the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Sepulchre of Christ.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or This has. been alluded to in the foregoing article, but the interest of the subject demands a fuller treatment. The traditional ‘ site is now occupied by the "Church of the Holy Sepulchre," and the question of the identity of the locality is fully discussed under CALVARY; GOLGOTHA. Its general position is sufficiently indicated under JERUSALEM, and in the maps accompanying that article and PALESTINE. A full description of the building is given by Porter, Handbook for Palestine, p. 155 sq.; also in the various books of travels in the Holy Land. We have only space for a brief outline of this extensive and interesting structure, which will be intelligible by the aid of the annexed plan.
1. Exterior. — The approach to it from every direction lies through narrow, filthy lanes, and small bazaars generally filled with ragged Arab women, the venders of vegetables and snails, the latter of which are much eaten here, especially during Lent. After many crooked turnings we arrive in the large square court in front of the church. Here the scene exhibited, in the height of the pilgrim season, is of the most motley and extraordinary appearance. On the upper raised steps are tables spread with coffee, sherbet, sweetmeats, and refreshments; throughout the court are seated peddlers and the Bethlehemite venders of holy merchandise, such as crosses, beads, rosaries and amulets, and mother-of-pearl shells, which are generally brought from the Red Sea, and engraved with religious subjects chiseled in relief; models of the Holy Sepulchre in wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and drinking cups from the deposits of the Jordan, with verses from the Bible engraved on them; they are nearly as black as ebony, and take a fine polish. Through these wares hundreds of persons pass and repass — pilgrims of many nations in their different costumes; Latin, Armenian, Russian, Greek, and Coptish friars, with Turkish, Arnaout, and Arab soldiers — all forming the most extraordinary scene that could be found in any spot upon the globe; and a polyglot language is heard such as few other places in the world could exhibit.
The key of the church is kept by the governor of the city; the door is guarded by a Turk, and opened only at fixed hours, and then only with the consent of the three convents and in the presence of the several dragomans, an arrangement which often causes great and vexatious delays to such as desire admittance. This formality was probably intended for solemnity and effect, but its consequence is exactly the reverse; for as soon as the door is opened the pilgrims, who have almost all been kept waiting for some time and have naturally become impatient, rush in, struggling with each other, overturning the dragomans, and are thumped by the Turkish doorkeeper, and driven, like a herd of wild animals, into the body of the church.
2. First Interior Room. — Supposing, then, the rush over, and the traveler to have recovered from its effects, he will find himself in a large apartment, forming a sort of vestibule; on the left, in a recess in the wall, is a large divan, cushioned and carpeted, where the Turkish doorkeeper is usually sitting with half a dozen of his friends, smoking the long pipe and drinking coffee, and always conducting himself with great dignity and propriety. Directly in front, within the body of the church, having at each end three enormous wax candles more than twenty feet high, and a number of silver lamps suspended above it of different sizes and fashions — gifts from the Catholic, Greek, and Armenian convents — is a long flat stone called the "Stone of Unction," and on this it is said the body of our Lord was laid when taken down from the cross and washed and anointed in preparation for sepulture. This is the first object that arrests the pilgrims on their entrance, and here they prostrate themselves in succession, the old and the young, women and children, the rich man and the beggar, and all kiss the sacred stone. It is a slab of polished white marble, and only does duty as a substitute for the genuine stone, which is said to be beneath it: but this consideration in no degree affects the multitude or the fervor of the kisses it receives. As you advance towards the stone you have Mount Calvary immediately on your right hand.
Beyond the Stone of Unction the traveler finds himself in the body of the church, a space of about 300 feet in length and 160 in breadth. In front his progress is arrested by the southern exterior of the Greek Chapel, which occupies more than half the great area; on his left, at the western end, is a circular space about 100 feet in diameter, surrounded by clumsy square columns, which support a gallery above, and a dome 150 feet high, of imposing appearance and effect. This is the Latin Chapel, in the center of which, immediately below the aperture that admits light through the dome, rises a small oblong building of marble, twenty feet long, twelve broad, and about fifteen feet in height, surmounted by a small cupola standing on columns. This little building is circular at the back, but square and finished with a platform in front. Within it is what passes for the Holy Sepulchre. We reserve its description for the last.
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