A Trip to the Orient Part 14

At the foot of the flight of steps which the tourists descended on their way from the marble platform of the Dome of the Rock to the Mosque of El Aksa, the tourists encountered Turkish photographers, who, hoping that the Americans would gladly make use of their services, had been patiently awaiting their arrival. But the tourists were well supplied with their own outfits, and these amateurs, disdaining the offered professional services, secured snapshots themselves.

"What!" said one of the amateurs indignantly, "let the Turks take us?

No! let some of the party stay on the steps and we will take the picture and include the Turks in it."

While returning through the extensive grounds of the Haram, one of the tourists lighted a pipe. Immediately a Moslem guard approached and with unintelligible words, made it known by his frowning face and threatening gestures, that the pipe must be extinguished.

CHAPTER XII.

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

The floor of the vast Church of the Holy Sepulchre is below the level of Christian Street. We descended to the church through a narrow alley about a hundred feet in length, which by slopes and steps led downward.

On each side of this alley peddlers had stands for the sale of beads, rosaries, crucifixes, candles, and souvenirs, which they earnestly besought the visitors to buy. The church is so surrounded by other buildings that it could not be seen until we arrived at the foot of the alley, where a few steps to the left led down to a wide stone paved court. Even then only the rough stone facade and the top of the dome were visible. The door was guarded by Turkish soldiers, but they did not object to our entrance.

Within the Church, in the centre of the vestibule, we paused beside a marble slab six feet in length, elevated slightly above the stone floor.

A canopy overspread the marble and at the sides of the canopy stood six immense ornamented silver candlesticks rising higher than our heads. In these were tall candles.

"This is the Stone of Unction," said the guide. "On this marble the body of Jesus lay while it was anointed for burial. Two of these candlesticks belong to the Greek Church, two to the Armenian Church, and two to the Latin Church. In this holy edifice each religious sect claims the privilege of taking part in the worship and in the care of the sacred places."

Not far from the vestibule the guide halted, and pointing to a circle on the stone floor, said: "This circle marks the place where the Mother of Jesus stood at the time of the anointing."

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we ascertained, is composed of many parts. A rotunda, sixty-six feet in diameter, occupies the center. Above this rises the dome, supported by eighteen large piers. On one side of this round room, an opening leads into a Greek church; on the other side, entrances between the piers lead into small chapels. Grouped around outside of these, but connected with the central rotunda, church, and small chapels, are other chapels, rooms, and sacred places, the whole covering a s.p.a.ce of over two acres. In the centre of the rotunda, directly underneath the dome, stands a small marble building twenty-six feet long by eighteen feet broad, richly decorated with carvings, inscriptions, and figures of angels. At one end of this building there is a small door guarded by huge bronze candlesticks ten feet in height and over-hung with gold and silver lamps of curious oriental design.

Three golden crosses surmount the front of this miniature building: one of Greek form furnished by the Greek Church; one of Roman form, by the Latins; and one of the Syrian shape, by the Armenians.

"This small building," said the guide, "encloses the place of the Sepulchre. The interior is divided into two parts. The first you will enter is the Chapel of the Angel. The Tomb of the Savior is in the second part."

[Ill.u.s.tration: I. ENTRANCE TO THE CHURCH OF THE SEPULCHRE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: II. THE VIA DOLOROSA.]

Pa.s.sing between the lines of huge candlesticks and underneath the cl.u.s.ters of overhanging lamps, we entered the small doorway and were in the Chapel of the Angel. In the centre of this small room stands the stone upon which, the guide said, the angel sat after rolling it away from the entrance to the Savior's tomb. Stooping low we pa.s.sed singly through the narrow opening to the tomb. This is a small chamber about six feet square, the floor and walls of which are covered with white marble. At the right hand side of the tomb a marble slab about two feet wide extends the length of the chamber. This marble is much worn by the millions of kisses that have been tearfully and reverently pressed upon it by the pilgrims of many centuries. Two score of golden lamps, continually burning overhead, shed a soft but brilliant light upon the tomb. Our visit to the interior of the tomb was short; for not more than five persons may stand in it at one time, and other pilgrims from other lands were waiting their turn to enter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CRUST IN HER HAND, A GRIN ON HER FACE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WE WALKED THROUGH THE NARROW VIA DOLOROSA.]

For a small fee the local guides provided us with tapers, for some of the chapels and grottoes within the vast cl.u.s.ter of the buildings of the church were dark, and in the gloomy recesses the holy places could not be seen without a light. In the dark grotto of the Syrian chapel our tapers shed a dim light on two tombs, which the guide said were those of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.

"This is the Chapel of the Apparition," explained the guide, after leading us to another part of the church. "Here the Lord appeared to Mary, His mother, after the Resurrection. In a niche beside the high altar is a hole in the wall. If you hold your taper up to it you may see within the wall a part of the column to which the Savior was bound during the Flagellation. You may touch the sacred column with this round stick, provided for the purpose, if you wish to do so. The stick, being worn smooth by the numberless kisses that have been pressed upon it by the pilgrims after touching the holy column, can do it no harm."

In a vestibule outside the chapel a star in the marble floor marks the place where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection, and a second star a few feet beyond marks the spot where Mary stood when she recognized the risen Lord.

We pa.s.sed from the rotunda into the Church of the Crusaders or Greek Church, through a wide opening directly opposite the door of the Holy Sepulchre. In this large chapel the walls and ceilings, the seats of the choir, the high altar, and the seat of the Patriarch in the rear of the altar, are composed of precious woods beautifully carved and ornamented with gold and silver and jewels. Hundreds of superb golden and silver lamps, varying in form and design, hang suspended from the ceiling at various heights. In the centre of the chapel, standing in the middle of a fancifully designed circle on the checkered marble floor, is an urn containing a marble ball.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE VERY STONES HIS SACRED FEET HAVE PRESSED.]

"This ball marks the centre of the world," explained the guide, as we halted beside the urn. "About eight centuries ago certain wise and holy men ascertained, by calculation or by inspiration, that this spot is the exact centre of the world. It was marked in this manner so that the pilgrims coming here from all parts of the earth might see it and carry the knowledge of the wonderful discovery back with them to their various countries."

Beyond the Greek Chapel we descended, by aid of our burning tapers, a flight of thirty stone steps to the ancient, dimly-lit Chapel of St.

Helena.

"When the Empress Helena was inspired to search for the true cross,"

said the guide, "she employed workmen to excavate here. There is the seat on which she sat while superintending the search, and there below us is the excavation in which she found the three crosses, the crown of thorns, the nails, and the inscription."

We peered into the darkness below but could see only a gloomy hole about eight feet deep and twenty feet across, a short flight of steps cut in the rock, and an altar at one side.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD STREET OF SORROW LIES BURIED TWENTY FEET BELOW.]

Reascending to the main floor, we halted at the Chapel of the Mocking.

There the guide showed us the stone upon which the Jews made Jesus sit while they crowned Him with thorns. The guide then led the way up a flight of steps to the Chapel of Golgotha, which is within the great structure of the church but upon the summit of a rock fifteen feet higher than the main floor. At one side of this chapel, where the rock itself projects slightly above the floor, a figure of the Christ in dying agony is suspended upon the cross, and at the foot of the cross stand the figures of Mary, His mother, and St. John, both dejected and sorrowful. These figures appear to be made of gold and silver. The crowns on their heads are covered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones. A hole in the rock surrounded by a gold plate marks the place where the original cross stood. On the right and left are the holes where stood the crosses of the thieves. A movable gold plate covers the crevice in the rock caused by the earthquake. In this chapel the pictures on the walls are encircled with diamonds and other precious stones. Adjoining this room is the Chapel of the Crucifixion, where, as the guide informed us, Christ was nailed to the cross, and close by is the place where the Virgin Mary stood during the Crucifixion.

Descending a flight of steps to the main floor, we entered a small cavern-like chamber.

"This," said the guide, "is the Tomb of Adam, and the little chapel beyond is the Tomb of Melchizedek."

When one of the ladies, doubting the truth of these traditions, excitedly began to remonstrate with the guide, a clergyman in the party said to her: "It is not worth while to enter into a dispute with the guide. You cannot convince him that his a.s.sertions are incorrect. Let us leave the topic for discussion in the evening when we cannot go out sight-seeing."

We departed from the Church of the Sepulchre with the intention of returning without a guide to inspect portions of the building more leisurely. Preceded by the guide, we walked through the narrow Via Dolorosa, pausing a moment at each of the fourteen stations, which mark the location of the historical and traditional events that occurred in the street of sorrow. After the guide had explained the route, one of the tourists devoutly said: "Little did I think a year ago that I should walk along the very path that has been stained by the blood drops of the Savior on His way to the Cross, and tread perhaps on the very stones that His sacred feet have pressed."

[Ill.u.s.tration: AT THE ENTRANCE TO SOLOMON'S QUARRIES.]

A few minutes later we were admitted to a convent on the Via Dolorosa.

One of the gray-gowned nuns, after exhibiting and offering for sale laces and embroideries made by the sisters, led us to an excavation in the rear of the convent. There a courteous Abbess met us, and said: "The excavation made here uncovered a part of the original Via Dolorosa. The old way lies buried twenty feet below the level of the modern street known by that name, and at this place is one hundred feet to the right of the one on which you were walking."

"You must bear in mind the history of Jerusalem," continued the Abbess in reply to our questions. "Forty years after the Crucifixion t.i.tus captured the city, demolished the buildings, and slaughtered the inhabitants. Jerusalem became 'heaps' and a 'desolation' as predicted by the holy prophets. For a century thereafter a village of huts built upon the ruins occupied the site of the city; then the idolatrous Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the city, laying out the streets to suit his pagan ideas, and for two centuries it was a pagan city whose people were devoted to the worship of strange G.o.ds and regarded not the sacred places. Three hundred years after the Ascension of our Savior, the blessed St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage from Constantinople to Jerusalem. Inspired with holy zeal, she gave orders for the erection of churches on the sites of the Nativity at Bethlehem and the Ascension at Olivet. She prayerfully sought for the sacred tomb in which the Lord had been laid, and her efforts were rewarded by the finding of the true cross. She cleared away the acc.u.mulated rubbish and built the chapel on the holy ground, and that chapel has grown into the great Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Afterwards the locations of the events on the way to the cross were marked on the modern street to correspond as nearly as possible to the places on the ancient street which lay buried many feet below. The finding of a part of the true Via Dolorosa in the excavation within our enclosure has been a blessing to the convent."

[Ill.u.s.tration: WITH FACE TURNED TO THE WALL, KISSING IT AND MUTTERING PRAYERS.]

The Abbess deserved and received more than spoken thanks for her courtesy. We realized then the truth of her last words.

During our walk we visited an old Armenian church, which was gaudily decorated with red brocade hangings and very antiquated paintings quaintly representing scenes from Bible history. In the court-yard of the church a young Armenian kindly offered us a pitcher of water, which he said had been brought from a spring outside the city for the use of the monks in the adjoining convent. We received it most gratefully, for the drinking water of Jerusalem is noted for impurity, and, as we had been cautioned against it, we had abstained from drinking water for three days.

"Will it be difficult for the tourists to find their way through the narrow crooked streets of the city without a guide?" inquired one of the ladies of the dragoman at the noon hour.

"Oh no!" he replied. "Please open your map. I notice you have one. You see that the city is divided into four marked sections by the two princ.i.p.al streets which cross each other at right angles: David street extending from the Jaffa Gate at the west, through the center of the city, to the Temple Area at the east; and Damascus street extending from the Damascus Gate on the north, through the center of the city, to the Zion Gate on the south. The bazaars and little stores that tourists visit are on these two streets, on Christian street near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the Jaffa Gate. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in the north-west section of the city, known as the Christian Quarter; the Via Dolorosa pa.s.ses through the north-east section, called the Moslem Quarter; the Temple Area is on the east side; the Wailing Place of the Jews is near the south-west corner of the Temple Area, in the south-east or Jewish Quarter; and the Citadel is in the south-west of Armenian Quarter. Jerusalem is not a large city. David Street is only half a mile in length, and Damascus Street from the gate on the north to the gate on the south is but three-fourths of a mile long."

"This afternoon," said the guide at the noon hour on Friday, "those of you who desire to do so may go with me to the Wailing Place of the Jews.

The Turkish authorities do not permit Jews to enter the Temple Area so the Jews, on Friday afternoons, congregate in a narrow court, outside and adjoining the western wall which encloses the Temple Area, to mourn over the downfall of their beloved Zion and pray for the return of Jewish dominion over the land of their fathers, and for the renewal of the ancient glory of the City of David."

When we arrived at the Wailing Place, we found about a hundred Jewish men, women, and children a.s.sembled in the court, with faces turned to the wall, the men at one end of the court, the women at the other. Some of the mourners pressed their faces against the wall, kissing it and muttering prayers; some, as the guide explained to us, were reading the Talmud; some reciting verses from the Lamentations of Jeremiah; and some chanting the penitential Psalms of David. Others we saw weeping, the tears running down their faces, while one or two looked around with curious gaze at the strangers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PITIED THOSE MISERABLE LEPERS AT THE GATE.]

Thence we returned through portions of the Mohammedan and Jewish quarters of the city. The narrow streets through which we pa.s.sed,--if pa.s.sage-ways ten feet wide may be called streets,--are lined with little stores. The stocks of provisions, groceries, bread, vegetables, and general merchandise for native consumption are displayed in the open fronts of the shallow store-rooms and the proprietors sit or stand outside waiting for customers, like huge spiders waiting for their prey, or with loud voices and many gesticulations bargain with the buyers.