DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0122
9g PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
there is an inscription in Hebrew, connecting the tomb with the family of Beni-Hezir, and the
whole is supposed to date from the second or first century B.C. The Tomb of Zechariah is
excavated in the same manner as the Tomb of Absalom. It is about eighteen feet six inches
square, and has on each face two whole and two half engaged Ionic columns. The columns
are surmounted by a cornice of purely Assyrian type, but the form of the volutes, and the
egg and dart moulding beneath, show that it was ornamented after the influence of Roman
art had been felt in Palestine. Above the cornice rises a pyramid also cut out of the rock.
There is no visible entrance to the Tomb of Zechariah, but the base is hidden by rubbish, and
the door may possibly be concealed.
Above these tombs, some distance up the slope of the Mount of Olives, is a curious
sepulchral excavation in the soft chalk called the " Tombs of the Prophets." The entrance is
by a hole in the ground, which gives access to a circular chamber having a round hole in the
roof, probably intended to admit light. Three passages connected by two semicircular
galleries run off from the chamber, and there are a few smaller passages which lead to chambers
containing two or three kokim each. Mons. Ganneau, whilst examining this curious crypt,
was fortunate enough to discover, under the stucco which covers the walls, a dozen or so
Greek Christian inscriptions. The greater part are proper names. With the patronymic
twice occurs the formula, "here lies," and "courage, no one is immortal." This crypt probably
served as a cemetery to some one of the numerous monasteries founded quite early on the
Mount of Olives. In the Kedron Valley, about half a mile below Bir Eyub, there is a
remarkable tomb consisting of a vestibule, an antechamber, three tomb chambers with kokim,
and a fourth apparently unfinished.
The next extensive group of tombs is that in the lower part of the Valley of Hinnom.
Many of these are highly interesting from the fact that they have been made or modified at a
later date than those on the north side of the city. Some of the roofs are dome-shaped and
ornamented, and near the lower end of the series there are two recessed half domes cut in
the rock, with stone benches running round them. Most of the entrances seem to have been
closed by a stone door which turned on a socket hinge, and was fastened by bolts on the
inside. Leaving the bed of the valley a little above Bir Eyub, and ascending by some rock-
hewn steps, the first tomb worthy of notice is that called the " Apostles' Cave," from the
tradition that eight of the twelve Apostles concealed themselves in it after the betrayal in
the Garden of Gethsemane (see page 114). Over the entrance is a frieze, ornamented with
bunches of grapes, &c, in the same style as the facade of the Tombs of the Kings. A little
further on is the building known as "Aceldama" (see page 110). It consists of a large
pointed arch, covering a deep chamber, one side of which is composed of rock with masonry
buttresses, the other of masonry. At the bottom are two caves or sepulchral chambers, with
kokim and traces of steps which at one time must have led to the bottom. This is supposed
to be the " potter's field," or " field of blood," which the chief priests bought with the " thirty
pieces of silver," the price of our Lord's betrayal. It may not be without interest to note
there is an inscription in Hebrew, connecting the tomb with the family of Beni-Hezir, and the
whole is supposed to date from the second or first century B.C. The Tomb of Zechariah is
excavated in the same manner as the Tomb of Absalom. It is about eighteen feet six inches
square, and has on each face two whole and two half engaged Ionic columns. The columns
are surmounted by a cornice of purely Assyrian type, but the form of the volutes, and the
egg and dart moulding beneath, show that it was ornamented after the influence of Roman
art had been felt in Palestine. Above the cornice rises a pyramid also cut out of the rock.
There is no visible entrance to the Tomb of Zechariah, but the base is hidden by rubbish, and
the door may possibly be concealed.
Above these tombs, some distance up the slope of the Mount of Olives, is a curious
sepulchral excavation in the soft chalk called the " Tombs of the Prophets." The entrance is
by a hole in the ground, which gives access to a circular chamber having a round hole in the
roof, probably intended to admit light. Three passages connected by two semicircular
galleries run off from the chamber, and there are a few smaller passages which lead to chambers
containing two or three kokim each. Mons. Ganneau, whilst examining this curious crypt,
was fortunate enough to discover, under the stucco which covers the walls, a dozen or so
Greek Christian inscriptions. The greater part are proper names. With the patronymic
twice occurs the formula, "here lies," and "courage, no one is immortal." This crypt probably
served as a cemetery to some one of the numerous monasteries founded quite early on the
Mount of Olives. In the Kedron Valley, about half a mile below Bir Eyub, there is a
remarkable tomb consisting of a vestibule, an antechamber, three tomb chambers with kokim,
and a fourth apparently unfinished.
The next extensive group of tombs is that in the lower part of the Valley of Hinnom.
Many of these are highly interesting from the fact that they have been made or modified at a
later date than those on the north side of the city. Some of the roofs are dome-shaped and
ornamented, and near the lower end of the series there are two recessed half domes cut in
the rock, with stone benches running round them. Most of the entrances seem to have been
closed by a stone door which turned on a socket hinge, and was fastened by bolts on the
inside. Leaving the bed of the valley a little above Bir Eyub, and ascending by some rock-
hewn steps, the first tomb worthy of notice is that called the " Apostles' Cave," from the
tradition that eight of the twelve Apostles concealed themselves in it after the betrayal in
the Garden of Gethsemane (see page 114). Over the entrance is a frieze, ornamented with
bunches of grapes, &c, in the same style as the facade of the Tombs of the Kings. A little
further on is the building known as "Aceldama" (see page 110). It consists of a large
pointed arch, covering a deep chamber, one side of which is composed of rock with masonry
buttresses, the other of masonry. At the bottom are two caves or sepulchral chambers, with
kokim and traces of steps which at one time must have led to the bottom. This is supposed
to be the " potter's field," or " field of blood," which the chief priests bought with the " thirty
pieces of silver," the price of our Lord's betrayal. It may not be without interest to note