‘Perveniens ergo Legatus Hierosolyma, Nosocomium peregrinis condidit, et Ecclesiam Elenæ perfecit, templaque quæ incenderant Samaritani instauravit, nec non Monasteria quam plurima extruxit, dirutâque Ecclesiâ Bethleemiticâ eaudem eo quo jam se habet modo ædificavit.
‘Cumque his omnibus absolutis ad Imperatorem reversus esset, ille, describe mihi (inquit) quomodo Ecclesiam Bethleemiticam extruxisti. Quam cum ipsi descripsisset, haud probavit Imperator descriptionem estam nec ullatinus ipsi placuit, quaré valde ipsi iratus. Acceptos (inquit) nummos tibi ipsi congessisti, ædificium autem extruxisti male compactum et Ecclesiam tenebrosam confecisti nullatenus ex mente mea fabricatam, nec consilium meum secutus es. Capiteque ipsum plecti jussit.’
Eutychius adds after Omar’s conquest:
‘Deinde Bethleem ad eam visendam prefectus cum adesset orationis tempus intra Ecclesiam oravit ad arcum Australem.
‘Erat autem arcus totus opere tessellate variegatus. Scripsitque Omar Patriarchæ syngrapham;—neque mutaretur in eo quiequam.’—Eutychius, ‘Pocock’s Translation’ (Oxford, 1658), vol. ii., pp. 159, 288.
[105] The splendid cistern of St. John on Jordan, mentioned by Procopius as the work of Justinian, is still visible in an almost perfect condition. It is 30 feet deep, supported on rows of piers.—‘Memoirs,’ vol. iii., p. 177.
[106] Tŭbariya (Tiberias). ‘There are the remains of a sea-wall, and of some portions of a city-wall 12·0 thick; many traces of old buildings—at one place foundations which appear to belong to a church.
‘Epiphanius, in the fourth century, says that it had long been inhabited, exclusively by Jews. The Sanhedrim came to Tiberias in the middle of the second century. Thence it became the central point of Jewish learning for several centuries. (L.)
‘Justinian rebuilt the walls. These were thrown down by an earthquake in 1837.’—‘Palestine Exploration Memoirs,’ vol. i., p. 419.
‘The ruins of the ancient town of Tiberias. A great number of fine granite columns are lying about; also remains of the sea-wall, with towers. Behind the ruins the cliffs rise steeply, with traces of fortifications upon them.’—Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, 1877, p. 121.