91st Psalm, according to the Septuagint version: “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High.” Leaving this group of buildings north of the wall, we may now pass east to the “Church of the Virgin’s Tomb,” or “Our Lady of Josaphat,” as it was called in the twelfth century, close to Gethsemane. The fine Norman arch of its facade, on the south side, is that of the church as restored by Queen Melisinda in 1161 A. D.[545] This church, wherein she was buried the same year, was perhaps the most richly endowed of any except the cathedral. A bull of Pope Alexander IV., dated January 30, 1255, recapitulates the names of forty-eight villages belonging to St. Mary of Jehosaphat, and the church had lands also in Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily, on which to rely when all the Palestine revenues ceased. It was, however, deserted in 1254 A. D., and lapsed once more into the power of the Greek patriarch. John of Würzburg states that the cave chapel, at the bottom of the steps, was adorned by a cenotaph of the Virgin, having beautiful marble casing, a many-coloured picture, and a dome above it covered with silver and gold, and Latin verses. An image of St. Basil stood to the right of the entrance, with other verses in honour of Mary. The history of the Church of the Ascension is less easily followed.[546] The abbot Daniel, about 1106 A. D., found only a small church here, but says that it had formerly been a large one. Probably a chapel was erected after the destruction of the seventh-century church in 1010 A. D., but this was afterwards replaced by a “large church,” according to John of Würzburg, having a dome open to the sky in the middle, like the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre, and like the old Church of Ascension described in 680 A. D., which replaced the original basilica of Constantine. The existing remains of Norman pillars in the irregular boundary wall show that the site was surrounded by a circular building 95 feet in diameter. Probably in plan it was not unlike the Dome of the Rock, but this mediæval church has been entirely destroyed. The little domed building in the centre, covering the footprint of Christ, was erected in 1617 by the Moslems, who still are in possession, and was restored in 1834. A minaret not more than three centuries old rises on the west side of the enclosure, and beneath is the Cave of St. Pelagia, also now in the hands of the Moslems. The church itself belonged to the Augustinian order. [Sidenote: ACELDAMA]