[68] I have been unwilling to break the thread of description by references; but my authorities are in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. lib. viii. cap. 3. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. If the reader should think this account of the richness of the Temple incredible, he is requested to consult ancient authors about similar structures in other countries. The Parthenon at Athens cost sixty millions of dollars; the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis, on which it stands, cost half as much; the statue of Minerva in the former was of ivory and gold; the gold alone cost more than half a million of dollars. The statue, decorations, and utensils in the Temple of Belus, according to Diodorus Siculus, were equal in value to more than 200 millions of our dollars. When Titus had taken Jerusalem, gold was so abundant among his soldiers, that in Syria a pound of it sold for half its former value. See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 6. § 1. [69] Stones are still to be seen at the Great Temple of Baalbec sixty-four feet in length. [70] See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. v. § 3. Ibid. cap. ix. § 3; and for the prodigies, see also Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xiii. CHAPTER XIX. 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.