Further up the valley, after crossing the road to Samaria, we find, still on the northern side, an ancient tomb[840], the exterior of which is completely mutilated. In the front court is a fragment of the western end of a wall, hewn out of the solid rock; all the rest of it has been destroyed. In the piece which remains we find a conduit and small basin; these clearly prove that water must have been supplied from some higher ground on the north; but I have not been able to discover whence it came. Against the north wall is a heap of soil, nearly covering up an aperture; through the part still open, though overgrown with creepers, it is possible to crawl into the interior[841]. Here we find a rectangular vestibule which evidently has been converted into a cistern, as its walls have been covered with strong cement, and a hole made in the roof, through which soil and broken stones are brought down from the hill-side above, in the rainy season. A small door in the middle of the north wall leads into an antechamber in good preservation, in the east wall of which is the passage into a chamber with eight biers, one of them being a sepulchral niche, and the rest casemate vaults, without channels, but sloping slightly downwards towards the floor of the chamber, round which runs a kind of footpath, above the general level of the floor, as in the Tombs of the Kings. At the end of one of these vaults is the small recess. As the dimensions and finish of these correspond with those of the small vaults in the above-named tombs, they would be considered unfinished by M. de Saulcy. Returning into the antechamber, we find in its western wall a small door leading into a single casemate vault, which is much larger than any other of its kind in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. This monument does not bear any special name, but must have belonged to a wealthy family, because, although it is not so large as the other great tombs, its execution is not inferior to theirs.
Descending from this point to the bed of the Kidron Valley, we find a nearly square pool. Though this is now almost filled with earth, yet in the rainy season the waters flow into it from the slopes above, and form a sort of little lake, which is then the source, so to say, of the Kidron. I have investigated carefully the ground above, endeavouring to discover some proof of the existence of a spring, but in vain. By excavating I found that the depth of the Pool was fifteen feet.
From this position we ascend in a north-westerly direction, and then turn southward towards an ash-coloured mound. All along our course we observe numbers of ruined and broken tombs, and can readily comprehend the account given by Josephus[842] of the levelling executed by Titus' army, between Scopus and the city. The small mound mentioned above has been examined by Liebig, who considers it to be composed of the ashes of bones and animal remains. This might be true of the specimen submitted to him, but I am of opinion that it chiefly consists of ashes from the soap-works of Jerusalem, mingled with soil and broken stones, with bones of dogs and other carrion, that have been cast out there. I have arrived at this conclusion, after making large excavations in the heap, and availing myself of its materials to mix with lime in making a strong cement, which I used in building and repairing terrace-roofs, and in conduits and cisterns. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the proprietors of the soap-works themselves, have assured me that the greater part of this deposit was formed during the time of Ibrahim Pasha, by whose orders the refuse of their manufactories was conveyed outside the city.
By following the road, which leads in a north-westerly direction to Gibeon, we find on the left-hand side, at a distance of about two hundred yards from the above mound, a tomb which differs in form from all those already described. It has an antechamber, and from it three doors lead into three small chambers, in which there are no biers. At the first glance I was inclined to consider it as an incomplete work, but from the perfect execution of its interior and its frontispiece[843], I came to a different conclusion after I had had many opportunities of examining both finished and unfinished sepulchres.
Keeping along the road, we see before reaching the Tombs of the Judges, numbers of tombs dispersed about the ground on our right hand, some partly destroyed, some converted into cisterns, and others still uninjured. All this land was a large field of the dead, where the ancient Jews excavated sepulchres suitable to their wealth and station. One among them is remarkable as giving us a correct idea of that in which our Lord was laid; for it consists of an antechamber, and a burial chamber, in which is a single niche to receive a corpse, on the right hand of the entrance[844]. A few yards further on, we come, after turning to the right, to the Tombs of the Judges[845], called by the Arabs Kubur el-Godka. There does not appear to be any reason for the name. Eight of the fifteen Judges who ruled the people between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul were certainly buried elsewhere: and it is far more likely that the rest would sleep with their fathers among their own tribes, after the usual custom of the Israelites. It seems to me much more probable that certain members of the Sanhedrim were buried here, according to the traditional belief of the Jews now in Jerusalem, who visit this spot from no other motive than curiosity. The exterior of the vestibule is decorated with a frontispiece resembling that in the Tomb of Jehoshaphat, consisting of a cornice and pediment, the tympanum of which is richly carved with palm-leaves and foliage, with three acroteria, perhaps intended for funeral emblems (torches), one on the summit (effaced), and the other two at each end. Under the cornice is a row of small modillons. Beneath the cornice, and on each side of the opening, runs an ornamental group of mouldings. A low narrow door similarly decorated is placed in the middle of the vestibule, and gives admission to the sepulchral chambers, six in number, and containing altogether sixty-three biers. Sixty of these are narrow casemate vaults, of the class which M. de Saulcy considers as incomplete receptacles, and three are sepulchral niches. The execution displayed in these tombs is not inferior to that at the Tombs of the Kings, nor do they yield to them in elegance or arrangement, especially in the interior. At the south-west corner of the first chamber is a narrow staircase, which I found blocked up with enormous stones, fitted together in order to close the entrance. After removing them with no small trouble I understood the reason why they were so placed. In the entrance below lay a corpse, not yet reduced to a skeleton; the head and right hand of which had been severed from the body; signs of a cruel vengeance, of which I discovered other instances in my researches in the country. This unfinished sepulchral chamber fully supplies us with the means of studying the construction of these receptacles of the dead. In it are the beginnings of nine casemate vaults, and the instruments used have evidently been the chisel and the revolving cutter which I have already described[846]. The limestone from which the whole of the monument is hewn resembles in quality that at the Tombs of the Kings; but it is of a yellowish colour veined with red, and takes a polish like marble. It is easily quarried at first, but becomes hard when exposed to the atmosphere.
Returning from the Tombs of the Judges, by the field-path southward, we reach the road to the village of Lifta, which we follow westward, in order to visit the little Mohammedan mosque, wherein repose the ashes of a santon called Sheikh Aymar, who fell in battle against the Christians. The place is not worth a visit for the sake of its architecture, but there is a curious legend connected with it. Over the entrance-gate is a large architrave of finely polished red granite. The story is, that an Arab devoted to the saint found this block in some distant country, and was enabled to bear it on his back to ornament the tomb of his patron, although from its natural weight eight men at least would have been required to move it. They say also that Ibrahim Pasha, struck with the beauty of the stone, tried to take it away, but the invisible hand of the saint kept it fixed in the wall; so that the Pasha himself became his devotee. Returning towards the city, we can visit the buildings which Russia has erected at great cost in a short time, for the use of the mission of its Church at Jerusalem, and to receive pilgrims who visit the Holy Places. I have already spoken of them[847], and the description of the Plan[848] will explain their arrangements. Though Russia began her work the last, she will in a short time surpass all the other religious communities. It was also upon this spot, and as far as up to the convent of S. Saviour, that Sennacherib encamped his troops. Titus at a later period fixed his head-quarters here, when he was preparing to attack the third line of walls; here also he reviewed his army, in the hope that the sight of his power and resources might terrify the Jews into submission. As the troops would extend from the north-west angle of the present wall towards the east, the citizens would be able to see them very well[849]. The Crusaders also occupied the ground belonging to Russia, and all their positions may be seen at a glance from here. Godfrey of Bouillon attacked the north-east corner of the wall; Robert Duke of Normandy the part by the Grotto of Jeremiah; Robert Count of Flanders, that opposite to the rock where I place the tomb of Helena of Adiabene; Tancred from this position stormed the castle of Goliath (Kâsr Jalûd), the tower Psephinus in my opinion; Raymond Count of Toulouse pitched his camp on the west, where the small Greek convent of S. George now stands, and directed part of his troops, commanded by the Count of S. Gilles, against Sion: these, after many valiant deeds, gained the south wall, above the present Christian cemetery.
We now descend into the Valley of Gihon, to visit the Pool of Mamillah and the surrounding Mohammedan cemetery; but before reaching it we observe a large and level boulevard leading to the city. I proposed to Surraya Pasha to make this in order to give a promenade to the inhabitants; and though the plan was not carried out as I desired, still I think that I have done a service to the citizens in giving them one good road for walking, instead of stony paths or rugged tracks on the hill-sides. Entering the cemetery, from the western end of this promenade, we come to the Pool of Mamillah, which I identify with the 'Upper Pool[850].' From this started the deep canal by which Hezekiah brought the waters of Gihon within the western part of the city, when he closed up the fountains on the approach of Sennacherib's army. The subterranean conduit still exists, though it is now exposed and devastated in places, and is used to convey the rain-water from the Upper Pool to that of Amygdalon within the city; for which reason the latter is still called the Pool of Hezekiah. Josephus[851] gives to the Upper Pool the name of 'The Serpent's Pool,' and the Arabs call it Birket Mamillah. The derivation of the name I have already explained[852]. S. Jerome[853] calls it the 'Fuller's Pool;' perhaps founding the name on the passages in the Bible[854], which shew that the Fuller's field was in its neighbourhood. In the middle ages it was called 'The Patriarch's Pool.' The passage in which it is mentioned is as follows[855]: "Outside the David Gate was a pool towards the setting sun, called the Patriarch's Pool, where the waters of the surrounding country were collected for watering the horses. Near this pool was a charnel-house, called the Lion's Charnel-house. Now I will tell you why it is called the Lion's Charnel-house. One day, as they say, there was a battle between the Christians and the Saracens, betwixt this charnel-house and Jerusalem, in which many Christians were slain, and the Saracens were intending next day to defile the bodies. So it happened that a lion came by night, and carried them all into this ditch, as they said. Above this charnel-house was a church, where people sang services every day." Perhaps this church was dedicated to S. Babylas, of which now only a mass of ruins remains, also covering sepulchral caves. Here I place the monument of Herod, mentioned in the account of Titus' wall of circumvallation[856]. The Mohammedan cemetery surrounding the pool dates from the age of Saladin; for here are found some ancient sarcophagi, and epitaphs bearing the names of certain of his generals. All this spot is highly esteemed by the Mohammedans, and their chief men are usually buried here.
We will now take the road to the west, leading to S. John in the Mountains (Ain Karim), and visit the Greek convent of S. Cross, called by the Arabs Deir el-Mar-sullabi, which we reach in about twenty minutes. Its name is derived from the tradition that the tree grew here from which the Cross of Christ was made. Quaresmius[857] informs us that the Empress Helena built a church here to mark the spot. Dositheus, Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem towards the close of the seventeenth century, who wrote the history of his predecessors in that office, is of opinion that the monastery of S. Cross was built by Justinian I. at the prayer of S. Saba, who had gone to Constantinople to refute some calumnies which had been promulgated by the Samaritan, Arsenius, in order to bring the people of Palestine into bad repute with the Emperor. He supposes also that the Georgians, who occupied it for a long time, were the builders. The Persian invaders under Chosroes II. utterly destroyed the monastery, but spared a part of the church; murdering, nevertheless, all the monks who had fled there for refuge, so that the tesselated pavement, of great antiquity, still preserves the stains of their blood. The Reverend Dionysius Cleopas, a most courteous and learned man, the director of the school of S. Cross, pointed out these stains to me, informing me of the tradition concerning them. Though I am far from yielding a blind assent to it, I cannot but remember how long the stain of blood remains upon marble or stone, if it has lain and dried up there. In this case the blood of more than a hundred victims must have been shed and left there. At the same time it must be remarked that the stains, which extend below the surface of the tesseræ in the pavement, are not red but of a blackish colour.
When the Greeks purchased the convent from the Georgians it was wholly in ruins; now, however, it is one of the finest establishments in Palestine. Though rather an irregular building, it stands in a great measure on the ancient site. In it are the schools where poor youths of the Greek faith are maintained without charge, together with a library, and a fine apartment for the use of the Patriarch when he visits the place. The church[858] deserves a visit. Four large piers, from which spring pointed arches, divide it into a nave with two side aisles. It is also adorned with a pointed dome. The walls are decorated with ancient frescoes, and on these are Georgian inscriptions shewing that the church and convent were restored two hundred years ago. In the apses are curious pictures representing the whole history of the sacred tree; the hole, in which it is said to have grown, is exhibited behind the great altar. Michael Glycas reports in his annals[859] the tradition from which the name of the church is derived. Though it is a thorough Arab story, I relate it, as it explains the pictures. "When Abraham became aware of the sin which Lot had committed when overcome by wine, he ordered him to go to the banks of the river Nile in Egypt, and bring thence three boughs of different trees, in the expectation that he would be devoured on the journey by the wild beasts, and would thus expiate his crime. Lot, guided by heaven, accomplished the dangerous task, and returned unhurt with the three boughs, one of cypress, another of pine, and the third of cedar. Abraham not being contented with this, ascended this hill and planted the three boughs in the form of a triangle, ordering Lot to fetch water for them every day from the Jordan, a distance of twenty-four miles." (This is the distance of the river from the convent.) "Lot obeyed this command also, and after three months the boughs united and budded, but their roots were always separated one from the other. Therefore Abraham prophesied that by means of their wood sinful men were one day to be redeemed. In the days of Solomon the tree had grown to a great size, and was cut down by that King to be used in building the Temple. But by the decree of Heaven its trunk remained forgotten till the Saviour's Passion, when the Jews used it to make the Cross. The hill, on which Abraham is said to have planted the three boughs, is to the south-west of the convent, and is still called by the Arabs 'The place of the boughs.'" Heraclius is said to have stayed in this convent on his return from his expedition against the Persians to recover the Holy Cross.
On our return to Jerusalem from the monastery by the road to the east of that by which we came, we see the quarries from which perhaps were extracted the columns of red breccia which adorn the mosque el-Aksa, and many churches in Palestine. On reaching the summit of the hill we regain our former road, and enter Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate. During our return we notice with admiration the efforts made by the Archimandrite Nicoforus for the improvement of the country, and the energy and intelligence displayed in all his agricultural undertakings, especially in planting trees. It is to be hoped that his attempts will be crowned with success, and that the Arabs will avail themselves of the opportunity, and join in a work so calculated to advance the prosperity of the country.