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great extent, and was probably a cistern. Its name Sendahanna 
suggests the Christian title St Anna. 
The caves are certainly not Troglodyte, and as Ptolemy in 
the 2nd century mentions nothing of them there is an additional 
argument, if such were required, for placing them subsequent 
to the Christian era. One or two appear to have been inhabited, 
and are covered with black from the smoke of fires, but here the 
crosses are as much stained as the rest of the wall, neither more 
nor less. As the floor shews that it is now used for a sheepfold, 
the smoke is probably an accumulation of years, this particular 
cave being for some reason more convenient for the herds. 
Mr Patry instanced the Royston cave cut in the chalk, with 
figures of saints on the sides, but reached by a descending pas- 
sage, as a somewhat parallel instance. 
Mr Lewis stated that the ear of Dionysius furnished a 
parallel, but the inscriptions there were now illegible. 
Mr Bonney asked whether there was any resemblance be- 
tween these caves and those under the Dome of the Rock, and 
instanced the Royal caverns at Jerusalem as a case of sub- 
terranean quarrying. . 
Professor LIVEING mentioned that the dome-shaped method 
of quarrying was not very uncommon, as it was often the most 
economical; and instanced a case in the neighbourhood of 
Cambridge where the stone had been thus quarried. 
Prof. Patmer replied, by briefly sketching out the different 
kinds of caves in Palestine; he considered that these at Beit 
Jibrin had no relation with the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem, 
for it was quite small. Some caves now used as granaries had 
probably once been quarries, but many had been excavated for 
the purpose. He was glad to find that other instances of quar- 
rying in this method could be produced, for he had found that 
some students of Palestine antiquities had met with diffi- 
culties in accepting his views. 
