"SM ' ■ € L A KKE C/ S TRAVELS 
extending to the north, to the tower Psephinus; then reaeBirrg 
onward, opposite to the sepulchres of Helena, queen of Adia- 
bene, and mother of king Izates ; and being prolonged by the 
lioyai Caves (i. e. crypUe of Helena’s sepulchres) it bent, with 
a tower at the corner, near the monument called the Fuller’s. 5 * * * § 
The historian, in this passage, is not necessarily referring to 
two distinct places of burial: the Sepulchre of Helena ,” and 
the “ Roijal Caves” are, in all probability, only different names 
of the same place. Nothing seems to have excited more sur- 
prise than the doors of these chambers, of which Maundrelf 
published a very particular description. 5 * Only one remained 
hanging in his time. It consisted of a plank of stone, about 
six inches in thickness, carved so as to resemble a piece of 
wainscot. This turned upon two hinges, which were of the 
same entire piece of stone with the door/’ Maundrell after¬ 
ward explains the method by which this work was accomplish¬ 
ed.! The same sort of door exists among the sepulchres at 
Telmessus, and is described in a former part of this volume.|: 
But the ancients possessed the art of being able to close these 
doors in such a manner, that no one could have access to the 
sepulchres w ho was not acquainted with the secret method of 
opening them, unless by violating the sepulchre, and forcing 
a passage through their stone pannels. This has been done by 
the moderns, in some instances, at Telmessus, with a view to 
rifle the tombs; and the doors, though brokeu, still remain 
closed, w ith their hinges unimpaired. Pausanias, describing 
t he Sepulchre of Helena at Jerusalem, mentions!) this contri¬ 
vance : “ It was so contrived, that the door of the sepulchre, 
which was of stone, and similar in all respects to the sepulchre 
Itself, could never be opened, except upon the return of the 
same day and hour in each succeeding year: it then opened of 
* Joirra. from Alep, to Jems. p. 77. Oxf. 1721. 
f Ibid. p. 78. 
% See. chap. VIII. 
§ ‘E^pceofs Si ‘EAtvris •ydvicei'kdV' imxwpfar ra<por icrrlv tv rrofei EoAupois nv 
ss i£aij)os xaripaAfv 6 Tco^aiwv {SaoAsrs* fju\inxavrnai 5i tv rw Ta(pw rnv 0upav 
djioiws t ravra yaav tw rcKpw AiOiVov, pr> Trpdrfpov tcravofyfcrSai irpiv av ojitpav t< 
cift xai copav to, hos iirayajn rnv aurdv r6n d.t vrro jJidve tS (i-nxavi'iiiaTOs dvoixOtfca 
xai ou vokv imcrxovaa- 'cruvcxAsicrOn 6i’ 6K( e yv£. tStov y.lv 5-h 8Vw* rov <5t &\Kov 
Xpovov dvot'fai Trupufisyps, avoi^as pt.v oux av, xar&tfjis <5t aurnv ffponpov 
Et apud Hebraeos in Solymorum urbe, qua® Romanorum Imperator funditus ex- 
‘.'iclit, Helenae indigenae mulieris sepulchrum miri opens est,in eo enim ostium fa- 
brioatum est e marmore, uti ceterae sepulchri partes, id anni stato die, atque hora, 
occulto machinae cujusdam motu aperitur; neque ita multo post oeciuditur. quQd $|< 
dio tempore aperire conatus fueris, effringas facillus, qaam idla vi recludas.” 
*sb. in Arcad. cap', xri. p.'P-33. edit. 'Kuhmi. Lips. UH, 
