nullos nebulones, occidentales hæreticos, detrahentes de iis quæ dicuntur de jam memorato sacratissimo Domini nostri Jesu Christi sepulchro; et nullius momenti ratiunculis, negantes illud verè esse in quo positum fuit corpus Jesu, &c.—[quia] monumentum Christi erat excisum in petrâ vivâ, &c. illud vero ex petris pluribus est compositum, de novo conglutinato cœmento. Lib. v. cap. 14. Even Sandys, with all his partiality, could not avoid censuring the absurdity of thus disguising the scenes of our Saviour's life and death, "so that these natural forms are utterly deformed, which would have better satisfied the beholder; and too much regard hath made them less regardable." And he happily applies to this subject the similar violation of the fountain of Egeria, In vallem Egeriæ descendimus, et speluncas Juv. Sat. iii. We may further observe, that the cemeteries of the ancients were universally excluded from the precincts of their cities, and placed in their suburbs and gardens. Such was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, in which our Lord was interred, John xix. 41, 42. But the supposed Holy Sepulchre could not have been in the suburbs of the ancient city: it must lie within the precincts of the lower City, as it is called by Josephus, built upon Mount Acra, which was originally separated from the eastern, or Temple quarter on Mount Moriah, by a broad valley, which was afterwards filled up, during the reign of the Asamoneans, or Maccabees, and the top of Acra was then lowered below the level of the Temple. Bell. Jud. Lib. vi. 4, 1. To remove this weighty objection, Sandys traces a part of the old city wall (marked X. X. X. in the foregoing map) and the ancient Valley Gate, (10) so as to exclude the supposed Calvary. But this, as Clarke judiciously observes, "would contract the city so much on that side, as not to leave sufficient room for its population." This part of the wall, and the ancient gate, therefore, might have belonged rather to the primitive city of Salem, built on Mount Acra; which would afterwards become an inside wall of Jerusalem, when the city was enlarged by the addition of the Temple quarter, and of the upper City, or citadel of David on Mount Sion; which, according to Josephus, (ibid.) was opposite to Mount Acra, and was much higher and steeper, and was separated from it by the valley called TuроTоwv, Tyropoeon, which he says extended as far as the fountain of Siloam, (eastward) and that the houses on each side terminated in this valley. We have, therefore, strong grounds to suspect that the supposed mount Calvary is not the true; and that the pious empress Helena, who undertook her pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the eightieth year of her age, was imposed upon, as to the site of the Holy Sepulchre, by the fables of the monks; such as finding the place where Adam's head was discovered, the three crosses of Christ and his fellow-sufferers, &c. 2. The true Mount Calvary, Clarke suspects to be the southern part of Mount Moriah, called at present Mount Sion; which is indeed, excluded from the modern city, and made a burial ground. It probably was excluded from the ancient city likewisc, and used for the same purpose. He represents the place of crucifixion, in his plan, as outside the present Sion gate. And that the supposed Mount Sion was a solitude in our Lord's days, we may further infer, from its summit being the traditional spot where Peter is said to have "wept bitterly" after denying Christ. Matt. xxvi. 75. The expression, EX0wv εEw, “going forth outside," strongly implies that he went out of the city. 3. The true Mount Sion, Clarke suspects to be that called by Sandys the Hill of Offence, facing Mount Sion, on the south, and the deep valley which he calls Tophet, or Gehinnon, to be in fact the valley of Millo, 2 Sam. v. 9. called Tyropoeon by Josephus, as we have seen: and this he infers, not only from its situation, so remarkably corresponding to Scripture and to Josephus; but also from the top of the mountain being still covered by ruined walls and the remains of sumptuous edifices, corresponding to "the bulwarks, towers, and regal buildings" of the citadel, and city of David; and further, from its base being perforated by numerous sepulchral caves hewn into the solid rock; upon which are Hebrew and Greek inscriptions; the former much obliterated; and among the latter he found several, deep graven in large letters on the face of the rock-THC Aгlac CIWN. "Of the Holy Sion;" which seems to ascertain the fact, that this was indeed Mount Sion itself: and if so, the sepulchre will then appear to have been situate beneath the walls of the citadel; as was the case in many ancient cities; such as the Grecian sepulchres in the Crimea, belonging to the ancient city of Chersonesus. And should this assumed position ever be confirmed, the remarkable things belonging to Mount Sion, such as the garden of the kings near the Pool of Siloam, where Manasseh and Asa were buried, 2 Kings xxi. 18; 1 Kings xv. 24; 2 Chron. xvi. 14; the sepulchres of the kings of Judah, 2 Chron. xxi. 20; xxiv. 25; the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David, where Hezekiah was buried, 2 Chron. xxxii. 33, of which there are no traces in the hill now called Sion, will in fact be found here. These sepulchres consist of a portico, and one or more inner chambers, hewn into the rock; and they are still situate in the midst of gardens. Among them, says Clarke, are we not warranted to look for the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? 4. The real Mount of Offence, he suspects to be no other than Mount Olivet. This is not a novel opinion. Brocardus and Adrichomius formerly, supposed it to have been the northern top of Olivet; and Maundrel and Pococke, the southern top: and the deep-learned Milton, no mean authority, places the temple of Moloch, built by Solomon, 66 "Right against the temple of GOD, On that opprobrious hill." This Hill evidently denotes Olivet; for Zechariah describes "the mount of Olives," as "before Jerusalem, on the east," xiv. 3. separated from Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, by the valley of Jehosaphat. On this mount of "corruption," before Jerusalem," Solomon built "high places for Chemosh the abomination or idol of Moab, and for Moloch, the abomination of the children of Ammon." 1 Kings xi. 7. And, likewise, for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians. 2 Kings xxiii. 13. probably on the summit of the three tops of Olivet. Of which, the middle, might have been that of Ashtoreth; "on the right-hand of the mount of Corruption," or south of the high place of Moloch, seated, perhaps, on the northern summit; and that of Chemosh on the southern *. That the temple of Ashtoreth, or Astarte, occupied the middle summit, is highly probable from a curious discovery of Clarke, who found there a pagan Adytum, or Crypt; which he thus describes. *To this pagan Trinity, may there not be an allusion, in the name of a place, called Baal Shalisha," the triad Baal," and probably in that neighbourhood? 2 Kings iv. 42. seen. "We found upon the top, the remains of several works, whose history is lost. Among these were several subterraneous chambers of a different nature from any of the crypte we had before One of them had the shape of a Cone of immense size, the vertex alone appearing level with the soil, and exhibiting, by its section at the top, a small circular aperture; the only entrance we could find to it: the sides extending below to a great depth, were lined with a hard red stucco, like the substance covering the walls of the subterraneous galleries which we found in the sandy isle of Aboukir, upon the coast of Egypt. This extraordinary piece of antiquity, which from its form, may be called a subterraneous pyramid, is upon the very pinnacle of the mountain. It might easily escape observation, although it be of such considerable size; and perhaps this is the reason why it has not been noticed by preceding travellers. This crypt has not the smallest resemblance to any place of Christian use or worship. Its situation upon the pinnacle of a mountain, rather denotes the work of Pagans, whose sacrilegious rites upon the high places,' are so often alluded to in Jewish History:" -And its peculiar form of the cone, was a symbol of the Paphian Venus, which was the same divinity as the Phenician Ashtoreth. It is remarkable, that when the good Josiah afterwards "brake in pieces the images or idols, and cut down the consecrated groves, he filled their places with the bones of men." 2 Kings xxiii. 14. He did not destroy the places, or temples themselves; he only defiled them with the greatest of all pollutions, by rendering them charnel-houses. The remote antiquity of this conical temple of Ashtoreth, may be collected from the stucco, for the walls of the cryptæ near the pyramids of Egypt, and the surface of the Memphian Sphynx, which has remained so many ages exposed to all the attacks of the weather, may be instanced as still exhibiting the same sort of cement, similarly coloured, and equally unaltered. Clarke's Travels, Vol. IV. pp. 355-358. The worship of Ashtoreth, indeed, was introduced into Syria, even before Abraham's days; for we read of Ashtoreth Karnaim, ("the shining cow, two horned,") the name of a place where the Assyrian confederates smote the Rephaims, Gen. xiv. 5. Solomon, therefore, might have only revived the ancient pagan worship of this nocturnal Goddess, representing the Moon, and of Chemosh and Moloch, the Sun. "Lust hard by Hate"-in the energetic language of Milton, thus distinguishing the libidinous orgies of Chemosh and Ashtoreth, from the "horrid" human sacrifices of Moloch. The sepulchral caves at the base of the newly discovered Sion are not to be confounded with the "Royal Caves” noticed by Josephus, as situate northward of the city; which he represents as the sepulchres of Helena, queen of Adiabene. De Bell. Jud. Lib. V. Cap. 4. and are described as most magnificent, by Maundrel, Pococke, and Clarke. The Greek inscriptions noticed on the former caves, may perhaps be assigned to the time of the Maccabees, or reigns of the Asamonaan princes, when the Greek language, under Alexander's successors, became prevalent all over Asia. Some of these caves, however, are ornamented with paintings on the walls, remarkably fresh in the colour, representing the Apostles, the Virgin, &c. with circular lines as symbols of glory around their heads. These evidently were formed since the Christian era; and Clarke thinks, after the dispersion of the Jews by Adrian, when the Christian Church became established at Jerusalem, until the reign of Diocletian. pp. 345, 346. PHOENICIA. Phoenicia extended from the Gulph of Issus, where it bounded Cilicia on the north, along the coast southwards, to the termination of the ridges of Libanus and Antilibanus, near Tyre, where it met the border of Palestine. In breadth it only comprehended the narrow tract between the continuation of Mount Libanus and the Sea. The principal cities of this maritime tract, were Sidon and Tyre; which rose to great power and opulence by their extensive commerce. The manufactures of Sidon are noticed by Homer: "Embroidered female dresses," Iliad VI. 289. ver cups, curiously wrought," Iliad XXIII. 743; Odyss. XV. 115-118; who styles the Sidonians, woλvdadado," skilled in many arts." And before his time, Sidon is styled “ "great," by Joshua, xi. 8; xix. 28. But she was afterwards eclipsed by " her daughter," 66 |