers of that fellow, which in the same course of nature were impenetrating, powerfully penetrating, which at first were so fastened in the marble that even that hard man could not draw them back, but which, when in the same moment he was so terrified and thus softened into penitence, he drew back by the pity of God. Marvellous to say, the marks of his twice five fingers appear down to the present day inserted up to the roots in the marble column; and the sainted Arculf inserted in their place his own ten fingers, which similarly entered up to the roots. Further, the blood of that fellow's horse, the haunch of which, as it fell dead on the pavement, was broken in two, cannot be washed out or removed by any means, but that horse's blood remains indelible on the pavement of the house down to our times.

The sainted Arculf told us another narrative, as to which there is no doubt, about the same George the Confessor, which he had learned from some eye-witnesses of sufficient trustworthiness, in the above-mentioned city of Constantinople, who were in the habit of telling incidents connected with that sainted Confessor: A layman, entering the city of Diospolis on horseback at a time when many thousands were gathering there from all sides for an expedition, came to that house, in which is the above-mentioned marble column with the impression of the sainted Confessor George imprinted on its front, and entering it, began to say to the likeness as if he were speaking in the presence of George himself: 'To thee, George the Confessor, I commend myself and my horse, in order that we may both be preserved by the virtue of thy prayers from all dangers of war and disease and water, and may return in safety to this city after the close of the expedition; and if a merciful God will grant thee our prosperous return, in accordance with the offering of our poverty, I will offer in return to thee this my horse which I greatly love, and will make it over to thee in the sight of thy likeness.' Speedily ;finishing these few words, the fellow left the house and, with his comrades, joined the multitude of the army and entered on the expedition. After many varied dangers of war and among many thousands of wretched fellows who were scattered and perished, he returns in safety to Diospolis, by the favour of God to George the Christ-worshipper, mounted on the same beloved horse, having purchased deliverance from all grievous misfortunes by that committal, and he joyfully enters that house in which was preserved the likeness of that sainted Confessor, bringing with him gold to the value of his horse, and addresses the sainted George as if he were present: 'Sainted Confessor, I give thanks to Eternal God who has brought me back in safety⁽¹⁰⁾ through thy exalted constancy and prayer. Wherefore I bring to thee twenty solidi of gold, the price of my horse which I at the first committed to thee and which thou hast preserved down to the present day.⁽¹¹⁾ Saying this, he lays down the above described weight of gold at the feet of the sainted likeness of the Confessor, loving his horse more than the gold, and then leaving the house, after kneeling down, mounting his beast he urges it to go forward, but it could not be moved at all.

Seeing this, the fellow dismounts and re-enters the house and brings another ten solidi, saying: `Sainted Confessor, a gentle guardian hast thou been for me to my horse, among the dangers in the expedition, but I see thou art hard and greedy in the sale of the horse.' Saying this, he lays the ten solidi above the twenty, saying to the sainted Confessor: `These also I give thee in addition, so that thou mayest be appeased and release my horse for the journey.' With these words he returns, and again mounting his horse, urges it forward, but it remained standing as if fixed in the spot, nor could it move even one foot. What more? After mounting and dismounting four several times, entering the house with ten solidi and returning to his immovable horse, he kept running hither and thither; but by all his urging he could not move his horse, until a mass of sixty solidi was gathered there. Then at length he repeats the above-mentioned speech about the gentle humanity of the sainted Confessor and the safe guardianship in the expedition, and he also mentions in similar terms the hardness and even the greediness in the sale, as is said, and after four several times returning to the house he at last addressed the sainted George in this manner: `Sainted Confessor, now I see clearly what thy will is. All this weight of gold, the whole sixty solidi, which thou desirest, I offer to thee as a gift, and also my horse itself which I promised to make over to thee before, on account of the expedition; now I make it over to thee, although bound with invisible bonds, which will however, as I believe, be soon released through the honour thou hast with God: Having finished this speech, he goes out from the house and finds the horse released on that very moment, and he brings it with him into the house and makes it over to the sainted Confessor in the sight of that likeness, and departs joyfully praising Christ.

Hence it is plainly gathered that whatever is consecrated to the Lord, whether it be man or animal, according to what is written in the book of Leviticus, cannot be redeemed or changed in any way: for if `any one shall change it, both that which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be consecrated to the Lord,'⁽¹²⁾ and it shall not be redeemed.

Arculf, who has been so often mentioned, gave us an accurate account, obtained from some well-informed witnesses in the city of Constantinople, as to the bust of the holy mother of the Lord: In that metropolitan city there used to hang on the wall of a house a picture of Blessed Mary, depicted on a small wooden tablet, as to which a certain stolid and hard-hearted man, on inquiring whose the picture was, learned from one who answered him, that it was the likeness of Saint Mary, ever virgin. That unbelieving Jew, hearing this, at the instigation of the devil, took that picture in great wrath from the wall, and rushed to a neighbouring privy; and there, to dishonour Christ, born of Mary, he cast the picture of His mother through a hole upon the filth that lay below, and having dishonoured it by every means in his power, he departed.⁽¹³⁾ Now what he did afterwards, or how he lived, or of what sort the end of his life was, is not known. But, after the wretch's departure, another fortunate man of the common people, a Christian, who was very zealous in religious matters, coming in and knowing what had happened, searched for the image of Saint Mary, and rescued it from the human filth amidst which he found it, and washed it clean with the purest water, and taking it home with him, treated it with great honour. Marvellous to say, there always distils from the wood of that picture of Blessed Mary a true boiling oil, which, as Arculf used to say, he saw with his own eyes. This marvellous oil proves the honour of Mary the mother of Jesus, of whom the Father says, `In My holy oil, have I anointed Him.<sup>(14)</sup> The same Psalmist says to the Son of God Himself, `The Lord Thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.⁽¹⁵⁾

This narrative, which we have written about the situation and the foundation of Constantinople, and also about that round church in which the wood of salvation is preserved, etc., we learned carefully from the mouth of the saintep (sic) priest, Arculf; who remained in that city, by far the greatest of the Roman Empire, from the Paschal feast to that of the Lord's birth. Afterwards he sailed thence to Rome.

There is an island in the Great Sea towards the east, twelve⁽¹⁶⁾ miles from Sicily, in which is Mount Vulcan,⁽¹⁷⁾ which sounds so loudly, like thunder, all day and night, that the ground of Sicily, though so far away, is thought to be shaken by the terrific tremor, but it seems to sound more loudly on the sixth day of the week, and the Sabbath; it appears always to burn by night, and to smoke by day. This Arculf told me about that mountain as I was writing; he saw it with his own eyes, burning by night, but smoking by day; its thunder-like sound he heard with his own ears, while he was staying in Sicily for some days.

Therefore I beseech those who shall read these short books, to pray for the divine clemency, on behalf of the sainted priest Arculf, who most willingly dictated to us these facts of his experience of the holy places which he visited, which I have, in however unworthy words, described, although placed in the midst of laborious and nearly insupportable ecclesiastical cares, which come upon me the whole day from all sides. Therefore I charge the reader of these experiences that he neglect not to pray to Christ, the judge of the ages, for me, a miserable sinner, the writer of them.

¹`Judge,' B., P. 12943, C

²`This record is an important item in the history of writing, as showing the collateral and respective uses among the Irish of waxed tablets and membranes for literary purposes, towards the close of the seventh century' (Reeves, p. lviii.). Compare, pp. 5, 8; also, `I noted down a brief but faithful abridgment of it in my tablets, which I will now endeavour to commit succinctly to my parchment' (Orderic, quoted by Dean Church, `St. Anselm,' 1888, p. 55). In the first sentence, the word used for `write' means literally `scratch,' denoting the action of the stylus in wax.

¹The reading of C. in this passage is: 'Second, the Gate of the Fuller's Road; third, the Gate of St. Stephen, where he was stoned; fourth, the Gate of Benjamin; fifth, a small gate, where one hastens down by steps to the Valley of Josaphat; sixth, the Gate Thecuitis.' As to the position of these gates, see `The City of Jerusalem; p. 4. I. The Gate of David must have been close to the present Jaffa Gate. Somewhat to the north of it, a wall was built across the northern brow of Mount Sion to the edge of the cliff overhanging the causeway at Wilson's Arch (cf. Bord. Pil., p. 59). There was no gate in this wall, or in the wall leading northwards from it. II. The Gate of the Place of the Fuller' must have been to the west of the Damascus Gate; `its name "Porta Villae[Viae C.] Fullonis" being so named from "the Highway of the Fuller's Field" (Isaiah vii. 3). Villa is used in the sense of "field" by the Bordeaux Pilgrim, "ubi positus est Joseph in villa quam dedit ei Jacob" (p, 18). It also means "farm," "country house," or "place," as in the "Villa Pampati," "Villa Job," etc., of the Bordeaux Pilgrim; and the "Villa Publica" or "Place of Assembly" in the Campus Martius' [C. W. W.]. It is the `Postern of St. Lazarus' of the Crusaders. III. The `Gate of St. Stephen' is the present Damascus Gate, see Abbot Daniel, Appendix I. IV. The Gate of Benjamin is the Bab ez Zahrah, or Herod's Gate, east of the Damascus Gate (now closed). V. This Postern must have been near the Golden Gate (closed); it is alluded to by Antoninus, p. 14. VI. The Gate Thecuitis by which is probably meant the Gate of Tekoa (the `Thecua' of St. Paula, p. 10, now Khurbet Tekua), is now the Bab el Magharibeh, or the Dung Gate, on the south wall towards the east. The names of the gates have varied very greatly, and have been to a considerable extent interchanged at different periods.

²On the position of Sion, as accepted in the fourth and following centuries, see Bord. Pil., Appendix.IV., pp. 56-62.

³`Of the different carriers,' G.

⁴`Slight' in MSS. except L.

⁵'Judge and Sire,' B., V., R.

⁶`Beautiful,' in some MSS.

⁷"Domos grandes.' The phase 'domus magna,' or 'major,' is used by Adamnan in his 'Life of St. Columba' in the sense of 'monastery.' (Reeves, p. 216 n.)

⁸Compare p. 1.

⁹For Professor Willis' translation, see Appendix.

¹⁰'Which . . . elevation' in L. only.

¹¹'In the middle of the wall,' G.

¹²Vulturnus, variously explained as the north-east and as the south east wind; here (and in Bede, p. 69) the former. Cecias is the Greek ********, the north-east wind. (The MSS. give the various readings 'calcias,' ' calceas,' ' hetias,' 'caluar.')

¹³The words `tugurium,' `tuguriolum,' used here interchangeably (see p. xvii.), are of frequent occurrence in Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, used specially of the abbot's domus, or hospitium, or hospitiolum, at some distance from the huts of wattles or of wood in which the other members of the community lived; it was built of wood with joists, and stood on an eminence; here the founder sat and wrote, or read. The other huts are often spoken of as cellulae, the word used in describing the monastery on Mount Tabor, p. 46. The form teguriumof some MSS. is the Irish orthography (Reeves, pp. 360, 455). It is difficult to find a suitable rendering for the word here. At Sir Charles Wilson's suggestion, Professor Willis' translation, cabin, has been adopted.

¹⁴`Three,' B., Bern., G., C.

¹⁵`From knee' or ' thumb to ear,' B., V. C. reads, `From the pavement to the Sepulchre of the Lord where He lay, is a height of four fingers.'

¹⁶`A cave having in the entrance an altar opposite,' L,

¹⁷`Rule,' ` names,' in some M SS.

¹⁸Isaiah xxxiii. 16.

¹⁹Ibid. v. 17.

²⁰See page 1.

²¹'Betrayed' in MSS. except L.

²²C. adds, `but in Latin, Mount Calvary.'

²³'Platea,' see next page, note 1.

²⁴ 'Monastery' in some MSS. `Arculf appears to have applied to the Basilica the name of "The Martyrium of the Resurrection," given by Eusebius to the whole group of Constantine's buildings,' C. W. W.

²⁵On `The Altar of Abraham,' see Abbot Daniel, Appendix II, P. 96

²⁶C. reads, `Between these churches is a small square, covered with marble, extending as far as the Basilica of Constantine and the Church of Golgotha, which is extremely beautiful.' The word here rendered `small square' is filateola, `a green' or ` a court' within the enclosure of a Scotic monastery, surrounding or beside which were the lodgings of the community (Reeves, p. 360).

²⁷'Testimony,' B., P. 12943, V, R.

²⁸ `Exedra' is a small chamber, or chapel, attached to the side of a church; the `cubiculum' or `separatum conclave' of the Scotic monastery. The Greek word (****) is of frequent occurrence in Josephus in reference to the Temple (Reeves, pp. 224, 444).

²⁹Sextarius, the sixth part of a congius, or gallon.

³⁰C. places this chapter at the end of the first Book.

³¹C. adds, 'and the body.'

³²`Three hundred' is suggested by various editors.

³³C. reads, instead of next three sentences, 'And when he was at the point of death, he said to his two sons: My sons, who of you would wish faithfully to receive the napkin of the Lord? On hearing this, the one who had received his sire's wealth according to his will, received the napkin that has been spoken of, and sold it to his own brother.

³⁴L. 'Mavius;' others, `Majuvias,' `Navias ;' C., `Nauvias.' Muavia, the founder of the Omeyyad dynasty, Caliph of Syria, A.D. 658; sole Caliph, 661; died, 680.

³⁵`In the sight of the Christian Jews who were present,' V:, R.,P. 12943.

³⁶`Cubits' in some MSS.

³⁷On the margin of C. there is added in the handwriting of the fifteenth century: `But afterwards it came into the possession of the Bishop of Anicia, who had made a voyage in the districts beyond the sea; and he, dying there, gave it to one who was his priest. This priest also died as he was crossing the sea, leaving the precious gift to a cleric who served him. He, when he was in the country of Petragora, where he was born, placed the napkin of the Lord in a church which was recommended to him, near Caduinum. And not long after he had left the church one day, a fire broke out in a [the nearest] farm and also in that church, and burned whatever it found; but it did not touch the casket in which the napkin was preserved, and which was near the altar. On hearing this, some of the brothers, who were lately staying at Caduinum, hastened thither, and when they had found the casket, they broke it by force, and, taking the "barletum," where the napkin of the Lord was, they brought it with them very quickly and deposited it in their own monastery about the year of the Lord 1512. But the cleric, not finding the treasure, went on to Caduinum, and when he could not recover it, he put on the monk's habit, and as long as lie lived, he guarded there what he had formerly possessed.'

³⁸Of the colour of green herbs,' B., P. 12943.

³⁹'23rd,' L.

⁴⁰'Pole,' B., P. 12943, V., R.

⁴¹Psalm lxxiv, 12.

⁴²Compare Abbot Daniel, pp. 13, 96; (Quarterly Statement, October, 1888, pp. 260 ff.

⁴³Compare Ant. Mar., p. 14; Abbot Daniel, p. 23; Mukaddasi, p. 49.

⁴⁴B. adds, `and belongs to the saints.'

⁴⁵`As Jerome relates,' C., P. 12943.

⁴⁶C. omits XV. and reads, `Thence, not far from the Church of St. Mary, in which her sepulchre is seen, in that same Valley of Josaphat, is a little tower of stone, which is joined on its right side [?], cut out of the rock,' etc.

⁴⁷'The cave of the two wells,' L., P. 13048.

⁴⁸G; other MSS. read, `is extended to a great distance at a profound depth.' C. has this reading, but adds, 'under the mountain.'

⁴⁹`Fountain' in some MSS.

⁵⁰C. adds, `It is through this gate that one leaves Jerusalem for the city of Samuel, which is called Ramatha, and for Cesarea of Palestine, as well as for Gaza.'

⁵¹Compare Bord. Pil., p. 24, Ant., Mar., p, 15. The spot alluded to must be in Wady Rababeh.

⁵²C. Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus, a Spaniard by birth, the author of a Historica Evangelica, `an hexameter poem on our Lord's life, based upon the Gospels,' `the first Christian epic.' (See Smith's Dict. of Christian Biog., vol. iii., pp. 598 f.)

⁵³L; other MSS, read, `the Lord was scourged.'

⁵⁴C. reads for XIX, 'After this the sainted Arculf writes of that place where the Lord supped with His disciples, and where the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles on the holy day of Pentecost, where he says that a great church has been constructed on the top of Mount Sion, which is called the Apostles' Church. There is seen there the column where the Lord was scourged, and there is also shown there the rock on which St. Stephen was stoned; to the west there is another church, where the Lord was tried in the Pretorium of Pilate, Now we shall speak of the Mount of Olivet,' chap. 22. As to the traditions connected with the scenes of St. Stephen's martyrdom, burial, etc., see Abbot Daniel, Appendix I., PP- 83-90. As to the Church,

⁵⁵Compare, Ant. Mar., p. 22; Abbot Daniel, p. 38; City of Jerusalem, p. 20.

⁵⁶`Peregrinus' in Adamnan signifies `pilgrim' (Reeves, Glossary). Cf. Todd's `St. Patrick,' p. 261.

⁵⁷Armachim,' 'Ramathas,' in some MSS. The present Nebi Samwil, on the right of the old northerly road from Jaffa to Jerusalem,

⁵⁸ The Summit of Mount Olivet is 2,693 feet above the sea-level; that of Mount Sion 2,550 feet.

⁵⁹G., other MSS. read, `placed over it.' Compare Abbot Daniel, p. 25.

⁶⁰ L., other MSS. read, `last stood.'

⁶¹C., having given this paragraph in an abbreviated form, adds only,`In the pavement whence He ascended, His sacred footprints are seen to have been impressed.' The footprint of Christ is still shown on Moura Olivet, `City of Jerusalem,' p. 40

⁶²`Faveinent' in MSS.

⁶³`Head' in some MSS.

⁶⁴Compare St. Paula, p. 10.

⁶⁵`Stone' in some MSS,

⁶⁶V, R., add, 'or clearness.'

⁶⁷C. reads, 'And although three Evangelists describe His address, which He then gave to the disciples, yet Matthew writes about it more specially: "And as He sat," etc.'

¹'Of the district of Jerusalem; that is, Bethlehem.' V., R.

²C. reads 'about Bethlehem, which is the district of Jerusalem.'

³Compare Abbot Daniel, p. 40.

⁴C. omits 'half.'

⁵C. inserts 'where a little house has been constructed of stone.'

⁶Isaiah xlviii. 21.

⁷Cor. x.4.

⁸Compare Ant. Mar., p. 23; Bord. Pil., p. 27.

⁹C. reads, `south.'

¹⁰' Pyramis' here, and p. 31, has apparently the meaning of a `square fence.' See Reeves, p. 452.

¹¹Compare Ant. Mar., p. 23.

¹²C. omits `little.'

¹³C. reads, `Aden' So St. Paula, p. 8. It is now known as Beit Sahur. Compare Abbot Daniel, p. 42.

¹⁴`Voice,' B., C.

¹⁵C. reads, `five.'

¹⁶See p. 3o, note 3.

¹⁷A monument at this spot is constantly spoken of from A.D. 333.

¹⁸B., V., R., add, `which are not seen above the ground, but there are thought to be twin sepulchres under the ground.' A description of the Haram enclosure at Hebron is given by Capt. Conder in P. F. M., III., pp. 333-346, and by the late Dean Stanley, `Jewish Church,' Vol. I., Appendix II., pp. 416-437 (London, 1877). Compare Ant. Mar., p. 24; Abbot Daniel, p. 45; `Journey through Syria and Palestine,' pp. 53 ff.

¹⁹`Quadrato' appears here to be used for 'quadranaulo,' the real shape of the enclosure not being square.

²⁰Gen. iii. 19.

²¹`Because he was buried in the earth,' B., V., R.

²²'The Oak or Terebinth of Abraham has been shown in two different sites. Arculf and many others (Jerome, Itin. Hierosol., Sozomen, Eucherius, Benjamin of Tudela, the Abbot Daniel, p. 43, etc.) seem to point to the ruin of er Rameh, near which is Beit el Khulil, or Abraham's House, with a fine spring-well. This is still held by the Jews to be the Oak of Mamre. The Christians point to another site, Ballutet Sebta, where is a fine specimen of Sindian (Quercus Pseudo-coccifera).

²³MSS. 'Oza.'

²⁴Compare Bord. Pil., p. 25; Ant. Mar., p. 12.

²⁵Compare Abbot Daniel, p. 31.

²⁶Compare Mukad., p. 56, `The people are brown-skinned and swarthy.'

²⁷C. reads, `He saw also in Galgal another church on the east side of the ancient Jericho, and at the fifth milestone from Jericho, where the Tabernacle was fixed for a long time.' The name of Galgal is still found in Birket Jilujlieh. The distance from Jericho is most variously stated by different pilgrims: 'one mile,' Theodorus, ch. xvi.; 'not far,' Ant. Mar., p. 12; 'a verst' (two-thirds English mile) 'towards the summer sun-rising,' i.e., N.E., Abbot Daniel, p. 32.

²⁸As to the Holy Places on and near the Jordan, see Ant. Mar., Appendix I., pp. 38-41.

²⁹`Huc et illuc per eundem intravit fluvium:

³⁰C. reads, 'on the other side.'

³¹The text appears to be corrupt. The descent was from the bank to the cross, not from the cross to the bank. The allusion may, however, be to the descent from the upper to the lower bank. Compare Bede, p. 82. The translation of C. for the whole passage is: `He told us also that that sacred, holy, and honourable place, in which the Lord was baptized by John, is always covered by the waters of the river Jordan; and in that place a wooden cross has been fixed. The site of that cross, where the Lord was baptized, is on the other side of the bed of the river, while at the edge of the river there is a small church, where, as is said, the garments of the Lord were taken care of. This basilica stands above the waters, so as to be uninhabitable, since the waters flow under it on both sides, and is supported on four stone vaults and arches. On the higher ground, there is another church in honour of St. John Baptist.'

³²'Coctili creta.` I do not remember having seen the expression elsewhere.'-C. W. W.

³³Travellers speak of the water of the Jordan where it debouches into the Salt Sea as so turgid that its stream can be plainly traced for some distance in the clear blue water of the sea, Mount Seir,' p.163; Tristram's `Land of Israel,' p. 249.

³⁴Zoar (`Zoari' is the form used here) of Arabia (spelt as Sughar by Mukaddasi, also Zughar and Sukar) is the Segor of the Crusaders, the present Tell esh Shaghur. In Mukaddasi's time (985 A.D.) it was `for commercial prosperity like a miniature Busrah' (p. 3), and it was the capital of the district. The question of the identification of this site with the Zoar of Lot is discussed by Mr. Guy Le Strange in `Across the Jordan,' pp. 317-320, from a careful examination of the Arab geographers, See also a paper by Mons. Clermont Ganneau, translated in the P. E. F. Quarterly Statement, January, 1886. Mukaddasi calls the Dead Sea `the Lake of Sughar.' See St. Paula, p. 10; Ant. Mar., pp. 10, 27; Abbot Daniel, p. 47; Mukad., pp. 62, 84. The length of the Dead Sea is 49 miles, the greatest breadth 9½ miles.

³⁵The two sources of the Jordan, at Banias (Caesarea Philippi) and Tell el Kady (Dan). The idea that these streams were called `Jor' and `Dan,' and the derivation from this fact of the name given to the river formed by their united stream, date from the time of Josephus at least. Compare Ant. Mar., p. 6; Ernoul, p. 50. The Abbot Daniel strangely represents (p. 60) the two streams as flowing, three bow-shots apart, from the Sea of Galilee, and re-uniting after about half a verst (a third of a mile).

³⁶'199.'L.

³⁷The belief that the real source of the Jordan was in a Lake Phiala, on the road to Trachonitis, 120 stadia from Banias, from which the water flowed underground to the Cave of Pan in the latter place, is as old as the time of Josephus, and has been completely given up only in recent years. Phiala is identified with the Birket er Ram, S.E. of Banias.

³⁸The Jordan. is joined by the Nahr Hasbany, half a mile below the junction of the streams from Banias and Tell el Kady. The length of the river from that point to the Lake of Galilee is rather more than 20 miles.

³⁹C. reads, 'Tiberias,' and continues, `Thence it flows to the place which is called Genezar. The Lake of Galilee is formed from the Jordan; it is called at one time the Sea of Cenereth, at another the Sea of Tiberias; great woods adjoin it.' The identification of (Bethsaida-) Julias with the ruin et Tell, a little more than a mile north of the point of the debouchure of the Jordan into the lake, cannot be discussed here. Cf. `The Jaulan,' p. 246.

⁴⁰The extreme length of the lake is 12¼ miles, its greatest width (from Mejdel to Khersa) 6¾ miles. 'The water of the lake is clear, bright, and sweet to the taste, except in the neighbourhood of the salt-springs, and, where it is defiled by the drainage of Tiberias.'- 'Recovery of Jerusalem,' pp. 339 f.

⁴¹`Softer,' L.

⁴²MSS. read 'place.

⁴³ `Seven,' L.

⁴⁴See Ant. Mar., p. 6, note 1; St. Paula, p. 13; Bord. Pil., p. 18, note 7.

⁴⁵C. reads, `thirsting for the faith of the woman of Samaria.'

⁴⁶St. John iv. II.

⁴⁷Orgyia, a Greek measure of length, derived from the human body, was the distance from extremity to extremity of the out-stretched arms, whence the name, from *****. It was equal to 6 feet; or to 4 cubits, and was 1/100th of the stadium.-Smith's ` Dictionary of Antiquities,' s. v. No idea can at present he formed as to the real depth of the well.

⁴⁸St. Matt. iii.4

⁴⁹Locust are eaten by the Arabs, but only by the very poorest.

⁵⁰This interpretation is accepted by many commentators, among them by Meyer, 1.c. The term used is specially explained in this sense by Diod. Sic. XIX. 94, and Suidas s.v.

⁵¹C. reads 'four.'

⁵²Opposite,' L., B., V., R.

⁵³Compare Ant. Mar., p. 8, note i; St. Paula, p. 14; Abb. Dan., p. 63. The site referred to by Arculf appears to be that around the 'Ain el Fuliyeh, half-way between Tiberias and el Mejdel (referred to as 'Ain Barideh in 'Recovery of Jerusalem,' p. 359). Tradition at present points to the brow of the hill between Kurn Hattin and Tiberias as the spot of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The spot often referred to as the Mensa Christi appears to be el 'Oreimeh, a small artificial square plateau above 'Ain et Tin, close to Kh. Minieh (P. F. M., vol. i., p. 369). All these places are on the west side of the lake. Compare `City of Jerusalem,' p. 46.

⁵⁴The evidence of Arculf as to the site of Capernaum is sufficiently vague to allow of its being quoted by the supporters of both the sites that are now in dispute-Kh. Minieh and Tell Hum.

⁵⁵The house of the Virgin appears to be the irregularly-shaped grotto known as The Virgin's Kitchen. P. F. M., Vol. i., p. 276.

⁵⁶C., reads, `Between the mounds of the two churches.'

⁵⁷The present buildings in en Nasirah are, of course, of a far later period than this. But the Greek Church of St. Gabriel has a spring of water rising just north of the high altar, with an opening in the floor to the conduit, which carries the water south to the Virgin's Well, or the Fountain of the Annunciation, the only well in Nazareth.

⁵⁸'Holy" B., V.

⁵⁹`Twenty-three,' C., B., Bern.

⁶⁰ Jebel et Tor is a conical mountain with a flat summit, which is a little less than a quarter of a mile long and one-eighth of a mile wide, 1843 feet above the sea-level, 1500 feet above the Plain of Esdraelon at the foot. The southern face is almost bare, but the northern is clothed to the top with a forest of oak and terebinth, mingled with syringa. `The Land and the Book.'

⁶¹There are still to be traced on the summit the foundations of three churches which the markings of the stones show to have been built in Crusading times. See P. F. M., vol. i., pp. 388-391. The idea that Mount Tabor was the scene of the Transfiguration still strangely survives in spite of all proof to the contrary. It dates from a much earlier date than the Crusades, as shown by this passage, and by the still earlier references in Ant. Mar., p. 5; St. Paula, p. 14. The Bordeaux Pilgrim, p. 25, places the Transfiguration on the Mount of Olives.

⁶²St. Matt, xvii. 4.

⁶³This wall may be that built by Josephus round the top of the mountain.

⁶⁴ C. adds, `For this Peter, leaving his parents and his country, was now an exile for a long time for the Lord's sake.'

⁶⁵The Greek form is *****, but it is also represented by '****' (Josephus) and '*****' (Polybius).

⁶⁶'It was by Alexander the Great (who took Tyre after a seven months' siege, B.C. 332) that the island was united to the mainland by an artificial mole. The siege by Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted for nineteen years, was probably ended by capitulation on honourable terms.

⁶⁷And . . . Thabor,' only in L.

⁶⁸Some MSS., 'two,' 'four,' 'eight.'

⁶⁹C. ends here.

⁷⁰The `No' of the Old Testament is undoubtedly Thebes, not Alexandria (as Jerome supposed).

⁷¹Nahum iii. 8, of No. (See former note.)

⁷²⁷³Perhaps `between.'

⁷⁴The long, narrow island of Pharus, stretching to the north of Alexandria, and connected with it by the Mole (called from its length 'Heptastadium'), had at its eastern end the lighthouse from which it took its name, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was begun by Ptolemy Soter, and completed by his successor. It consisted of several stories, and is said to have been 400 feet in height; it was a square structure of white marble; on its top fires were burned for the direction of mariners, as the entrance to the magnificent harbour, between Pharus and the headland of Lochias, was dangerous and rocky. See Smith's Dictionaries of the Bible and of Geography, and Kitto's Cyclopedia, s. v. `Alexandria'

⁷⁵`World,' V.

⁷⁶Alexandria is stated by Pliny to be four miles in length, nearly a mile in breadth, and fifteen miles in circumference.

⁷⁷Some MSS add, 'near at hand.'

¹Others, 'sixty.'

²Others, `forty.'

³The walls built by the younger Theodosius to surround the capital and its suburbs made the circumference of the city between ten and eleven English miles.

⁴Constantine seems to have claimed Divine guidance in the selection of the site of his new capital, and in fixing its boundaries; but the legends attached to these facts are of comparatively late origin.

⁵'Under a brazen,' Bern.

⁶'In Coena Domini,' i.e., Maundy Thursday.

⁷I.e., on the Saturday before Easter. The practice of calling the Lord's Day the Sabbath was unknown for nearly a thousand years after this date.

⁸This chapter has a special historical interest, as the earliest account of St. George known to have been circulated in Britain; and it is worthy of notice that it was in the northern part of England, where this narrative is known to have obtained special favour, that we first find St. George holding any special position (a place being assigned to him in the Anglo-Saxon ritual of Durham, which is probably of the early part of the ninth century, and a 'Passion of St. George' having been written by AElfric, Archbishop of York, A.D. 1020-1051). While there has been much controversy as to whether there ever was an historical person corresponding to the legendary saint, and, if there was, as to which of the countless Georges he was, it may probably be now accepted that there really was a George, prior in time to the Arian intruding Bishop of Alexandria, known as George of Cappadocia (whom Gibbon identified with the George in question), and that he was connected in some way with Diospolis or Lydda. For a list of the authorities to be consulted, as well as for a statement of the facts, see an article by the Rev. G. T. Stokes, on `Georgius-Martyr' in Smith's Dict. of Christian Biog., vol. ii., pp. 645-648, and specially the wise remarks of Professor Bright in closing a previous article on `Georgius of Cappadoeia,' p. 640.

⁹Others read `power.'

¹⁰V. reads, `through so many and so great dangers by the power of thy prayer.'

¹¹The solidus or aureus, from the time of Constantine the Great, weighed 1/72 lb. (Smith's Dict. of Antiq., s. v. Aurum).

¹²Lev. xxvii. t10. 33.

¹³The original cannot be literally translated in this sentence.

¹⁴Psalm lxxxix. 20.

¹⁵Psalm xlv. G.

¹⁶`Fourteen,' G.

¹⁷The island of Volcano, the ancient Hiera, also known as Vulcani Insula, from its volcanic phenomena, is the southernmost of the Lipari Islands--the old AEoliae, or Vulcaniae, Insulae to the north of Sicily. It is twelve geographical miles from Sicily. See Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, s, v. AEoliae Insulae.