508

TOMB DISCOVERED BY THE AUTHOR.

at the time of our visit was still partly concealed by brambles, stones and dirt, so that but one half of the doorway was visible, as in the annexed view.

It represents a Doric pediment, supported by rude pilasters, with some remains of floral embellishments carved upon the architrave, such as I before noticed as being characteristic of Hebrew sculpture; the whole hewn out of the rock, from which it stands out in good relief, as exhibited in the above sketch, which I made upon the spot.

The most remarkable circumstance connected with this façade was its door, which struck me the moment I saw it, as being totally different from that of any other tomb that I had ever seen or read of, except one at Petra, and one described by Irby and Mangles at Bysan near Tiberias. It is formed of a single slab of stone, and moves on horizontal pivots that run into sockets cut in the pilasters at top, in the manner of a swinging hinge; similar to that which is sometimes seen in the doors of cottages in this country. The lower part of it had been, I was informed, broken

INTERIOR OF THE TOMB.

509

It is the only

off by the Arabs in order to effect an entrance. outside door of a tomb that I have ever seen in situ, and it differs from all others in not having been formed for concealment, or for being completely closed when the body was deposited within ; but was evidently made for the purpose of being opened occasionally. Having entered beneath this ponderous portal and lighted our candles, we were greatly surprised to find ourselves within a tolerably sized hall of an oblong shape, cut with great precision out of the rock, but without ornament or adornment of any kind whatever.

Curious to relate, the whole of this tomb afforded a most striking illustration of its appropriateness to describe the character of the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees; and showed the forcible application of the language used by the Saviour when denouncing their hypocrisy; "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.' At the end, and on either side of the hall a number of doors led into inner apartments, as shown in the accompanying cut.

*Matt. xxiii. 27. Dr. Shaw supposed that the whited sepulchres mentioned by our Lord were the same as the Mohammadan marabuts; but these I am inclined to believe are of a date more recent that the Christian

era.

510

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN IT.

Each of these chambers was a small oblong crypt, about seven feet long; on either side of which was a trough or sarcophagus, hewn like all the rest of the tomb out of the solid rock, and raised about three feet from the floor, and in all of them were quantities of human bones lying without order or regularity, but in a state of most astonishing preservation. The edges of these troughs were in many places chipped and broken, as if from long use; and the whitewash had not only coated these parts, but had actually spotted several of the bones that lay low down in the bottoms of the troughs. These bones were piled in layers, and as each trough contained several, the whitewash must have been used subsequently to some of the bodies being placed within them. This whitewash (which is the only instance of the kind that has yet been discovered of that ancient Jewish custom) was in a most extraordinary state of perfection; and, from the number of layers that could be seen, on picking it off the wall, it was evident that it had been frequently renewed. Such was the appearance this tomb presented when we examined it; and such I was informed was its state when discovered shortly before.

But the most remarkable feature in this catacomb was, that each set of crypts, that is, those on the three different sides, contained the remains of distinct and separate races of mankind, as shown by the skulls found in the trough of each.* Thus all the crypts upon the right-hand side contained crania of the same characters, shape, and appearance, whereas all those upon the opposite, left-hand side, were of a shape the very reverse, and in the end or central compartments I found skulls totally different from either. In this end of the apartment, however, the crania were more mixed, and not at all so decided as those in the two other sets of chambers that I have mentioned. But, although I searched with some care, I could not find a single instance of the skulls of one side being mixed up with those of the other two; all were perfectly distinct and separated from each other. Now, none of these curious heads belonged to the Jewish race, for not

* Could it have been a tomb of this description that is mentioned in Jeremiah, (chap. xxvi. v. 23.) where the prophet says that Jehoiakim, when he slew Urijah, "cast his body into the graves of the common people."

A PERILOUS ADVENTURE.

511

one single European or well-marked Caucasian head could I find among the numbers scattered in the chambers; and as all who did not belong to that family, must have been strangers in Jerusalem-and as these heads belonged to races of mankind that we know did not inhabit Judea for the last two thousand years, they must have been foreigners; and this has led me to conjecture, that this tomb, which is situated in the acknowledged site of the field of blood, may be one of those sepulchres of the actual Aceldama that was purchased by the priests "to bury strangers in."

Although aware of the danger I incurred, and the uproar that it might occasion if discovered, I could not possibly resist the desire I felt to bring some of these curious skulls with me to Europe; knowing the interest they would excite amongst those who have studied the physical history of the human specieseven though they had not been discovered in the field of blood. So, tying two of them in my handkerchief, and fastening it to the saddle, while I persuaded my enthusiastic friend, the baker, whom I before introduced to my readers, and who acted as our guide that evening, to carry two more of them for me beneath his beneesh, we in this way set forward to the city at sunset. I must confess that it was not without some feelings of trepidation I passed the Mooslim guard, as I dashed through St. Stephen's gate, and galloping up the Via Dolorosa, safely gained the convent with my prize.

Let us now consider who those strangers may have been that are referred to in the inspired record, and briefly inquire, to what race of men these remarkable skulls belonged. To enter at all upon the disputed point as to the many varieties into which the human family may be divided, or to discuss the opinions that have been set forth as to their common origin―a question which to the present time occupies the attention of the most learned philosophers and physiologists-would take up more space in a narrative of travel than the limits and purpose of the present work permit, or than would be interesting to the general reader. It is sufficient that we adhere to the most acknowledged general principles that are received at the present day by those learned in the physical history of man. Nor would it in the slightest degree interfere with the end and purpose of the following

512

OPINIONS OF DR. PRICHARD.

inquiry, whether we adopted the arrangements of Cuvier, Blumenbach, Lawrence, or Dr. Prichard, or examined these heads according to the rules of the facial angle of Camper, the vertical view of Blumenbach, or the more advisable plan of the general observation of the cranium by Prichard; the object being to know, if possible, to what races these heads belonged, and to what country they can be referred.

I may here remark, that this beautiful and most interesting subject of the physical history of the human race, has of late years become one of such general and popular inquiry, that I presume the readers of these pages are so far acquainted with its outlines, as to be able to go forward with me in this investigation, without any preliminary observations upon that branch of science. I may also add that, having had frequent communications with Dr. Prichard upon the subject of these heads, his opinions very nearly coincide with those which I had previously stated in writing to my esteemed friend, Professor Graves; and, lest it might be supposed that the former great authority was in any way biassed by a knowledge of where or under what circumstances these heads were procured, I can only say, that casts of the four skulls which I removed from this tomb were forwarded to Dr. Prichard, with a note from Professor Graves, requesting his opinion upon them, but giving no clue whatever as to the locality, or stating how, or in what place, they had been discovered.

Though there are some objections to it, yet for every useful object of this inquiry, the three great divisions of man into the Caucasian, Mongolian and Ethiopian, with the two intermediate varieties of the American, as the link between the first and second, and the Malay between the second and third, as adopted by the German school, will answer our purpose.

Although colour, language, religion, history, tradition, and antiquities, may be called in as auxiliaries, yet it is now universally admitted by the first authorities in this science, that to the form and character of the head can we alone refer in order to determine the varieties of man, either existing or extinct. "Thus," says a distinguished writer, "of all peculiarities in the form of the bony fabric, those of the skull are the most striking and distinguishing. It is in the head that we find the varieties most strongly characteristic of different races. The characters of the