Jerusalem Explored Part 17

[447] William of Tyre, Lib. XVIII. c. 5 (Gesta Dei per Francos, Tom. II.

p. 935, ed. 1611).

[448] See Saewulf's description, Note V.

[449] Plate x.x.x.

[450] Mejir-ed-Din, p. 123.

[451] Plate x.x.xI.

[452] Plate x.x.x.

[453] Plate x.x.xVIII.

[454] Descriptio Terrae Sanctae. Pez. thes. anecd. noviss. Vol. I. pt. 3, col. 526.

[455] William of Tyre, Lib. XIX. c. 4 (Gesta Dei, &c. Vol. II. p. 958).

[456] De Vogue, Les eglises, &c. p. 251.

[457] Note XVI.

[458] Note XVIII.

[459] Early Travels in Palestine. Bohn's Ant. Libr. p. 168.

CHAPTER V.

INVESTIGATIONS IN THE VIA DOLOROSA (OR THE WAY OF THE CROSS). THE RELIGIOUS AND OTHER REMARKABLE BUILDINGS IN IT OR IN ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD AND IN THE REST OF THE CITY, TOGETHER WITH ALL THE CONVENTS OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.

The _Via Dolorosa_ is the street our Saviour is supposed to have pa.s.sed along on his road from the Praetorium to Calvary. The following is the course a.s.signed to it by the only tradition which mentions it. It begins in the street which pa.s.ses by the northern side of the barrack of the _Haram_[460], and goes westward till it meets the central valley (Tyropoeon), which it follows for a short distance southward; it then turns along the first street to the west, and after going through the Judgement Gate, must have again turned to the south a short distance beyond it, (opposite to the little street running to the north,) in order to reach the Church of the Resurrection, just at the north-east angle inside the Chapel of S. Helena. The last part of its course, if this were its course, is now entirely covered by the buildings of the Greek Convent of S. Charalampes. The present Via Dolorosa is divided into fourteen stations: these are visited with religious care by pilgrims, because they are a.s.serted to be the very places at which the last scenes of the Pa.s.sion of Christ were enacted. They are as follows:

(i). Praetorium of Pilate (Barrack of the Haram); _Jesus condemned to death_.

(ii). Site of the 'scala sancta' (near to the north-east corner of the Barrack); _Jesus given His Cross to bear_.

(iii). A column lying on the ground south of the Austrian hospice (at the north-west corner of the Armenian Catholics' property); _Jesus falls the first time_.

(iv). South-west corner of the same property (a little street leading to the house of the Governor of the city); _Jesus meets His mother_.

(v). A stone built into the south wall of the street going up to the Judgement Gate; _Simon the Cyrenian a.s.sists Jesus to bear the Cross_.

(vi). The house of Veronica (in the above street); _Veronica wipes the face of Jesus_.

(vii). The Judgement Gate; _Jesus falls the second time_.

(viii). A small aperture in the wall of the Greek Convent of S.

Charalampes (west of the above gate); marking the spot where _Jesus beheld the women weeping_.

(ix). A column lying on the ground by the Copts' convent (at the north-east corner of the Church of the Resurrection); _Jesus falls the third time_.

(x). A mark on the pavement at the south side of the platform of the Calvary (before the window opposite to the Chapel of the Agony); _Jesus stripped of his garments_.

(xi). A small square of mosaic work before the Latin altar (also in the south part); _Jesus nailed to the Cross_.

(xii). A hole at the east end of the north side of the platform of the Calvary, beneath the Greek altar; _Place where the Cross was erected.

Death of Jesus_.

(xiii). In front of the last station (six feet from the Greek altar); _Jesus taken down from the Cross_.

(xiv). _Sepulchre of Jesus Christ_, under the middle of the great dome.

This is the description of the stations given by the Latins; but the Greeks and Armenians do not agree with them about all the places; and I attach importance to this fact, since the Greeks have lived in the city for the longest time; and this difference of opinion on their part very much diminishes the value of the tradition. I said that the sole authority for the Via Dolorosa was tradition; because neither the Bible, nor Josephus, nor the configuration of the ground, afford us any positive _data_ to aid in identifying the present road with that trodden by our Saviour on His way to Calvary; and the tradition is of very little weight, as I will presently shew.

Let us then consider in detail the places mentioned above. The Praetorium of Pilate is noticed by the Evangelists, who, however, do not say exactly where it was situated. However, with the help of Josephus I have been able to ascertain its position. In the third chapter[461] I shewed that the tower Antonia occupied the north-west corner of the _Haram_[462], and that the rock which rises high in the south wall of the barrack was the _north_ side of that fortress. Hence the Praetorium, which was inside the tower[463], cannot be identified with the barrack, which stretches across the greater part of the valley that formerly defended the Temple on the north, and divided it from Bezetha[464]; and consequently is outside the Antonia, and so cannot be on the site of the Praetorium. This therefore I consider to have stood on the surface of rock now exposed at the north-west corner inside the _Haram_ wall[465].

The tradition relating to the Praetorium is very ancient. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux, A.D. 333, says, in his description of the city: "As you go from Sion to the Neapolitan gate, on the right in the valley below are walls where was once the palace of Pontius Pilate." I think that these walls were founded, at least in part, on the rock exposed in the south side of the present barrack, or else he would not have been able to see them; and since this was the north side of the tower Antonia, it is quite possible that they belonged to the Praetorium, and perhaps the projecting rock was mistaken for walls; a thing which is not improbable, since S. Cyril[466] (in the fourth century) in mentioning the Praetorium states that 'it is now laid waste.' Antoninus of Piacenza found there (in the seventh century) a church dedicated to S. Sophia[467], but whether this was built by S. Helena or Justinian I do not know, since it is not mentioned by Eusebius or Procopius. It is more probably the work of the Emperor, who erected other buildings of this kind on Moriah, while the former paid no particular attention to the place. A historian of the first Crusade writes as follows[468]: "The Flagellation and the Coronation (with thorns) of Jesus Christ, within the city, receive the reverence of the faithful ... but it is now not easy to ascertain their true positions; because, above all other reasons, the whole city has been so often destroyed and even razed." It follows then from this pa.s.sage that the Christians, about eight centuries ago, had doubts of the truth of the tradition. John of Wurtzburg, and other authors of the twelfth century, place the Praetorium on Mount Sion, which shews that the traditions at that time were uncertain and confused. From the end of the twelfth century all have agreed in recognizing the barrack as its site.

The author of the _Citez de Jherusalem_[469] clearly indicates its present position: "A little in advance of this street (that of Jehoshaphat, for so the street leading to S. Mary's Gate was then called) was the house of Pilate. On the left hand in front of this house was a gate leading up to the Temple." Quaresmius[470] states that in his day the remains of a church built on the Praetorium were to be seen, consisting of the choir and some of the side-chapels with traces of paintings. Of this only a few fragments now remain in an inner court of the barrack.

From these _data_ it follows that the site of the Praetorium has been known since the fourth century, and that no doubt by tradition; but as there was a great acc.u.mulation of ruins upon the place, the position could only be fixed by what remained uninjured, namely the rock; and it might very easily happen that in course of time it should be placed to the south instead of the north of this mark. My opinion as to the position is supported by Josephus, and is not contradicted by the expressions in the authors before the Crusades; for the 'standing walls'

could only be on the rock, and the 'waste place' of S. Cyril within the north-west angle of the _Haram_.

An ancient chapel within the barrack is pointed out as the spot where Jesus was crowned with thorns; possibly it was originally dedicated to the Pa.s.sion of the Redeemer. Its plan is a square, the length of a side being about 16 feet; above it rises an octagonal dome, supported by a drum of the same shape. Four sides (alternate) of the octagon are replaced in the lower part by small pointed arches, in order to adapt this form of the drum to the square plan of the building. A pointed doorway in the south wall leads into a small square chapel, with a niche on each side. The arrangement of the arches, the form, and the ornamentation of the building, resemble Roman architecture; but the work shews it to be of the period of the Crusades. Quaresmius[471] is the first to mention this chapel; no notice of it occurring in any author anterior to his time. It is now used as a storehouse of barley for the artillery-horses.

Turning to the east on leaving the barrack, we find in its north wall a doorway built up; half of which is Saracenic work in red and white stone. Through it our Lord is believed to have left the Praetorium; and the staircase which was transported to the Church of S. John Lateran at Rome is said to have been the very one by which he descended. When I examined this door at the end of 1854, its lowest part was two feet above the level of the street, having a semicircular step built into the pavement, which was pointed out as a fragment of the sacred staircase. I was surprised that the Christians had not taken care to remove it; especially as they had had an opportunity when the barrack was built by Ibrahim Pasha, who would have readily granted their request. In 1857 the military commandant constructed a raised footpath (one foot high) along by the barrack-wall, and the step was covered up without any one making the slightest attempt to preserve it. The tradition about this place is very untrustworthy; the configuration of the ground does not confirm it, and the Bible does not mention that our Lord ascended or descended any staircase. The present street runs entirely over acc.u.mulated rubbish, which at this point is 16 feet thick above the old level of the valley, so that the door must at that time have had a flight of at least 28 steps to form a communication with the bottom of the valley; and the lowest part of the door itself is 15 feet below the level of the inner court of the barrack, which would require 25 steps more; so that altogether there must have been some 53 steps in all. This would not be an unlikely approach to a barrack, but it is most improbable that the Antonia would have had such a weak point in its defences on the most important side as this stone staircase would have been. The valley which divided Moriah from Bezetha has been entirely overlooked by the believers in the 'Scala sancta.' Again, it is well known that the Praetorium was in the interior of the Antonia; how then could this door be in the Praetorium? If the Antonia be placed outside the north-west corner of the _Haram_, then the Praetorium would have been in the valley, and the fortress could not have been defended on the north, in the way Josephus says it was; and if (as I think) it be placed inside the enclosure, then the gate and staircase could never have occupied the positions now a.s.signed to them. Again, we are told that all this part of the city was utterly destroyed; therefore the Praetorium too must have been swept away, and its ruins have helped to fill up the valley. In fact, the door now shewn is only a fragment of some work of the time of Saladin or Solyman.

Nearly opposite to the door of the 'Scala sancta' is a little opening with an iron grate; this is the entrance to the Chapel of the Flagellation; and beneath the altar in the middle they point out the exact place where the Redeemer was bound to a column to be scourged.

Here Quaresmius[472] saw a small but handsome and well-preserved chapel, which had been used as a stable by Mustafa Bey, son of the Governor of the city. Abbe Mariti, who visited it A.D. 1767, says[473], that he saw "a large square hall, covered by a high vaulted roof; the facade resembled that of a church or oratory, and though the walls were very black, traces of pictures could still be discerned on them. They a.s.sert that the Saviour was scourged on this spot, but I do not see on what grounds. As this building is in a way connected with the Praetorium, many have given credence to this tradition; though, as I believe, it is only founded on the reverence felt by the Christians for that chamber, which no doubt induced them to build there a chapel in memory of the Flagellation. Many miracles are said to have been performed here. The people of Jerusalem, both Christian and Mohammedan, relate stories about them, which remind us of the mediaeval legends. The Mohammedans have converted the place into a stable." The above shews that the tradition itself is not ancient. The Franciscan monks relate that the chapel and the adjoining land, occupied by the hospice, were given to them by Ibrahim Pasha, and that they restored and enlarged the chapel in 1839, aided by the liberality of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; but that the expense of laying the foundations was very great, as they were extremely deep, especially on the south side. The place therefore now pointed out beneath the altar cannot be the exact spot where our Saviour stood, because of the great quant.i.ty of earth above the rock. How, too, can this site for the Flagellation be reconciled with the position of the 'Scala sancta' or of the Praetorium? It is quite impossible that they can have been connected together in former times, because of the above-named valley. The size also of the tower Antonia is an obstacle, for each of its sides was only half a stadium, whereas, if we accept the traditional site for the Flagellation, the Praetorium alone must have been nearly of that size. The present chapel is dedicated to the Flagellation, and is in no way remarkable: the few remains of antiquity it possesses have been covered over with whitewash, excepting some capitals built into the side walls, which appear to be Roman work.

Quitting the above place and following the road westward, we arrive at the arch of the 'Ecce h.o.m.o,' called at the time of the Crusades the 'Porta Dolorosa[474].' It is so named because it is believed that from it our Lord was shewn to the people by Pilate[475]. I have already proved[476] that the arch is much too modern to admit of this being the case; and if it were so, it seems impossible that the place should have been pa.s.sed over in silence by Eusebius at the time of the Empress Helena, and by other authors after him, like Antoninus of Piacenza, Willibald, and Bernard the Monk. How is it that the writers before the time of the Crusades do not mention it? Had there been any tradition of the kind, it would never have been omitted (at least if they believed in it): so that it seems certain that the belief sprung up during the Crusades, the origin of it, no doubt, being that the arch was at first regarded as dedicated to the Pa.s.sion of Christ. I have already stated, and now repeat it, that, for military reasons, the Jews would never have allowed this arch to stand during the siege, and that if they had, it would not have escaped the Romans. An author of the present day has attempted to interpret the letters carved on two stones in the north pilaster on the west side; but with regard to that, I will quote the words of the Abbe Mariti[477]. "They have a.s.sured me that about sixty years ago (i.e. before 1767) these words were read TOL...TO..., and at a still earlier period TOLLE TOLLE CRUCIFIGE EUM. Others a.s.sert that they have read thus TO. C. X. For my own part I have only been able to make out a single O in a clear Roman character; but the stones on which the letters are carved are so much injured that they will soon crumble away, and thus put a stop to all conjectures." As then only one letter could be deciphered at the time of Abbe Mariti, I hope to be believed when I say that even this is now indistinct. But even if the inscription was rightly read as above, that is no proof that the arch was standing in our Lord's life-time; it establishes no more than that some one carved the inscription in remembrance of an event which unquestionably happened in the vicinity.

On some high ground to the north of the arch of the 'Ecce h.o.m.o' are a ruinous mosque and a minaret, which are approached by the little street running along the east side of the new buildings of the Daughters of Sion; this, according to tradition, is the site of the palace of Herod Antipas, to which Pilate sent our Lord to be judged by the Tetrarch of Galilee[478]. I have carried on many excavations in order to examine this spot, and have discovered stones of the Herodian period in the lower parts of the walls, besides others scattered about among the ruins, or built into the masonry, and therefore think that this is really the site of the palace; and that it must be the place from which Antigonus went to visit his brother Aristobulus by the way of the subterranean pa.s.sage, Strato's tower, in which he was murdered[479]. It appears probable that a church was erected here during the Latin kingdom, but it has been so much altered that now it can hardly be recognized. No writer before or after the Crusades mentions it, but the remains, and their position with reference to the subterranean pa.s.sage and the Antonia, induce me to believe the tradition.

Returning to the arch, and going along the street westward as far as the central valley, we come on the south side to the Station of the First Fall of Christ. The Evangelists make no mention of any falls; but, from reading their narrative, we may well suppose that, worn by the sorrow and agony of that night, He fell many times: still to the faithful heart and thoughtful mind all additions to the sublimity of the Gospel narrative are offensive, while they cannot be instructive to the man in whom these qualities are wanting.

Some yards from this spot, rather to the west, are the ruins of a church, perhaps of the date of the Crusades; said to be on the spot where the Virgin Mary swooned at the sight of her Son's sufferings; to record which a chapel was erected, bearing the name Chapel of the Virgin's Swoon. This had already been destroyed in the time of Quaresmius; but it appears that afterwards the Mohammedans repaired it, converting it into a mosque. The upper part has again fallen to ruin; in the lower is the Agency of the Austrian Lloyd.

Following the street southward from the Station of the First Fall, we come to the spot pointed out as the place where the Virgin Mary met Jesus. There is no mention of this circ.u.mstance in the Evangelists; it is therefore only a tradition; and how can it be true of a place in a street which has only existed a few centuries (as is shewn by the houses on each side), and runs over a ma.s.s of ruins? Moreover, in this direction the Roman armies under Pompeius, and again under t.i.tus, made their attacks on the Temple; it is therefore very improbable that after the time of the latter there would be any traces of a street left. When Hadrian rebuilt the city he set up idols in the princ.i.p.al sacred places to insult the Jews and Christians; and we may therefore believe that, in laying out the streets afresh, he would have swept away every trace of the tradition, if any had then existed. Close to the station, on the south, is a great pointed arch with delicately executed details, supported by two well-built piers. It dates from the Crusades, and very probably was the entrance to some religious building, erected to commemorate one of the events of the Pa.s.sion; or perhaps a convent may have been at this place. Arab houses are built on each side of it facing the street, so that nothing can be made out there. I entered these to see if I could ascertain anything, but my examination produced little result, because an Arab wall completely masks it; while a number of small longitudinal and transverse party-walls, all of Arab work, have entirely transformed the appearance of the place. However, in these I found some polished stones, and fragments of ornaments, with mutilated capitals and broken columns; all proofs of the existence of a building of the time of the Crusades. Perhaps a nunnery[480], dedicated to S.

John, once stood on this spot, belonging to the Benedictines of Bethany, and used by them as a refuge in time of war. Here the guides not unfrequently point out the house of the beggar Lazarus, opposite to the arch; and also shew the palace of the wicked Dives, at a little distance to the south in the same street. This is a house built of different coloured stones. These 'Jerusalem antiquarians' have converted the parable into a historic fact, and so endeavoured to preserve the traces of the dwellings! I suppose they think that the poor men "full of sores"

were of more importance in former times than now. There are still numbers of lepers, who, from morning to evening, wait outside the Jaffa Gate to beg; and many give them an alms, but who now ever bestows a second thought on them, or would remember where they lived? The 'palace of Dives' is a handsome building of the sixteenth century, erected by the liberality of Solyman for a hospital. It is still used for the same purpose by the soldiers belonging to the garrison; but if not soon repaired, it will share the usual fate of Mohammedan government property, and fall into ruins.

The Evangelists tell us that Simon the Cyrenian aided our Lord in bearing His Cross, but do not mention the place where he encountered Him[481]. It very probably was near the present Station, or a little to the south of it, as he no doubt entered the city from the country by the North Gate or Gate of Ephraim (now the Damascus Gate). A small stone built into a modern Arab wall marks the place. We must, however, remember that this street runs upon a ma.s.s of rubbish 17 feet thick, as I discovered during the repairs of the sewer; so that the actual site of the meeting is covered up. This remark also applies to the next station.

The Mohammedans and Jews are wont to throw dirt at the stone, when they see Christians kneeling before it, so that one frequently finds it necessary to make the fanatics undo their work, reminding the former that Isa (Jesus) was one of their prophets, and the latter that it is no longer the time to renew the ancient scenes of persecution. I mention this to shew how serious quarrels frequently arise in Jerusalem, which are not appeased without much difficulty.

The Evangelists make no mention of Veronica. Much has been written upon this point: some considering her to be the sick woman who was healed by touching the hem of the Saviour's garment[482]; others, a lady of n.o.ble birth named Berenice, whose name was changed to Veronica after she became a follower of Christ; deriving the word from Vera-icon (true image)! The tradition of Veronica and the Holy Napkin dates from a very early period in the history of Christianity; as do the different Holy Napkins, which are in existence in various places. In 1854 the walls (Arab work) of the House of Veronica were in a ruinous condition, and were entirely rebuilt by the Mohammedan owner. I then discovered that its foundations rested on made ground, so that they were of no very great age. On digging down for the rock, to lay the new foundations, the workmen came upon large stones, which I consider to be the remains of the second wall of the city, not of any former House of Veronica.