On the north, a few yards from the Kerm es-Sheikh, is an old Mohammedan cemetery, in which are some tombstones with ancient dates; none, however, earlier than the time of Saladin.
Going on northward over cultivated land planted with olives, we arrive at the Tombs of the Kings. I may observe, that during all this walk nothing is seen but a reddish clayey soil with a rich vegetation, or bare rocks without any marks of chiselling; nor are there traces of walls nor any dressed stones; all which proves, in my opinion, that this ground never formed part of the city; which must in that case, have had its houses and walls built of shapeless fragments and clay, of which there is no lack.
To visit the Tombs of the Kings[828], called by the Arabs Kubur el-Maluk, we descend a slope, from west to east, which originally was a staircase with wide steps hewn in the rock; but its form has been completely hidden by the quantity of soil mixed with fragments of stone, which have been accumulated by the rain, the wind, and the hand of man. However, I ascertained that it once existed by an excavation at the top of the slope on the west, where I discovered three steps. At the lower end is an aperture of irregular shape, formed in the rock, through which I entered into a cave, after much trouble in clearing away the rubbish that blocked it up, and was able to determine, notwithstanding the accumulation of earth within, that it had never contained sepulchral chambers, but had been a cistern, large though not deep. Towards the eastern end of the wall, on the left hand as we descend, is a round-headed doorway hewn out of the rock, and ornamented with a small incised fillet. It is buried up to the spring of the arch, so that it is necessary to stoop in order to enter it. I began to make an excavation to examine its full height, but the large stones which I found below the surface would have rendered the completion of the undertaking so expensive that I abandoned it. However, I uncovered the door to a height of 8-1/2 feet including the arch. It leads into a rectangular court, open to the air, and surrounded by vertical walls hewn in the rock, as is the floor, which is buried under rubbish formed of the earth brought down by the rains from the fields above, and broken stones thrown in by the Arabs; who, barbarians as they are, exhibit the most provoking indifference to the preservation of ancient monuments, and view with a jealous eye everything that interests visitors, often mutilating what they cannot entirely destroy.
In the west wall of this court a vestibule is excavated with remarkable skill, the roof of which was formerly supported by two columns, also hewn out of the rock: these have now disappeared, owing to the effects of individual Vandalism, and the injuries of the earthquake in 1837. M. de Saulcy[829] has given the following excellent description of this monument: "Above the porch, on the face of the rock itself, runs a long frieze, carved with exquisite taste and delicacy. The centre of the frieze is occupied by a bunch of grapes, an emblem of the promised land, and the habitual type of the Asmonæan coinage. To the right and left of this bunch are placed symmetrically a triple palm, carved with the greatest elegance, a crown and triglyphs, alternating with pateræ, or round shields, three times repeated[830]. Below this runs a rich garland of foliage and fruit, falling down at right angles on each side of the opening of the porch. The left-hand portion of this garland has been much more injured by time than that on the right. Above the line of the triglyphs a fine cornice begins, formed of elegant mouldings, unfortunately much damaged, and rising up to the top of the rock, that is to say, nearly to the level of the surrounding country." The left-hand portion of this cornice is almost destroyed, not only by the Arabs, but also by the Americans; among whom a certain Mr Jones has especially distinguished himself by breaking off all the ornaments that could be carried away. Beyrout and Jaffa have been the chief centres of his destructive industry, so that he has destroyed the few monuments of Phœnicia and of Palestine that remained in their original positions. Hammer in hand, and dead to every sense of artistic beauty, he chops off fragments from the inscriptions of Sesostris, from the columns of Baalbek, and from the monuments of Jerusalem. The Tombs of the Kings have suffered more at his hands than from all the hostile invasions that have devastated Palestine.
On descending into the vestibule, we see in its south wall a small low door, which can only be passed by creeping on the ground. Here, though the result of my observations[831] will be found to differ from those of M. de Saulcy, I take this opportunity of expressing my respect for him, as one of the first persons to investigate with technical precision the monuments of Palestine. We come, then, to the entrance of the sepulchral chambers, by descending six steps hewn in the rock, which start from a circular hollow about two feet deeper than the general level of the floor of the vestibule, in which, no doubt, the funeral ceremonies were completed. I removed all the stones from this place in order to be able to give an exact account of it. On the left-hand side of the door in a kind of narrow gutter, which joins the steps again by a course of three sides of an oblong, is a large stone of an ellipsoidal form, the outline near the extremities of the shorter axis being flat instead of curved. On the right hand is a hollow in the wall, into which one of the apses of this stone was inserted. This arrangement enables us to form an accurate idea of the manner in which the Tomb of Christ was closed. The stone now rests with one of its apses on the ground, so that its longer axis is perpendicular to the level of the floor. The upper segment of the stone corresponds with the cavity in the rock on the right hand; and the square, formed by the flattened edges of the stone and two lines joining their extremities, is larger than the doorway by rather more than an inch each way. It is therefore evident that it was not necessary to roll this stone, but simply to lower it from left to right, so as to turn the axes through a right angle and bring the shorter axis perpendicular to the ground; when the apse fitted into the above-mentioned cavity, and the stone, resting upon the lowest step, effectually closed the doorway. The means employed to raise and lower this stone was no doubt a chain, passing over two pulleys, with vertical axes, which a person drew towards himself to raise the stone from its place. The two right-angled elbows in the above-mentioned channel were to apply the force to the chain more conveniently. The channel in which the stone lies was covered by a long slab, and we can still see the points on which this rested.
This is not the only way in which the aperture was closed, for, after passing this, we see the jambs which must have supported another stone door, moving on two pivots, the holes for which still remain above and below. When it was hung it must have yielded to the slightest push from without. Through this we enter a square antechamber, in which are three doors, one in the middle of the western wall, and the other two in the southern, one near each corner. Entering the western door, we come to a room with three smaller chambers opening out of the middle of each wall, each of which contains three sepulchral niches[832], consisting of a stone bier or slab under an arch; these three chambers are flanked on each side by casemate vaults, each having a channel cut in the rock in the middle of the floor; to each of which, with one exception, a small recess is attached to receive articles which had been valued by the deceased. Out of the central room a narrow sloping gallery in the north wall leads into a lower chamber, with a sepulchral niche in the west wall, and two steps against the north, the lower of which is larger than the upper. On one of these lay the sarcophagus[833], which M. de Saulcy has deposited in the Museum of the Louvre at Paris; a similar one, broken in pieces, was found near. He considers the former to be the sarcophagus of David; but with this opinion I am unable to agree. Here there are places for three corpses. Returning into the antechamber we enter the door on the south-east, and find ourselves in a room with the openings of three casemate vaults in the south wall, and three in the east; two of these are provided with channels, and one with the recess in its wall; the other four are narrower than the rest; which have been completely finished off by their excavators, as is proved by their correspondence one with another in length, breadth, and height, by the regularity of their angles, and by the jambs supporting the doors which closed them. M. de Saulcy thinks that the latter were never finished, perhaps because they are not so wide as the others, and have no channel in the floor; but, in my opinion, this was only made to catch the moisture that dripped from the corpse during putrefaction, and by draining it off to allow the body to become dry more rapidly. Therefore I consider that in the narrower vaults bodies which had been previously dried up were placed. Let us now return again into the antechamber and visit the room on the west of that just described. In the south wall of this are three finished casemate vaults, and the same number in the west, five of which have the channel, while the sixth belongs to the narrower class already mentioned. Two of the five have also the attached recess. In the north wall is a small door leading by a narrow descending passage into a small chamber containing three sepulchral niches. Thus there are altogether thirty-three biers, including among these the two steps on which the sarcophagi were found. Round each of the three rooms communicating with the vaults runs a small foot-path, raised above the general level of the floor, so that a kind of basin is formed at the bottom of the chamber. Into this I suppose the moisture escaping from the bodies during putrefaction flowed; perhaps there were holes in the sides to admit water, or allow of the escape of fluids; but this I could not ascertain, as the floor was covered with rubbish. Each chamber was closed by a stone door, which worked on pivots fixed in two holes. At the present time the doors lie on the ground broken to pieces, and though every one must admire their workmanship, no one has attempted to preserve them from total ruin by conveying them away to some European museum. Many authors have endeavoured to explain how they were made[834]; but I think they were brought from some other place, when completed, and then set up. I am led to this conclusion by observing that they are of a different kind of stone to that seen in the walls of the chambers; that is, of a more compact limestone without veins. All the workmanship in the excavation is admirable, and the angles are formed with the greatest accuracy. Chisels, hooks, and the revolving cutters, appear to have been the instruments used. There have been many controversies about the origin and use of these tombs: some consider them to have been the monument of Helena of Adiabene; but in that case it would be difficult to explain for what purpose the thirty-three receptacles were made, as Josephus says that she and her son alone were buried there. M. de Saulcy endeavours to prove them to be the Tombs of the Kings; but I have already shewn[835] that this is contrary to the Bible, Josephus, and tradition. From the Books of Maccabees and Josephus, we are enabled to determine the Tombs of many Asmonæan princes. With regard to the family of Herod, we know that Herod the Ascalonite was buried in Herodium; his sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and others, in Alexandrium near to Shiloh; Agrippa in the valley of Gihon; Antipas died in Gaul; consequently none of these can lie here. We know that when Aristobulus was poisoned by the partizans of Pompeius, his body was preserved in honey, and sent to Jerusalem by Antonius[836]. He may therefore be one of those who were buried in these tombs, in which other members of the royal family, especially women and children, may have been interred. The monument being of the Doric order does not allow us to assign it to an earlier period. The Jews visit these tombs with reverence, and the Arabs exact from them a payment on entrance, to which they patiently submit. They do not, however, consider these to be the burial-places of their first Kings, but of the last; so that here tradition agrees with the architectural evidence furnished by the monument.
About a hundred yards from the Tombs of the Kings, to the south-west, in a field planted with olives, is a sepulchre, excavated vertically in the rock[837]. It is almost the only example of its kind in the open country in Palestine, and is the more remarkable because the Tombs of the Patriarchs in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, that of Rachel near Bethlehem Ephrata, and of Samuel at Ramah (Neby-Samwîl) are of the same kind. Round the edge of the oblong grave runs a step, into which a stone is fitted so as to close the hole firmly, and on this was placed a sarcophagus. This I have ascertained by a careful examination of those at Ephrata and Ramah.
Hence we return to the road running to the north, and, after passing the Tombs of the Kings, find on the left an Arab building called Sheikh Jerrah; a place in much veneration among the Mohammedans, especially those of the country; since it contains the tomb of a santon, who, as they believe, has the power of granting them prosperous expeditions, abundant harvests, and good luck, especially with their fowls and eggs; of which articles a small tribute is paid to a live dervish, who acts as go-between for them in their petitions to the dead santon.
Keeping along the road to the right leading to the open country on the north-east, we come to a spot on the southern bank of the Kidron Valley, where there are signs of excavations, if not of tombs. One of these is remarkable for its large dimensions; it is entirely excavated with the chisel, and shews some trace of a gallery hewn out of the solid rock in its upper part. This is Jadagat el-Ahel, which I have already mentioned[838]. All the Jews assert that during the persecutions their race underwent, in the times of Hadrian and of the Byzantine emperors, this place was used as a synagogue by those, who, despising the perils of the journey, came from far that they might behold their ancient capital, if only from a distance. I have already mentioned the explanation of the name; but another tradition is current among the more ignorant and prejudiced Jews, which is given by Saintine[839]: "When Titus was besieging Jerusalem, and had completely blockaded the town with his legions, in the month Bûl (November) provisions began to fail the inhabitants. Then universal misery prevailed in the city, and the famine slew more than the Romans. In this extremity, even the women and children were killed to nourish the combatants; but these sufferings, terrible as they were, did not appease the wrath of Heaven, and the city was taken and sacked with every atrocity of war. At this time there lived at Jerusalem a very wealthy Jew, who had been educated at Rome, and for this reason was allowed to retain his riches. But what good were they now to him? His wife and boys had been sacrificed to the horrible cravings of hunger. This fearful scene was ever present to his mind, and banished repose. He could only find one solace: he determined to give a portion of his property to his wretched fellow-citizens; and further, he made a vow to distribute corn, meat, and wine, among them at this place, every year at the feast of Purim; so that they might be able to share in the general joy, and celebrate the festival in a proper manner. So sped the years; the evils of the war were beginning to be less felt, when the new generation, seduced by a false Messiah named Cosiba, again endeavoured to shake off the Roman yoke. The aged man still remembered too well the miseries of the former siege; he implored his brethren to abandon their fatal determination, relating to them what he had seen and suffered; but his efforts were fruitless. At length it was revealed to him from heaven that soon the city would again be destroyed by the armies of Hadrian. For the last time he tried to induce the rebels to submit, but in vain; then, preferring to die rather than witness the misfortunes of his country, he prayed to God to remove him from the earth; the roof of the cavern fell in, and buried him in its ruins under the heap which still lies before its mouth. Still however, every year, at the feast of Purim, the dead man takes a piece of money from his hidden treasures, and places it on the rock in order to continue the 'alms of food' to the poor." Before 1857 there was an isolated mass of rock in the middle of this monument, to which the Rabbins and a great number of people came on their feast of Pentecost to pray and read the Pentateuch, but it has now disappeared, because, in building the Austrian hospice, this place was used as a stone quarry, and greatly mutilated. It is to be hoped that what remains will not be destroyed by a repetition of this vandalism, when another work of charity is executed for a European nation.
On ascending the Kidron Valley we find, on its northern bank, a place, commonly called the Tomb of Simon the Just. A few years ago a Mohammedan, seeing that it was frequented by the Jews, affixed a door to it, expecting that he would be able to extract money from those who wished to visit it. He has not been disappointed in his hopes, and reaps large gains. Whether the name is rightly given, I do not know; but it is not contrary to any tradition. The interior is not remarkable; only there is a small cistern, well constructed, on the side of the casemate vault. The Jews visit this spot for prayer at all seasons, but especially when rain is needed for the country, after it has been parched during nine months by a blazing sun.