JERUSALEM* 
331 
out of the rock.” Even the grooving for the stone at the door 
was unchanged and entue, for “be rolled the great stone to the 
door of the sepulchre, and departedand it was afterward 
“ sealed and made sure.”f Quaresmius, by an engraving! for 
the illustration of the mode of burial then practised, has shown, 
according to a model familiar to the learned monk, from his 
residence in the Holy Land where such sepulchres now exist, 
the sort of tomb described by the Evangelists. But there is 
nothing of this kind in the church of the Holy Sepulchre ; 
nothing that can be reconciled with the history of our Saviour’s 
burial. In order to do away this glaring inconsistency, it is 
affirmed that Mount Calvary was levelled for the foundations 
of the church; that the word opo; y mans , does not necessarily 
signify a mountain, but sometimes a small hill ; that the sepul¬ 
chre of Christ alone remained after this levelling had taken 
place, in the centre of the area; and that this was encased 
w ith marble t—not a syllable of w hich is supported by any 
existing evidence offered in the contemplation of what is now 
called the Tomb. Let us, therefore, proceed to describe what 
really remains. 
We came to a goodly structure, w hose external appearance 
resembled that of any ordinary Roman Catholic Church. Over 
the door we observed a bas-relief, executed in a style of sculp¬ 
ture meriting more attention than it has hitherto received. At 
first sight, it seemed of higher antiquity than the existence of 
any place of Christian worship; but, upon a nearer view, we 
recognized the history of the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem— 
the multitude strewing palm branches before him. The figures 
were very numerous. Perhaps it may be considered as offer¬ 
ing, a u example of the first work in which Pagan sculptors re¬ 
presented a Christian theme. Entering the church, the first 
thing they showed to us was a slab of white marble In the 
pavement, surrounded by a rail. It seemed like one of the 
gravestones in the floor of our English churches. This, they 
told us, was the spot where our Saviour’s body was anointed 
by Joseph of Arimathea. We next advanced toward a dusty 
fabric, standing, like a huge pepper box, in the midst of the 
principal aisle, and beneath the main dome. This rested up¬ 
on a building, partly circular, and partly oblong, as upon a 
pedestal The interior of this strange fabric is divided into 
* Mattli. xxvii. 60. 
f Xuid. v. 66. “ So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing tfce si©**., 1 ” 
| Elucid. Terr. Ssnct to®. IX. p, 529. Antverp. 1639. 
