Ascending from the cave and following another dark passage, we came presently into a chapel about fifteen feet square, one side of which is formed by a bare precipitous rock. This is a portion of the rocky knoll of Golgotha or Calvary; and here they showed us a rent or fissure about sixteen inches in width, telling us that it was formed at the time of the crucifixion, when the veil of the temple was rent in twain, and with the quaking of the earth the rocks were rent. They tell also a story, which I feel loth to repeat, that here, at the time just spoken of, the head of Adam was discovered; and that when the Saviour’s side was pierced, the blood and water flowed down upon it; that, as Adam had been the first to sin, he might be the first to experience the benefit of the redemption.
After giving an impatient glance at these various spots, we passed on; and soon after, emerging once more into daylight, found ourselves in the vestibule, and at the foot of the staircase leading to the summit of Calvary.
I have mentioned, that on entering the vestibule from the outer court, we had before us the stone of unction, and on the left the entrance to the circular Church of the Sepulchre. On the right, at the distance of about thirty-five feet, is a narrow stairway of eighteen steps, cut in the solid rock, and leading to a platform elevated about sixteen feet above the lower church, and nearly square, having about forty feet on each side. This is Mount Calvary. The surface is now level, and paved with red marbles; and, by a kind of partition formed of two arches with square columns between, is divided into two chambers, one being nearly square and the other oblong. They are surmounted by a dome, more peaked than that over the church of the Holy Sepulchre. When we reached the top of the stairway, we found ourselves in the first of these chambers, or the square one; but were first taken across it into the other, where a large star, formed of marble mosaic work in the pavement, was pointed out as indicating the spot where the Saviour was nailed to the cross. That designated as the place where the crosses stood during the crucifixion is in the first chamber, at its northern side.
Returning to this place, we found there a platform against the wall, running the whole way across the church, and sixteen inches in height by about three feet in width. It was also covered with marbles, and half way across had a large embossed silver plate with a hole in the centre; and this is said to be over the very spot where stood our Saviour’s cross. On each side are similar plates, said to be over the holes for the other two crosses; but the holes are so near together, that the arms of the three crosses could not have been in a line, unless, as might have been the case, that of the Saviour was higher or lower than the others. I put my hand several times through the hole in the central silver plate, and found beneath it a hollow of rough sides, rather large, and about a foot or fifteen inches in depth. Half way between it and the hole on our right, as we stood facing them, is another plate of silver about thirty inches in length, and with a narrow slit in it, corresponding, they informed us, to a fissure in the rock, the commencement of the crevice which we had seen below. There is something very much like a crack, about two inches wide, the opposite parts of which appear to correspond; but a close examination is prevented by the silver plate above; its direction is across the natural stratification of the rock. The object of these silver plates is probably to guard these places from violence, as pilgrims or other visitors are much given to chipping off fragments from such spots[53] for friends at home. Whether these are really the holes where the crosses stood, and whether this is a real fracture or “rent” in the rock, it is impossible to say; there can be no doubt, however, that this is really a mass of native rock; and its elevation is just such as would be desired for the infliction of death by crucifixion. It is now so built around, and so, covered with marbles, that it is not easy to form an exact judgment of its original altitude or extent; but if I may venture a rough estimate of the former, I should say it was about twenty or twenty-five feet. It appears to be nearly precipitous at the northern end.
Our feelings while standing on Mount Calvary were of that high-wrought but solemn kind that we had experienced while at the Sepulchre, but not perhaps so strong in degree; for although this was a place of agony and shame, and yet of the highest moral grandeur, there was connected with the other a depth of humiliation, a completeness of abandonment, that was extremely affecting. The grave had received the body of the sufferer, cold and stiffened in death; the winding sheet was around those mangled limbs, and over the temples where the blood stood on many a wound. Nature that day had sympathized and shuddered,—but this now had passed; the taunters, after praying that his blood might be on them and on their children, had gone their way; the disciples were appalled and had fled; the tomb was sealed up, and the moon threw its mild rays on a scene forsaken apparently of God and of man, except the silent sentry pacing to and fro. The humiliation was now complete; the price of our ransom was paid to the utmost, and then glory from heaven poured down upon the spot. The God-Redeemer rose, and death, who, though conqueror, had set trembling to see the Creator of all things prostrate and beneath his sway, was now himself led captive, and made a ministering servant to bring the redeemed to eternal glory.
CHAPTER XVI.
Dimensions of the Modern City. Ground within the city, and in its environs. Its picturesque appearance. Continuation of our visits. Via Dolorosa. Sentence of the Saviour from Salignatius. House of Veronica and Picture of the Napkin. House of “the Rich Man.” Arch of the Ecce Homo. Pilate’s House. Mosque of Omar. The Locked-up Stone. Pool of Bethesda. Place of Stephen’s Martyrdom. The Golden Gate. The Emperor Heraclius in a dilemma.
The modern Jerusalem is about three fourths of a mile at its greatest length, and about two thirds of a mile in width.[54] It contains a population of about 20,000 persons; namely, 10,000 Mahomedans occupying principally the northern and eastern portions; 6,000 Jews living on what was formerly the Acra; 3,500 Greeks and Catholics, around the church of Calvary; and about 500 Armenians, in and about their great convent on Mount Zion. Of the last eminence only a small portion is included within the limits of the present city.