Tent Work in Palestine: A Record of Discovery and AdventureConder, C. R. (Claude Reignier)
History
Tent Work in Palestine: A Record of Discovery and Adventure
Conder, C. R. (Claude Reignier)
Palestine -- Description and travel
On the south we have another indication. The Water-Gate of the Holy
House was on this side, and was connected with a cistern outside the
Court of the Priests. A glance at the plan shows that the shaft leading
down to the long rock-cut reservoir No. 5, is on the present theory just
outside the position of the Water-Gate as defined by the Mishna.
There is not space to go farther into detail, though the investigation
has been pursued farther; but the above facts are, perhaps, sufficient
to speak for themselves. We see the Holy House in its natural and
traditional position, on the top of the mountain; we see the Courts
descending on either side according to the present slopes of the hill;
we find the great rock-galleries dropping naturally into their right
places; and finally we see the Temple, by the immutability of Oriental
custom, still a Temple, and the site of the great Altar still
consecrated by the beautiful little Chapel of the Chain. Push the Temple
a little to the north or south, and the levels cease to agree; lengthen
the cubit to the Egyptian standard of twenty-one inches, and the
exactitude of the adaptation is at once destroyed.
And now we must turn from this interesting question to one not less
important--that of the position of Calvary. I have no wish to review the
long controversies which have arisen on this subject. But I may give in
detail some new indications which appear to me of importance.
It is a recognised fact that Calvary was outside the city-wall that
existed in the time of Our Lord. This fact was also understood by the
early fathers, and Eusebius gives a long description of the growth of
New Jerusalem, to account for the position of Constantine’s site almost
in the heart of the town. Sæwulf also, in 1108, says: “We know that Our
Lord suffered without the gate, but the Emperor Hadrian, who was called
Ælius, rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord, and added to the
city as far as the Tower of David, which was previously a considerable
distance from the city.” St. Willibald (723 A.D.) echoes the same
feeling, speaking of “the place of Calvary which was formerly outside of
Jerusalem,” and Sir John Maundeville (1322) says the same. Thus, even as
early as the eighth century, attention had been drawn to the fact that
the accepted site was apparently too near the middle of the city, but
the modesty and faith of pilgrims rendered them willing to accept,
without question, the answers which they received from the monks
regarding their difficulty as to the site.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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