"On these points we have inquired very particularly of S. Arculf, and specially concerning the Sepulchre of our Lord, and the church erected over it, the plan of which he drew for us upon a waxen tablet. It is a large church built entirely of stone, forming a perfect circle, and rising from its foundations with three walls. Between each pair of walls is a broad space forming a corridor, and at three points in the middle wall are three altars of wonderful workmanship. This round church is occupied by the three altars above mentioned, one facing the south, another the north, and the third towards the west. It is supported by twelve stone columns of wondrous size. It has eight doors, or entrances, through the three walls with the corridors intervening, four of which doors face the south-east, while the rest face the east. In the middle space of the inner circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, in which nine men can pray standing, and the roof of which is about a foot and a half above the head of a man of ordinary stature. The entrance to this grotto is on the eastern side, and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice marble, the apex being adorned with gold, and supporting a golden cross of considerable size. Within, on the north side of this grotto, is the tomb cut out of the same rock: but the floor of the grotto is lower than the level of the tomb, for from the former to the lateral margin of the tomb is a height of about three palms.
"In this place we must mention a discrepancy of names between the monument and the tomb; for the round grotto mentioned above is otherwise called the Monument of the Evangelist: and they say, that to the mouth of this the stone was rolled, and from it rolled away, at our Lord's resurrection; while the name of sepulchre is applied to the chamber within the grotto that is on the north side of the monument, in which the Lord's body lay wrapt in fine linen. The length of this S. Arculf measured with his own hands, and found it to be seven feet. This tomb is not, as some persons wrongly imagine, divided in two by a stone cut out of the wall, itself forming a space for two legs and thighs, by coming between and separating them; but is undivided from the head to the foot, with sufficient room for one man lying upon his back, so forming a kind of cavern with an entrance at the side opposite to the south part of the monumental chamber. It has a low apex projecting above it, carved in the rock, and contains twelve lamps burning continually day and night, corresponding to the number of the twelve apostles. Four of these are placed at the foot of the sepulchral couch, and the other eight towards the head, on the right hand side, all of them being constantly fed with oil.
"As to the stone which after our Lord's crucifixion and burial was rolled to the mouth of the said monument by the united efforts of many men, Arculf relates that he found it broken in two parts. The lesser part, squared by the chisel, forms the altar which stands before the entrance of the aforesaid round church, while the larger, also chiselled like the former, is the square altar, covered with linen cloths, on the eastern side of the same.
"As regards the colours of the stone out of which the aforementioned grotto is hollowed by the tools of the stone-workers, with the Lord's Sepulchre on its north side cut from the same rock as the grotto itself, Arculf told me in answer to my questions, that the said grotto of the monument of our Lord, being covered with no ornament within, bears to this day upon its vaulted surface the marks of the tools used by the masons and stone-workers in the work: but the colour of the said stone appears not to be uniform, but a mixture of two, to wit, red and white, and the said stone is shewn as the stone of two colours.
"This round church, so often mentioned above, which is called the Anastasis, or Resurrection, and is built on the spot which witnessed our Lord's resurrection, is joined on the right by a square church dedicated to S. Mary the mother of God.
"Moreover another large church is built on the eastern side on the spot which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: from the ceiling of which is suspended by ropes a brazen wheel with lamps, and beneath it is a large silver cross fixed in the very place where stood the wooden cross on which the Saviour of the human race suffered.
"Adjoining this square-built church on the site of Calvary, on the east, is the famous stone church built with great magnificence by the Emperor Constantine, and called the Martyrdom, erected, as they say, in the place where the cross of our Lord and the other two crosses were found by divine revelation, two hundred and thirty-three years after they had been buried. Between these two churches is the famous spot where the patriarch Abraham built an altar, and laid upon it the bundle of wood, and seized the sword already drawn from its scabbard to sacrifice his son Isaac; where is now a wooden table of moderate size, on which the offerings of the people for the poor are deposited.
"Between the Anastasis or round church so often mentioned above, and the basilica of Constantine, a short open street extends to the church on Golgotha, in which are lamps burning night and day. Also between the basilica on Golgotha and the Martyrdom is a seat, in which is the cup of the Lord, which, after blessing it with His own hand during the supper before His passion, He Himself handed to the Apostles that sate at meat with Him. It is a silver cup, holding about a French quart, and having two handles set over against each other on opposite sides. In this cup is the sponge, which they that crucified our Lord filled with vinegar, and put upon hyssop, and held up to His mouth. From this same cup, it is said that our Lord drank in company with His Apostles after His resurrection."
Note V. Extracts from the description of Sæwulf. (Translated in Mr Wright's "Early Travels in Palestine.")