But still, although the rock is concealed, a strong proof of the existence of a tomb is afforded by the shape of the entrance, which has every appearance of the doorway of a sepulchral chamber, and closely corresponds with that leading to the Tombs of the Kings, which was closed with a large elliptical stone, still to be seen on the spot[418]. I consider however that its height has been since increased, in order to make a more convenient entrance; because it is now higher on the east than on the west, while in all the ancient sepulchres still existing the interior is higher than the exterior. We may then observe with what rigorous exactness the words of the Evangelists are verified by the appearance of the Tomb. S. Matthew[419] relates that an angel "rolled back the stone from the door," using the precise word which would express the way in which the stone now at the Tombs of the Kings would have to be handled. S. Mark[420] relates that when Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James were on their way to the Sepulchre to embalm the Lord's body, they asked among themselves, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the Sepulchre?" and that, "when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great; and entering into the Sepulchre they saw a young man sitting on the right side," who shewed them the place where Jesus of Nazareth had been laid. The stone certainly would be very great, if it resembled that at the Tombs of the Kings; and without entering the sepulchral chamber they would be unable to see the angel and the place where the Lord had been laid, (on the right side of the Sepulchre where it is now shewn,) both by reason of the thickness of the wall, in which the doorway was made, and because the niche was rather on one side of it. S. Luke[421] also speaks of the rolling away of the stone, and the necessity of entering the chamber before they could see that the Lord's body was not there. S. John[422] also mentions that the stone was removed, and describes the manner in which S. Peter and the other disciple looked into and entered the Sepulchre; just as would still have to be done, if the door had not been enlarged. Had not a pious vandalism been allowed to work its will from the age of Constantine to the present day, no one would be able to deny the existence of the Sepulchre; for all objections would be met by the presence of the outer chamber, which was also excavated in the rock, as in many examples still remaining in the neighbourhood of the city: but unhappily those parts of it which had escaped the injuries done by Hadrian, were completely swept away at the time when the first basilica was built, in order to isolate the Tomb itself, and exhibit it as an object of veneration in the centre of the rotunda. This can be inferred from the words of Eusebius[423]: "Is it not surprising to see this rock standing alone in the centre of a level space, with a cavern inside it?" S. Cyril, in the fourth century, writes more expressly; "For 'the cleft of the rock' he calls the cleft which was then at the door of the Salutary Sepulchre, and was hewn out of the rock itself, as it is customary here in the front of sepulchres. For now it appears not, the outer case having been hewn away for the sake of the present adornment; for before the Sepulchre was decorated by royal zeal there was a cave in the face of the rock[424]." Therefore, from the above evidence, we may draw the following conclusions: that an ancient Jewish sepulchre exists at this place, that over it Hadrian erected a temple to Venus, and that consequently this is the identical tomb in which the body of our Redeemer was laid.
Within the Sepulchre itself, above the shelf, are three paintings; that in the centre belongs to the Latins, that on the right to the Greeks, and that on the left to the Armenians. In front of these the three communities place a certain number of tapers, vases of flowers, crosses, and other objects; and when they differ about the arrangement of these things, or of the numerous lamps which hang in the middle of the vault, that is to say, whenever one of the parties transgresses in the slightest degree the limit assigned to it by the Sultan's firman, or the agreements between the Convents, a quarrel soon breaks out; clamour, yells, and threats, are heard in the Sanctuary itself; and the combatants sometimes do not separate without broken bones. These scenes, however, are now becoming more unfrequent.
In the middle of the west side of the rotunda is the entrance of a chapel belonging to the Syrians, and through the south wall of this we pass into a small grotto, hewn in the rock, in which are some tombs said to have been made by Joseph of Arimathea, after he had given up his own; in these he and Nicodemus are said to have been buried. On the truth of the tradition I express no opinion; but certainly the existence of the rock above the level of the ground, and still more the presence of the tombs, is a strong proof of the genuineness of the Holy Sepulchre. Both here[425], and in the neighbouring chapel, the rock on rising from the floor mounts towards the west; thus indicating the lower level of the excavations round the Sepulchre. The tombs shew that the place must have been outside the walls before Agrippa traced out his new line on the north, because, as I have already observed, the Jewish law did not allow them to be among dwelling-houses. The antiquity of these tombs is placed beyond question by their shape, and by the marks left by the tools of the workmen who excavated them, which perfectly correspond with those that may still be examined in the numerous burying-places in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. I must not omit to mention that two of the above-named tombs are very small; these have been begun, and left unfinished before reaching their full size; and any one who will take the trouble to visit the Tombs of the Judges[426] will see that they were excavated and completed in the same manner as these so-called Sepulchres of Joseph and Nicodemus, and that the same kind of instruments were used, of which I shall presently speak more particularly. I mention the Tombs of the Judges, because sepulchres may there be seen in different stages, finished and unfinished, of which there is no other example near Jerusalem.
To the east of the rotunda is the Chapel of the Greeks[427], forming the great nave of the church, in which the rock is found immediately below the marble pavement. Its most remarkable feature is its regularity and uniformity. On the east is the Iconostasis, dividing the 'Holy of Holies' from the rest of the church. This, together with the side walls, is profusely gilded and covered with pictures and other ornaments, producing at first a striking effect, which however is soon effaced by the bad taste, evident not only in them, but also in the two Patriarchal thrones made of Palestine breccia. Above the choir rises a dome supported by four massive piers; a rude iron gallery runs round the drum, and it is lighted by four windows on the level of the Greeks' terrace-roof. The exterior of the drum is crowned by a cornice, apparently supported by little corbels ornamented with various incised carvings, for which many have sought symbolical interpretations; but, in reality, they are only fanciful Græco-Saracenic decorations. All the outer surface of the dome is covered with strong plaster to render it weather-proof; and a small spiral staircase winds outside to the summit, whence a fine panoramic view may be obtained, which gives the visitor a good idea of the topography of the ancient city. Inside the church a small pedestal rises from the middle of the pavement containing a stone ball encircled by crossing hoops, which is believed by the Eastern Christians to be the centre of the world. The idea that Jerusalem was at the centre of the universe has long prevailed among both Jews and Christians, founded, perhaps, on the words of Ezekiel[428], "Thus saith the Lord God, This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her." It is alluded to by Dante[429]:
| Now that horizon had the sun attained, |
| By the high point of whose meridian clear |
| Jerusalem with golden light is stained. |
The Greeks, undoubtedly, placed the pedestal to mark the centre of the Church of the Resurrection.
Returning into the rotunda, and going out of it towards the north, we find the Latin Chapel, at the place where our Lord is said to have appeared to Mary after his Resurrection. It stands above the general level of the church; and the rock is found below its pavement, extending northward under the Latin Convent, where it rises toward the west; so that if the buildings were removed, it would be seen united to that at the tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus; thus affording another proof of the levelling made around the Sepulchre by Constantine. Inside the chapel an altar is pointed out, containing a fragment of the column, to which, according to tradition, our Lord was bound when He was scourged. By a door on the north we enter the Convent of the Franciscans, the guardians of the Holy Places. It can accommodate twelve monks and some pilgrims; but is unhealthy, being damp and ill ventilated.
Leaving this chapel, and passing along the north aisle of the church, we find on the east, behind the Greek Church, a staircase leading down into the Chapel of S. Helena[430], belonging to the Armenians, the south side of which is partly formed by the rock. From the middle of it rises a dome, supported by four columns (of Egyptian granite) with Byzantine capitals[431], and surrounded by a terrace-roof occupied by the huts of the Abyssinians. Near the north-east corner of the chapel is a wooden altar, concealing a doorway, now built up; it communicated with a building called the Prince's House, which I shall presently notice. In the south-east corner is a kind of little balcony (erected by the Armenians in the 17th century), where, according to a false tradition, S. Helena stood while the workmen were seeking for the cross in the neighbouring cistern. This chapel was united to the main building by the Crusaders. In the south wall is a staircase, the steps of which are hewn out of the rock, though they are now covered up with stone slabs; it leads into a vault in which the Saviour's cross is believed to have been found, together with those of the two thieves, after lying hid there for 293 years. The legend is strongly supported by very ancient Eastern traditions. The interior, entirely excavated in the solid rock, corresponds in form with the cisterns so abundant in Jerusalem, and the holes still remain by which the water entered or was drawn out. The rock is a soft limestone, and differs from the fragment on the top of Golgotha; therefore I am inclined to believe that there is no connexion between the latter and this in the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross.
The rough rock in this chamber, untouched and unaltered, appeals to my heart at least, far more than all the other places, buried as they are beneath marble and decorations; and I cannot but think that it would be a noble work to sweep away all obstructions in the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to clear the ground, and again expose the bare rock over the whole area; and, defending the Sepulchre itself against the elements with a dome, to enclose the whole with a cloister in a solemn and appropriate style of architecture. If this were done, the original appearance of the ground would be in some measure restored, and the Golgotha and the Sepulchre, the true trophies of Christianity, would be visible to all; unbelievers would be convinced by the evidence of their senses; and while all would be obliged to admit the genuineness of the sites, each one would be free to meditate in his own way upon the teachings of the very place consecrated by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of his Redeemer. Will this hope ever be realized? Never, I fear; for then the present Church would cease to be the source of a large revenue, derived from the purses of ignorant and credulous pilgrims, who pay to obtain a blessing, or to secure a place at the distribution of the Holy Fire, or at some other ceremony, or to pass a night in the Sanctuary[432].
I now pause to consider and describe, more fully than I have hitherto done, the present appearance of the Calvary. The Golgotha is a platform supported by vaulted arches of masonry, reached by two flights of steps, one close to the entrance of the church, the other near the Stone of Unction. The latter belongs to the Greeks, but they allow it to be open to all. The whole area is divided into two chapels, north and south: in the former, called 'The Adoration of the Cross,' is the place where the cross was erected (as I have already said); it belongs to the Greeks; the latter, belonging to the Latins, is called the Chapel of the Crucifixion, because it is generally believed that on that spot the Saviour was nailed to the cross. In this the altar is well worth notice, as it is ornamented with a casing of bronze, on which are sculptured in bas-relief eight different scenes from the Passion of our Saviour. Its original shape has been altered, though without injury to the general effect, for it was made four-sided, as it was intended to be placed as a kind of fence round the Stone of Unction; but the Greeks would not allow anything belonging to the Latins to be used in their possessions, lest it should give their rivals a footing there. It is therefore now arranged as three sides of an oblong. It was given by Ferdinand de Medici, as is shewn by the following inscription on a plate at the foot of the altar: "The gift of the piety of Ferdinand de Medici, Grand-duke of Tuscany, 1588." The same inscription also occurs on the cornice surmounting the upper part of the altar. The carving is admirably executed; it is the work of Domenico Portigiani, a Florentine friar of the convent of S. Mark, and a pupil of the famous sculptor John of Bologna; as is recorded by the following inscription, placed beneath the name of the donor: "Made by Fra Domenico Portigiani, a friar of the convent of S. Mark at Florence in the province of Rome, in the year 1588." The arms of the Medici are sculptured at the four corners, and on the shield is a Cardinal's hat, because Ferdinand was already invested with this dignity in the year 1588.