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t^..-»^..J. -^>r-^
SURVEY OF PALESTINE.
'-»
Special Edition No.
S^^>o
^^^^-^^*^
Chair}ita7i of Executive Covimittt'e.
-- •^— , If ^. <<--<» — •r -. i#-*-«e--^-^-- •
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" XM
ll^'.i
ARCH.^OLOGICAL RESEARCHES
IN
PALESTINE
DURING THE YEARS i873 - i874,
BY
CHAREES CEERMONT-GANNEAU, EE.D.,
Membre de F Institnt, Professeur an College de France.
Vol. E
With numerous Illustrations from Drawings made on the spot by A. LECOMTE DU NOUY, Architect.
translated by AUBREY STEWART, MA.
Published for the Committee of the PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND,
38, Conduit Street, London.
1899.
LONDON : HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESl'Y
ST. martin's lane, W.C.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The second volume of the present work was published in advance three vears aeo. T need not return to the reasons which have necessitated this inversion of the natural order of publication. In any case, the disadvantages of this course have been to a certain degree minimised by the fact that these two volumes may be looked upon, strictly speaking, as forming two independent wholes. The first volume, which is now presented to the reader, is in fact entirely devoted to Jerusalem and its immediate environs, within a radius which, towards the end, is somewhat enlarged and forms a natural transition to the second volume, which included extended excursions m Palestine.
I must apologise for the long delay which, in spite of my exertions, has intervened between the appearance of these two volumes ; and still more for the considerable period of time — a quarter of a century — which will have elapsed between the conduct of these researches and the definitive publication of their results. The work will certainly suffer thereby from more than one point of view ; many recollections hiive faded from my memory, upon which I had the imprudence to depend ; many ot the too brief notes have lost, on reperusal, even for me the meaning which I should have attached to them at the moment. On the other hand, it will perhaps have gained in matureness, since the studies to which I have devoted myself in the interval have sometimes enabled me to go more deeply than I should have done at first into certain questions raised by these researches.
I will briefly recall the conditions under which they were undertaken.
In 1873, '^^s Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund did me the honour to propose to me an archeeological mission in Palestine, the expenses to be defrayed by them. After an agreement had been come
iv Prefatory Note.
to between the Foreion Office and the Ministere des Affaires Etranseres (to which I belonged and still belong), I accepted this flattering offer, which supplied me with means of action which I had not hitherto possessed. The Committee were good enough, at my request, to appoint as draughts- man M. Lecomte Du Noliy, a very talented architect, whose collaboration was most valuable to me in respect to the planning and reproduction of the •monuments. It is to him that 1 am indebted for the greater part of the illustrations inserted in these two volumes, prepared from his beautiful and faithful drawings.* I am glad here to be able to render homage to his skill, and to thank him for the devoted assistance which he rendered to me during this expedition.
My mission lasted a year and ten days. I landed at Jaffa November 3rd, 1873, and re-embarked there November 13th, 1874. This period of time was entirely devoted to our researches, with the exception of a few days, when one or other of us was prevented by illness from carrying them on, for we led a very hard life, without taking the weather into consideration, divided between the exploration of different districts of Palestine and the excavations at Jerusalem.
On the latter point an explanation is due. It was understood before my departure that the Committee would endeavour to obtain from the Ottoman Government a finnan, authorising me to undertake the excava- tions included in my programme. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful, and I left Palestine without havino- received this authorisation, which I had expected from day to day. Nevertheless, thanks to my friendly relations with various Europeans and natives living at Jerusalem, I succeeded somehow or other in obviating this inconvenience, which might have entirely paralysed all my efforts, and I was enabled, as will be seen, to carry out several e.xcavations which were not without result. Thanks to an exceptionally favourable combination of circumstances, I even succeeded,
* Unhappily some of these drawings have been lost by the engravers. I have indicated them by a note in the course of the work.
Prefatory Note. v
as no European had clone before, in examininq-, pick in hand, the soil of the Haram, and, better still, the thrice holy ground of the interior of the Kubbet es Sakhra. All the same, I none the less regret not having been provided with the promised firman, since working under such con- ditions it was not allowable for me to choose (as I should have wished) the spots for excavation, and I was obliged to adapt myself to the necessities of the situation by only carrying on operations at those places where I could work without arousing opposition.
My position, already delicate in consequence of its irregularity, was singularly aggravated after some time by the affair of the false Moabite pottery,* which gained me the animosity of certain persons who had taken too active a part in it, and could not forgive me for having unmasked an imposture of which they had been the first dupes. Then, shortly afterwards, the deplorable incident of Gezer — which I need not dwell upon here, as I reserve my account of it for another place — rendered the situation completely impossible by fettering the little freedom of action which I had hitherto managed to secure.
I only mention these obstacles and contretemps to justify myself in the eyes of those readers who might have expected more numerous and better results from an undertaking commenced under such good auspices, and with so liberal a supply of means. However imperfect the results may be, I now submit them with the consciousness of having done all that I could within the narrow limits in which I was able to move. Qiiod pot ui feci.
I will only refer here to my- remark in the " Prefatory Note" to the Second Volume ; that the reader must not expect to find in this work a comprehensive treatise upon the archceology of Palestine, or even the summary of the labours which I have for years devoted to these questions. It is simply the account — in certain cases with the necessary development — of the partial researches which I was enabled to carry out in Palestine Irom November, 1873, to November, 1874, for the Palestine Exploration Fund.
* It will be found fully set forth or explained in my work, L(s Fraudes Anheoloviques en Fnkstine(Va.\\s, Leroux, 18S5), which also contains the history of the too notorious Shapira MSS.
VI Prefatory Note.
In conclusion, I have to thank Dr. Chaplin, who has been kind enough to undertake the laborious task of superintending the publication of these two volumes, together with Mr. G. Armstrong, the energetic Secretary to the Fund. My thanks are also due to Sir Charles Wilson, who has taken the trouble to read over the proof sheets. I am indebted to these gentlemen for more than one valuable remark.
CLERMONT-GANNEAU. Paris, July 1899.
Note. — The reader is requested to refer to the remarks in Volume II, p. iv, for the method of transcription adopted for Arabic names and words.
CONTENTS
PART I.
Chapter I.
Introductory remarks on the distinctive and specific character of Crusading masonry
A. Masons' marks .........
Explanation of the Notation .......
List of places where the Masons' marks have been found List of the Masons' marks arranged according to locality
B. The mediaeval tooling of stones by the Crusaders
I
4 [ I
12 32 38
PART II.
JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS
CHAPTliR n.
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo" Arch ......
Chaptkk III. Excavations in the ground of Hammam es Sultan .....
Chapter IV. Excavations un Russian ground near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Chapter V.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The tomb of Joseph of Arimathjea .......
Vaulted structure beneath the Greek chapel ....
Ancient sculjKured console .........
Graffiti of pilgrims ..........
Old Greek description of the holy places ......
A Greek inscription in the fagade of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre The tomb of Phillippe d'Aubigne ........
The entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday .......
7»
85
101
lOI lOI
103 103 103 106 1 1 2
VIll
Contents.
Chapter VI.
St. Anne'.s Market and Abbey
PAGE
ii6
Ch.apter VII.
The Haram es Sher'if and its neighbourhood .
Sfik el Kattanin
Ancient church, possibly St. Michael's ... . .
Near the Bab es Selseleh ........
Exploration in the interior of the Haram, along the east wall Boundary wall of the Temple .......
Fragment of a laver of basalt .......
Ancient sarcophagus .......
The cradle of Jesus .........
A so-called fragment of an inscription of the time of Herod .
Fragment of an inscription of the Crusading period
Various fragments of the Crusading period .....
The north front of the AVomen's Mosque .....
The presentation of Christ in the Temple .....
The unknown pool mentioned by Theoderich ....
Arabic inscription giving the dimensions of the Haram . The re-building of the south wall of the Haram by the Sultans Ivelaun ben Kelaiin .........
Remarks on various matters .......
|
127 |
|
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127 |
|
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129 |
|
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132 |
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135 |
|
|
137 |
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|
138 |
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|
139 |
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140 |
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141 |
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142 |
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143 |
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144 |
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165 |
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167 |
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and Mohammec |
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174 |
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177 |
Ch.\pter VIII. The Ktibbet es Sakhra.
Discovery of round arches above the boundary wall of the Kubbet es Sakhra, and of
mosaics decorating its outer fagades . Roof and drum of the Kubbet es Sakhra Bases of the columns and piers within the building Bases of columns on the outside of the building . An excavation within the Kubbet es Sakhra . Passage in the rock under the Sakhra (north side) Curious arrangement of mosaics and glass windows in the interior of the Kubbet es
Sakhra .......
The so-called " Buckler of Hamzeh " .
The so-called " Saddle of el Borak " . . ■
The stair leading down to the cave under the Rock of the Sakhra .
The AVell of Souls
Greek inscriptions found on the pavement of the Kubbet es Sakhra Fragments of ancient Arabic inscriptions in the Kubbet es Sakhra
179 205 21 1 214 216 217
218 219
221 222
222 222 226
Contents.
IX
Chapter IX.
Various an/iqi/i/ies and reiiiai-ks.
A Greek inscription in the Muristan
Antiquities found under the Mehkemeh
A mediaeval inscription, with emblems of corporate guild of handii;raft
John of La Rochelle's epitaph
An ancient sarcophagus
A pediment of the classic pattern
Remains of an ancient bath .
Khan es Sultan .
An ancient ossuary
A Byzantine lintel
Wrecks of inscriptions .
A Cufic inscription of the 4th century a.h.
Level of the rock and watercourse in one of the streets of Jerusalem
A piece of an ancient frieze
Ancient Arabic MSS. .
The Arabic archives of Jerusalem
An ancient inscription .
A silver Jewish vase
FACE 228 228
230 232
233 234 234 235 235 235 236 236 236 237 237 237
PART III.
THE OUTSIDE AND IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM.
Chapter X.
The North side of the City.
The Royal Caves ........
A Greek inscription built into the north part of the city wal
The sepulchres of Kerm esh Sheikli, and the ground to the north
flreek inscription near Jeremiah's cave .
A column of Herod's temple
Head of an imperial or royal statue
Ancient sepulchres near the Ash Heap
The so-called tomb of Simon the Just .
On the way to the tombs of the Judges
The Scopes .....
Rujum el B'himeh ....
:isi of Jerusalem
239 246 248
254 259 266 267 270 271 273
Contents.
Chapter XL The West side of the City.
The tombstone of Jean de Valenciennes The cemetery of Mamilla
rAGE
276
279
Chapter XII.
To the South of tlie City.
Excavations in a cave on Mount Sion . . .....
Other caves on Mount Sion ..........
The hill called Ophel
Deir es Sinneh ............
Various Legends connected with tlie southern neighbourhood of Jrrusalt
Jebel el Mukabber and Jebel esh Shemma'a The Prophet's olive tree ....
Bir Eiyub
Khureitun .......
Khiirbet Merd, the city of Nimrod
Chapter XIII.
On the East side of the City.
A Greek inscription in the city wall ..... Zechariah's tomb ........
At Se/ican.
Discovery of two Hebrew inscriptions dating from before the Captivity .... Discovery of an inscription in Phcenician letters upon the monolithic monument in the
Egyptian style . The SeJwan Necropolis El K'niseh . Greek inscriptions Various inscriptions The Dibonites of Selwan Painted inscriptions Various objects found in the valley of Jehosaphat
Chapter XIV.
The Mount of Olives.
Sepulchres on the Mount of Olives ....
Greek Christian inscriptions ......
On the top of the Mount of Olives. Various antiquities
2yi
29s 295 297
299 299 300 301 301
,303 3°4
3°5
3 '3 316
319
320
321 322 322 322
325 326
327
Contents.
XI
Mosaics bearing Armenian inscriptions
Greek Christian inscriptions
The Mount of Olives in the fifth century a.d
The sanctuary of the Pater Noster
El Mansuriyeh .....
Tombs of the Prophets
dreek epitaphs .....
Conclusions .....
Chapter XV,
Jewish Ossuaries and Sepuliiires in flie
I. — On the Mount of Offence ....
II. — On the hill called Viri Gaiilai
III. — Cemetery of Wad Yasfil and of Wad Beit Sahiir
A. Diggings .....
B. Sundry Ossuaries from Wad Yasill and from Wad Other Ossuaries at \\'ad Vasul
IV. — Sepulchre and Ossuaries of Sho'fat
V. — Ossuaries of uncertain origin ....
neiglibmirlwod of /eriisalcm.
Beit
Sahiir
329 337 341 342 344 345 349 374-
381 413 420 420 433 443- 448 45°
PART IV. MORE DISTANT LOCALITIES.
Chapter XVI.
On the South and South-]\'est sides of Jerusalem.
Tabalieh, Neby Yunan and St. Elias .......... 455
Sur Baher, Beit Jala 457
Bethleliem, Malhah 459
Bittir 463
Chapter XVII. On the North and Nortli-lVest sides of Jerusalem.
Sha'fat 47'
Kubeibeh 475
Chapter XVIII.
On the Jl'est side of Jerusalem.
Visits to Beit Tulma, Beit IMizzeh, Khurbet Farhan, etc. ...... 479
Soba, Rafidia, Abu Ghosh 480
b 2
Xll
Contents.
Chapter XIX.
At 'Am was ......
The plague-well and the plague of Emmaus Mu'al, son of Jabal ....
Latriin (Latron) .....
Bir el HelCi and the imaginary inscription of The Fenish
\braham
4S3
48S 491 493 495 497
PART V.
Ch.\pter XX. Greek inscriptions beyond Jordan .......... 499
Chapter XXI. Hearsay information ............. 506
Chapter XXII. Antiquities of uncertain or doubtful origin ......... 507
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
'Amwas, Greek inscriptions, seal, and Jewish lamps found at ..... . 485-7
Antiquities of doubtful origin —
Capital of white marble, carved slab of white marble, seal, various fragments,
vases, glass bottles, mould, and lamps' ....... 507-511
B
Beit Jala, Objects found in a tomb at Bir el K'niseh, Greek inscription in a house near Beitir, View of rock escarpment near. (Platv) . Entrance to the spring ....
Roman inscription near ....
Broken cippus near ....
458 320
463 464
465 469
Capital, etc. (Plate)
Cemetery of A\'ad Yilsul and Wad Beit Sahdr —
Lid of sarcophagus, etc. ....
Terra-cotta lamp .....
Tomb at Wa'r el Watwat, view of
Plans of tombs, with sections
Inscriptions on ossuaries ....
Plan and sections of tomb in Wad Be't Snhur
Ossuaries at Wad Yasul ....
Pottery, etc., found in the various lonib.^ . Convent of St. Nicholas, Cufic inscription found at Church of the Holy Sepulchre —
Ancient console, with cartouche, found during altera!
Inscription in the facade of the church
The epitaph on the tomb of Philippe d'Aubigne
Seal of Raoul d'Aubigne ...
Fragment of sculpture representing Christ's entry into City Wall. Greek inscription in the north part
J) )) )j east ,,
Crusading inscri[)tion. (Sec Inscriptions)
Jerusalem
144
421 422
• 423 424-429
431-443
• 434-6 444, 445 447, 448
• 235
102 104 106 no
"3
247
303
277
XI \
L^bl of llliisiyatious.
Damascus Gate, Sculptured stone found inside Deir as Sinneh, Entrance to tomb near
233 298
" Ecce Homo " Arch —
General plan of rock-cut chambers near the
Sections of ditto ........
Perspective view from the point P . . . . .
Sections ..........
Diagram showing the rock scarp with the buildings removed
Enlarged sketch of P on general plan
Plan of the lower floors
Sections, elevation, and detail .
Lamp with Arabic inscription .
A piece of lamp, little bottle, broken vase
Terracotta vase restored .
Piece of a second va.se ...
n yellow terra-cotta
51
5 ' ' 5 2
53 54, 55 57 61 62 65, 66 67 68 69
H
Hummam es Sultan —
Ground plan of ............. 7^
Sections of 79' ^^> §3
Mosaic pavement .........••■ 80
Terra-cotta statuettes, handle of a vase ......... 82
A piece of flat tile, glass bottle neck, fragments of cornice and terra-cotta vessel . 84
Haram es Sherif and its neighbourhood —
Crusading inscription near Bab es Selseleh . . . . . . . .130
Arabic inscription on eastern wall .......••• '32
Section of shaft sunk near the inscription 135
Fragment of the western boundary wall of the temple 136
Broken laver of basalt ........•••• 1 3^
Ancient sarcophagus ........■•■• 1 3S
Fragment of an inscription of the Crusading period . . . . . . .141
\'arious fragments, bases of columns, of the Crusading period .... 142,143
Capital of white marble in one of the minarets. (Plate) 144
Arabic inscription giving the dimensions of the Haram ...... 167
Another inscription . . . . . . . . ■ • ■ ■ • '73
Head of an Imperial or Royal statue. (Two plates) 259
Herod's Temple, Column of. (Plate) 254
List of Illustrations.
XV
I
Inscriptions —
Medieval, at Nazareth .....
In the fac^ade of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
On the tomb of Philippe d'Aubigne
Medieval, in Siik el "Attarin
Crusading, near Bab es Selseleh
Arabic, on eastern wall
Crusading period ....
Arabic, giving dimensions of the Haram
Another .....
Greek, Kubbet es Sakhra
„ Muristan Mediaeval, from the Mehkemeh Cufic, at Convent of St. Nicholas Greek, in north part of city wall
,. ,, easi ,, ,,
,, near Jeremiah's Cave Roman, Tomb of "Simon the Just" Crusading, on Mount Sion In rock-cut chamber, Selwan Greek, near Bir el K'niseh
., (Byzantine), Selwan
,, Christian, Mount of Olives Roman, Mount of Olives . Armenian ....
Fragments of, near the Pater Noster Greek, tombs of the Prophets . On Jewish ossuaries and sepulchres Hebrew, on sarcophagus . Found near Shafat .
On ossuaries in W.ad Yasiil and Wad Beit Sahu Roman, near Bettir . Greek, at 'Amwas On ossuaries of uncertain origin Greek, from beyond Jordan
27 104 106 117 130
•32
141
. .67
173
223, 225 22S 229
■ i3S
247
3°3
254
. 269
277
|
321 |
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32' |
-338 |
|
327 |
|
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329 |
|
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343 |
344 |
|
347 |
-■374 |
|
386- |
-417 |
|
4.8 |
|
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450 |
|
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431 |
-44 3 |
|
46s |
|
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485, |
4S6 |
|
451 |
-454 |
|
499- |
-502 |
John of La Roi belle's epitaph . Jeremiah's Cave, (Ireek inscription near
231
254
XVI
List of Illmtyations.
K
el Kebekiyeh, Funerary chapel called
Cenotaph in, and sections .
Another cenotaph near, and sections
Kerm esh Sheikh, Plan of the cemetery .
Sections of the tombs .
Kiibbet es Sakhra —
Plan of
Exterior wall. (Plate) ....
Details of small columns and ca])ital in
Section, elevation, and ground plan of the round arches
Section, elevation, and plan of one of the small arches
Specimen of mosaic in the small arches
Details of roof and drum .....
Elevation of the outer face of column
Section of ditto looking east ....
Bases of the columns and piers within the building
Ditto, outside .......
Section of rock passage .....
Plan showing position of passage • .
Greek inscriptions found on the pavement Kubeibeh, View of central apse at .... • Plan and sections of the church
I' AGE
286
288
289, 290
25'. 252
180 ,84
188 189
2c6
208
209
2 12
215 217
475 476-8
M
Marnilla, The cemetery of .......-•■• ■ 285
Masons' marks 10, 13. 14, 22
Mehkemeh, Sculptured head, leaden statuette, and mediaeval inscription from . . 228,229 JMount of Offence. Vases and bronze cymbals found in a tomb ..... 382
Plans and sections of ossuaries found in a rock-chamber . . . 384
Inscriptions on Jewish ossuaries and sepulchres . . . 386-417
Mount of Olives —
Greek Christian inscriptions .......... 326, 338
Fragment of a Roman inscription ...... . ... 327
Vase of thin bronze, and fragments of carved work ....... 328
Mosaic pavement with Armenian inscription. (Plate) ...... 329
Fragments of inscriptions and capital near the Pater Noster ..... 343^4
Plan of tombs of the Prophets ........... 347
Greek epitaphs in ........... . 352-374
Mount Sion, Various objects found in a cave on ....... . 292-3
Muristan, Greek inscription in the ........... 228
List of Illnstrations.
xvii
o
Ossuaries of uncertaiti origin, inscriptions on
I'AGK
451-4
R
Rock-cut tomb on the way to the Tomb of the Judges Royal Caverns. Carved figure {Kerub ?) in the rock Russian Ground near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre- Plan of. (Plate)
Elevation of the great gate ....
Details of the capital .....
Plan of the springer .....
Old drafted wall
Sections of ancient wall .....
Details of the groove .....
271 • 243
86
86 . . 87
88 . . 89 90, 91, 92, 94
93
Sections, elevations of the windows, details of corbels, abacus, buttresses, and colonette ............
Capital in white marble ...........
Crusaders' stone corbel . . .........
95-97 98
99
Selwan —
Plan of rock-cut clwmbir, where the two inscriptions were found
Sections of .... .
Plan of door in tomb of Pharaoh's wife
Greek inscription (Byzantine) Sha'fat, Inscription found near
Curious stone chimney-piece at
" Simon the Just " —
Tomb of. (View) ....
Plan of
Section showing the inscribed cartouche on the wnl
Roman inscription in the tomb of rioba, Fortified wall at . . . .
Rockcut tomb near
SCtk el 'Attarin, Medieval inscriptions of Sancta Anna in
307
30S
314 321
450 472
267 268 269 269 480 481 117
V
Valley of Jehoshaphat. Pieces of terra-cotta tiles, etc., found in ... . Viri Galitei. Plan of Jewish tomb ..........
Glass bottle, bronze instrument, head of an iron nail, and terra-cotta
vase found in tomb .........
Sarcophagus? with Hebrew inscription ......
323 413
414 418
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES IN
PALESTINE.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE DISTINCTIVE AND SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF CRUSADING MASONRY.
The temporary occupation of Palestine by the Crusaders, if it did not actually arrest the continuous internal development of the destiny of the country, did nevertheless form an abrupt breach with the past such as furnishes the antiquary with one of those great chronological landmarks which are of such high value ; — I mean a definite date, to which and from which he can reckon. This sharply defined intrusion of the West into a province of the Eastern' world, plays pretty nearly the part of one of those intermediate strata by means of which the geologist can classify the beds which it separates. It is like a fused layer of trachyte interposed between two systems of sedimentary strata, and, if properly studied, it gives us a fixed base to work from, — a zero above and below which we can arrange our chronological scale for the classification of archseological and many other matters. Indeed, this period of the Crusades has the advantage, by its own historical conditions, of beine confined within certain fixed dates.
The Crusading period has most assuredly no less interest if we consider it as an extension of and an appendage to the history and the civilization of Europe. But, without neglecting this point of view, it is rather under
B
2 Archcsological Researches in Palestine.
the former aspect that the nature of my studies and the character of my researches have led me to regard it, that is to say, as a differential element in the complex problem of the Archaeology of the Holy Land.
But the point is to have sufficiently definite criteria to enable one to detect with precision the work done by the Crusaders, and by this means to distinguish it from earlier or later work. All who may have travelled in Palestine or Syria, know how difficult it often is to pronounce authoritatively that any building is a Latin work of the Middle Ages. No doubt when the building is in more or less good preservation, and is an architectural work in the eesthetic sense of the term, the style is a fairly good guide, provided, of course, that it is well defined. For example, one clearly would not hesitate as to the origin of certain details : vaulting ribs of such and such a profile, capitals of such a character, etc., do not admit of any doubt. Yet in some cases there is nothing more deceptive than considerations of mere style and form, when one has not any other evidence at one's disposal. Thus, to quote one instance, it is common knowledge that every pointed arch with normal joints and a keystone is Arab work, and that every pointed arch with a central vertical joint is Western work.* Well, this rule, which may be relevant elsewhere, is often violated in Palestine, and would infallibly mislead any one who trusted to it alone : for although the Arabs do not seem to have known or made use of
* This difference, as we know, is not only a difference of form, it implies statical architectural principles quite distinct from one another, concerning the thrust and equilibrium of pointed arches and vaults. Now that I am dealing with the pointed arch, I shall mention a fact of great interest which I have gathered from local Arab tradition. We know that the non- semicircular or " pointed " arch which we nowadays call with more or less reason " ogive," was in the technical language of the middle ages called arc de tiers point t or arc de quint point. It is probable that these two denominations were applied to arches of different proportions, and were derived from the geometrical principles used in their construction. I could say a good deal about these principles, but the subject would lead me into a dissertation of far too great length. Be that as it may, 1 had the curiosity to ask some native master masons what name they gave to the pointed as contrasted with the round arch. What was my surprise when they answered without hesitation, Khumcs ! This word, which is completely unknown in
t These terms are used to show the points in the base line from which the sides of an arch are drawn with the compasses. In a semicircular arch this point is in the middle of the base line (first point). In an equilateral arch (second point) it is at each extremity of the base line. For " third point " (see Cherry Hinton Church, Cambridgeshire, and the nave of Jesus Chapel, Cambridge) the base line is divided into three parts, and the sides are drawn from points which are one-third of the way from each end of the base line. In fifth point the base line is divided' into five parts, and each side of the arch is drawn from a point situated in the base line one-tifth from its opposite end.
Introductory Remarks. 3
the system of the vertical-jointed pointed arch, yet on the other hand I have found many examples in which the Crusaders have built their pointed arches in the Arab fashion, with a keystone.
But when we have to deal with a building possessing no distinctive style, without any characteristic details, which has been reworked at various periods, such as a piece of ruined wall, or sometimes a single fragment of plain hewn stone ; in short, when one has to be guided by what is called the dressing of the stones, then upon what principle is one to act, what clue can one follow ? Yet to this second category belong the greater part of the cases one meets with, and those often of the greatest importance for the solution of the archeeological problems of Palestine. In the absence of purely architectural details, which too often are wanting, is there any certain method whereby we can identify the dressing of the stones of a building erected by the Crusaders, or restored by them ?
People have e.xtolled as certain criteria one after the other : the pre- sence or absence of the well-known bossage — which has caused so many mis- takes— the absolute or relative size of the stones, their colour, their state of preservation, the greater or less sharpness of their edges, the accuracy of their joints and of their squaring, the setting of the stones on their quarry-bed, or otherwise, the nature of the stone, etc.
But these are indications of no critical value, and in too many cases even deceptive. We know what a wide divergence of views has arisen as to the probable age of many ancient buildings in Syria and Palestine ; it is not uncommon to find contradictory theories as to the date of a building.
this acceptation in literary Arabic, is evidently connected with, if not actually the same as Khiims, "the fifth," that is to say, in Old French, "quint:' The term "quint point" having been disused for centuries, it is evident that the Arabic word cannot have been borrowed in recent times. If it really was so borrowed, the loan must date from the period of the Crusaders. But was it really borrowed from the Frank tongue? May not the Frank and Arab terms, which are so singularly alike, have both been derived from one common source, the technical language of that more ancient school of architecture from which both the Westerns and the Arabs may have independently derived the principle of the pointed arch ? In order to be able to answer this question, we need more knowledge than we possess as yet of the technical terms of the Byzantine and Persian schools of architecture. I regret now that I did not press my inquiries further, and did not make out distinctly whether, besides the term Khumes, which corresponds to quint point, native tradition did not perhaps know of another term, thuKth (= thultli), corresponding to tiers point. This remains to be verified, and I recommend it to the attention of all archaeologists who may have occasion to visit Syria.
B 2
ArclicBolooical Researches in Palestine.
<b
or a certain part of a building, oscillating between the epochs at the greatest possible distance apart from one another, Phoenician, or Hebrew, Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval Latin, or even Arab.*
Such chronological variations as these show of themselves how untrustworthy must be the elements of the art of discrimination hitherto at the disposal of archaeological students, and how flimsy must be theories based upon no more solid foundation than probabilities or more or less subjective impressions. They only prove still more clearly the need of possessing for at least one of these epochs some sure and really objective test.
Among the methods by which we can with certainty distinguish building materials that have been dressed by the Crusaders, there are two, one of which, of a comparatively restricted character, had been singularly neglected up to the year 1867 ; while the other, which is far wider in general application, remained absolutely unnoticed until I discovered it and made it known for the first time in 1874. What I mean are (A), masons' marks, and (B), the toolincr of stones.
Masons' Marks.
This, as is well known, is the traditional name for the alphabetical or symbolical signs which generally are carved in the middle of blocks of hewn stone, and are meant, it is supposed, either to act as guides for the dressers, or, more probably, are personal marks belonging to each individual workman by the piece who cut them and was paid according to his work. This
* Let me be permitted to quote in illustration of this some words of one of the most learned students of Syrian Archseology. The avowal made by M. Renan towards the end of his Mission de Phenicie (p. 813), shows very distinctly the uncertain condition of antiquarian science on this subject, and makes us understand the necessity of equipping it with a trustworthy touchstone :
" Everyone had been deceived, just as I had been . . . These doubts are due to the strange
and altogether peculiar local character of the Latin buildings in Syria about not recognising
that such and such a building belonged to the time of Solomon or to the time of the Crusader. The first aspect of the building is, in this case, very deceptive, for Robinson, Thomson, Wolcott, Van de Velde, De Vogiie, and De Saulcy allowed themselves to be misled by it. All these travellers have, in more or less express terms, assigned a Phoenician, an old Canaanitish or Jewish origin to buildings really belonging to the Middle Ages."
Masons Marks. 5
practice, which was known in ancient times, was very prevalent throughout all Europe in the Middle Ages, and the Crusaders did not forsake it in their building operations in Palestine. We therefore find thousands of these precious marks on the stones of buildings wholly or partly erected or reconstructed by them.
The first archaeological works dealing with the Holy Land took little or no notice of these masons' marks, which nevertheless are so important. Two or three explorers who have accidentally stumbled on some of them have made drawings of them, but rather as curiosities '" than valuable pieces of evidence.
But what proves how little people cared to make systematic collections of them until quite recent times, is that the great work of M. de Vogiie on the Churches of the Holy Land, which was published after these first indications of their existence, excellent as it is in many other respects, yet contains not one of these masons' marks. Since then this omission has been well repaired, thanks to the united efforts of various explorers, who have at last devoted to this search the attention which it deserves. For my own part, as I felt all the importance of it, 1 have perseveringly devoted myself to it ever since my first sojourn in Palestine, in 1867, and have never ceased since then to augment my collection, both by my own personal researches and by those of other archaeologists. I have not restricted myself to methodically collecting those which are carved upon the walls of such buildings as are still standing, but have even noted those which I found upon single stones, either lying alone or built into other works, in every part of Palestine which I have been privileged to visit.
* Among these I must mention M. Rey, in the work which I shall presently quote, and also the Abbe Michon, who accompanied M. de Saulcy on his first journey to the East. The latter says, speaking of the church of el Bireh, " I discovered upon the ashlar the masons' marks of our French churches, crosses, arrows, and darts, which I copied with the utmost care." (Michon, Voyage Religieux en Orient, II, p. 46.) The author unfortunately has not reproduced his copies. Moreover, he has not drawn from this single utterance the general principle which it implied. Thus, for example, we see that he says that he made a plan of the church at Abu Ghosh, and yet he says nothing about masons' marks, though they are much more plentiful there than at the church at el Bireh — alphabetical ones, too, and therefore altogether instructive. One of the first archaeologists who next began to collect masons' marks was Sir Charles Warren {Quarterly Statement, 1870, pp. 326, 328), whose attention had been called to them by his discovery of marks, which remain a puzzle to this day, on the ashlar of the south-east angle of the Haram.
6 Archaeological Researches in Palestine.
Up to the present time, the oldest writer to whom the credit of noticing the system of Latin masons' marlcs upon a mediEeval building in Palestine has been attributed, is the Abbe Mariti, who travelled through the Holy Land in the year 1767, and the first edition of whose book appeared at Lucca in 1769-1770. "The Abbe Mariti," says M. de Vogiid,* "saw upon the stones of the vault (of the Church of the Virgin's Sepulchre) marks made by the stonecutters, and letters cut by the masons to serve as guides ; their form betrayed their Western origin. + The deep darkness which prevails in the interior of this church .... did not permit me to see them myself."
The fact is, that the noticing of masons' marks is of far earlier date, and the honour should be ofiven to the Franciscan Father Morone da Maleo, who, in this special subject, is the forerunner, and perhaps the inspirer of Mariti. I Morone, who was Warden of the Holy Land, has left an exceedingly interesting work, now very rare, published at Piacenza in 1669 ;§ I was not able to obtain a copy until the year 1892. Now, this is what I find therein (Vol. I, p. 209) : —
" Ed io osservando il voltb della Chiesa || si bianco, e si ben con- camerato tutto die pietre vive, e delate, che pare nuovamente fatto, viddi in alcune pietre di registro scolpite lettere Latine maiuscole, come O.P. R.S., etc., e questo mi fe credere, che li Maestri fossero Italiani, 6 Latini, de quali la Santa 1 ne condusse cola molti."
* M. de Vogiie, Les Eglises de la Terre Sahiie, p. 308.
t Mariti, Etat present de Jerusalem, ch. xv, § 4. " It seems as though the Latin Princes must have caused work to be done to it, for upon the stones of the vault one recognises the usual marks {registri) in Latin letters, such as L. O. R. P. S., etc."
X Probably many contemporary travellers and pilgrims, such as Troilo, owe the interesting facts of which they have the credit of discovering, to Father Morone, who had passed many years in the Holy City and knew it thoroughly ; for example, the mention of the name of the builder of the belfry of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, carved upon one of the stones ; that of the name of the Caliph Abd el Melik, in an inscription on the Sakhra, etc. (as to this last matter, see my Recucil d' Archeologie Orientale, Vol. H, pp. 400 and 408).
§ Terra Santa nuovame7ite ilhtstrafa, dal P. Fr. Mariano Morone da Maleo, Lettore, Predicatore Generale de' Minori Osservanti della Provincia di Milano, Commissario Apostolico neir Oriente, Custode della sudetta Terra Santa, e Guardiano del Sacro Monte Sion, etc. Piacenza, 1669, 2 vols., small 4I0.
II The Church of the Virgin's Tomb.
H The author means Sta. Helena.
Masons Marks. 7
In another part of his work (Vol. 1, p. 105) he expresses himself in these terms, speaking of the belfry of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre : — *
" Altri pero volsero dire, che Sant' Helena portasse seco cola e Mastri, ed Ingegnieri, in prova di che potrei addurre cio che studiosamente osservai nella parte interiore del Campanile entratovi sopra dal terrazzo de' Greci, e guardandovi verso Austro declinando all' Oriente, ove viddi scolpite nella pietra viva le sequenti parole : lordanis me fecit ; il che me fece credere, che il Architetto fosse Latino, ed Italiano, se pure non volessimo dire, che quel fecit, s' intendesse del Capo Mastro ; ma certo e, che la Santa, ed altri ancora condussero cola Fabricieri, come argomentai appresso dalle lettere di registro scolpite nelle pietre di termine, 6 cantone nella Chiesa del Sepolcro della Vergine, come a dire P.Q.R.S. e simili, cosa che non seppi trovare nella fabrica del Santissimo Sepolcro, forsi per essere annegrita dal fumo, e potrebbe anche dire alcuno, che il Campanile del Santissimo Sepolcro fosse fabricato da' nostri Re d' Europa dopo la Chiesa."
From the existence of these letters. Father Morone very rightly conjectured that the masons were of Western origin. His only mistake was in trying to make them out to have been contemporaries of St. Helena, and in not having kept to the opinion expressed in the last sentence, which shows that he had at all events a glimpse of the truth. But the historical error is excusable at that period ; the real value of the material statement of the Franciscan Father is not impaired thereby, and it is a pity that it did not sooner open the eyes of the many pilgrims and travellers who have traversed the Holy Land since then and examined the churches built by the Crusaders, upon which these marks are to be found in thousands..
These masons' marks, being generally cut in slight and loosely made t characters in the middle of the blocks, | are easily overlooked, which explains why they have remained unnoticed for so long a time. In order to recognise their existence and to make out the shape of them, one often has to examine the stone very minutely, and one requires a certain knack
* On page 181 he briefly describes the campanile, or belfry, "made of hving stones, squared and pohshed, with columns and very fine cornices." At least four stories of the belfry must have been standing in his time.
t Sometimes, on the other hand, ihe marks are large and deeply cut. But in that case, as I shall show in its place, they are perhaps marks of ownership of the buildings rather than true masons' marks, or marks of piece workers.
% And whatever people may say, on the outside as well as the inside of buildings.
8 Archceolorical Researches in Palestine.
"A
which is only learned by experience. As I shall show hereafter, the manner in which the stone is tooled greatly facilitates this search, by warning one at the first glance that upon such and such a block of stone there is a chance of finding a mark. It is this latter observation which has enabled me to collect a great number of these marks, and has at the same time put me in the way of discovering the law of mediaeval stone-tooling, of which I shall presently speak.
Sometimes, but not often, the same block shows two marks. One finds instances of this in Europe. The mark may be placed anywhere, which clearly proves that it must have been cut before the block to which it belongs was put into its place in the stonework. This becomes evident when we find letters of the alphabet often appearing cut so as to lie on one side or the other, or even completely upside down.
The non-alphabetic marks show a very great variety of forms ; many of them seem to stand for things which it would be rash to try to identify, but some of them, nevertheless, can be made out pretty exactly : the cross in all its various forms, a spear head, a dart, a feathered arrow, a fleur-de-lis, a shield, a pennon, a fish, a crescent, a star with a varying number of rays, a heart, an axe, a mason's square, a key, an hourglass (?) ; some others are of a purely geometrical character.
Some of them are of so comialicated a character that they mu.st have been due to some artistic fancy on the part of the stonecutter rather than to the simple practical need of marking his work with his cypher ; for instance, a human head, full face, on one of the stones of the underground part of the church of Abu Ghosh, the great bird's head in the Haram area (which is, I think, found elsewhere together with an ordinary mason's mark), the two great wings (?) on the base of a column in the church at Lydda, etc. I have often found the mark of a key carved on the keystone of a vault, which shows an obvious association of ideas.
After mature consideration, I have determined to display the numberless masons' marks which I have collected in Palestine, both in squeezes and sketches, in the form of one large plate, containing the leading types (more than 600) of all the kinds that I have been able to find. Each type, represented by many specimens given in the accompanying lists, can be distinguished thereon by a very simple method of numbering, which will enable me to make all the necessary references. This plate will, moreover, I hope, be of some use to future explorers who
Masons Marks. 9
may choose to devote themselves to this form of research. All that they will have to do will be to refer to it for the known varieties, and continue the series of ordinal numbers for the unknown ones. In order to make it as complete as possible, 1 have incorporated in this plate, with proper references, all the masons' marks that 1 have been able to find in various publications connected with Palestine.
In making this plate, which imperfect though it may be, has never- theless cost me much time and pains, I have not been able to classify the specimens as accurately as would have been desirable. The first part contains the series of alphabetical marks : among- these, however, there are some marks about which I cannot be sure which letters of the alphabet they stand for, or whether indeed they belong to the alphabet at all. Other marks, which are certainly alphabetical, are to be found scattered here and there throughout the rest of the plate, as they did not arrive in time to be put into their proper places. Some of the non-alphabetical marks have been grouped together according to their resemblance in form, but I have not always been able to follow this rule, which indeed is a very arbitrary one in itself However, the plate being altogether synoptical, it will be comparatively easy to find at a glance the mark or group of marks required.
The two detailed lists which accompany the plate render it unnecessary for me to enter upon long explanations, and will show better than any other commentary the various uses which can be made of it.
It would certainly have been interesting to compare these marks with those which we find in the mediaeval buildings of the various countries of Europe. One might thus obtain, among other things, some information about the schools of architecture to which the methods of building employed by the Crusaders belonged. But that is a subject which, although very tempting, would take me too far : specialists may deal with it, aided by the materials with which I have supplied them. 1 cannot here lose sight of the principle which has guided my researches throughout so many years, the discovery, 1 mean, of the points in which Crusaders' buildings differ from those which preceded and from those which followed them. I must, however, warn the reader, that in the case of a small number of the specimens, especially of those which have been collected in Northern Syria, and not by myself, one may entertain some doubt as to their origin being Latin at all. These few odd ones will be pointed out in their places.
C
I.— PLATE OF MASONS' MARKS. {Leading Types:)
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Masons Marks.
1 1
Explanation of the Notation.
Every mark in the plate is shown in the letterpress by two numbers, separated by a dash (-) : the first number refers to the horizontal lines in the plate (the vertical column counting from the top to the bottom) ; the second refers to the vertical lines (horizontal row, counting from left to right) ; any required mark, therefore, is to be found at the intersection of these two lines, the horizontal and the vertical.
The small italic letters which are placed after the double number show, when necessary, the angular position of the mark or letter.
If the double number is not followed by letters in small type, it means that the mark is found in the same position, normal or otherwise, as that in which it appears on the plate (as a-b).
The sources* from which these marks have been taken are shown in the following manner : —
[Those not otherwise marked are from my own sketches or squeezes.]
A A A
B C D E F G
H I
J
K
L
Van Berchem, unpub- lished statement.
R. Dussaud, unpublished statement.
Quarterly Statements.
1870
1870
1872
1883
1883
1890
Memoirs.
II
II
II
Ill
Ill
|
PAGES |
|
|
M |
|
|
N |
|
|
0 |
|
|
P |
|
|
Q |
|
|
R |
|
|
326 |
S |
|
328 |
T |
|
100 |
U |
|
131 |
V |
|
132 |
|
|
10 pi. |
|
|
w |
|
|
209 |
X |
|
213 |
|
|
271 |
|
|
65 |
Y |
|
89 |
Z |
III
Ill
Ill
Ill
Ill
Jerusalem (Memoirs) . .
Do. Do. . .
Do. Do. . .
Do. Do. . .
Rey, Etude sur les monu- ments de r Architecture militairc des Croiscs en Syric
Do. do. do. Do. do. do.
Revue A rclu'ologique.
March-April, 1892. . . Do. do. . . .
PAGES
131 133 149 271 250 256 386 402
55 ■
99 102
226
258
* Besides these, the reader may profitably consult a note by M. Rziha, in tlie Zeitschrift des Deiitscheti Palaesthia-Vereins, IV, pp. 93, 95. Although it furnishes no new materials, it nevertheless contains judicious advice as to how one should form a collection of masons' marks.
C 2
12 ArchcBolooical Researches in Palestine.
"i> '
LIST OF PLACES, BUILDINGS AND PARTS OF BUILDINGS WHERE THE MASONS' MARKS HAVE BEEN FOUND.
JERUSALEM.
CnURtH OF THE HoLY SePULCHRE (oUTSIDe).
— Pavement of the fore-court, on the left, at the foot of the bench along the belfry : 6-8.
— On a stone in the wall which closes up the right hand door of the church : 3-6.
— Near the little outside door leading up to the little cupola of the Latins, in front of Calvary : 26-4.
— In the angle on the left hand, near the entrance door, on the side where the belfry stands, on the fourth course of stonework [26-1 20;^].
— On a stone from the demolished chambers of the Khankah which have been given over to the Franciscans : 8-23.
Belfry (outside).
13-16, 18-18.
Belfry (inside).
— At the top of the stair, on the right hand, and in the upper chamber: 8-5, 8-21, ii-Sc. 13-15, 18-17, 19-22, 20-17, 2-1 irt'.
Belfry.
— 10-14, 10-17, 1 1-8, 3-2, 19-23.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre (inside). A/>se of the Greek Choir.
— The stones of the semicircular wall show the mediaeval tooling,* with almost vertical strokes.
* For mediseval tooling, see the explanation given below, Section B.
Places where the Masons' Marks have been found. 13
— The outside of the wall, on the south side, second course: 26-1 2(5 (twice), 24-18, 24-14, 24-20, 15-19, 13-9 (three times), 26-12/^ 12-2, 11-23.
— The outside of the wall, on the south side, second course, above, set back, as one goes in by the right ; 20-21.
— The outside of the wall, on the south side, second course, on the left hand side of the stairs leading down to .St. Helena's Crypt : 26-1 2(5.
— The inside of the outer boundary wall, under the moulding of the base : 21-8.
— The outside curve in the corridor where the little chapels are : 13-16 (twice), 24-i4(5ir, 26-1 lac, 26-10, 26-1 2af, 24-21, 24-19, 24-17, 24-20^, 24-16, 24-15 15-21.
St. Helena s Crypt.
— The Pavement of the altar, at the end of the crypt, on the left hand side : 8-23.
Region round about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
— At the angle formed by the Street of the Christians and the street which leads from the forecourt of the Holy Sepulchre, on the left hand side : 2-13, 1-17, 5-23.
— On the ofround belonsfinp; to the Russians, on the east side ot the Holy Sepulchre, on the left hand side of the entrance, second course of the visible angle : 25-9.
— In the cloister of the canons of the Holy Sepulchre, Russian ground, at the top of the pier : 26-13.
Abyssinian Convent.
— On the lantern of St. Helena's cistern : 11-7 (repeated).
— On a fragment of the arcade as one enters : 21-1 \ad.
— 22-7af, i-it), 4-1, 4-5, 14-7, 18-5, 18-19, '8-20, 23-17.'"
* We must add to these a mark which I have not been able to figure in my plate, -e— ^ , but which has been copied by Tobler {Go/gol/in, pp. 518, 619); Beilage G., No. 4), on a block of stone in the third bay of the pointed arcade in the south wall (goint; from west to east).
H
ArchcBoloncal Researches in Palestine.
— In the blind alley on the left hand side of the street Khan es Zezt, before one comes to the bazaar, there are upon two or three stones what are not regular masons' marks, but probably marks of ownership of the buildings, i 7-9, i 7-9^.
The Muristan.
— In the Corn Market, on the bottom stones of the piers : [8-6r], 19-20^^.
— Near the Corn Market, on one of the piers : 3-6(5.
— On the ground belonging to the Knights of St. John, which belongs to Prussia, near the market: 4-10, 15-23, 27-14, 1-23, 12-3, 5-22^, 8-5.
— D.S. : 26-14, 19-20, 6-15, 14-16, 14-21, 18-21, 27-21, 26-2.
S. : 1-8, 1-20, I-
I 2-
20, 28-8, 27-1, 26-19, 26-
25-19, 25-1,
25-3, 24-22, 20-5, 27-23, 18-15, i8-i3' 16-20, 15-7, 2-5, 8-19, 26-i2b, 10-13, 1 1-8 (twice), 20-19, 12-21, 4-16, 6-Sd, [10-21^^], 6-23, 21-19^^, [26-23^], 13-16, 12-22, ii-io, 28-8, 20-16 (twice), 24-22^, 14-18, 18-1417'.
The Baz.\ars.
— St. Anne's"" Bazaar, on various courses of ashlar, arches, voussoirs and springers (the tooling perhaps has been altered, it is not done with a toothed tool): 11-14. 11-8, 25-18, 23-10, 20-5, S-6dd.
— On a fragment of a voussoir from one of the vaults of St. Anne's Bazaar, tooled freely in mediaeval fashion. I have brought the original stone to London. See Vol. II, No. 486, Rough List, No. 65. 7-15 (on the concave
side).
— In one of the bays between the Butchers' Market
and the Shoemakers' Market, on a stone : 29-6.
— In the wall of one of the lateral communications between the bazaars : 29-7.
— In the back shop of a potter in the Butchers' Market, showing medieeval tooling : \o-\yic.
* I call it so, because I have discovered the name of SCA ANNA (cut in Gothic letters)
repeated on several of its stones. This, as I shall show hereafter, shows that the tolls of this
market were, at the period of the Crusades, appropriated for the maintenance of St. Anne's Church and Convent {Probatica).
Places iv/iere the Masons Marks have been found. 1 5
— In a cafe at the point where the Street of David joins the street of the Bazaar, as one steps up on to the terrace, on a mediaeval arch : 14-13 (twice);?'.
— On another little staircase on the other side, leading to an upstairs stable ; the mark is on the stonework between two fine pointed-arches of the Crusading period, showing mediaeval tooling: 28-22, 28-23, 29-1, 29-2, 2i-i5if, 9-i8r, 8-9, 23-11.
— On the ashlar of one of the piers of the arcade along the Street of David : 27-13.
— At Khan es Sultan, towards the stable, on the three lower courses, which consist of fine large blocks ; on one of them which is mediaevally tooled: 7-18; on others, 22-14, 21-9, 29-15, 17-3, 28-14, i"/- 6-1 1, 20-2iac, 28-15, ii-22f, ad, 1-2, 14-10, 15-3, 15-2, 18-3, 21-10, 21-11, 22-3, 22-9.
The Haram esh Sherif.
— On the outside of the wall of the Sakhra, on one of the pilasters, on the left hand side of the western central door, on the third course, counting downwards from the springer, above the leaden hood: 24-12 (1 have found an almost exactly similar mark on one of the blocks on the outside of the tambour, upon the part which can be seen under the roof).
— In the Mosque: 10-15, 28-11, 27-5, 19-20/^, 11-16, 11-18, ii_ii.
— On the pavement to the east of the esplanade (or sahen), near the arches over the staircase : 20-14, 21-12, 14-18.
— Pavement: R, 28-7, 26-5, 26-6, 25-2, 24-6, 22-13, 20-20, 20-8, 20-9, 19-17. 13-7- 5-19- 16-15, 9-1-
The Central Esplanade [Sahen).
— On a buttress on the west side, between the two staircases: 16-10, 15-13, 10-20, 3-6, iQ-i\ad, 2-iob.
— On the arcade extending on the west side at the back of the chambers, at the south-west angle, upon medievally tooled stones : 5-21.
— On the south wall of the esplanade, upon the stones of the buildings which have grown up against it, in the upper part, in the bay where the staircase is : 7-5.
1 6 Archceolooical Researches in Palestine.
"i>
Mosque of El Aksa.
— On the pavement of the central nave, on the right hand side, throughout the entire length, passim: 22-23, 23-1, 24-2, 22-10, 21-7, 25-16 (twice).
The Great Store House adjoining the Aksa.*
— Inside, on the left hand as you go in : 17-1, 24-8 ; further on : 3-16 (twice).
— On the embrasure of a window : 8-6.
— Passim: 16-23, 8-6^', 10-16 (four times), 13-14, 15-20 (three times), 16-11, 19-6, 17-23, 21-24 (twice), 25-14, ^5-15 (twice).
Solomon's St.\bles.
— E : \ 9-20«f .
Underneath El Aksa.
— Outside of wall : 29-1 i.
On the Facade of the bnileling adjoiniuo the Aksa on the ivest side.
— The entire wall is mediaeval work, includino- the beyinnincr of the return wall on the right, belonging to the Mosque of the M'gha'rbeh ; arch with : ig-iy ad. Above the central doorway, each voussoir has a mark : lo-i, 23-16, lo-i^ac.
Gates and Passages leading into the Haram area.
— On Bab Hitta, on the inside, on the right hand as you go in, on the third pier on medisevally looled stones, in the ninth course, counting from the bottom: 29-17 and 18, 27-4.
— ■ Ditto, on the inside, on the right hand as you go in, on a pier of the north porch : 3-3.
— Ditto, on the right hand as you go in : 23-15 (twice), 9-23.
* This long vaulted hall, which is not generally shown to visitors, is mentioned by Mujir ed Din.
Places where the Masons Marks have been found. 1 7
— On Bab Hitta, on the left hand as you go in : 6-14.
— Bab el 'Atmeh, on the left hand side as you go in : 9-18, 7-17, 2\-\i^ad, 19-20.
— On one of the piers of the north portico of the Haram area, No. 10, counting from the north-east angle, in the middle of a stone which shows no mediaeval tooling, but marks of the point of the pick : 17-16, 14-4.
— On one of the piers of the north portico, No. i on the right hand (or the left?) of Bab Hitta, on a stone worked with the point of the pick : 2-21.
— On a pier of the north portico. No. 3 on the right or left of Bab Hitta, on a stone dressed with the point of the pick : 13-18.
— On a pier of the north portico, No. 5 on the right or left hand of Bab Hitta, on a stone dressed with the point of the pick : 22-22, 26-9, 8-5.
— On a pier of the north portico, No. 6, dressed with the point of the pick (no striae) : 24-1.
— On one of the piers of the west portico, at the northern end : 5-21.
— On the gate of the Haram area near the Mehkemeh, on a pier of stonework between the two inside arches, 1 7-9 ; is not a mason's mark, but probably a mark of ownership ;* deeply cut. The tooling is not mediaeval.
— On the arches of one of the gates on the north side : 17-14.
— Ditto : 9-20.
— On the left hand as you go into the Gate El Ghawanimeh : 2-10.
— In the Silk el Kattanin, on the right hand side, in a sort of chamber at the end of the hall where is an Arab tarikh (the stone bears marks of other characters also) : 8-20, 26-21.
— Near the Bab el Mutewaddha, on a stone built into the wall of a house: 10-12, \o~iiac
— On a house near the Haram : 28-9, 8-1 1.
— At Bab es Sekinah, facing the Mehkemeh, there was a modern building which concealed the left hand bay of the double gate ; at the base of the pier A, are fine stones bearing marks : 5-8, 21-14, 5~-3-
— Ditto, on one of the voussoirs of the left hand arch : 10-2, 8-19.
* Like the great T in the blind alley of the street Khati ez Zdt, mentioned above.
D
1 8 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.
Via Dolorosa.
— On the wall on the left hand before you reach Bab el 'A.tmeh, coming from St. Anne's: 11-12, 5-21, ii-io, 3-21, 6-21, 23-14, 21-19,
19-5. 15-15-
^ On the south wall, between Bab el 'Atmeh and Bab Hitta, on a piece of wall which appears up to a certain height to consist of pieces of mediaeval stonework : 11-12, 15-16, 17-17.
— On a stone in the wall beside the Bab el 'Atmeh, which shows mediaeval tooling very slightly slanted (curved surface ?) re-worked in Arab fashion at one end: 10-13.
— On a smooth stone in the court of the chapel of the Scourging : 6-12, 25-23, 6-2.
— On a smooth stone in the rioht hand iamb of the oreat walled up doorway of the Barracks : 14-3, 14-22.
— North-west an^le of barracks, eicrhth course: 6-12.
— Mediaevally tooled stone, wall of barracks : 3-9.
— On the side pier of an opening level with the ground, before you come to the convent of the Sisters of Sion : 4-22.
— At the bottom of the right hand jamb of the great bay in the wall, before you come to the convent of the Sisters of Sion : 4-18.
— In the lane at the back of the old seraglio : i9-2 2rt:ir.
The Prison.
— In the entrance, on a slab of the Mastaba on the rieht hand: 20-11, 28-1.
— On the east wall of the platform: 14-1.
— On a stone bench in the basement : 28-2.
House of Dives (so called).
— On the side facing the old military hospital: 4-13 (twice).
Tarik Bab el 'AMud.
— On a medisevally tooled stone under the vault, looking toward the Armenian ground: 1-12.
Places where the Masons Alarks have been found. 1 9
— On all the mediaevally tooled voussoirs of the arches in the court of a Jew's house : i9-20«r.
— On the keystone of one of these arches, medictvally tooled: 28-17.
Vault under the House of Rabah Effendi.
— 2- 1 Of.
House of Veronica (so called).
— On a pier on the other side of the street, near the house: 3-1 1.
— On a great stone almost opposite the half-buried arcades : 3-19.
— The half-buried arcades. This mark is on the third voussoir of one arch and the fourth voussoir of another: 7-17.
— Ditto, on the right hand side voussoirs of the arch which is under the house : 19-20 (twice).
— Near the house, on the fourth voussoir of the same arch, mediaevally tooled: 4-15 (twice).
Near the street Zokak el Bus.
— At the beginning of the Hosh Sheikh Bakir, to the north of the Ecce Homo arch, near the street of Mohammed Derwish : 21-14^'.
— On a house near the Maulawyeh : \\-%b, 13-3.
The Kal'a (Tower of David).
— On a stone in the castle yard, at the bottom of the ditch, near the Jaffa Gate, looking west: 4-16, ii-'icb, 7-4, 4-14.
— In the wall beside the road, at the foot of the Tower of David, in the valley: 22-17.
The Kasr Jalud, c.\lled the Tower of Psephinus.
— At the corner of the tower, on the south side, a little way along the wall: 4-11 (twice), 16-12, 26-14, 2-"]^.
— On the return face: 4-1 8^.
— On the north side, on the inside, a loop-hole tooled (perhaps re-tooled) in the Arab (?) manner, obliquely: 2-IT, 16-6, 25-10, 11-15.
D 2
20 Archceological Researches in Palestine.
The Damascus Gate.
— In the town-wall, near the gate : i-iS, i-6, 1-9, 5-7, 4-17 {twice), ii-S(^, [9-15], \2-2\c, 24-3, [24-1], 15-21, 23-13 (several times), 23-12, 23-21, 25-7, 26-22, 27-18, 11-3, 7-2, 13-22, 14-23, 18-4, 20-1, 20-18, 21-23, 22-6, 29-3, 29-4, 29-5.
Walls of Jerusalem.
— West side, opposite the cave of Jeremiah, on medisevally tooled stone : 25-12.
Jerusalem, whereabouts unknown.
— /.■ 4-9, 23-2, 10-22, 20-^ad, 19-20, 19-8.
Immediate Neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
— In the wall of the Armenian church on Mount Sion (House of Caiaphas) : 16-2.
— On a corner-stone of the sanctuary of Neby Daud (the angle of the stone is cut away) : 15-23.
— Near Neby Daud, on a mediseval stone (diggings of Mr. Maudslay) : 17-19.
Church of the Sepulchre of the Virgin.
— On the under side of small side arch: 4-20, 26-1 5^^ (often repeated).
— On the soffit of the first cross rib of the vault, and on the corbel of the vault : 4-20, 26-23, 13-8 (often repeated).
■ — • On the soffit of an arch : 19-20, 23-22 (often repeated).
— Soffit of vault: 13-19, 13-20, 11-9, 10-12 (several times) 3-9, (several times), 6-18 (several times), 5-6, 5-3, 3-18 (several times), 26- 2TyCb (several times), 18-12 (several times): 8-19, 10-23.
— On the base of a small column, course of ashlar and soffit of the arch: 23-11 (several times).
— Courses of ashlar: 14-19, 21-14.
Places where the Masoiis Marks have been fottnd. 1 1
— Second ridge rib: 9-12, 13-6, 16-15 (^-l' often repeated).
— Keystone and soffit : 21-14 (several times repeated).
— Head of the keystone of an arch : 26-2oad.
— Keystone : i i-i.
— Wall-arch on right hand: 28-12, 5-23 (several times).
— Head of a wall arch : lo-ii, 10-9, 3-9 (several times, and on the keystone) 18- 11 (several times).
— Outside: 26-17, 18-8 (several times), 12-10 (several times), 9-14, 3-10, 7-1, 28-13, 28-6, 28-5 (marks often repeated), 27-11,27-12, 26-23, 23-22, 23-23, 23-10, 22-5, 22-7, 21-21, 21-17, 21-18, 20-13, 14-6 (several times), 13-13 (several times), 13-10 (several times), 12-9 (several times), 10-23 (several times), 11-23 (several times), 11-2 (several times), 8-22, 5-23, 4-7, 2-6, 26-23 (several times), 26-22 (several times) 23- 23^1 19-20, ii~8(r (several times), 10-20 (several times), 10-23, 8-19 (several times), 6-21, 6-17, 20-5^/^ (several times), 4-20 (several times), 3-6, 3-10 (several times).
U: 26-8, 23-8, 15-17, 15-9, 14-ri, 14-5, 10-7, 4-19, 2-3, 2-4, 15-20, 23-8, 14-11, 26-8 [20-5], 4-19, 10-7, 2-4, 2-3, 10-12, 26-11^.
The Mount of Olives. On houses in the village: 26-1, 25-13, 5-10, 5-1, 26-11, 20-2i(5, 5-1.
El Kebekiyeh (near the Pool of Mamilla).
On the south-east side, which is that in best preservation: 21-13, 11-18, 20-140"^/, 1-4 (marks often repeated).
— 25-11, 25-22, 23-9, 19-8, 17-21, 15-21, 13-17, 5-22, 4-16, 1 1-8.
— On a buried stone close by : 20-3.
Near the Ash Heaps (on the north side of the city).
— On the splay of the east window of a ruined house : 5-4.
— Same place, fourth stone to the right, in fourth course: 12-23.
— Same place, fourth stone to the right, fourth course, on the east side : 2-7.
— Wely on the left hand side of the road to Nablus (almost opposite the place where M. de Saulcy tried to make out the site of a theatre) : 2-22, 4-20^0^, 15-20.
2 2 ArchcBolovical Researches in Palestine.
"A
A LITTLE Ruined Church to the north of the Damascus Gate.
— On the wall of the chambers : 21-14.
— On a separate block of hewn stone, G : 16-21, 16-22.
At the Asnerie of the Crusaders.
— T: 9-19.
AT NEBY SAMWIL.
— On the lower courses of the north outside wall : 19-20, 19-10 [26-23], 2-23 2-20.
— On the keystone of a vault: 21-18, 29-20, 29-12, 19-11.
— P: 3-5. 3-4. 9-3. 11-13. 15-10- 17-20, 19-7. 23-5, 25-20, 26-3, 19-23, 26-i2f, lo-i irt', 8-II. 13-16^', 4-19, 16-13, 15--21, 22-17.
KUBEIBEH (Emmaus of the Franciscans).
The Church.
The following marks are often repeated on the string-courses, courses of ashlar, voussoirs, etc. (which all show mediseval tooling) : 25-17, 18-10, 16-13, 15-22, 15-1, 13-1. 12-13, 6-13, 21-19, 21-18, 12-22, 11-8, lo-^d, 9-7, 4-18, 26-18, 21-20, 19-2, 16-16, 15-14, 14-20, 14-19, 1-5, 3-1, 5-2, 6-10, 6-17, 6-21, 7-6, 8-14, 9-7, 9-S, 9-15, 9-16, 9-21, 1 1-8.
— Z : 2-2, 9-22, 16-17, 19-18.
— N: 5-22rt', 9-10, 10-yc. 14-12, 9-11, 9-13.
IK'BALA. Ruined Building.
— M : 5-23, 15-23, 3-61^, i3-i4fl'r, 12-12, 10-17, 11-9, 19-20^, 18-4^, 11-8, 28-19, 28-18, 20-19, 19-4, 18-14, 13-12, 9-9, 8-12, 7-1 1, 1-22.*
* According to a private letter which I have received from Father Paul de St. Aignan (Dec. 18, 1897), we must add, (i) the mark 21-10, (2) a mark which I have not been able to show in the plate ; it consists of a heart surmounted by a Q ; (3) a mark shaped like a fleur-de-lis, akin to 28-22, 28-23, 29-1, and 29-2, in the plate.
Places ivkcre the Masons A f arks have been found. 23
SOBA.
— On the stones of the old fortification wall : 28-20, 6-23, 1 1-4, io-2\b. -- On the drafted stones: 28-16, 21-23, 24-11, 7-19, 6-22, 10-16^;^,
6-21, 29-16, 29-8.
ABU GHOSH.
— Right hand apse, looking east : 7-16.
— Central apse: 27-17, 27-15, 7-20, 6-1, 4-14, 8-5«c, lo-ijad.
— Lower part of the apse, stones not medievally tooled until one reaches the beginning of the vault (cul-de-four) : 22-12, 12-22.
— Lower part of apse, on the soffit of the same voussoir (mediaeval tooling): 24-3, and 11-8.
— Lower part of the apse (mediaeval tooling): 15-4, 13-2, 15-23, 5-14, 4-4, 12-16 (several times).
— The Crypt, soffit of arch : 12-1 (twenty-one times), 5-13 (several times), 5-20.
— On the crown of the arch : 12-22.
— On the outside ; i 1-6.
— On the piers: 3-20^, 5-23, 2-7, 1-17, 27-19, 23-18, 23-19, 19-13 (several times), 16-5, 14-14, 12-16, 11-17, 9-17, 8-1 1, 7-22, 6-9 (several times), 5-16, 4-12, 4-8, 3-20, 19-20, 21-14, ii-iOf/, [9-16] repeatedly, 7-4, 6-2ib, 27-20.
— On a block which has been re-tooled, or badly tooled : 8-5.
— [5-14] (several times), 11-22 (several times) 27-6, .24-13, 15-5, 14-8, 5-5, 2-8, 19-20, 8-8, 12-12, 9-16, 6-21, 27-10, fc-6, 11-18, 5-15.
— E : ig-2oae.
— /.• 19-20, 27-7, 14-15, 23-18.
— O: 12-12, 3-23, 6-4, 7-23, 27-7, 27-8, 20-21, 8-2i/'i, 4-i6r, 6-22(/, 21-18, S-22C (twice), 15-21, 15-20, 19-9^^, 29-10, 29-9, 3-22, 6-16, 7~j, 8-1, 7-23, 9-2, 9-5, 9-6, 10-10, 10-18, 13-4, 16-7, 19-9, 19-16, 19-21, 20-10, 22-11, 22-15, 23-6, 27-8.
Besides these, I find in my notes the following remark : " on a stone in the crypt a mason's mark representing a human head." Unfortunately the sketch of it which we made has been mislaid.
BEIT NUBA.
— On the ashlar of the apse : 2-18.
24 Archcsological Researches in Palestine.
•AMWAS. The Church.
— K : On the wall of the part rebuilt by the Crusaders: 21-18, 22-8, 23-4.
LYDDA.
The Church.
— On the stones of the exterior piers, now comprised in the outer wall of the mosque: 12-14, 12-/, 3-8.
— On a mediaeval stone in the west wall, on the outside of the mosque : 5-18.
— Almost every stone of the Church of the Crusaders bore a letter or a mason's mark: 9-20, 3-17. 12-15, 12-19, 21-16, 8-2, 10-4, ■]-•]. 7-13, 7-12, 7-8, 5-18. 5-12, 5-11, 4-18, 3-15, 1-14, 21-14, 10-17, 8-2, 8-3, 26-16, 7-9, 3-13. io-i6rt', 8-19.
— On a media^vally tooled stone near Lydda, which serves as a horse- block for the Greek convent: 2-17.
— Y: 10-12, 8-1 1, 1-15, 1-13, 3-14, 3-12, 5-5, 7-10, 12-18, 16-4, 16-9, 16-8, 17-7, 27-3, 27-2, 28-21, 29-19.
The Bridge.
— On a voussoir of the eastern arch : 2-16.
— On a voussoir of the central arch : 26-20.
— On a voussoir : ^i-l^ 10-3.
— On the drums of a column enclosed in the stonework at one end (five drums visible), the rest probably buried inside : 12-12 (twice).
— 4-8, 8-19, 7-14, 10-17, 4-3, 3-23, 4-21, 21-15, 12-17, 12-6, 7-141:, A,-2od, 2-19 (twice^, 8-19, 8-15, 4-6, 20-16, 17-6, 16-1S, 20-22, 26-15, 27-16, 10-5, 12-5.
On the same Bridge.
— A : Centre arch, north side : 10-6, 7-14, 4-20.
— Soffit of centre arch, south side : 22-16.
Places lu/iere the Alasons Marks have been found. 25
RAMLEH.
The Church.
— Right hand apse : i-ii, i-i, 13-5, 12-21, 17-22.
— 29-14.
The (so-called) Tower of the Forty Martyrs.
— On mediaevally tooled stones : 8-6, 9-4, 14-17.
— On non-mediaevally tooled stones : 20-7, 11-23^ (twice).
— J : On the staircase of the tower : 12-21, 24-4 [13-13]-
YEBNA.
The Bridge.
— A: East arch, north side : 11-5.
— East arch, south side: 15-6, 22-2.
— West arch, north side : i-io.
— West arch, south side : 6-20.
BEIT JIBRIN. The Ruined Church.
— On medisevally tooled stones, repeatedly : 7-4, 1 2-1 2c/, 5-22C.
— Q : 12-12, 8-6fl^, 6-4.
GAZA.
The Little Greek Church.
— On medisevally tooled marble : 10-21, 1 1-9, 17-15.
The Great Mosque.
— On the voussoirs of the great door, on the inner side ; the original tooHng has disappeared through the polishing of the stone: 1-21 (five or six times).
E
26 ArchcBological Researches ui Palestuic.
— Soffit of the voussoirs of the door : 2-12 (several times).
— On the upper fillet of the cornice, on the right hand side of the door looking towards it : 1-9.
— On a marble string course, several times repeated : 29-13, 20-4.
EL BIREH.
Church.
This solitary mark, 18-7, occurs more than thirty times on all the obviously medieval parts of the building.
— On stones of non-mediseval tooling : 21-6.
— /.- 6-7, 10-8, 18-6, 16-1.
— L: iS-S^r, 8-12 (twice), 20-21, 18-9.
nAblus.
The Great Mosque.
— On the outside : 2-15, 4-2, 4-8, 12-4, 21-14C, 13-23, 18-1, 24-4, 24-9.
— H : 2-1, 3-19.
The Church of Suk el 'Atain (Nablus).
— On mediaevally tooled stones : 17-2, 11-22, 21-13^.
SEBtJSTIEH.
— On all the voussoirs of a sub-arch («;r doiibkmi) : 2-9, 5-22^, 8-6, 12-12, 23-7.
— Ashlar of window splay, smooth stone : 1 1-19.
— All the following marks occur many times over: 4-20rtf(^, 11-20, I1-21, 12-4, 12-11, 21-14, 19-20, 19-14, 19-15-
/.• 2-7, 23-3, 15-18, 21-22, 12-8, 2-14, 8-17, 6-3, 11-21.
ACRE. The Rushdiyeh School : 17-10.
Places where the Masons Marks have been found. 27
NAZARETH.
The Ancient Church of the Crusaders.* In the left hand apse : 19-20. Here and there there are some other new marks, of a very complicated kind, which I have not been able to put into the Plate, the notice of them having reached me too late.t In the window of the left hand apse : OGIER. This name is found repeated many times on various stones of the building ; the letters of which it is composed are sometimes increasing, and sometimes diminishing in size as they go on. It is a true mason's mark, contemporary with the building, and not, as one might think, a grajjito. This is proved, first, by the very fact of its repetition, and secondly by the fact of its existence on several of the stones belonmne to the foundation. All the stones show the diagonal strokes which are characteristic of Crusaders' work ; the strokes seem very sharp as far as I can tell from squeezes.
TYRE.
B : Hiram's Tomb: 16-3 (the cross was most likely cut afterwards, and is not a true mason's mark).
SIDON.
The Castle in the Sea.
— B : Wall c : 2Q-\ibc, 21-2, 18-2, 18-16, 20-2.
— Wall d: 13-14, i5-2i<r, 21-5, 16-19, 17-11- 20-15, 21-4, 21-3, 21-1, 25-6, 15-11, 13-11-
JEBEIL.
The Church of Mar Yohanna, built by the Crusaders.
— A : On some of the stones of the south-west buttress, which have no diagonal strokes easily seen : 8-16.
* Disinterred during the last few years by the careful researches of the Franciscan Fathers. I owe the information which follows to the kindness of Father Paul de St. Aignan (his letter is dated 1897).
t Among them is a small Armenian inscription, which obviously was carved at a later date.
E 2
28 Archaological Researches in Palestine.
— On the square angle tower on the north-west of the donjon, on several stones showing diagonal tooling, a great deal worn away, but still visible: 8-5 (several times), 7-4, 17-8, 8-7.
— The donjon of the town : 19-1.
— 19-23.
DAMASCUS.
Without the Walls.
A A : Upon a mosque near the brook (Turbet el 'Omany), tooled with the point of the pick, there are cut coarsely : 20-23, 18-12 (several times).
KAL'AT HOSN EL AKRAD {Crat des Chevaliers).
— A: In the porch of the castle chapel: 6-19, 17-18, 20-12, 22-1, 22-19, 22-21, 24-7, 24—10.
AA : 31-16, 20-14, 31-13, 21-14, 22-21, 30-3, 30-20, 26-11, 31-10, i8-4rt', 30-17, 31-20, 31-7, 30-21, 30-7, 32-1, 31-8, 21-22, 21-10, 31-9, 6-19, 20-12, 12-21, 30-2, 31-15, 31-11, 31-22.
E: 19-20.
V: West tower of the castle: 7-4, \'S>-^b, 22-20, 17-12, 10-19.
Upon this subject M. van Berchem writes to me as follows : " If my memory does not deceive me, the masons' marks are not to be found on the facade itself, but upon the stonework of an exterior porch which joins the facade upon one side. One arch of this porch may be seen in the photograph* built into the wall .... The stones show diagonal strokes, and in the facade there is an arch like the one of the bridge at Lydda.t made out of the materials of the Frank church there, with a moulding of the same kind, but more carefully wrought. This part of the castle does not seem to have been meddled with by the Mohammedans. They have built in front of it a staircase which blocks up the original entrance. This seems to have been built for convenience of access to the inner court, whose walls butt against the chapel at this point. The stonework of the vaults also seems to mc to show traces of the hands of the Franks. The fagade is certainly Frankish work, and the marks which I have noted have no doubt the same origin .... The stonework of the porch is not the
* A verj' good one, taken by M. van Berchem himself. I think that with the aid of a magnifying glass I can make out the mark 22-19 o" the first voussoir on the right hand side of the arch (which carries the staircase ?), which appears on the left hand side of the photograph.
\ See Vol. II, p. no sqq. of this work.
Places tv/iere the Masons Marks have been foimd. 29
same as that of the original facade, where the stones are drafted with a deeply cut border, whereas in the porch and staircase they have smooth joints with traces of diagonal tooling. Perhaps the porch was built at the same time as the staircase, to replace the original entrance which has been superseded by the latter ; but, I repeat, these additions seem to have been made by the Franks .... The porch has a central joint at the crown of the arch."
SAHYUN.
A : On the lintel and voussoirs of the discharging arch of the postern* on the north side of the castle: 5-9, 8-13, 13-21, 17-5, 8-18, 8-10.
Four of these marks are distinctly visible on an e.xcellent photograph of the postern taken by M. van Berchem. The marks N and AA are cut, the one on the right, and the other on the left hand side of the same drafted stone which serves as a lintel to the postern. The mark N is often repeated on a square tower of the same castle.
MARGAT. The Castle.
— A A : On Biirj es Sati, an outlying tower of Margat, on the side next the sea: 21-14, 20-2, 31-2, 15-20, 12-21, 32-2.
— On some of the voussoirs of an arch in the interior, between the entrance of the second enceinte and the interior court (this part of the casde is entirely Frank work): 9-20, i8-3<5, 8-4, 15-20, 25-8, 19-3,- 18-23, 18-22, 8-4.
SAFITA (Chastel-Blanc).
The Tower or Keep.
W: In the great hall in the upper story: 7-4, 21-14, 5^23, 19-12, 17-4, 14-2, 4-23.
— AA: 11-16, 31-5, 11-23, 30-22, 31-1, 30-1, 12-4, 31-19, 31-6, 31-3, 30-12, 31-21, 30-14, 6-19, 26-20, 11-22, 31-18, 30-10, 32-6, 12-22, 32-3, 30-4, 30-18, 19-2. ■
* See a good sketch of this postern in Dussaud's Voyage en Syrie, 1895, p. u-
30 Arclicsological Researches tJi Palestine.
LEBANON AND CCELE-SYRIA.
— C: Kul'at esh ShOkJf : 13-5.
■ — BURKUSH : 20-2\C, 24-8, 4-18^', 26-^ad.
NORTHERN SYRIA.
TOKLEH.
— X : A Tower: 7-4, 8-5, 17-13, 24-5.
ALEPPO.
— A : — On various stones on one of the towers of the old walls of the town: 20-sad, 6-5, 6-4, 15-12, 16-14, IQ-IQ- 20-6, 22-4, 22-18, 24-23. 25-5, 28-3, 27-22, 25-4, 22-7.
One may reasonably doubt whether these marks are Arab or Frank, for Aleppo was always continuously occupied by the Mohammedans during the period of the Crusades, and their historians * have made us acquainted with the names of the sultans who in succession caused work to be done upon the city wall. "The enceinte," M. van Berchem writes to me, "is altogether Arab work both in its general conception and in its details. As far as I remember, these marks are cut in the centre of stones which cannot have been taken from any other building."
Nevertheless, these signs seem too characteristically Frank to be Arab ones, and although none of them are alphabetical ones, which would settle the question, yet several of them are to be found upon stones belonging to buildings of incontestably Frankish origin. I therefore ask myself whether the Arabs may not in this case, as they have done in many others, saved themselves trouble by transporting ready-hewn stone from some of the towns and castles near Aleppo, when they had won them back from the Crusaders. Or, may they not at some particular
* M. van Berchem believes that he can prove that the part of the walls whereon he found these marks is the work of the Ayubite Sultan El Melik edh Dhaher Ghazi (Saladin's son). It is probable, because Yakut tells us that this prince rebuilt the town and dug the ditch
Places where the Masons Marks have been found. 3 1
period have made use of Prankish prisoners to hew some of their stone ? and may not some of these men either from the custom of their trade or out of some whim of their own, have cut their marl-cs upon the stones, although the act would have been unavailing for them, considering the conditions under which they were working? Aleppo was one of the principal centres to which the prisoners taken in these endless raids were sent, and on both sides, both Mohammedans and Crusaders, as we know,* were quite prepared to make use of workmen who cost them nothing for the great works necessary for the defence of towns. I give this conjecture for what it is worth, without laying any especial stress upon it, and until I have more evidence in my hands, I shall suspend my judgment as to the origin of the masons' marks discovered at Aleppo.
TORTOSA.
— AA : The Church: 31-23, 31-17, 2i-22ad, 31-14, 31-12, 30-6, 8-6, 12-22, 30-9, 13-S, e-iqb, 30-13, 31-3.
bAniAs (BALANEA).
— A A : On several stones which were being re-tooled : 20-23.
KUL'AT 'AREIMEH.
A A : On the right hand pier of one of the gates : 30-8.
— Marked on a stone with very plain mediaeval tooling : 32-4 ;
18-3, 21-22^^, 30-15, 30-16, 32-5, 30-5, 30-11, 12-23, 30-19,
22-2iad, 31-4.
OF UNCERTAIN ORIGIN.
F: 2S-10, 28-4, 27-9, 25-21, 23-20, 15-8, 7-21, 5-17.
Note. — See also, although it leads us a little beyond our own ground, the masons' marks found at El Hadhr (Hatra), in Mesopotamia, by Messrs. Ainsworth and Rassam {Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, March, 1892, p. 256). Layard believed them to be Sassanid, and says that he has found others like them at Bisutun and Ispahan. Mr. Ainsworth seems inclined to attribute them to another source. Several of them bear a great likeness to our Crusaders' marks.
* For instance, Saladin, as we learn from the Mohammedan chroniclers (see Mujir ed Din, el Uns el /elll, page 338 of the Arabic text of Cairo), employed two thousand Frank prisoners to dig the ditch and build up the wall of Jerusalem after he had taken it from the Crusaders.
ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.
II.— LIST OF THE MASONS' MARKS ARRANGED ACCORDING
TO LOCALITY.
|
I-I Ramleh. |
2-10 Jerusalem. |
4-1 |
Jerusalem. |
|
1-2 Jerusalem. |
2-1 1 Jerusalem. |
4-2 |
Nablus. |
|
1-3 Jerusalem. |
2-12 Gaza. |
4-3 |
Lydda. |
|
1-4 Jerusalem (neigh- |
2-13 Jerusalem. |
4-4 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
bourhood). |
2-14 Sebiistieh. |
4-5 |
Jerusalem. |
|
1-5 Kubeibeh (Emmaus |
2-15 Nablus. |
4-6 |
Lydda. |
|
of the Francis- |
2-16 Lydda. |
4-7 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
cans). |
2-17 Lydda. |
bourhood). |
|
|
1-6 Jerusalem. |
2-18 Beit Nuba. |
4-8 |
Abu Ghosh, Nablus. |
|
1-7 Jerusalem. |
2-19 Lydda. |
4-9 |
Jerusalem. |
|
1-8 Jerusalem. |
2-20 Neby Samwil. |
4-10 |
Jerusalem. |
|
1-9 Jerusalem. |
2-21 Jerusalem. |
4-1 1 |
Jerusalem. |
|
i-io Yebna. |
2-22 Jerusalem (neigh- |
4-12 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
i-ii Ramleh. |
bourhood). |
4-13 |
Jerusalem. |
|
I- 1 2 Jerusalem. |
2-23 Neby Samwil. |
4-14 |
Jerusalem, Abu |
|
I-13 Lydda. |
3-1 Kubeibeh. |
Ghosh. |
|
|
I-14 Lydda. |
3-2 Jerusalem. |
4-15 |
Jerusalem. T 1 1 |
|
I- 1 5 Lydda. |
3-3 Jerusalem. |
4-16 |
Jerusalem and neighbourhood, |
|
1-16 Jerusalem. |
3-4 Neby Samwil. |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
|
1-17 Jerusalem, Abu |
3-5 Neby Samwil. |
4-17 |
Jerusalem. |
|
Ghosh. |
3-6 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Tk'hala |
4-18 |
Jerusalem, Lydda, |
|
I- 1 8 Jerusalem. |
Lebanon and |
||
|
I-IQ Gaza. |
J. rv LJcLldi |
Coele Syria. |
|
|
1-20 Jerusalem. |
3-7 Lydda. |
4-19 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
I—21 Gaza. |
3-8 Lydda. |
bourhood), Neby |
|
|
3-9 Jerusalem and |
Samwil. |
||
|
1-22 ik'bala. 1-23 Jerusalem. |
neighbourhood. |
4-20 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
3-10 Jerusalem (neigh- |
bourhood), Lyd- |
||
|
2-1 Nablus. |
bourhood). |
da, Sebustieh. |
|
|
2-2 Kubeibeh. |
3-1 1 Jerusalem. |
4-21 |
Lydda. |
|
2-3 Jerusalem (neigh- |
3-12 Lydda. |
4-22 |
Jerusalem. |
|
bourhood). |
3-13 Lydda. |
4-23 |
Safita. |
|
2-4 Jerusalem (neigh- |
3-14 Lydda. |
5-1 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
bourhood). |
3-15 Lydda. |
bourhood). |
|
|
2-5 Jerusalem. |
3-16 Jerusalem. |
S-2 |
Kubeibeh. |
|
2-6 Jerusalem (neigh- |
3-17 Lydda. |
5-3 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
bourhood). |
3-18 Jerusalem (neigh- |
bourhood). |
|
|
2-7 Jerusalem and |
bourhood). |
5-4 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
neighbourhood, |
3-19 Jerusalem, Nablus. |
bourhood). |
|
|
Abu Ghosh and |
3-20 Abu Ghosh. |
5-5 |
Abu Ghosh, Lydda |
|
SebQstieh. |
3-21 Jerusalem. |
5-6 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
2-8 Abu Ghosh. |
3-22 Abu Ghosh. |
bourhood). |
|
|
2-9 Sebustieh. |
3-23 Abu Ghosh, Lydda. |
5-7 |
Jerusalem. |
Places where the Masons Marks have been found.
Z2,
5-8 Jerusalem.
5-9 Sahyun.
5-10 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
5-1 1 Lydda.
5-12 Lydda.
5-13 Abu Ghosh.
5-14 Abu Ghosh.
5-15 Abu Ghosh.
5-16 Abu Ghosh.
5-17 Unknown.
5-18 Lydda.
5-19 Jerusalem.
5-20 Abu Ghosh.
5-21 Jerusalem.
5-22 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Kubeibeh, Yeb- na, Sebustieh.
5-23 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Ik'bala, Abu
Ghosh, Safita.
6-1 Abu Ghosh.
6-2 Jerusalem.
6-3 Sebustieh.
6-4 Abu Ghosh, Yeb- na, Aleppo.
6-5 Aleppo.
6-6 Abu Ghosh.
6-j El Bireh.
6-8 Jerusalem.
6-9 Abu Ghosh.
6-10 Origin unknown.
6-1 1 Jerusalem.
6-12 Jerusalem.
6-13 Kubeibeh.
6-14 Jerusalem.
6-15 Jerusalem.
6-16 Abu Ghosh.
6-17 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Ku- beibeh.
6-18 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
6-19 Kijl'at el Hosn, Tortosa, Safita.
6-20 Yebna.
|
6-21 |
Jerusalem and |
|
neighbourhood. |
|
|
Suba, Abu Ghosh |
|
|
Kubeibeh. |
|
|
6-22 |
Soba, Abu Ghosh. |
|
6-23 |
Jerusalem, Soba. |
|
7-1 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
bourhood). |
|
|
7-2 |
Jerusalem. |
|
7-3 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
7-4 |
Jerusalem, Abu |
|
Ghosh, Yebna, |
|
|
Jebcil, Kul'at el |
|
|
Hosn, Safita, |
|
|
North Syria. |
|
|
7-5 |
Jerusalem. |
|
7-6 |
Kubeibeh. |
|
7-7 |
Lydda. |
|
7-8 |
Lydda. |
|
7-9 |
Lydda. |
|
7-10 |
Lydda. |
|
7-1 1 |
ik'bala. |
|
7-12 |
Lydda. |
|
7-13 |
Lydda. |
|
7-14 |
Lydda. |
|
7-15 |
Jerusalem. |
|
7-16 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
7-17 |
Jerusalem. |
|
7-18 |
Jerusalem. |
|
7-19 |
Soba. |
|
7-20 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
7-21 |
Origin unknown. |
|
7-22 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
7-23 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
8-1 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
8-2 |
Lydda. |
|
8-3 |
Lydda. |
|
8-4 |
Margat. |
|
8-5 |
Jerusalem, Abu |
|
Ghosh, Jebeil, |
|
|
North Syria. |
|
|
8-6 |
Jerusalem, Ramleh, |
|
Yebna, Sebus- |
|
|
tieh, Tortosa. |
|
|
8-7 |
Jebeil. |
|
8-8 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
8-9 |
Jerusalem. |
8-10 Sahyun.
8-1 1 Jerusalem, Neby Samwil, Abu
Ghosh, Lydda. 8-12 ik'b/Ua. 8-13 Sahyun. 8-14 Kubeibeh. 8-15 Lydda. 8-16 Jebeil. 8-17 Sebustieh. 8-18 Sahyun. 8-19 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Lydda. 8-20 Jerusalem. 8-21 Jerusalem, Abu
Ghosh. 8-22 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood of). ■23 Jerusalem. ■I Jerusalem. •2 Abu Ghosh. -3 Neby Samwil. •4 Ramleh. -5 Abu Ghosh. -6 Abu Ghosh. ■7 Kubeibeh. -S Kubeibeh. ■9 ik'bala. -10 Kubeibeh. -II Kubeibeh. ■12 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
-13 Kubeibeh.
-14 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
-15 Jerusalem, Kubei- beh.
-16 Kubeibeh, Abu Ghosh.
-17 Abu Ghosh.
-18 Jerusalem.
-19 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
-20 Jerusalem, Lydda, Margat.
-21 Kubeibeh.
-22 Kubeibeh.
34
Archcsological Researches in Palestine.
|
9-23 |
Jerusalem. |
|
lO-I |
Jerusalem. |
|
10-2 |
Jerusalem. |
|
IO-3 |
Lydda. |
|
10-4 |
Lydda. |
|
10-5 |
Kubeibeh, Lydda. |
|
10-6 |
Lydda. |
|
ic^7 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
bourhood), Ku- |
|
|
beibeh. |
|
|
10-8 |
El Bireh. |
|
10-9 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
bourhood). |
|
|
10-10 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
lO-II |
Jerusalem and |
|
neighbourhood, |
|
|
Neby Samwil. |
|
|
tO-I2 |
Jerusalem and |
|
neighbourhood. |
|
|
Lydda. |
|
|
10-13 |
Jerusalem. |
|
10-14 |
Jerusalem. |
|
10-15 |
Jerusalem and |
|
neighbourhood. |
|
|
10-16 |
Jerusalem, Soba, |
|
Lydda. |
|
|
10-17 |
Jerusalem, Ik'bala, |
|
Abu Ghosh, |
|
|
Lydda. |
|
|
10-18 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
10-19 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
10-20 |
Jerusalem and |
|
neighbourhood. |
|
|
10-21 |
Jerusalem, Soba, |
|
Gaza. |
|
|
10-22 |
Jerusalem. |
|
10-23 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
bourhood).
1 1 -I Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
1 1-2 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
1 1-3 Jerusalem.
1 1-4 Soba.
1 1-5 Yebna.
1 1-6 Jerusalem, Abu Ghosh.
I J -7 Jerusalem.
1 1-8 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Kubeibeh,Ik'bala, Abu Ghosh.
1 1-9 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
il-io Jerusalem, Abu Ghosh.
ii-ii Jerusalem.
11-12 Jerusalem.
11-13 Neby Samwil.
1 1-14 Jerusalem.
11-15 Jerusalem.
11-16 Jerusalem, Safita.
11-17 Abu Ghosh.
11-18 Jerusalem.
II-19 Sebiistieh.
11-20 Sebustieh.
1 1 -2 1 Sebustieh.
11-22 Jerusalem, Abu Ghosh, Nablus, Safita.
11-23 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Ramleh, Safita.
1 2-1 Abu Ghosh.
12-2 Jerusalem.
12-3 Jerusalem.
12-4 Nablus, Sebustieh, Safita.
12-5 Lydda.
12-6 Lydda.
12-7 Lydda.
12-8 Sebiistieh.
12-9 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood)
12-10 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
12-11 Sebiistieh.
12-12 ik'bala, Abu Ghosh, Lydda, Yebna, Sebustieh.
12-13 Kubeibeh.
12-14 Lydda.
12-15 Lydda.
12-16 Abu Ghosh.
12-17 Lydda.
12-18 Lydda.
12-19 Lydda.
12—20 Jerusalem.
12-21 Jerusalem, Ramleh, Margat, Kiii'at el Hosn.
12-22 Jerusalem, Kubei- beh, Abu Ghosh, Tortosa, Safita.
12-23 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Kiii'at el 'Areimeh.
1 3-1 Kubeibeh.
13-2 Abu Ghosh.
'^Z-'i Jerusalem.
I 3-4 Abu Ghosh.
13-5 Ramleh, Lebanon, and Coele Syria.
1 3-6 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
^S-7 Jerusalem.
13-8 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Tor- tosa.
13-9 Jerusalem.
13-10 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
13-11 Sidon.
13-12 ik'bala.
13-13 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Ram- leh.
13-14 Jerusalem, Ik'bala, Sidon.
13-15 Jerusalem.
13-16 Jerusalem and Neby Samwil.
13-17 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
13-18 Jerusalem and neighbourhood.
13-19 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
13-20 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
13-21 Sahyun.
13-32 Jerusalem.
Places where the Masons Marks have been found.
35
|
13-23 Nablus. |
15-17 Jerusalem (neigh- |
17-3 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
14-1 Jerusalem. |
bourhood) |
17-4 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
14-2 Safita. |
15-18 Sebiistieh. |
17-S |
Sahyun. |
|
|
14-3 Jerusalem. |
15-19 Jerusalem. |
17-6 |
Lydda. |
|
|
14-4 Jerusalem. |
15-20 Jerusalem and |
17-7 |
Lydda. |
|
|
14-5 Jerusalem (neigh- |
neighbourhood, |
17-8 |
Jebeil. |
|
|
bourhood). |
Abu Ghosh, Mar- |
17-9 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
14-6 Jerusalem (neigh- |
gat. |
17-10 |
Acre. |
|
|
bourhood). |
15-21 Jerusalem and |
1 7-1 1 |
Sidon. |
|
|
14-7 Jerusalem. |
neighbourhood, |
17-12 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
14-8 Abu Ghosh. |
Neby Samwil, |
17-13 |
North Syria. |
|
|
14-9 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). |
Abu Ghosh. Si- don. |
17-14 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
17-15 |
Gaza. |
|||
|
14-10 Jerusalem. 1 4- 1 1 Jerusalem ( |
||||
|
neigh- |
15-22 Kubeibeh. |
17-16 |
Jerusalem, Lydda. |
|
|
bourhood). 14-12 Kubeibeh. 14-13 Jerusalem. |
0 |
15-23 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, ik'bala, Abu Ghosh. |
17-17 17-18 17-19 |
Jerusalem. Kiirat el Hosn. Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
14-14 Abu Ghosh. |
16-1 El Bireh. |
bourhood). |
||
|
14-15 Abu Ghosh. |
16-2 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood.) |
17-20 |
Neby Samwil. |
|
|
14-16 Jerusalem. |
17-21 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
||
|
14-17 Ramleh. |
16-3 Tyre. |
bourhood). |
||
|
14-18 Jerusalem. |
16-4 Jerusalem, Lydda. |
17-22 |
Ramleh. |
|
|
14-19 Jerusalem (neigh- |
16-5 Abu Ghosh. |
17-23 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
bourhood), |
Ku- |
16-6 Jerusalem. |
1 8-1 |
Nablus. |
|
beibeh. |
16-7 Abu Ghosh. |
18-2 |
Sidon. |
|
|
14-20 Kubeibeh. |
16-8 Lydda. |
18-3 |
Jerusalem, Margat, |
|
|
14-21 Jerusalem. |
16-9 Lydda. |
Kul'at el 'Arci- |
||
|
14-22 Jerusalem. |
16-10 Jerusalem. |
mch. |
||
|
14-23 Jerusalem. |
i6-ii Jerusalem. |
18-4 |
Jerusalem, Ik'bala, |
|
|
1 5-1 Kubeibeh! |
16-12 Jerusalem. |
Kul'at ei Hosn. |
||
|
15-2 Jerusalem. |
16-13 Neby Samwil, Ku- |
18-5 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
15-3 Jerusalem. |
beibeh. |
18-6 |
El Bireh. |
|
|
15-4 Abu Ghosh. |
16-14 Aleppo. |
18-7 |
El Bireh. |
|
|
15-5 Abu Ghosh. |
16—15 Jerusalem. |
18-8 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
|
15-6 Yebna. |
16-16 Kubeibeh. |
bourhood), el |
||
|
'5-7 Jerusalem. |
16-17 Kubeibeh. |
Bireh. |
||
|
15-8 Of unknown origin. |
16-18 Lydda. |
18-9 |
El Bireh. |
|
|
15-9 Jerusalem (neigh- |
16-19 Sidon. |
18-10 |
Kubeibeh. |
|
|
bourhood). |
16-20 Jerusalem. |
1 8-1 1 |
Jerusalem (neigh |
|
|
15-10 Neby Samwil. |
16-21 Jerusalem (neigh- |
bourhood). |
||
|
1 5-1 1 Sidon. |
bourhood). |
18-12 |
Jerusalem (neigh- |
|
|
15-12 Aleppo. |
16-22 Jerusalem (neigh- |
bourhood), el |
||
|
15-13 Jerusalem. |
bourhood) |
Bireh, Damascus. |
||
|
15-14 Kubeibeh. |
16-23 Jerusalem. |
18-13 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
15-15 Jerusalem. |
17-1 Jerusalem. |
18-14 |
Jerusalem, Ik'bala. |
|
|
15-16 Jerusalem. |
17-2 Nablus. |
18-15 |
Jerusalem. F 2 |
36
ArchcBolozical Researches in Palestine.
18-16
18-17
18-18
18-19
18-20
18-21
18-22
18-23
19-1
19-2
19-3 19-4
19-5 19-6 19-7 19-8
19-9 19-10 19-11 19-12
19-13 19-14 19-1S 19-16 19-17 19-18 19-19 19-20
19-21 19-22 19-23
20-1
20—2 20-3
20-4 20-s
Sidon.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Margat.
Margat.
Jebeil.
Kubeibeh, Safita.
Margat.
ik'bala.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Neby Samwil.
Jerusalem and neighbourhood.
Abu Ghosh.
Neby Samwil.
Neby Samwil.
Safita.
Abu Ghosh, Margat.
SebCistieh.
Sebiistieh.
Abu Gh6.sh.
Jerusalem.
Kubeibeh.
Aleppo.
Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Neby Samwil, ik'bala, Abu
Ghosh, SebCistieh, Kul'at el Hosn.
Abu Ghosh.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Neby Samwil, Jebeil.
Jerusalem. Sidon, Margat. Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). Gaza.
Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Lebanon and Coele Syria, Aleppo.
20-6 Aleppo. 20-7 Ramleh. 20-8 Jerusalem. 20-9 Jerusalem. 20-10 Abu Ghosh. 20-1 1 Jerusalem. 20-12 Kiirat el Hosn. 20-13 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). 20-14 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Kul'at el Hosn. 20-15 Sidon. 20-16 Jerusalem, Lydda. 20-17 Jerusalem. 20-18 Jerusalem. 20-19 Jerusalem, Ik'bala,
Nazareth. 20-20 Jerusalem. 20-21 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Abu Ghosh, el Bireh, Lebanon and Ccele Syria. 20-22 Lydda. 20—23 Damascus. 21-1 Sidon. 21—2 Sidon. 21-3 Sidon. 21-4 Sidon. 21-5 Sidon. 21-6 El Bireh. 21-7 Jerusalem. 21-8 Jerusalem. 21-9 Jerusalem. 21-10 Jerusalem, Kiirat
el Hosn. 21-11 Jerusalem. 21-12 Jerusalem. 21-13 Jerusalem, Nablus. 21-14 Jerusalem and
neighbourhood, Abu Ghdsh,
Lydda, Nablus, Sebijstieh, Safita. Margat, Kul'at el Hosn.
21-15 Jerusalem, Lydda.
|
21- |
16 |
Lydda. |
|
21- |
17 |
Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). |
|
21- |
18 |
Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Neby Samwil, Kubei- beh, Abu Ghosh, 'Amwas. |
|
21- |
-19 |
Jerusalem, Kubei- beh. |
|
21- |
-20 |
Kubeibeh. |
|
2 1- |
-21 |
Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). |
|
21- |
-22 |
Sebiistieh, Tortosa, Kfil'aterAreimeh Kijl'at el Hosn. |
|
21- |
-23 |
Jerusalem, Soba. |
|
22- |
-I |
Kul'at el Hosn. |
|
22- |
-2 |
Yebna. |
|
22- |
-3 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22- |
-4 |
Aleppo. |
|
22- |
-5 |
Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). |
|
22- |
-6 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22- |
-7 |
Jerusalem and neighbourhood, 'Aleppo. |
|
22- |
-8 |
'Amwas. |
|
22-9 |
Jerusalem. |
|
|
22- |
-10 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22- |
-II |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
22- |
-12 |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
22- |
-13 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22- |
-14 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22- |
-iS |
Abu Ghosh. |
|
22- |
-16 |
Lydda. |
|
22- |
-17 |
Jerusalem, Neby Samwil. |
|
o*? |
-18 |
Aleppo. |
|
22 |
-19 |
Kid'at el Hosn. |
|
22 |
-20 |
Kai'at el Hosn. |
|
1 22 |
-21 |
Kijl'at el Hosn, Kul'atel'Areimeh, Kul'at el Hosn. |
|
22 |
-22 |
Jerusalem. |
|
22 |
-23 |
Jerusalem. |
|
23 |
-I |
Jerusalem. |
Places where the Masons Marks have been found.
37
23-2 Jerusalem.
23-3 Sebiistieh.
23-4 'Amwas.
23-S Neby Samwil.
23-6 Abu Ghosh.
23-7 Scbustieh.
23-8 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood.)
23-9 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
23-10 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood.)
23-11 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
23-12 Jerusalem.
23-13 Jerusalem.
23-14 Jerusalem.
23-15 Jerusalem.
23-16 Jerusalem.
23-17 Jerusalem.
23-18 Abu Ghosh.
23-19 Abu Ghosh.
23-20 Of unknown origin.
23-21 Jerusalem.
23-22 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
23-23 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
24-1 Jerusalem.
24-2 Jerusalem.
24-3 Jerusalem, Abu
Ghosh. 24-4 Ramleh, Nablus. 24-5 North Syria. 24-6 Jerusalem. 24-7 Kul'at el Hosn. 24-8 Jerusalem, Lebanon,
and Ccele Syria. 24-9 Nablus. 24-10 Kul'at el Hosn. 24- u Soba. 24-12 Jerusalem. 24-13 Abu Ghosh. 24-14 Jerusalem. 24-15 Jerusalem. 24-16 Jerusalem. 24-^7 Jerusalem.
24-18 Jerusalem. 24-19 Jerusalem 24-20 Jerusalem. 24-21 Jerusalem. 24-22 Jerusalem. 24-23 Aleppo. 25-1 Jerusalem. 25—2 Jerusalem. 25-3 Jerusalem. 25-4 Aleppo. 25-s Aleppo. 25-6 Sidon. 25-7 Jerusalem. 25-8 Margat. 25-9 Jerusalem. 25-10 Jerusalem. 25-11 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). 25-12 Jerusalem.
25-13 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
25-14 Jerusalem.
25-15 Jerusalem.
25-16 Jerusalem.
25-17 Kubeibeh.
25-18 Jerusalem.
25-19 Jerusalem.
25-20 Neby Samwil.
25-21 Unknown.
25-22 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
25-23 Jerusalem.
26-1 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
26-2 Jerusalem.
26-3 Neby Samwil.
26-4 Jerusalem.
26-5 Jerusalem.
26-6 Jerusalem.
26-7 Jerusalem.
26-8 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
26-9 Jerusalem.
26-10 Jerusalem.
26-11 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Kul'at el Hosn.
26-12 Jerusalem, Neby
Samwil. 26-13 Jerusalem. 26-14 Jerusalem. 26-15 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Lyd- da. 26-16 Lydda. 26-17 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). 26-18 Kubeibeh. 26-19 Jerusalem. 26-20 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood), Lyd- da, Saflta. 26-21 Jerusalem. 26-22 Jerusalem and neighbourhood. 26-23 Jerusalem and neighbourhood, Neby Samwil. -I Jerusalem. -2 Lydda. -3 Lydda. -4 Jerusalem. "5 Jerusalem. -6 Abu Ghosh. -7 Abu Ghosh. -8 Abu Ghosh. •9 Of unknown origin. •10 Abu Ghosh. ■II Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood). ■12 Jerusalem (neigh- bourhood).
27. 27. 27. 27. 27- 27- 27- 27- 27- 27- 27-
27-
27-
27-
27-
27-
27-
27-
27-
27
27
27-
27-
28-
13 Jerusalem.
14 Jerusalem.
15 Abu Ghosh.
16 Lydda.
17 Abu Ghosh.
18 Jerusalem.
19 Abu Ghosh.
20 Abu Ghosh.
21 Jerusalem.
22 Aleppo.
23 Jerusalem. I Jerusalem.
38
Archceological Researches in Palestine.
|
28-2 |
Jerusalem. |
29-9 |
Abu Ghosh. |
30-20 |
KQl'at el Hosn. |
|
|
28-3 |
Aleppo. |
29-10 |
Abu Ghosh. |
30-21 |
Kijl'at el Hosn. |
|
|
28-4 |
Of unknown |
origin. |
29-11 |
Jerusalem. |
30-22 |
Safita. |
|
28-5 |
Jerusalem |
(neigh- |
29-12 |
Neby Samwil. |
30-23 |
Banias (Balanea). |
|
bourhood) |
29-13 |
Gaza. |
31-1 |
Safita. |
||
|
28-6 |
Jerusalem |
(neigh- |
29-14 |
Ramleh. |
31-2 |
Margat. |
|
bourhood) |
29-15 |
Jerusalem. |
31-3 |
Safita, Tortosa. |
||
|
28-7 |
Jerusalem. |
29-16 |
Soba. |
31-4 |
Kul'at el 'Areimeh |
|
|
28-8 |
Jerusalem. |
29-17 |
Jerusalem. |
31-S |
Safita. |
|
|
28-9 |
Jerusalem. |
29-18 |
Jerusalem. |
31-6 |
Safita. |
|
|
28-10 |
Of unknown |
origin. |
29-19 |
Lydda. |
31-7 |
Kiil'at el Hosn. |
|
28-11 |
Jerusalem. |
29-20 |
Neby Samwil. |
31-8 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
28-12 |
Jerusalem |
(neigh- |
29-21 |
Of unknown origin. |
31-9 |
Kid'at el Hosn. |
|
bourhood) |
29-22 |
Of unknown origin. |
31-10 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
||
|
28-13 |
Jerusalem |
(neigh- |
29-23 |
Of unknown origin. |
31-II |
Kid'at el Hosn. |
|
bourhood). |
30-1 |
Safita. |
31-12 |
Tortosa. |
||
|
28-14 |
Jerusalem. |
3C^2 |
Kul'at el Hosn. |
31-13 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
28-15 |
Jerusalem. |
30-3 |
Kijl'at el Hosn. |
31-14 |
Tortosa. |
|
|
28-16 |
Soba. |
30-4 |
Safita. |
31-1S |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
28-17 |
Jerusalem. |
30-5 |
Kijl'at cl 'Areimeh. |
31-16 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
28-18 |
Ik'bala. |
30-6 |
Tortosa. |
31-17 |
Tortosa. |
|
|
28-19 |
ik'bala. |
30-7 |
Karat el Hosn. |
31-18 |
Safita. |
|
|
28-20 |
Soba. |
30-8 |
Kiirat el 'Areimeh. |
31-19 |
Safita. |
|
|
28-21 |
Lydda. |
30-9 |
Tortosa. |
31-20 |
Kiirat el Hosn. |
|
|
28-22 |
Jerusalem. |
30-10 |
Safita. |
31-21 |
Safita. |
|
|
28-23 |
Jerusalem. |
30-11 |
Kul'at el 'Areimeh. |
31-22 |
KuKat el Hosn. |
|
|
29-1 |
Jerusalem. |
30-12 |
Safita. |
31-23 |
Tortosa. |
|
|
29-2 |
Jerusalem. |
30-13 |
Tortosa. |
32-1 |
Kid'at el Hosn. |
|
|
29-3 |
Jerusalem. |
30-14 |
Safita. |
32-2 |
Margat. |
|
|
29-4 |
Jerusalem. |
30-1 5 |
Kul'at el 'Areimeh. |
32-3 |
Safita. |
|
|
29-5 |
Jerusalem. |
30-16 |
Kial'at el 'Areimeh. |
32-4 |
Kiirat el 'Areimeh |
|
|
29-6 |
Jerusalem. |
30-17 |
Kul'at el Hosn. |
32-5 |
Kiirat el 'Areimeh |
|
|
29-7 |
Jerusalem. |
30-18 |
Safita. |
32-6 |
Safita. |
|
|
29-8 |
Soba. |
30-19 |
Kiirat el 'Areimeh. |
B.
The Mediteval Tooling of Stones by the Crusaders.
There can be no doubt that every stone in Palestine upon which we find any of the Latin letters, so thoroughly mediaeval in their form, which appear in the preceding plate, bears as it were the signature of the mediaeval hand which cut the mark, and consequently boldly displays its date and origin.
Medicsval Tooling of Stones by the Crnsadevs. 39
This certainty becomes less pronounced when instead of unmistatcably Latin letters of the alphabet, we have to deal either with such letters as are common to both the Greek and the Latin alphabets, or with purely symbolical marks, albeit among these latter there are some whose mediaeval origin is abundantly proved by their form alone. We must not forget that the Crusaders are not the only people who have cut masons' marks on stones, for this practice existed in the East before their arrival, and may indeed have continued to exist afterwards. There are Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Arab marks, etc.,'" and occasionally it is difficult, sometimes even impossible, to distinguish between them. A severely accurate critic might therefore justly declare that, in the absence of any other proofs, the evidence furnished by masons' marks alone ought in some cases to be received with caution. It is, moreover, obviously insufficient, for in spite of the immense number of masons' marks, it is clear that there are pieces of stonework undeniably hewn and dressed by the Crusaders, which bear no masons' mark whatever ; indeed, as is only natural, the greater part of them do not. Under these circumstances, when we have to do with pieces of stone which bear masons' marks of uncertain origin, or even, which is much more important, which bear no mark whatever, is there any certain test which enables us to say by whom they were worked ? Here comes in that second criterion, of far wider application, to which I have already alluded; a test which up to the year 1874 was altogether neglected, because it was unknown : the medieval tooling of the stones worked by the Crusaders.
I must first explain how I came to discover this criterion.
While comparing with one another all the pieces of hewn stone which bore unmistakable masons' marks (such as Gothic letters), that is to say, which showed in some form or other indisputable signs of western origin, I noticed that the very great majority of them also jDossessed a certain peculiarity of their own. Then, leaving this class of stones and turning to those whose marks were entirely symbolical, I found that this peculiarity still remained. At last, I discovered that this same distinct peculiarity belonged to a whole category of stones, in addition to the two classes already connected together by the similarity of the masons'
* Not to mention marks of other origin, we have, for example, Nabathaean marks mixed with Greek marks at Bostra (De Vogiie, Syrie Ccntrale, Architecture, I, p. 65 ; cf. Corpiis Inscr. S'.miticariim, Aram., No. 180).
40 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.
marks ; stones which bore no marks of any kind whatever, which I found both in buildings of thoroughly mediaeval appearance, and also in some of uncertain character. Thanks to my having observed this detail, this third category of stones, which is by far the most numerous one, can now be recognised with the same degree of certainty as the two preceding ones. This characteristic peculiarity, which unites together in one group all the three categories of mediaeval wrought stones, that is, those bearing letters, those bearing marks, and those with no marks whatever, consists in the tooling being the same, I mean the regular strice or strokes cut upon the surface of the stones by the tools used in shaping and dressing their present faces.
Let us first consider the most simple and also the most common instance, that of quadrangular blocks of stone with plane sides. Upon such blocks as these, the tooling of which I have spoken consists in parallel strokes of greater or less sharpness, all pointing the same way, and extending obliquely from one end of the stone to the other : the face of the stone seems to be covered with diagonal or nearly diagonal stripes, for as the stones are mostly oblong, and not square, these stripes do not exactly coincide with the diagonal line : the angle of inclination of the parallel strokes seems generally to be between 40^ and 45°. On looking more closely, one soon sees that these oblique strokes are not formed by continuous lines but by a number of little cuts or clints, more or less close together, and more or less visible, according to the state of preserva- tion of the stone, and traced in very regular lines. They have evidently been made by means of a special tool, a sort of toothed hammer, like our boticharde, which it would be easy to reconstruct from the traces left by it, not only of the exact size of the original, but also with the same number of teeth at the .same distance apart. The workman must have stood with the stone laid before him sloping at whatever angle he was used to : he then proceeded to dress its sides by means of this tool, by hitting it light blows close together, and working along from left to right, from one end of the stone to the other. He continued this operation, always working parallel to the direction of his first strokes, until the whole surface had been thus regularly dressed.
These regular scores give the stone a very remarkable appearance : it is easiest to see when the light is very oblique. This succession of strokes in alternate furrows and ridges catch the rays of light in a very peculiar fashion, which one recognises directly after having once learned
MedicBval Tooling of Stones by the Crusaders. 41
to notice it. This structure, which one might call the artificial epidermis of the mediaeval stones, is so characteristic a feature of them, that, thanks to it, I have often been able to find many masons' marks which otherwise I should have overlooked. For I was warned at the first glance by the very nature of the stone that a mason's mark of some kind might be found on it. I remember having often spent many minutes in persistently moving my candle in every direction along one of these stones, which were rendered suspicious by the mere fact of this tooling, and having at last made out a letter or mark, whose loose thin lines could hardly be perceived, and would therefore never have attracted my attention had it not been awakened by the characteristic appearance of the stone.
1 have observed the presence of this peculiar tooling of the Crusaders upon stones of all shapes and used for all purposes, ashlar of walls or of piers, voussoirs of arches, and even drafted stones with countersunk margins. It is to be found on marble"' as well as upon all the varieties of the ordinary calcareous stone. It is a mistake to say,t as some archaeologists have done since I have drawn their attention to it, that it was especially made use of in the interior of buildings. I have noted its presence on the outside at least as often.
It is not limited to stones with flat surfaces. I have found it as well upon stones with curved surfaces, both conve.x; and concave, both upon stones standing upright or lying flat ; for instance, the bases of columns, upon the inside and outside stones of apses or round walls, the voussoirs of arches or vaults, mouldings of every kind of profile and direction, etc. The only difference is that in the case of curved surfaces the scores slant - very slightly, and distinctly appro.'-cimate to the normal a.xis of the generating cylinder ; that is to say, they approach the vertical when the cylindrical element stands upright, and the horizontal when it lies flat. This can be fully explained by the necessity of making the tool move in a straight line ; for if the workman, still using the same tool, had continued to move it as he was used to do when working on flat surfaces, the tool would only have fallen upon a curve at right angles to its superficies, and would have made dints instead of continuous lines.
* For example, in the church at Gaza, where the Crusaders have indulged largely in the use of marble taken from ancient buildings.
t The same restrictive remark has been made with regard to masons' marks ; it has no better foundation than that about the medieval tooling.
42 Archceological Researches in Palestine.
This difference, which is perfectly reasonable in itself, is strongly emphasized by certain very significative facts which I have had occasion to remark. For instance, in the churches at Abu Ghosh, Kubeibeh, and elsewhere, the stones which form the heads of the semicircular apses, when viewed from within, consist each of them of two parts ; the one flat, being the starting point of the apse, and the other slightly concave, to agree with the general curvature of the apse. Now the flat part shows diagonal scores at the usual angle ; on the other hand, the other part shows scores which come very near being vertical. Thus the two methods of tooling are to be found upon the same piece of stone. I have observed the same peculiarity on some stones at the spring of arches and vaults, for example, in a mediaeval arch at Soba : the flat part of the stone is scored diagonally, whereas the concave part is marked with strokes which are all but horizontal.
The discovery of this distinctive tooling of the Crusaders, to which I attach, I think rightly, a very great importance, and which I propose to call by the short title of Mediceval Tooling, has led me to lay down the following rule : —
Every stone which shows tooling" according to this definition is a stone which has passed through the hands of the Crusaders.
For my own part, I have not hitherto met with a single fact contradicting this law, which apjDlies, the reader will bear in mind, to Palestine and to some other districts in Syria. It has been generally accepted, indeed so generally that it has pretty well become public property, and people who have made constant use of it since 1874, often forget to whom they owe this criterion, which is so valuable under so many circumstances. They have sometimes also forgotten the restrictions with which I prudently confined its application : they have tried to get more information out of it than it has to give, and it is perhaps this which has led certain archaeologists* to question its trustworthiness. It would, for instance, be a grave perversion of this rule to make my formula read the other way, and to draw the inference that every stone which has passed through the hands of the Crusaders shows the mediaeval tooling. Neither must we confuse that absolutely specific and sharply defined tooling with other forms more or less resembling it, which have been produced with distinctly different tools, and by other
* See, for example, the criticisms of Mr. Dickie in the Quarterly Statement ior 1897, p. 6, s.nA Excavations at Jerusakw, p. 27.
MediiEval Tooling of Stones by the Crusaders. 43
methods altogether. One certainly needs some practice to be able to distinguish all these various methods of stone cutting from one another, and an archaeologist new to his work is liable to be mistaken. But when once experience has been gained, I consider this criterion to be almost infallible. It is so accurate that in many cases it has enabled me to trace on one and the same block of stone later dressings by Arab workmen made in order to adapt the material left by the Crusaders to various uses ; for instance, a voussoir which has afterwards been hewn square, or perhaps, on the contrary, a block originally square which has been hewn into a voussoir, or simply cut to fit other stone work. It is in a case like this that one is struck by the difference between the mediaeval and the Arab style of tooling, styles which careless observers are too apt to confound with one another.
The same remarks apply to ancient materials which have been reworked by the Crusaders. For example, the famous stele of Herod's temple has certainly been used over again in some building of the Crusaders before it was worked into the Arab building in which I discovered it. This is distinctly proved by the re-tooling in mediaeval fashion which I have observed on one of the small ends of the block.*
But, I repeat, it is only by means of a certain amount of experience that one can obtain the power of applying the law of mediaeval tooling with absolute certainty, and we must not hold it answerable for mistakes which are really due to people who have tried to make use of this test without thoroughly understanding in what it consists. In order to display it in an instructive manner, and to supplement the well-known deficiencies of mere verbal description, I had taken in various parts of Palestine many squeezes- which I intended should illustrate at first hand the different kinds of toolino- mediaeval or otherwise, under various conditions, about which there would be no possibility of error. My intention was to publish faithful photographic reproductions of these specimens ; but owing to circumstances beyond my control I have been unable to carry out this scheme. It is well worth someone's while to take it up again, and it would be of great service to the archeeology of Palestine if a whole series of blocks of stone could be photographed directly for the especial purpose of showing the marks of the tooling upon them, treating their surfaces as real pieces of evidence as to
* This statement is confirmed by the e.\istence of a cross there, which was carved at the same period.
G 2
44 Archesological Researches in Palestine.
their dates.* An even better plan would be to form a small collection of stones judiciously selected and classified from this special point of view, and to exhibit it in a museum. An hour's inspection of it would teach anybody all that is known about this subject by the most experienced archaeologist.
For all students of the archaeology of Palestine, the application of this rule, which depends upon the micrographical examination of what I have called the " skin " of the stone, has a value in numberless cases upon which I need not enlarg-e further. We know, moreover, what o-reat importance professional men attach to this detail. " The nature of the tooling is one of the most certain methods of establishing the date of a building," was said, with all the authority which his opinion deserves, by one of the most learned architects of our time, M. Viollet le Due, in his Dicfionnaif-e 7'aisonnd de P Architectjire Francaise. If this be true in Europe, it must also be true in Palestine, and all the more so because there we find ourselves in an exceedingly favourable environment, due to historical causes; and this test, in addition to its intrinsic interest, has there a differential power which remarkably enhances its value. Thanks to it, we can distinguish between the work of the Crusaders and that of their predecessors and successors, although all these are often piled together in apparently inextricable confusion. In such an architectural medley, for instance, as the heterogeneous buildings of the Haram enclosure, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we can, so to speak, recognise one by one each of the stones which have passed through the hands of the Crusaders. The rule is so exact that it enables us, whenever we can apply it, to pronounce upon the origin not merely of a block of stone, but even of a mere morsel broken off from a block. Now there are cases in which we only need the presence of such a morsel to decide the date of a whole course of stone work. I hardly need add that it would be exceedingly useful to study the building materials of antiquity in this aspect, and to fix with accuracy the true characters of Arab, Byzantine, Roman, and Greek — nay, even of Jewish tooling. Of course, in order to accomplish this one would have to start by obtaining some certain indisputably correct data to work from, and this, I am well aware, is not always very easily done. Yet there are cases in which it is possible. Take, for example, the stele of Herod's
* Mere descriptive sketches, such as those to which one sometimes has recourse, cannot in this respect at all replace the accurate pictures obtained and reproduced by photography and photogravure.
Mediaeval Tooling of Stones by the Crusaders. 45
temple. In it we undeniably possess an authentic specimen of the tooling of Herod's time, and this, if properly studied, would enable us, far better than any of the minor considerations upon which so much stress has been successively laid, to solve the vexed question of the true characteristic of really Herodian stone work in that architectural miscellany, the enclosing walls of the Haram.
However, this most desirable extension of the method to which I have alluded, would lead me too far from the special subject of this present essay, which is mediaeval tooling, and to it I must return. 1 have laid down the general law of this tooling, and have laid due stress upon the precautions which must be observed in applying it. Like all rules it has exceptions and anomalies. I have mentioned some of various kinds which it is now my duty to point out. On many of the convex blocks of stone which form the apses of the church at Sebiistieh, of indisputably mediaeval work, as is proved by the masons' marks and all the rest of their cutting and position, the strokes on the convex surface are just as slanting as if that surface was flat, instead of drawing, as usual, near to the line of the normal axis of the cylinder, that is to say, to the vertical line. Upon some blocks of stone with flat sides I have observed that the strokes of the mediaeval workman, instead of being straight, tend to be circular in direction, and that these curves, which become larger and larger, start from one of the corners of the rectangle. The tool was the usual toothed pick of the Crusaders, but it was handled differently, and the block to be levelled had been placed in an abnormal position by the workman.
I have many times met with tooling of doubtful origin, loose and irregular, possibly due either to a bad tool or a bad workman, it may be a native workman more or less accustomed to the Western method of stone-cuttino-.
Lastly, there are cases in which the medieeval tooling is altogether absent, and nevertheless there can be no doubt whatever that the stone, which bears a characteristic mason's mark, must have been either hewn or caused to be hewn by the Crusaders. This is when we have to deal with stones which are either entirely polished, or dressed with the point of the pick. The latter case is the more common of the two ; I have noticed many examples of it ; among others, in the dressing of the piers of the porticos of the Haram. This tooling with the point may be Crusaders' work, but on the other hand they may have worked up old materials. My information upon this subject is too scanty to enable me to come to any definite decision
46 Archceological Researches in Palestine.
What I have pointed out in connection with the mediaeval method of stone cutting, besides its local practical use, might also furnish us with a new element in the history of Western architecture itself. We know already that the methods of tooling in the West vary according to the country and the period to which they belong ; the time being known, it might perhaps be possible to make out from what country of Europe the cutters of any particular piece of stone work must have come, and, as a consequence of this, to discover to what school the greater part of the builders employed by the Crusaders belonged. It is well known that it was just in the twelfth century that the various forms of stone cutting reached, at all events in France, their highest perfection. Some writers have formerly been inclined to attribute this result to the influence of Greek and Roman art in Syria. I leave it to specialists to decide whether the fact which I have stated is at variance with this explanation or agreeable to it. I shall merely remark that the peculiar method of stone cutting such as we have seen in the buildings erected by the Crusaders in Palestine appears to belong to them alone, and this conclusion fully agrees with the hints given us by the masons' marks, by the characteristic profiles of divers mouldings, and by the use of the pointed arch, with its vertical joint at the top, etc., all of which things appeared in Palestine together with the Crusaders, and disappeared with them.
Everything seems to combine to prove to us that the Crusaders borrowed none of all these things from the new country and environment into which they had made their way. They came into the Holy Land armed cap-a-pie, not only for war but also for the works of peace, with their own methods, their own plans, tools, and architects, and even with the workmen belonging to their own guilds. When they were driven out of Palestine, they took away with them every thing of this kind which they had brought thither, and they left behind them the unmistakable track of their sojourn in the land, a bright track throwing much light upon the task of unravelling that tangled mass, which renders the critical study of the archteology of Palestine so difficult and at the same time so instructive.
One word more upon this subject, upon which indeed a great deal more might be said. When, with all due precautions, one makes use of this law, as I have had occasion to do for some years over a considerable part of Palestine, noting the masons' marks at the same time, one is really astonished at the inconceivable number of stones which, in what was relatively so short a time, were hewn by the Crusaders, and bear their distinct mark,
Mediceval Tooling of Stones by the Crjisaders. 47
without mentioning those which they may have caused to be hewn without their being so marl<ecl. But while we admire this prodigious industry, we soon call to mind that their task was greatly assisted by the ancient ruins which they used as quarries. Assuredly the Crusaders did not hew out of the living rock all the stones of which they made use ; indeed, they seem to have taken a sort of pride, I might even say a sort of delight, in setting their mark upon their inheritance from bygone ages, the materials which they found all ready to their hands for their new buildings, by re-working them after their own fashion. We must not, therefore, be over thankful for this mediaeval tooling ; it does, no doubt, as I have shown, furnish us with a very convenient test for architectural diagnosis in Palestine, but this advantage is dearly bought by the irreparable destruction of so many ancient remains, which have not only been broken to pieces but have been disfigured. Who, indeed, can tell how much both Art and Epigraphy may not have lost owing to this system of re-working old materials ? Who can count the precious pages which have been effaced by this mediaeval scrawl, which has put in their place nothing but a barren date, and that one which has only just been made out? Indeed, it would have been much better for us if they had followed the equally barbarous but more simple procedure of the Arabs, who are satisfied with using ancient materials over again, without hesitating, it is true, to break them up if it suits their purpose, but without giving themselves the trouble, as the Crusaders did, of re-tooling their surfaces when there was no absolute necessity for doing so.
PART II.
JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS
CHAPTER II.
EXCAVATIONS AT THE SCARP OF THE ROCK AND IN THE CAVES NEAR THE "ECCE HOMO" ARCH.
Investigation and Excavations.
I.
Among other matters which I intended to thoroughly investigate I mentioned, in the programme of researches submitted to the Committee, the exploration of some rock-cut chambers, which I had noticed some years before, close to the scarp of the rock in the " Ecce Homo " church. These caverns, whose existence was not previously suspected, were of very great importance, for they were actually within the walls of Jerusalem, and in a locality of peculiar interest to the topography of the Holy City.
One of my first proceedings, therefore, was to revisit these chambers, in order to make a careful plan of them, with the help of M. Lecomte.
It was desirable to do this work with all possible accuracy, but great difficulty arose from a group of modern houses, built on different levels against this south side of the hill of Bezetha, which concealed its general course and its various faces. We were therefore obliged to spend several days over the work, and that at considerable intervals, because of bad weather. We were received with great courtesy by the inhabitants of the houses, Arabs
H
50 Archaological Researches in Palestine.
belonging to the Greek Church, and all necessary facilities were granted us for the accomplishment of a laborious and sometimes disagreeable task. The work was all but finished, and we had only one more visit to make to the place to take some measurements, when an unforeseen accident brought our planning to an abrupt end. On the very day on which we were to have returned, the house, a ricketty old structure, rotted by the heavy rains of this winter, suddenly collapsed. When we would have entered it, we found nothing before us but a great heap of fallen stonework, which completely blocked up the Via Dolorosa. We had had a lucky escape ; an hour later we should have been in the cellars of the house, and probably our archaeological career would have been brought to a close.
Fortunately the house was uninhabited. The good folk who lived beside it suffered nothing beyond a terrible fright. However, they had to leave their house then and there, as it appeared likely to follow its neighbour's example ; indeed, it was thought prudent to anticipate its intentions and pull it down straightway. I congratulated myself on all accounts upon not having begun the digging which I meditated, and which, by the way, I was able to carry out soon afterwards, for they would perhaps have held me responsible tor the accident, and demanded a great sum as indemnity. Meanwhile, owing to this vexatious mischance, we were left with a half- finished plan on our hands. Such as it was, however, it was very minute wherever it was complete, and enabled us to give a sufficiently clear idea of the general arrangement of the caves.
We knew the scarp of the rock which was to be seen in the " Ecce Homo" Church (Ordnance Survey Plan, No. 72), and for a length of several metres actually forms the north wall of the church. This scarp terminates abruptly, being brought to an end by the range of houses to the west of the church which line the Via Dolorosa as far as the garden of the Austrian Hospice. It was at the back of these houses, three in number, that, for a distance of about 25'", I found and we planned the rock, which forms a continuation of the scarp in the church.
At the end of one of the living rooms of the first house (counting from east to w'est) one sees a piece of rock-cutting obviously in line with the church scarp. The rock passes through this first room (b), thence into a court yard, and almost immediately, at x, makes a return at an obtuse anofle towards the north-west, and thence ooes amongf various buildines,
o ' too to '
where one can follow it no further. The existence of the rock up to this point had been already noticed by Tobler (Dritte Wanderung, p. 249).
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo" Arch.
51
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ArchiFolos^ical Researches in Palestine.
Entering the adjoining house, one again finds the scarped rock, which resumes its general direction of west-south-west after the break which I have mentioned. This piece of escarpment extends for about 1 2" at that point ; it shows something of great archaeological as well as topographical interest. A passage (z) has been cut in the upright face of the rock ; it winds
-..- J^sJ^^f -SI ••^^^^-■«Ma- ^ ,
10 MiTREC
SECTION FROM I TO J.
about at first, and leads down at a steep slope through the solid hill in a north-westerly direction. It cuts in two a first chamber of rather irregular shape, measuring 2"'-2oX 2"'-40. It has a flat roof, and has two large benches on either side, the whole being hewn out of the living rock. The passage ends immediately afterwards in a second chamber, hewn in the rock like the first, and measuring about 3"" square, with irregular angles. A square opening in the north-west wall of this chamber leads further on and loses itself in a mass of earth and stonework.
In the north-east wall of this second chamber there may be seen a recessed doorway. Only the upper part of this doorway is cut out, and this leads into a little place which seems to be a half-finished chamber
* Pay no attention at present in the section to anything but the upper part. I shall return afterwards to the question of the details figured in the lower part
Excavations near the "'' Eccc Homo " Arch. 53
shaped like the end of an oven. In the south-east wall there are two other doors, also recessed, but these are wholly cut out. The first communicates with the first chamber already described, the second leads into a third chamber, hewn like the others in the rock, and containing a complicated arrangement of large benches with steps.
PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM THE POINT P, IN THE CHAMIIER P, LOGKIN'G SOUTH-EAST TOWARD
THE MOUTH OF THE PASSAGE.
This is not all. In the lowest, and so to speak subterranean story of this same house, one again meets with the same wall of rock, its vertical face extending downwards below the present level of the Via Dolorosa. A large recess, forming a square vestibule measuring about i™'50 in depth (v in the plan), has been hewn out of it, and gives access to a labyrinth of chambers in more or less good preservation, all hewn out of the rock, and extending in a north-westerly direction below the upper chambers, with which, even at this day, they communicate by a hole at the point o (on the section line e — f in the plan).
Finally, in the third house, adjoining the preceding one on the west side, one again finds the wall of rock at the end of the cellars or lower story : it
54
Arch(eological Researches in Palestine.
IX^:
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A'''- |
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M^ ''"■""-'■ |
■ '\ |
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^jiii ' |
' |
'*! 'X
r \\
SECTION I'ROM E TO F. Same scale as below.
Scale
SECTION FROM O TO H.t
* Here also the reader must for the present confine his attention to the upper part.
t llnd.
Excavations near the " Eccc Homo" Arch.
55
has been scarped as before, and appears to have been split by an earthquake or movement of the ground. Immediately after this comes the party wall, which separates this last house from the garden of the Austrian Hospice.
SECTION FROM K lO L.
SECTION FROM M TO N.
Same scale as on p. 54.
The exploration of these lower regions was not a pleasant task, owing to the filth of all sorts which for years, perhaps for centuries, had accumulated in the chambers, filling them almost to the ceiling. We could only crawl about them on all fours : in the third house we were even forced to spend several hours in a privy, happily disused some time ago. The path of an archaeologist is not all strewn with roses ; but these unpleasantnesses are but trifles when one thinks how near that dirty hole was to becoming our grave.
We sounded the cisterns which are built at various points along the line of this scarp, and the depth of these enabled us to follow the rock for several metres below the point at which it ceases to be visible on the surface. The line of this scarped rock is at a distance of about nine metres behind, and to the north of the Via Dolorosa. It is more than probable that it is directly connected with the wall of rock previously discovered during the building of the Austrian Hospice, under the north-east angle of the present building : they also found there another rock-hewn chamber, which Tobler [Drittc Wander70tg, pp. 244, 245) is inclined to think was a cow-byre ( J'iehsta//c), of great antiquity of course.
It is not easy to decide what this last chamber was made for. It has at the present day been turned into a cistern, and is therefore inaccessible ; but I am sure, and j\l. Lecomte quite agrees with me, that the four other
56 Archceological Researches in Palestine.
chambers which we planned and visited were not hewn for any such purpose, they were intended for men and not for beasts ; the only question is, were they intended for the living or for the dead ? The latter seems a priori the more probable. If so, it is needless to state that these sepulchres, if indeed they are sepulchres, hewn in the rock in a situation more than 250"" to the south- ward of the north wall of the present town, and only a few metres from the Antonia fortress, must necessarily belong to a distant period of history, and must take us back, if not to the days of the Jebusites, at least to the time preceding the reign of Herod Agrippa.
The inhabitants of the house, who, as I have said, were Christians of the Greek Church, told me that, according to an ancient tradition, not a Christian, but a Moslem one, there was once in one of the upper chambers (to which access was gained by the passage already described) a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, Mar Hanna el Mdnmdd^iy* I do not know what amount of truth there may be in this legend ; however, there is nothing impossible in one of these chambers having once been made into a little chapel. On this hypothesis, the vaulted recess shaped like the end of an oven on the north-east side may possibly have served as a little apse. It appears that some years ago a considerable quantity of ancient coins were discovered in the square opening at the end of the second chamber ; but this is merely gossip, probably attributable to the exuberance of the Arab imagination on the subject of hidden treasure.
II.
I shall now proceed to add to these first descriptions several other observations made during our subsequent e.xplorations, which gradually enabled us to obtain a clearer idea of an exceedingly complex whole. We shall see hereafter that the excavations which I determined shortly afterwards to undertake resulted in the discovery of several new and very interesting facts ; I shall not now discuss these, for fear of confusing, by a multitude of details, a description which in any case is not easy to follow.
If we look at the general outline of the plan, we find that the rock, including that part which is to be seen in the " Ecce Homo " Church, extends in an almost continuous line for a distance of about 42"". I have already
* They pronounce also: Mar Eha?ina ^ Aldr Yohanna. I learned this in 1871. (Notebook VI, p. 9a.)
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo" Arch. 57
stated that this line is practically straight, except that about midway it makes a sudden return at an obtuse angle (x), but that, after this break, it resumes its original direction and maintains it to the end, running from the east to a little south of west.
This fact assumes a considerable importance when we remember that this line was made by human hands, the rock having been almost everywhere cut perpendicular. This vertical scarping is best seen in the " Ecce Homo " Church, but I have found it again in the rock behind the house (door r), and behind the two adjoining houses (doors q and r'). In the house q it would even appear that the scarping has destroyed one of the sides of the upper chamber s, hewn in the rock ; the vestibule Y has been similarly mutilated, the scarping having cut across it obliquely. The effect produced by this cutting back of the whole rock gives us a valuable clue to the relative date of the vestibule and of the lower chambers ; indeed it is evident that
JTrt -r^ (j-- ; U~3^-i L,:;^;*^-;-^^. iriaoM aunt Cmi/mch
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DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ROCK SCARP WITH THE BUILDINGS REMOVED.
Scale -i^j.
their date is necessarily earlier than that at which this gigantic cutting was made,
If we now look at the great general section (see p. 51), and more especially at the small section given above, which shows the vertical-face of the rock cleared of builglings, one can very easily trace the descent of the scarped rock from east to west, following the slope of the Via Dolorosa.
The mouth of the passage leading to the chambers of the upper story opens at present into the open air, or nearly so ; originally it probably led on to a base of rock, which has been swept away by the same cause that has destroyed part of the chamber s and of the portico y.
Another general observation. The normal axes of the chambers in the upper story and of the passage leading to them form acute and obtuse angles with the existing face of the scarped rock, a thing which could not have originally existed, as it would be contrary to all that -.s known of such
I
ArchcBolorical Researches in Palestine.
^i>
rock excavations down to the present day. My conclusion is, that before this destructive work was undertaken the natural line of the rock trended much more to the south, and made a considerable angle with its present course ; indeed, I am greatly inclined to seek in the break at the obtuse angle at the point x, the end or side wall of some early chamber whose direction agreed with that of the other chambers and which has been destroyed, like them.
In the passage z, on the left hand side, there is a deep cutting, which seems to show that the workmen had at one time meant to make the crooked passage straight.
The square opening at the end of the chamber p, in its north-west wall, seems as if it must lead into another chamber, now filled with earth and altogether inaccessible.
It might be asked whether this opening may not possibly have been the original entrance into the cave, and whether the passage may not have been made as an after thought, and cut from within to without, in order to give chamber v an egress of its own. The configuration which we must suppose the ground to have possessed at that time renders this conjecture improbable ; indeed these chambers seem rather to plunge downwards into the depths of the hill from the south-east toward the north-west. On this hypothesis it is more reasonable to conjecture that the chamber p communicated by our square doorway with another chamber, and that this other chamber, now full of earth, had its own entrance, its outer door, on its north-west side. If so, we ought to look for this hypothetical door in the garden of the Austrian Hospice, near the second "A" of the word "MAHOMETAN " on the Ordnance Survey Plan. It would not indeed be too bold an assumption that the side of the hill returns at this point, and falls almost west. Nothing but digging can enable us to decide the question ; we shall see presently how the excavation which I attempted to make there ended in failure.
'Passing to the lower chambers, which made as it were a second story, we shall note the following facts. The inhabitants have assured me that the second chamber has round its sides a bench cut in the rock. It is impossible to ascertain this in the present state of the chamber, which is full of ordure almost up to the ceiling. The wall of rock which we could see in the third house (Door r'), and which forms a small redan, appears to be in the same line with the end of the rock in the adjoining house (Door q) on the east side. There is a gap between the two of only a few metres in extent, caused by a great wall which butts against the face of the rock.
Excavations near the "' Ecce Homo" Arch. 59
In this third house also the rock has been hollowed out to form a chamber, now partly destroyed (Sections k-l, and m-n) ; * a portion of the roof has fallen, in consequence either of a natural movement of the ground, overweighted by the houses built upon it, or of an earthquake. It is probably to the latter cause that we must attribute this subsidence, for not only the ceiling, but the side wall of the chamber is split vertically.
If we now ask ourselves what was the origin of this gigantic cutting, and at what period it could have been made, one cannot help remembering that Josephus, in describing the fortress Antonia, tells us that it was "separated {Si7]p7]To) from the hill Bezetha which was over against it, not naturally, but by means of a deep ditch, cut so that the foundations of Antonia did not join the foot of the hill, and consequently were not too easily come at." Moreover the same historian tells us that the second city wall of Jerusalem, starting from the Gate Gennath, came to Antonia, and enclosed only the northern region, that is to say, the region immediately to the north of the first wall. This second wall must clearly, on leaving Antonia, have trended considerably to the west, and must consequently have faced northwards for some distance. Now during this first part of its course it must necessarily have suffered from the same disadvantage as Antonia itself, that is to say, it must have been commanded by the hill Bezetha. This evil must' have been met by the same remedy, that is, by the cutting away of the rock, or rather the extension of the ditch which parted Antonia from Bezetha. Ought we not to recognise in the perpendicularly cut face of the rock, which I have discovered behind the houses, the counterscarp of this extended ditch, no longer intended to protect Antonia, but to protect the second wall which joined Antonia ? This ditch could never have reached further west than the east wall of the garden of the Austrian Hospice, because at that point the base of Bezetha seems, according to my observations, to turn to the north-west, to form one of the sides of the large valley which comes from the Damascus Gate, which valley the second wall must necessarily have crossed. On the east side of this valley chambers were excavated (they are those discovered when the Austrian Hospice was built) which perhaps belonged to the cemetery, or, if they are not tombs, to the same system of chambers as those along the Via Dolorosa. In this case, these latter chambers, being cut through by the ditch and consequently being
See p. 55.
I 2
6o ArchcBolozical Researches in Palestine.
A
earlier in date than it, must probably be older than the building of the second city wall.
These data are of very great value in helping us to discover this long- looked-for second wall. It seems to me that it must run between the two streets called Taink es Sai^at el Kadim and Daraj es Sara'i.
Now, the whole west side of this block (No. 27 in the Ordnance Survey Plan) consists of a large piece of ground belonging to the Armenian Catholics, in which I obtained permission to make an excavation, in hopes of solving this problem. I shall speak of this hereafter. Already Sir Charles Warren had sunk a shaft in this quarter, in the main street Hart el Wad, without any result ; but it may be that he only missed the wall by a few yards.
III.
Having come to an understanding with the Greek patriarch, the owner of the houses in the Via Dolorosa, I at last obtained permission to make excavations in order to ascertain several points about which I was in doubt. This operation was particularly awkward, since I had not received from Constantinople the firman which I had been promised at the beginning of my work, but which unfortunately I never received. These excavations, like all the others which I made in and around Jerusalem, had to be carried out altogether unofficially, and by the mere good will of various persons and corporations, who aided me with a kindness for which I am glad to be able to thank them publicly.
My excavations in the Via Dolorosa lasted from April 19 to May 31. They were resumed on July 28, on my return from my excursions in Palestine, but were broken off and finally abandoned after a few days by the orders of the Governor of Jerusalem, after the deplorable incident at Gezer.
It is deeply to be regretted that this unlucky concatenation of circum- stances should have prevented my pushing any further an investigation which, as we shall see, promised to yield interesting results. I earnestly trust that it may be resumed and accomplished by other archaeologists, with facilities which were denied to me.
Excavations near the " Eccc Homo " Arch.
6i
My first object was to try to force my way into the opening i, at tlie end of the chamber p in the upper story, in the hope that thus I should either find another chamber or the original entrance. We had to dig our way through a mass of loose stones which fell down continually. After two days of obstinate labour, often at the risk of the workmen's lives, we were obliged to give it up. We did, however, see and touch, on the right hand and the left, vertical walls of hewn rock with rectangular returns. These angles were about i"'50 from the doorway. The accompanying little sketch will explain the matter more clearly than the general plan, upon which these details have not been marked as accurately as one could have wished. These two walls may form part ot
cg?^'^W
'^'=^e^S-:
-Y
Enlarged Sketch of P on General Plan, p. 51.
another chamber like that marked p ; but they also may be only the sides of a rock-hewn vestibule open to the sky in ancient times. The latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the floor of the passage a, which is higher than the floor of the chamber p, is on a level with the rocky floor of the space which remains to be explored ; an arrangement more suitable to the entrance to a sepulchre than to a doorway simply connecting two closed chambers. Moreover, the distance between the two outer walls is considerably greater than the width of the chamber p, the former measuring 3°"50, the latter 2"-50. Finally, the enormous mass- of stones, against which we struggled in vain, argues the existence of a vacmtrn far more extensive than that of a mere chamber : either this chamber has had its roof demolished after it was made, or else the place never had any, and was always open to the sky. I therefore crave up digging here, as it could no longer be done, hoping that I might resume it after the stones had settled themselves somewhat, and the movement of the descending mass had stopped : but the circumstances related above did not permit me to carry out this project.
62
ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.
I now directed all my efforts to the lower stories. I cannot embark upon a detailed description of this complicated excavation, whose results
PLAN OF THE LOWER FLOORS.
3 ."^ ,^ -
LOOK (r?OCK)
XTOTTTTTmrrTn z"? flooi? ( ^ )
;■■.■-:.■ Jl-'W 3".° ., (EflWTM ^if STONES^
rnrrrnTrrrr 3"'° , (wnaoNKY)
'^^- ■ - " '^ L7\ST Gniue.KY
\IM\ DOLOROS?^
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo " Arch. 63
appear in our various plans and sections. We explored more or less thoroughly a quite extraordinary group of rock-hewn chambers, placed one above another, and full of rubbish.
Many of these chambers had fallen in, the rock having in places yielded to powerful pressure, probably that of an earthquake. We could only make our way very slowly and with very great care, to avoid accidents, especially as we could not rely upon the strength of the half-rotten frames at our disposal which shored up our galleries and shafts in a very imperfect fashion. In spite of all our precautions, we sometimes had alarming downfalls, but fortunately they did our men but little hurt. Working under these conditions, I was obliged, for fear of risking their lives, to give up attempting to get the woodwork out of our shafts and galleries, and to leave it in the diggings, which, moreover, were abruptly brought to a close by the circumstances already related.
On p. 62 is a detailed plan* of this part of our researches ; it completes and in several places corrects the general plans already given, with which, however, it is indispensable to compare it for the fuller understanding of certain details.
Explanation of Plate (p. 62).
First story (counting downwards) : the black marks show its place on the general plan.
Second story, ditto.
Third story (outer wall).
Wall of the lowest gallery.
.\'. Opening in the floor of rock between the second and third stories.
B-. Slope of the exploratory digging from the second to the third story.
C Shaft connecting the third story and the last gallery.
D*. Upper gallery in which the great vase was found.
We hastily explored the rock-hewn chambers forming the second story of this group. We did no more than pass through them, forcing our way between the roofs and the masses of rubbish and detritus of all kinds which filled them up to the very top. As may be seen by an examination of our plans and sections, this story comprises several chambers, five, six, or it may be more. They are partly destroyed, either by the great cutting in the rock, or by the walls of rock which separated them having been deliberately pulled down. All that we did was to make a few soundings to find the level of the rock floor.
Our time and means being limited, I preferred to concentrate all my efforts on the third story, whose existence I had noticed, as I could always go back to the second if I had any time to spare.
* This plan must be compared with the sections given on pp. 52 and 54, which come down to the third story, and also with the special sections given on pp. 65 and 66.
64 Arch(2ological Researches in Palestine.
This third story communicates with the second story, above it, by a narrow hole (at a' in the special plan, and visible in the section i-j (p. 52) pierced in the floor of rock which separates the two stories, and which at this point is from o"''70 to cf"]'^ thick. It consists of an immense cavern or rather hall, hewn very irregularly in a semicircular shape, with a rectangular part joining the right angle at one of its extremities. The largest diameter of this unsymmetrical figure measures some fifteen metres from south-west to north-east. Like all the chambers on the second story, this hall, up to the very roof, is quite full of earth and rubbish of various kinds, which made its complete exploration impossible. We were forced to neglect in a great measure the examination of the middle part, and confine our attention to tracing the shape of the walls of rock throughout the hall, save only on the south-east side. We did, however, ascertain the existence of a great wall of masonry, about 0^70 thick, which separates the semicircular part from the rectangular part. This wall runs from the north-west to the south-east, for a distance of 5 metres, as far as we could trace it.*
Above this wall, which perhaps was intended to prop it up, the rock-cut roof has given way under irresistible pressure, due, I imagine, to the earth- quake which has caused an accident of the same kind in the upper stories. The same enormous force has split the rock from the top to the bottom ; on the third story the roof has settled considerably, and is broken up into huge blocks, which hang in unstable equilibrium. In this region we were obliged to make our way with the utmost caution lest we should bring about a catastrophe. Indeed, our progress was hindered by several downfalls, each of which produced a general stampede. The sections e-f and G-Hf will give a very accurate idea of the state of things in this place. In the semicircular part we made our trenches follow the outline throughout, and we ascertained that all along the wall, wherever we were able to get down to the floor, there was a sort of bench, sometimes double, and sometimes triple, its steps hewn out of the living rock. Below are two sections, from g' to h' and from i' to j', which will clearly explain the appearance of these steps.
The height of the roof above the floor is at the first point more than 3 metres, and at the second point only 2'"7o.
* We were obliged to break through this wall to get from the semicircular part to the rectangular part, t See p. 54.
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo " Arch.
65
From k' to k' the concave wall (the section I'-j' passes across the middle of it) assumes a particular figure, shown below in elevation.
EABTM,srOM£S, » SOnES.
SECTION G -H .
Scale Jj;.
Sca'e Vtt-
«35
'|^''^'''*MTlr ''■'i''l'l''"'■
7 ;/ ''m
As shown in the figure, the first step, that at the top, has a rectangular trough cut in it. On the left side a little niche is cut, rounded at the top and standing upon the step itself. Above this, in a nearly horizontal line and at nearly regular intervals, there are five holes like rings cut in the rock. Here is a plan and elevation of them in detail, one tenth of the elevation of the partition k'.
actual size. . Scale I'jj.
^vf&
detail of the rings cut in the partition k.' Details. Scale jV
See the detailed plan, p. 62.
66
Archceological Researches in Palestine.
SURFACE CF THE STHEET BEFORE THE DOOR OF EUTRAMCE
It seems as though these rings must have been meant to tie animals to ; from this we gain a valuable hint as to the use for which this enormous hall was intended. Perhaps it was once a cattle lair, the benches which surround it being used for mangers. We may ask ourselves whether we have not here, in this hall and the other chambers of the upper story, stables, store rooms, and magazines of various kinds perhaps attached to Antonia, and meant to supply its garrison with food.
We must also note the existence of a small chamber further on, toward the south-east end of the semicircular part (between j and h). This chamber is rectangular, measuring about 2"' x i'"'55, and is entered by a door in the concave wall.
In the rectangular part of the hall, at the south-west side, we dug to the very bottom, sinking a shaft and making two galleries one above the
other. Here we were able to trace the two walls, which join at a right angle throughout their whole height. As is shown in the transverse section e'— f', taken across the north - west wall, this wall forms a kind of step 2"''40 in height. Here the height of the step is so great that it cannot be supposed to have been intended for animals ; moreover, at the foot of the wall one sees a narrow gutter cut in the rock, and evidently meant for draining the floor. By referring to the section e — f (p. 54), we shall see that the south-west wall, perpendicular to the wall which I have described, shows much the ^'^'^'^ ^V same arrangement ; we find there
the same high step and at the foot the same gutter for drainage.
At this point, in the angle formed by these two walls, we made an archaeological discovery of the greatest interest, which I shall describe in detail. It was here that we found the great terra-cotta vase covered with sculptures, and other pieces of pottery of the same kind (see p. 68).
MIDDLE LEVEL OF THE FLOOR OF THE CAVERN, 3rd STOREY.
|
h |
a 0 |
„ |
||
|
I Q EARTH ANJ) STOMfiS |
||||
|
L 0 .".'■ ° " " |
||||
|
r |
-^ |
|||
|
0 " |
||||
|
-« ^Tr |
0 0 |
EA |
||
|
0 {, |
. |
|||
|
0*0 ^ |
° 0 ^ |
. - |
||
|
0 • |
||||
|
0 0 |
e X 0 to* |
e |
||
|
0 „ |
^ |
^ |
||
|
ULLCfl) |
i |
6* ^ |
9 |
|
|
ROCK |
c? |
*^ |
[ 0 . |
Section E' — F'.
Excavations neaj' the " Ecce Homo " Arcli.
67
According to our levels, the rock-floor at this point is 9'"'20 below the level of the Via Dolorosa, which trends parallel to the scarped and excavated rock-cliff; and it has not been proved that this third story is the last.
I am very sorry not to have been able to push these researches further, and ascertain whether this ^reat hall does not communicate with other excavations leading further into the hill, to the north, and connected perhaps with the great stone quarries identical with the " Royal Caverns" of Josephus. From the front of the houses in the Via Dolorosa to the far end of the great hall measures some twenty metres, this brings us about as far as the little street Zokdk al-Bns. From this street to the furthest point to the southward which has hitherto been reached in the " Royal Caverns," is about a hundred metres ; a long distance, no doubt, still they may possibly join. Nothing but a new series of explorations can settle this question.
As I have said before, the interior of the lower stories is choked with rubbish of all sorts, which seems to argue that it was used as a lay stall, and even as a charnel house. The human bones which we picked up here and there, especially at the point g', one metre below the roof, and also at the north-western end of the wall of separation, leave no doubt whatever on this latter question. The roughly hewn steps which skirt the walls suggest the idea of a stone quarry ; we have even found at the foot of them the chips as they fell on the ground from the quarrymen's picks.
Much of the broken pottery which we picked up in the rubbish is of Arab make, but of an ancient period ; several fragments are enamelled. Among them I may mention a lamp of common terra-cotta shaped exactly like the lamps of the Byzantine period, but bearing an Arab inscription, too much damaged to be legible. Since then I have found in Palestine other specimens of lamps of the same kind in better preservation. This proves that the Byzantine type in these things survived the Mussulman conquest for some time, and that one ought to be very careful about the dates, in some cases too early, which one is tempted to assign to uninscribed lamps of this shape."""
LAMP WITH ARABIC INSCRII'TIO.V.
* See an account of several lamps of this kind (lychnaria) with Arabic inscriptions, in my Recueil d' Archeologie Orientate, Vol. II, p[). 19 and 67 and Vol. Ill, p. 4146.
K 2
68
Arch(Bolos:ical Researches in Palestine.
I shall also mention among the broken pieces of terra-cotta, a piece of a lamp of a different type, belonging to a period not yet ascertained, standing on a tall narrow foot (a).
I'lECK OF LAMP.
B. LITTLE IIOTILK.
C. BROKEN VASE IN YELLOW TERRA-COTTA
A little bottle (neck broken) o"''075 high (i;).
The bottom of a large slender vase in yellow terra-cotta, with a sign engraved underneath the foot, having a very bold rim round it ; diameter o"''o6 (c).
A little pot with a handle ; a piece of a trivet enamelled at the top, and a quantity of pieces of vases of different sorts.
We also found many pieces of glass vases, of uncertain age, notably the neck of a phial with ornaments of blue enamel.
Among the stones I may mention a piece of a corbel with mediseval tooling ; some grindstones or weights of hard stone (one of them with a mark (?) engraved upon it); a marble mortar; a quantity of small pieces of marble, apparently from veneers, etc.
IV.
All these objects have but a very relative interest. This is not the case with those which we discovered in the north-west angle oi the rectangular hall in the third story, in the gallery d 4 (p. 62), at the place exacdy shown in the lower section e — f (p. 54) ; " these were a superb terra- cotta vase, covered with exceedingly rich and curious ornament, and a piece of another vase of the same kind. The vase had been crushed as it lay by an ancient downfall of the rock forming the roof, and this occurred
* The vase itself is shown here in the exact position in which it lay.
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo" Arch,
69
again during our digging ; but all the pieces were there ; not one was missing. We gathered them up with the greatest care, and by fitting them together managed to reconstruct the whole vase in its original form.
The piece of the second vase lay a few metres further. This piece was itself broken into two parts which fitted together exactly.
The first vase, which was of grey terra-cotta, very much baked and
VASli KKblOKEl).
Height 38'3 centimetres. Diameter 30'4 centimetres.
very hard, measures o"''36 in height. It stands on a low base of very plain outline, and has a large body, its greatest circumference being at least one metre. There is no neck ; the mouth, which is made narrower by a small edging, measures o'""2 35 across.
It is flanked by two handles, each formed of a double plait elegantly
70
ArchcBoloncal Researches in Palestine.
twisted ; at the top of each handle there is sunk a little square recess, from which, on either side, two serpents in relief, symmetrically arranged and crawling along the side of the base, seem to be going to drink ; their tails lose themselves in the lower part of the handles.
Immediately below each handle is modelled, full face, the mask of a Gorgon.
Moreover, quite close to each handle, there is twice stamped in relief by means of a mould (tuttos), a sort of little medallion representing a small naked male figure, standing upright, with the left arm raised and resting on the end
PIECE OF A SECOND VASE. For description, see p. 73.
of a staff, lance, or thyrsus. The right arm is stretched out and points toward the ground ; the right hand seems to be holding something that cannot be distinctly made out, which rests upon something else equally vague, lying upon the ground. The ectypa, or impressions of this figure, about which I shall presently say something more, are repeated six times upon this vase. At almost equal distances from either handles and on both sides of the vase, there is, twice repeated, another medallion. This is stamped liked the other but is of larger size, and represents a Hermes or Mercury, naked, whose body is seen in front, and his head turned to the left. On his head he wears the petasus, and has his chlamys fastened across his chest and thrown behind
Excavations near the '' Eccc Homo ' Arch. yi
him. In his left hand he holds the caduceus, while in his right he supports something round, which may be a money bag, the balantion or marsupuim, a common attribute of Hermes KepSwo<;, the god of gain.
In the circular field which surrounds him there are four things like large pineapples (or are they tortoise shells ?). The medallion is framed within a little border made by repeating moulds of the same figure : six points in a
circle round a central point • ; this ornament is repeated profusely upon
the rest of the vase.
Upon one of the two almost symmetrical segments into which the vase is divided by the handles, the medallion of Hermes is flanked on the left by the little medallion previously described, and on the right by a symbolic group which requires a special explanation. Under a kind of portico divided into three sections by four little columns, that is, two columns f/i anti's, with fluted shafts. In the central space may be seen a vase with two handles, a large foot, and a long and very slender neck ; it is ornamented with gadroons leading from the top to the bottom. In the space between the columns oi the left hand is an altar, tall and narrow, and fluted like the vase and columns; it reminds one a good deal of some of the Assyrian altars. In the hollow shown in the upper part of the altar, eight little balls or roundels are arranged in the form of a pyramid ; in the right hand space between the columns there is a second altar of the same kind as the first, yet differing from it in some essential particulars ; the number of spheres is only seven, and moreover a sort of tablet runs across behind the altar, at about half its height ; one can see its two ends projecting beyond either side of the altar.
Immediately beneath the portico, and corresponding to its three inter- columniations, there are stamped, also in relief, three small figures, each representing a female personage seen from the front, draped in a long tunic, the left hand leaning on a long spear, the right extended toward the ground, and holding something which cannot be made out. These three little figures seem to be repeated from the same ectypon ; they occur again twice, separately on this side of the vase ; but I must say that I have noticed some stight variations in the attitude of the head and right arm in some of these five iittle figures, which otherwise are much alike. The right hand altar is also repeated once separately.
Before leaving this part of the vase I must mention a shape resembling a great leaf of a tree, with ribs in high relief, which is stamped beside one
72 Archceological Researches in Palestine.
of the serpents. Perhaps, however, we ought rather to see in this vague shape the figure of a tree, obviously from its pyramidal form and the position of its branches a cypress or pine, the tree sacred to Attys and Cybele.
If we pass to the opposite side of the vase, we notice there the same elements, arranged in very nearly the same manner. We shall only observe that the little female figure, three times repeated, is not grouped in the same way as on the other side, that the vase between the two columns is itself reproduced elsewhere by itself, and finally that it is the left, not the right hand altar which is repeated by itself.
The lower half of the vase is ornamented with two bands close toafether, formed by the stamped repetition of a very strange figure composed of concentric half circles, whose six ends, with a seventh central dot, remind one somewhat of the seven-branched candlestick ; but this resemblance is only apparent, for there is no trace of stem. This ornament is also figured several times, by itself, on the upper part.
Below this there is a third circle formed of elongated lozenges. Lastly, vet lower, the same forms are grouped in large triangles with their points downwards, which reach as far as the foot, and complete the scheme of decoration.
1 have forgotten to state that the mouth of the vase is ornamented with five or six parallel lines of little wavy mouldings wrought with great freedom and not without taste.
A rather curious detail is that the whole surface of the vase, especially the stamped parts, is pitted with little holes made with the point of a sharp boasting tool or knife. It is impossible to suppose this to have been accidental ; on the other hand, there must have been some important reason for covering the stamps with holes which spoil the figures. Was this done to make it bake better, or was it that the surface might be more easily coated with some substance to be applied afterwards ?
This great vase, with all its rich ornamentation, is wrought with a certain carelessness which one cannot avoid noticing. Its shape is elegant, but nevertheless it is unsymmetrical and untrue ; the handles are set on crookedly, and the details of the stamped moulds show much carelessness ; one sees everywhere the marks of the fingers which have mended the damage caused by pulling off the stamps. The arrangement of the figures and symbols is made almost at random, without any exact rule. Still, such as it is, this great piece of pottery, with all its imperfections, is notable from an artistic point of view. The profusion of its detail, combined with the
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo " Arch. jt,
slovenliness of its workmanship, sometimes makes one think that we have before us a kind of sketch, or rough draught, the first attempt of an artist who wanted to make a model which he intended to copy carefully, or even to reproduce in metal.
We must not forget that by the side of this vase we picked up a large piece of the same sort of ware (see fig., p. jo), which certainly did not belong to it, as is sufficiently proved by its different shape and curvature. This fragment nevertheless has some remarkable points of resemblance to it. We find on its upper part a Gorgon's mask like that on the great vase, but of less size ; the same decoration of the mouth with wavy moulded lines ; the same ornament composed of three concentric half-circles ; and finally an exact copy, probably from the same models, of the little indistinct standing male figure leaning on a spear. The only different piece of ornament consists in some little countersunk stamps of leaves or palms.
The discovery of these two vases in the same place, their being made of the same ware but of different sizes, their resemblances, and even their variations of type, render it probable that we have in them specimens of local manufacture rather than importations from abroad. One might, indeed, be tempted to adopt this latter conjecture when one remembers how utterly barren Jerusalem has shown itself from an artistic point of view, even to the present day. We know that during the Empire vases of red earthenware were still made at Arezzo, with ornaments and figures in relief, which were cast in a mould and put on to the surface just as they are in our vases, and quite different, therefore, to the ocrTpaKiva TopevfiaTa of the Greek vases of the ancient type, which were modelled by hand. The method employed here is of the Arretine kind, but this does not necessarily prove that it may not have been practised by the potters of Jerusalem, as it was also in other countries besides that of Arezzo, especially in Gaul.
Having described this curious vase, we have now to determine its date and its use, and also the symbolic meaning of the chief pieces of ornament with which it is covered.
Considering the place in which it was found, and the limitations imposed by the history of Jerusalem, one is tempted a priori to attribute the vase to the Roman period, that is to say, to regard it as belonging to Aelia Capitolina. The workmanship and the style suit this view very well.
The general shape of the vase and the arrangement of the mouth seem to imply the existence of a lid, similarly ornamented, which has been lost. Judging from the size of the mouth and the breadth of the foot, we must
L
74 ArchcEological Researches in Palestine.
not reckon it among the class of amphorae, but as one of those vases from which one ladled out the contents, and did not pour them out by tilting the vase. It must, in a word, be classed as a " crater," although perhaps its handles stand rather too high to match the classical " crater," whose handles as a rule are set on below the belly of the vase, and are intended to shake it rather than to carry it by.
"Craters" may have been meant either lor religious or for domestic purposes, that is to say, to contain libations offered to the gods, or to be used at men's ordinary meals. In either case the contents, wine and water as a rule, were ladled out by means of a siinpuhim (dpva-Trjp), or of a cyathus, a kind of cup or spoon with a long handle, with which they filled the paterae or drinking cups. Even when it was only meant for non-religious uses, the "crater" still retained a certain religious character. It was the custom at formal repasts to have three "craters," probably of different size: the first, according to Suidas, was dedicated to Hermes, the second to Charisius, and the third to Zeus the Saviour. According to other authors the first (some say the third) was sacred to the "Good Genius" ('Aya^oSaijuwi'). There also was a " crater" sacred to " Health " ('Tyteia).
Our "crater" shows by the distinctive character of its decoration all the signs of being a vase for religious use, and I am greatly tempted to believe that it was intended for sacrificial libations, — these vases being usually not only dedicated to deities as avadrjiJiaTa, but actually used in the ritual celebrated in their honour.
The four serpents going to drink out of the little wells sunk at the tops of the handles, as it were to catch the drops which fell from the sinipulum, seem to me to symbolise th& genii foci, and remind us precisely of the serpent formed Agathodcsmon, to whom one so often sees libations being offered on ancient monuments.
Our Hermes, twice repeated, seems by his size and by the front place which he occupies, to be the chief deity of the vase, reminding us of the first "crater," which was sacred to Hermes. Have we then in our broken piece a fragment of the second, or of the third crater }
The little male figure, which is repeated six times on the great vase, and which we find a seventh time on the broken piece, is not easy to define. Still, it is singularly like the Dionysus which we find on many of the coins of Aelia Capitolina, especially on those struck during the reigns of Antoninus, Geta, and Gordian HI. If we are really to see in our little figure an imitation of that on the coins, then the uncertain gesture which it is making
Excavations near the " Ecce Homo " Arch. 75
may be interpreted thus : the right hand would be offering a bunch of grapes to a panther either erect or sitting, strictly one might suppose the hand to be pouring wine from a carchesium. In any case, the presence of Dionysus on a vase intended to contain wine would be quite natural. Are we to see in him Suidas's Charisius, a very obscure divinity, who is only perhaps another form of Dionysus? Ought the pineapples which surround the Hermes to be understood as Dionysiac symbols ? As for the female figure, I cannot identify it ; it is apparently a deity : can it be Hygieia or, perhaps, a Tyche ?
The presence of the vase and the two altars all grouped under the same portico complete the distinctly religious character of the "crater." It should be noted that the vase figured in the decoration of our vase is of quite a different type to the vase itself The grouping of this vase between the two altars bears a striking resemblance to a sculpture in bas-relief on a door lintel at Seilun.* These narrow fluted altars are somewhat like the shape of certain Assyrian ones. The number of spheres contained in the cavity of each of them is not, I imagine, without meaning. Whatever things these spheres may represent, it is probable that the number seven, in the first case, refers to the ancient cosmic idea of the five planets which, together with the sun and moon, formed the septenary. The number eight in the other may be connected with the idea of that number, symbolised and personified as it is in the very name of the Phoenician Eshmun. I do not wish to lay much stress on the symbolic meaning of numbers ; I will only call the reader's attention to the seven points on our vase, six of them arranged in a circle round the seventh, and to the number seven formed by the ends of the concentric half circles with their central stroke.
It may be asked how this vase, and the piece of similar ware, came to have been put into such a place, that is to say, into this underground chamber hewn in the rock of Bezetha, and ruined by an earthquake. We can hardly suppose that we found them in their original place, in some sepulchral cave. The rubbish of all sorts among which we found them would rather lead one to suppose that they had been thrown into these caves at some very early period together with filth. If they ever were used for the sacrifices offered by the pagans of Aelia Capitolina in the sanctuary of Jupiter, which stood not far off, one can easily understand that at the period of the official triumph of Christianity these instruments of a proscribed ritual may have been
See Vol. II, p. 300.
L 2
76 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.
ignominiously thrown away in company with the vilest refuse. Possibly, on the other hand, they may at some crisis have been hidden in what was supposed to be a safe retreat by the last adherents of paganism. Indeed, we have elsewhere examples of similar precautionary measures taken by pagans to conceal their idols and sacred vessels from the iconoclastic fury of the lately persecuted sect now become persecutor in its turn. One fact which seems to favour this hypothesis is that the vase, though of brittle material, must nevertheless have been placed unbroken where we found it, and there- fore with a care which certainly would not have been shown by Christians : it was broken where it stood by the fall of the roof of the cavern which sheltered it. In any case, this fall of the roof must have taken place after this period of religious reaction, which we may apparently assign to the time of Constantine.
V.
The central opening of the Roman triumphal arch which spans the Via Dolorosa is the property of the little convent of Uzbeg Dervishes which stands over the way, opposite to the convent of the Sisters of Sion. As I was a great friend of the Uzbeg Sheikh, I prevailed upon him, in 1S71, to permit me to remove the layer of mortar which covers and disfigures both sides of the central arch, on condition, as soon as I had done so, of replacing every thine as it was before. Thus I managed to uncover the mouldings of the arch, and before proceeding to cover both sides up again, according to my agreement, after having had a momentary glance at them, I took photographs of them. This operation moreover enabled me to discover, imbedded in one of the faces of the arch, a fragment of a Greek inscription other than the one already known. I took a squeeze of it, but unluckily this squeeze, which I laid in a neighbouring house to dry, disappeared without my being able to ascertain how it went. The very rough sketch which I took of it, thinking that I could refer to the squeeze, is far from making amends for the vexatious loss of the latter.
Not to mention the great ancient pool, which at this day is underground and covered by a double vault, the works undertaken by the Sisters of Sion in their ground have directly or indirectly led to the discovery of some objects of interest. Among these I shall mention a little terra-cotta vase bearing geometrical ornamentation, painted in lines of brown colour upon a yellowish
Excavations near the " Eccc Homo" Arch. yy
ground.* A stone weight bearing a Greek inscription dated from the fifth year of the reign of a king Athamas, unknown to history. A fragment of a Cufic inscription in well-cut letters ; I have been able to make out
^„ . ,.,IL^ ».' ji!l xxj^ , 'Obeid Alkih the son of Sahlan, the son
ofM. . .
At the Austrian Hospice, which stands in the ground with which I am dealing in this present chapter, they keep two inscribed stones which have for a long time been shown to visitors as having been discovered during the excavations undertaken in 1858 for the building of the Hospice.t If the discovery of such antiquities as these in such a quarter of Jerusalem could be proved with certainty, it would be a fact of great importance in connection with the topography and archaeology of the Holy City. Unfortunately this is not the case; I have published elsewhere ;{: a description of these relics, and have proved that they were really discovered at Sidon some time ago, were brought to Jerusalem, and now are improperly connected with the latter city.
* Now in the Museum of the Louvre, Salle Judaique, No. 10.
t Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, p. 60. " Whilst digging for the foundations of the Austrian Hospice some years ago .... a small column and a mural tablet to the memory of some lady — the same Greek inscription was upon both column and tablet, and on the latter a female figure, reclining on a bier, with her head raised and resting on one hand, was painted with much spirit, and is still well preserved."
X Gazette Archeologique, 1S72, pp. 102-105 ("'ith illustrations and coloured plates).
CHAPTER III.
EXCAVATIONS IN THE GROUND OF HAMMAM
ES SULTAN.
Taking advantage of the opportunity offered me by the Armenian CathoHc parish priest, who owned the large piece of ground known by the name of H.avi7)idm es Siiitdn, which lies between the Via Dolorosa, the Tarik Bab el Amnd, and the lane called Daraj es Sara't, I decided to begin exca- vations there. I had the advantage of being able to work in enclosed ground,
GROUND PLAN
GROUND PLAN.
without fear of hindrance. My design was, if possible, to connect my exca- vations with those of the rock scarp near the " Ecce Homo " Arch.
These works, which