DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0376
63
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
[chap. vii.
ble ; but, except the Pools of Hezekiah and Bethesda, the Tower
of Hippicus, and some few other remains, preserved on account
of their utility, there is little of art to connect the memory with
the past.
The chief place of interest in Jerusalem is the Holy Sepulchre,
whose site I believe to be as real, as the panorama that the
priests have gathered round it must needs be false. You de.
scend, by a narrow lane and a flight of steps, into a small en-
closure, where a guard of Turkish soldiers is stationed to keep
neace among the Christians. After paying tribute to this infidel
police, you enter into a large circular hall, supported by a colon-
nade of eighteen pillars, and surrounded by a large dome, in the
centre of which is a pavilion containing the Holy Sepulchre.
The whole of this church has been so frequently described, that
I shall only mention that within its walls are collected a panorama
of all the events that took place at the crucifixion; the place
where Christ was scourged; the hole in the rock where the
Cross stood ; the fissure where the rock was rent in twain ; the
place where the soldiers cast lots for the garments; the stone
whereon the body was anointed ; and, lastly, the grave wherein
it was laid.
According to monkish topography, Calvary was only a few
yards from the Sepulchre, which itself is so altered and adorned
as entirely to destroy every appearance of reality. Neither from
research nor personal observation, have I any right to offer an
opinion on the subject; but I incline to believe that this is the
site of the Sepulchre; and I see no reason to doubt that Calvary
(never mentioned as a hill in the sacred writings) occupied the
neighbouring locality. Although within the present enclosure of
the city-walls, it was outside the ancient circuit, which is neces-
sary to its identity; and there seems little probability that tra-
dition would ever have permitted such a site to be forgotten.
The actual spot occupied by the Cross appears entirely devoid of
proof; but it seems evident that the place assigned to it, within a
dozen yards of the Sepulchre, is the least likely of all.
It is said that Golgotha was called " the place of a skull," be-
cause Adam's was found there, " who desired to be buried where
he knew, prophetically, that the Redeemer's blood should fall
upon his grave.'1
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
[chap. vii.
ble ; but, except the Pools of Hezekiah and Bethesda, the Tower
of Hippicus, and some few other remains, preserved on account
of their utility, there is little of art to connect the memory with
the past.
The chief place of interest in Jerusalem is the Holy Sepulchre,
whose site I believe to be as real, as the panorama that the
priests have gathered round it must needs be false. You de.
scend, by a narrow lane and a flight of steps, into a small en-
closure, where a guard of Turkish soldiers is stationed to keep
neace among the Christians. After paying tribute to this infidel
police, you enter into a large circular hall, supported by a colon-
nade of eighteen pillars, and surrounded by a large dome, in the
centre of which is a pavilion containing the Holy Sepulchre.
The whole of this church has been so frequently described, that
I shall only mention that within its walls are collected a panorama
of all the events that took place at the crucifixion; the place
where Christ was scourged; the hole in the rock where the
Cross stood ; the fissure where the rock was rent in twain ; the
place where the soldiers cast lots for the garments; the stone
whereon the body was anointed ; and, lastly, the grave wherein
it was laid.
According to monkish topography, Calvary was only a few
yards from the Sepulchre, which itself is so altered and adorned
as entirely to destroy every appearance of reality. Neither from
research nor personal observation, have I any right to offer an
opinion on the subject; but I incline to believe that this is the
site of the Sepulchre; and I see no reason to doubt that Calvary
(never mentioned as a hill in the sacred writings) occupied the
neighbouring locality. Although within the present enclosure of
the city-walls, it was outside the ancient circuit, which is neces-
sary to its identity; and there seems little probability that tra-
dition would ever have permitted such a site to be forgotten.
The actual spot occupied by the Cross appears entirely devoid of
proof; but it seems evident that the place assigned to it, within a
dozen yards of the Sepulchre, is the least likely of all.
It is said that Golgotha was called " the place of a skull," be-
cause Adam's was found there, " who desired to be buried where
he knew, prophetically, that the Redeemer's blood should fall
upon his grave.'1