Visit to Bethlehem. Well of the Star. Monastery of Elijah. Rachael’s Tomb. Plain of the Shepherds. Town of Bethlehem. Character of its inhabitants. Church and Cave of the Nativity. Traditions. The Turpentine Tree, &c. Manufactures of the Bethlehemites. Tattooing. Country northward from Jerusalem. Cave of Jeremiah. Hill of Bezetha. Tombs of the Kings. Dr. Clarke’s subterranean Chapels. Ancient quarries. Tombs of the Judges. Thorn from which the Saviour’s crown is supposed to have been made. Difficulty at the Gates. Yaoub and the Soldiers.

On the morning of the 18th we started for Bethlehem, which lies at the distance of about five miles from Jerusalem on the south. Leaving by the Jaffa gate, and crossing by difficult paths the valley of Hinnom, we had then before us an elevated plain bordered eastwardly by the valley of Jehoshaphat, about two miles wide, and extending three miles toward the south, in which direction it has a slight ascent. As we passed on, a troop of cavalry, which had been out at their morning drill, came sweeping along on our left; but when they had passed us, we were left alone in the open country, where scarcely a sign of cultivation appeared. A blight has for a great many years been upon this doomed and unhappy land. At the distance of about two miles from the city, we came to a well, called “the well of the kings,” or, “the well of the star,” from a tradition that when the wise men had left Jerusalem for Bethlehem, and had reached this place, the star (Matthew ii. 9.) appeared again, and led them on to the couch of the infant Messiah. At the extremity of this plain, and on a height commanding a view both of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, is the Greek monastery of Elijah, where is one of the sacred places of the country. “Here,” says el Devoto Peregrino, “is a rock impressed by the body of the holy prophet, as natural as if it had been stamped there; for we see the head, the shoulders, the ribs and body, extended horizontally. This is the place to which the holy prophet retired to contemplate the future Messiah; and where, looking towards Bethlehem, he saw him enveloped in coarse swaddling clothes, but surrounded by angels, singing glory to God in the highest; and, looking towards Jerusalem, saw him nailed to the cross and crowned with thorns, while the multitude around were blaspheming and insulting him.”

Sandys, in his quaint style, remarks of it: “Hard by is a flat rock, whereon they told us that the prophet was accustomed to sleepe, and that it beares as yet the impression of his body. Indeed, there are certaine hollowes in the same, but not by mine eyes apprehended to retaine any manly proportions.”

I speak of the place from the authority of others, for I felt no disposition at the time to trouble myself with matters of this nature. Indeed, it requires a constant effort in travellers among these places to keep the mind free from disgust, and from the baneful effects of the errors, that, like leeches, have fastened themselves to the truth, covering and deforming it, and exhausting its power, while they themselves live on its fading strength.

The monastery is surrounded by a strong wall, and looks as if it might be a place adapted as much for defence as for devotion.

Bethlehem here came into full view, though more than two miles distant; the country between it and us, although broken, being rather low, and the town itself being situated on an eminence of steep ascent. On the way, we left, at a short distance on our right hand, a small square edifice surmounted by a dome, evidently a modern structure, but called the tomb of Rachael, and regarded by Moslems as well as by the Christian sects here with high respect. Further on to our left, and below the town of Bethlehem, was a small valley, covered even at this hot season with a refreshing verdure; and here they inform us the shepherds were watching their flocks by night, when the angel appeared to announce glad tidings of great joy, the birth of “a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Near this is also a well, said to be the one from which David’s three “mighty men” procured him water at the risk of their lives. Passing these spots, we soon after arrived at the outskirts of Bethlehem; and as our large cavalcade wound up the steep ascent, the whole population of the place came crowding along the way, hanging over the rude walls, and filling every door and window. They are all Christians in name, though they bear an indifferent character; and, what in these countries strikes one with surprise, the women appeared with their faces exposed, and frequently very good-looking faces they were. Our arrival seemed to excite a very unusual sensation, which I was able to account for by and by, when one of the men, taking me aside in the convent, asked seriously whether the report was true, “that we had come to take the place from the Egyptian Pasha.” They bear no good feeling towards the Moslem power, and have always been refractory and troublesome subjects to the Porte; their insulated situation, and the facilities for retiring to mountain fastnesses in the wild country around, encouraging in them bold and independent habits. We were informed that when the general order from Mohammed Ali for disarming the populace of Syria was carried to them, they sent in about a dozen muskets, saying, that these were all they had; nor could any threats wrest more from them, though the place has three or four hundred fighting men well equipped. The town is situated on a piece of isolated table land, of sudden elevation on every side. On the east this runs out into a narrow tongue, and at the extremity of this projection, 200 yards distant from the village, are the monastery and church of the Franciscans, covering the spot where the Messiah was born.

The recent earthquake had rent the massive walls of these edifices, but not so as to endanger them, and we met with a ready and hospitable reception beneath the roof. The door of entrance is low and strong, and every where in this country is the traveller reminded of the insecurity of life and property; and, unless people would live there with a martyr’s spirit, of the necessity of being constantly prepared for defence.

Having entered the building, we were carried along some winding passages, and found ourselves presently in a church that had once been splendid, but which is now in a dilapidated state, owing partly to the effects of time, and partly to the spoliations of the Turks. It has four rows of columns, ten in each row, and still imposing objects, the effect of which is heightened by gilding and paintings on the wall; but the colors are dim, and the pavement is torn up, and the place has a melancholy grandeur that chills and oppresses the feelings.

They took us from this, after a short period for resting, into some side passages, and we soon found ourselves descending into the Cave of the Nativity. It is reached at one end by a tortuous underground passage, but on the other by a flight of steps that brings us at once to the spot. We were introduced by the former of these, and after winding along for a distance of about fifty feet, we turned short to the left, and a flood of light bursting suddenly upon us, we knew that we were in the Chapel or Cave of the Nativity. The main body of this subterranean apartment is about thirty-five feet long by twelve in width, with a height of ten or twelve feet, but it is irregular in shape. On either side, as we advanced, were benches or seats for those who may choose to come here for meditation. Having proceeded about twenty feet, we came to a small apartment on our right, about ten feet square, the floor of which is lower by eighteen inches than the remainder of the cave; it is open in front, where are two pillars to support the roof. On the three remaining sides are shallow recesses; one of which, they inform us, is the manger in which the infant Messiah was laid; in the recess opposite the Magi sat, and in the third they deposited the gifts of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The rock over this apartment is bare, and visitors are allowed to break off small fragments; the other portions of the cave are all lined with precious marbles.

Just beyond this spot the cave branches to the right and left, a broad flight of steps, on either hand, leading, at the distance of about twenty feet, to the surface of the ground; at the angle formed by this branching is another recess, about three feet deep and six in length. It is occupied by an altar, over which is a handsome painting of the Adoration; the altar is in form of a table, and beneath it, at the centre of a star formed of marble mosaic work, is a silver plate inscribed,

HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.

Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.

I suppose there can be no reasonable doubt that this is actually the cave of the Nativity. Hadrian, in derision of the Christians, placed here a statue of Adonis, and Helena, not long after, erected the church, the remains of which we have just been examining. Jerome speaks of the place as undisputed in his day; and as he resided here a while, we must suppose him well acquainted with the subject. A subterranean chamber, on the right of the winding passage by which we had reached this cave, is still pointed out as his study; they show, adjoining to it, also, the place where the bodies of the Innocents were cast, the sepulchre of St. Jerome, that of Eusebius, and that also of St. Paula and her daughter Eustoquio, persons distinguished in the Romish calendar. Over the small chamber in which the manger is situated, they show also what they call a picture of St. Jerome, stained miraculously in the natural rock.

It is sad, when we enter a place of such powerful interest, to be met at the very threshold with things that we cannot believe; and instead of being left to indulge in salutary reflections, to be compelled to commence separating truth from error, and fixing their boundaries, or else to feel the repulsive and chilling effect of scepticism settling upon the whole. The great error of the Romish and Greek churches here has been in endeavoring to fix upon a locality for every event noticed in Scripture; and even the parables of our Saviour have not been suffered to escape from this spirit of blind and injudicious zeal. They point out upon the Mount of Olives spots as those where the Saviour taught the Lord’s Prayer, where the Apostles composed the creed, where Christ wept over Jerusalem, where he preached the Judgment, &c.; and on Mount Zion, where the last supper was held, where Peter retired to weep, where Isaiah was sawn in two, and a great variety of other places with which it is not necessary to fatigue the reader.

And as if this were not enough, they have got up traditions of the wildest and most startling nature, and the whole country is full of the localities with which these are connected. On the way out to Bethlehem are two which I have not yet noticed, and at which I will now barely glance. One is a place where formerly stood a turpentine tree. As the Virgin was going to Jerusalem with the infant for the Presentation in the Temple, this tree bowed and did reverence as they passed; and to make its show of respect more lasting, did not return to its former position, but remained thus inclined. It was worthy of observation, too, that ever after, though the air might be sultry and stifling in all the region about it, yet under this tree was always a refreshing breeze. Indulgences were granted to those who recited prayers beneath it; wood was cut from it by night (through fear of the Turks), and carried, in the form of crosses, all over Europe. The Arabs, at length, in a fit of ill humor, cut it down.

As we descend the hill toward Bethlehem is another spot made sacred by their traditions. The Virgin passing by this place, saw a man sowing or planting beans, and asking him what he was employed at, received for answer that he was sowing pebbles; on which, the beans in his basket turned to pebbles, nor has any care since that availed to make the field produce any thing else than stones.

These are only specimens of the superstitious legends with which the whole region is filled.

On our return to the convent, we found an excellent dinner in a state of preparation by the monks, who indeed, during the whole of our visit, treated us with great hospitality and attention; on leaving it, we, in return, made them a present of some gold coin, which, as was perfectly proper, they accepted. During the recent troubles in the country, the strong walls of their monastery had afforded protection to the persons and property of many of the inhabitants of Bethlehem; and we found several of the chambers and passages still filled with furniture and bags of grain. While dinner was in preparation, the natives of the town crowded in with a great variety of articles which they are in the habit of making for pilgrims; crosses, inkstands, boxes of mother of pearl, huge clasps for girdles made of a complete shell with figures cut in relief, and beads of the same material, and of a substance called Mecca-stone, which is sometimes colored red or black. Most of these objects were rude enough, but some of the figures in relief were conceived and executed in a manner that would not have disgraced an Italian artist. The pilgrims place these things first in the Cave of the Nativity, and then carry them to the Holy Sepulchre, where, being deposited on the tomb, prayers are said over them, which are supposed to give them a supernatural power over evil spirits, so far as to protect the persons and property of the possessors.

While most of us were laying in large stores of their bead and pearl manufactures, some of our younger companions were submitting to the painful process of having figures, from Scriptural subjects, pricked and stained in the arm with blue or black pigment, a species of tattooing, at which, it seems, the Bethlehemites are expert, and to which pilgrims very often submit. It is not often that they have such a market for their commodities, and I believe our visit to Bethlehem will long be remembered; to us it was certainly a very interesting epoch.

Taking our usual interpreter, an intelligent young Armenian, for a guide, and accompanied, whether we would or no, by a half crazy and yet very shrewd fellow, called Yaoub, a party of us made an excursion one day to “the Tombs of the Kings.” They lie about three quarters of a mile north of the city, amid olive groves and fields; and we found the walk there pleasanter than we anticipated.

We passed out by the Damascus gate, so called from the circumstance that the great road from Damascus enters the city here; and soon after leaving it, turned to our right to examine a huge cavern that stood yawning upon us. It is called the Cave of Jeremiah, from a tradition that he made it his residence; it is above 100 feet deep, by seventy in width and thirty in height, and is a gloomy, desolate place, such as we may suppose would have been chosen by the author of the Lamentations; but I presume there is no other authority for its name.

We were now on the hill Bezetha, where stood the Neopolis, or New City, inclosed by Agrippa’s wall. The hill is still marked with tolerable distinctness, though it is in no place very high. It is ridge shaped, declining gently towards the east and west, and ascending gradually towards the north. Passing on, we reached, in a short time, a square pit with smooth perpendicular sides, about 100 feet on each side and fifteen in depth, cut in the solid rock, and resembling a quarry, which it may have originally been. An inclined plane at the north-eastern angle leads to the bottom; and having descended by this, we had opposite to us, on the south, a portico about twenty-five feet long by ten in depth, cut out of the solid rock; this is surmounted by an entablature, enriched with flowing sculpture of plants and fruits, in bold relief, and of very superior execution. At the eastern end of this portico was a hole, formerly a door-way of easy passage, but now so filled up that we could enter only by prostrating ourselves flat on the ground, and pushing ourselves forward by the feet. Having entered in this manner, we found that we were in a room about twenty feet square, cut entirely out of the solid rock. It appears to have served as a vestibule to other chambers, of which there are six in number, each with one or more receptacles for the dead. These consist of troughs cut out of the native rock, not sunk in the floor as is generally the case in the ancient sepulchres about this city, but on its level; fragments of the covers of one or two were scattered about the rooms; these were enriched with flowing sculpture, very well executed in strong relief; the coffins or sarcophagi were in other respects entirely plain.

The doors by which these chambers were closed are very remarkable objects. They are of stone, and are in dimensions about forty by thirty inches, and are six inches in thickness. Above and below are projecting knobs, forming a portion of the same stone, four inches in length; these were inserted into corresponding sockets, and formed the pivots on which the door revolved; but the question, how they were inserted into the grooves, is one that it would be difficult to solve. It is said that the ancients had a mode of fastening these doors so that no one who had not the secret could open them without breaking the stone. I have seen similar grooves in the gateway of the citadel of MycenÆ in Greece; and the sculpture belonging to these tombs, so strongly resembling the Grecian, appears to indicate for them an origin in the latter days of the ancient city. They are probably what by Josephus are called Herod’s Monument, and in another place, “the sepulchral caverns of the Kings;”[71] and I think we may reasonably suppose them to have been formed by Herod. If this surmise with regard to their name is correct, they receive an additional interest, as showing us the northern boundary of the “new city” of Bezetha.

From this we proceeded to visit “the Tombs of the Judges,” which lie nearly a mile further, in a course somewhat west of north. The ground was still cultivated in patches, and was covered with olive trees; the surface undulating. We passed, on the way, several subterranean apartments like that which Dr. Clarke discovered on the Mount of Olives, and which he supposed to have been a chapel for the secret and forbidden worship of the false gods. They are in shape like a bee-hive, are plaistered, and are entered by a small hole at the apex, which is the only opening. To our judgment they seemed designed to be reservoirs for water, or for granaries, but were most probably the former. Several years since I discovered one exactly similar to these, on some heights overlooking the site of the ancient Abydos at the Dardanelles.

We were now getting into an interesting region, evidently that from which were procured the huge blocks that formed the walls of the ancient city. The rock here is compact and solid, and of a fine texture; and for a great distance, and in every direction, exhibited the appearance that rocks would do from which large rectangular blocks with smooth surfaces had been cut. The vertical sections were regular and smooth, and sometimes fifteen or twenty feet in height. In the face of them were a great number of tombs, such as I have already described; sometimes consisting of a single chamber, sometimes of a succession of chambers, and with from two to four burial-places each, generally without ornament, and, as far as we observed, without inscriptions.

The largest of these chambers are called the Tombs of the Judges; but as the name is probably fanciful, we gave it little attention. Nor are the tombs themselves, except in size, more interesting than the others. These tombs are scattered over a surface of about a square mile, and are numerous.

In the interval between this and the city grows abundantly a thorn, which is considered to be the species from which the Saviour’s crown of thorns was made. It is called the Rhamnus Paliurus, and consists of a bush with long slender twigs, on which are, alternately, a long and a short thorn, slightly curved and very sharp. It is found all over Syria, and also in Asia Minor.

We set out from this on our return; but the sun had set, and when we reached the city gates we found them closed; nor, in the strict vigilance which the recent dangers had taught them, was it at that time easy to get them opened again. Our crazy friend, Yaoub, who had been acting the merry-andrew along the road, now, however, interfered, and was more serviceable than a more sensible person would have been. He hailed a soldier, whom, in his walks about, he spied reconnoitring us through a loop-hole, and the man of gunpowder and bullets, perhaps thinking him sufficiently crazy to be a Turkish Santon or Saint, was at length brought to a parley. A messenger was despatched forthwith to the Governor; and Yaoub, now once more quite at ease, called to the soldiers to pass him a pipe beneath the gate, which having been done, he sat down to enjoy its fumes and his own importance. The messenger at length returned, and the guard having been mustered, and the gates having been thrown wide open, we were about to advance, when we were met by a couple of dozen fixed bayonets directly at our breast. We were brought to a stand till a more careful scrutiny of our faces had satisfied the officers that we were not wild Arabs in disguise; when the ranks opened, and we were allowed to enter. And we found that the prospect of spending the night in the open fields, that for a while was staring upon us, was sufficient to give a charm even to our hard and uneasy quarters in the convent.