論聖地 第 1 章 第 2/4 段

In that same cave, then, there are four stone tables, of which one is situated near the entrance of the cave, on the inside, the table of the Lord Jesus, to which little table without doubt His seat adjoins, where, with the twelve apostles seated together at the other tables held in the same place, He too was often accustomed sometimes to recline as host. The mouth of that well which we described above as being in the pavement of the cave, closed up, is shown to be held nearer to the table of the apostles. The little door of this cave is closed with a wooden door, as holy Arculf relates, who often frequented that cave of the Lord. XVI. CONCERNING THE GATE OF DAVID. The Gate of David adjoins Mount Sion on the western side by a gentle slope.

For those going out of the city through that same gate and having Mount Sion close on their left, a stone bridge occurs at a distance, directed in a straight course through the valley toward the south, supported by arches. XVII. CONCERNING THAT PLACE WHERE JUDAS ISCARIOT HANGED HIMSELF WITH A NOOSE. At the middle of this bridge, on the west, is held that nearby place where Judas Iscariot, driven by despair, hanging himself with a noose, had perished. There also is shown to this day a great fig tree, from whose top, as is said, ensnared he hung, as concerning that same Judas the versifying presbyter Juvencus sang: 'The fig tree from its top snatched away a hideous death.' XVIII. CONCERNING THE FORM OF THE GREAT BASILICA BUILT ON MOUNT SION, AND THE SITUATION OF THAT SAME MOUNT.

And since a little earlier mention was made of Mount Zion, a few things must be briefly and concisely related about a certain very large basilica built upon it, the plan of which is described thus: Here is shown the rock upon which Stephen, having been stoned outside the city, fell asleep. Outside this great basilica described above, which encloses within it such holy places, there stands another memorable rock toward its western side, upon which, as it is reported, the Lord was scourged. This apostolic church, then, as has been said above, is constructed of stone masonry on the upper level plain of Mount Zion. XIX. CONCERNING THAT LITTLE FIELD WHICH IN HEBREW IS CALLED ACHELDEMACH.

Our Arculf, frequently resorting thither, used to visit this little field situated on the southern side of Mount Zion, which has an enclosure of stones, in which a great many pilgrims are carefully buried; but others among them, covered only with rags or skins, are more carelessly left unburied, lying rotting upon the face of the earth. XX. CONCERNING THE ROUGH AND ROCKY PLACES WIDELY EXTENDING FROM JERUSALEM AS FAR AS THE CITY OF SAMUEL, AND THE PLACES SUCCEEDING THEM AS FAR AS CAESAREA OF PALESTINE TOWARD THE WEST. From Aelia northward as far as the city of Samuel, which is called Ramah, the land is shown to be rocky and rough at certain intervals, and there are likewise thorny valleys extending as far as the region of Tamna.

In another direction, however, from the aforesaid Aelia and Mount Zion the character of the regions is shown to extend toward the west as far as Caesarea of Palestine; for although some narrow and short rough places are found interposed, nevertheless the broader level plains are chiefly seen, made more pleasant by the olive groves set between them. XXI. CONCERNING THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. Kinds of trees other than vines and olives can rarely be found on the Mount of Olives, as holy Arculf reports, but crops of wheat and barley spring up very abundantly on it; for the quality of that land is shown to be not brushy but grassy and flowering. XXII. CONCERNING THE HEIGHT AND QUALITY OF THAT LAND.

Its height seems to be equal to the height of Mount Zion, although Mount Zion, in comparison with the Mount of Olives, seems to be small and narrow in its geometric dimensions, that is, in breadth and length. Between these two mountains lies in the middle the valley of Jehoshaphat, of which it was spoken above, stretching from the northern quarter into the southern part. XXIII. XXIV. CONCERNING THE PLACE OF THE LORD'S ASCENSION AND THE CHURCH BUILT UPON IT. On the whole Mount of Olives no other place seems to be higher than that from which the Lord is recorded to have ascended into the heavens, where there stands a large round church having three vaulted porticoes round about, roofed over.

The inner chamber of this round church, that is, lies open to the sky without roof and without vault, beneath the bare air; in its eastern part there stands an altar built and sheltered beneath a narrow covering. For this reason, then, that inner chamber does not have a vault placed above it, so that from that place, where the divine footsteps last stood when the Lord was lifted up into heaven in a cloud, the way may always lie open and directed toward the heights of the heavens before the eyes of those praying in that very place.

For when this basilica, of which a few things are now mentioned, was being built, that very place of the Lord's footsteps, as has been found written elsewhere, could not be made continuous with the pavement, that is, with the rest of the paved part; for whatever was applied, the unaccustomed ground refused to receive as something foreign to human use, casting back the marble slabs into the faces of those laying them down. Indeed there is an ever-abiding proof of the dust trodden by God, in that the footprints are seen impressed; and although the faith of those flocking together daily snatches away what was trodden by the Lord, yet the sand suffers no loss, and the earth still keeps the same appearance of itself, as if marked by the footsteps impressed upon it.

In that same place, then, as holy Arculf relates, who diligently frequented it, a large bronze wheel, flattened above, has been set up round about, the height of which is shown to be measured up to a man's neck. In the middle of it there opens a not small aperture, through which, opened from above, the footprints of the Lord's feet are shown plainly and clearly impressed in the dust. Likewise in that wheel, on the western side, there always stands open as it were a kind of door, so that those entering through it may easily approach the place of the sacred dust, and through the opening of that wheel, open from above, may take particles of the sacred dust with outstretched hands.

Therefore the account of our Arculf concerning the place of the Lord's footsteps rightly agrees with the writings of others, namely that it could in no way be covered either by the roof of the building or by any special lower and nearer covering, so that it may always be plainly beheld by all who frequent it, and that the footprints of the Lord's feet, depicted in the dust of that same place, may be clearly shown. For these same footprints of the Lord are illuminated by the great brightness of a lamp hanging in pulleys above that wheel, blazing day and night.

In the western part of that above-mentioned round church, then, eight windows are wrought in the upper part, having glass casements; near these very windows, on the inside, an equal number of lamps are placed directly opposite, hanging on cords and burning—lamps, that is, so placed that each lamp hangs neither higher nor lower, but seems as though clinging to that very window, opposite which on the inside it is particularly seen near at hand.

The brightness of these lamps shines forth so greatly that, by their light pouring abundantly through the glass as of those glittering from the higher place of the Mount of Olives, not only that part of the same mountain which clings on the western side to that round and stone basilica, but even the ascent of the city of Jerusalem—rising on high by certain steps from the valley of Jehoshaphat—is, however dark the nights, marvellously and clearly illuminated, and the greater forward part of that city, set directly opposite, is likewise lit up by the same brightness.

This shining and praiseworthy glittering of the eight great lamps, gleaming by night from the holy mountain and from the place of the Lord's Ascension, as Arculf reports, pours into the hearts of believers who behold it a greater eagerness of divine love, and strikes a certain awe of mind together with a profound inward compunction. But this too seems to us not to be passed over in silence, which the oft-mentioned Arculf related to me, as I diligently questioned him about this same round church, saying:

On the yearly solemnity of the day of the Lord's Ascension, throughout every year, in the noon hours, after the sacrosanct solemnities of the Masses have been performed in that same basilica, a tempest of most violent blast is wont to rush in with such mighty force that no one of men can in any way stand or even sit in that church and in the places near it, but all lie stretched out flat upon the ground with faces prostrate for as long as that terrible tempest passes by. The cause of this terrifying blast brings it about that that part of the building cannot have a vault, which above the place of the Lord's impressed footprints—shown within the middle opening of the aforesaid wheel—may appear always laid open toward the sky;

for whatever materials, when the art of human hands at any time attempted to build above for constructing a vault, the violence of the wind, sent forth from above by God as mentioned, would destroy them. Concerning this fearful tempest, then, holy Arculf narrated to us in such a way—he who was himself present in that same church of the Mount of Olives at that very hour in which, on the day of the Lord's Ascension, that most violent blast rushed in. The figure of this round church is set forth, depicted by a poor enough painting, while the form of the bronze wheel placed in its middle is shown in this little subjoined sketch.

But this also we learned from holy Arculf's account, that in that same round church, besides the eight customary lamps above mentioned which shine within by night, on the festive night of the Lord's Ascension almost innumerable other lamps are wont to be added; by their terrible and admirable glittering, poured abundantly through the glass casements of the windows, the Mount of Olives seems not only to be illuminated but even to be wholly ablaze, and the whole city, situated in a lower and nearby place, to be lit up. XXV. CONCERNING THE TOMB OF LAZARUS AND THE CHURCH BUILT OVER IT. Arculf, a frequenter of the above-mentioned holy places, visited a certain little plain of Bethany surrounded by a great wood of olives. XXVI. CONCERNING THE MONASTERY ADJOINING IT.

Where there is a great monastery and a great basilica built above that cave from which the Lord raised up Lazarus, dead four days. XXVII. CONCERNING THE CHURCH BUILT ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF BETHANY. Concerning another more celebrated church founded on the southern side of Bethany, in that place of the Mount of Olives in which the Lord is said to have had a discourse to his disciples, we think it should be briefly written. Hence it must not be carelessly inquired what kind of discourse, and at what time, or to which particular persons of the disciples the Lord spoke. These three things, if we are willing to open the Gospels of the three writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke—will plainly become clear to us, who, agreeing about the character of the discourse, speak of it;

about the place of that meeting itself no one will be able to doubt, and about the form of the discourse, whoever reads the Gospel of Matthew, where the evangelist himself records concerning the Lord, saying: 'And as he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?' Concerning the persons of those questioning, Matthew here was silent, but Mark is not silent, who writes thus, saying: 'Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him apart.' To these questioners, answering, he showed the character of the discourse he delivered according to the three evangelists mentioned above, speaking thus: 'See that no one lead you astray.'

'For many shall come in my name, saying that I am Christ,' and the rest that follows concerning the last times and the consummation of the age, which Matthew pursues in a lengthy discourse up to that place where the same evangelist plainly shows also the time of this discourse, drawn out from the words of the Lord, saying thus: 'And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples: You know that after two days shall be the Passover, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified,' and the rest.

It is therefore plainly shown that the Lord, on the day of the fourth feria (Wednesday), with two days remaining until the first day of the Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, spoke the lengthy discourse mentioned above to the four aforesaid disciples who questioned him. In the place, then, where that discourse was held, a church founded there in remembrance, as mentioned above, is held in great honour. Thus far let it suffice to have described, concerning the holy places of the city of Jerusalem and of Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives and the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between them, according to the reliable account of holy Arculf, the frequenter of those very places. CHAPTER HEADINGS OF THE SECOND BOOK. I. Concerning the site of the city of Bethlehem. II. Concerning the place of the Lord's Nativity. III.

Concerning that rock situated outside the wall, upon which the water of his first washing after his Nativity was poured. IV. Concerning that church in which that monument of David is seen. V. Concerning another church, in the inner part of which the tomb of holy Jerome is held. VI. Concerning the monuments of those three shepherds whom, at the Lord's birth, the heavenly brightness shone round about. VII. Concerning the tomb of Rachel. VIII. Concerning Hebron. IX. Concerning the valley of Mamre. X. Concerning the tombs of the four patriarchs. XI. Concerning the mount and oak of Mamre. XII. Concerning that pine grove from which wood is carried on camels to perform the services of fire in Jerusalem. XIII. Concerning Jericho. XIV. Concerning Gilgal. XV.

Concerning the twelve stones which the children of Israel, when the river Jordan had been forded over and dried up, carried from the depths. XVI. Concerning that place in which the Lord was baptized by John. XVII. Concerning the colour of the Jordan. XVIII. Concerning the Dead Sea. XIX. Concerning the springs of the Jordan. XX. Concerning the Sea of Galilee. XXI. Concerning the well of Samaria. XXII. Concerning a certain little spring of the wilderness. XXIII. Concerning the locusts and wild honey. XXIV. Concerning that place in which the Lord blessed the five loaves and two fishes. XXV. Concerning Capernaum. XXVI. Concerning Nazareth and its church. XXVII. Concerning Mount Tabor. XXVIII. Concerning Damascus. XXIX. Concerning Tyre. XXX. Concerning Alexandria and the river Nile and its crocodiles. SECOND BOOK. I. CONCERNING THE SITE OF THE CITY OF BETHLEHEM.

At the beginning of this our second little book, a few things briefly must be set down about the site of the city of Bethlehem, in which our Saviour deigned to be born of the holy Virgin. This city is not so great in situation, as Arculf, who frequented it, related to us, as it is praiseworthy in its renown, noised abroad throughout the churches of all nations; it is situated on a narrow ridge surrounded on every side by valleys, which ridge of land extends from the western quarter into the eastern part for about a thousand paces.

On its upper level plain a low wall without towers is built round about along the brow of the edge of that same little hill, rising above the little valleys lying round it on this side and that; and in the middle space within the walls, along a longer track, the dwellings of the citizens are spread out. II. CONCERNING THE PLACE OF THE LORD'S NATIVITY. In the eastern and outermost corner of that same city there is, as it were, a kind of natural half-cave, the inner and farthest part of which is called the Lord's manger, in which the mother laid the new-born child; but another place adjoining the aforesaid manger, nearer for those entering, is handed down to have been the proper place of the Lord's Nativity.

That Bethlehemite cave of the Lord's manger, then, is wholly adorned within with precious marble, for the honour of the Saviour himself; and over that same half-cavern, above a stone upper chamber, the church of holy Mary, with great construction, has been built and founded above that very place where the Lord is more particularly handed down to have been born. III. CONCERNING THAT ROCK SITUATED OUTSIDE THE WALL, UPON WHICH THE WATER OF HIS FIRST WASHING AFTER THE NATIVITY WAS POURED. Concerning that rock placed outside the wall, upon which the water of the first washing of the Lord's little body after the Nativity was poured—the vessel in which it was being tilted from the top of the wall—I think a brief mention should be made.

This water of the sacred bath, poured from the wall, found as it were a kind of naturally hollowed-out pit in the rock lying below; this same little wave, filled on the first Nativity of the Lord, from that same day down to our times, through many cycles of ages, is shown full of purest water without any failing or diminishing, our Saviour working this miracle from the day of his Nativity—concerning whom the prophet sings: 'Who brought forth water from the rock,' and the apostle Paul: 'And the rock was Christ,' who from the hardest rock, against nature, in the desert brought forth a consoling wave for the thirsting people. He himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God, who also from the Bethlehemite

that rock brought forth water and keeps its basin always full of waters. This our Arculf inspected with his own eyes and washed his face in it. IV. CONCERNING THAT CHURCH IN WHICH THAT MONUMENT OF DAVID IS SEEN. Arculf, being questioned by me about the tomb of King David, gave us this answer, saying: 'The tomb of King David, buried in the earth, I myself, inquiring not carelessly, frequented; it is held in the middle part of the pavement of the church without any ornament placed upon it, having a low stone pyramid surrounding it above, and a lamp always placed over it shining brightly.'

This church, then, is founded outside the walls of the city in an adjoining valley, which clings to the Bethlehemite hill on the northern side. V. CONCERNING ANOTHER CHURCH, IN THE INNER PART OF WHICH THE TOMB OF HOLY JEROME IS HELD. About the tomb of holy Jerome also, as we inquired with like solicitude, Arculf said thus: 'The tomb of holy Jerome, about which you inquire, I beheld; it is held in another church, which is built outside that same little city in a valley—a church situated on the southern side, bordering on the ridge of the aforesaid little hill of Bethlehem. This tomb of Jerome, composed with similar workmanship as the monument of David, has no ornament.' VI.

CONCERNING THE MONUMENTS OF THOSE THREE SHEPHERDS WHOM, AT THE LORD'S BIRTH, THE HEAVENLY BRIGHTNESS SHONE ROUND ABOUT. Concerning the monuments of those shepherds whom, on the night of the Lord's Nativity, the heavenly brightness shone round about, Arculf gave us a brief little account, saying: 'In a church I frequented the three monuments of those three shepherds, buried near the tower of Gader, which are distant about a thousand paces toward the eastern quarter from Bethlehem. These men, in that same place at the Lord's birth—that is, near the tower of the flock—the brightness of angelic light surrounded, in which place that same church is founded, containing the tombs of those same shepherds.' VII. CONCERNING THE TOMB OF RACHEL.

The book of Genesis relates that Rachel was buried in Ephrath, that is, in the region of Bethlehem, and the Book of Places also reports that Rachel was buried in the same region beside the road. About this road, Arculf, answering me as I questioned him, said: 'There is a certain royal road which leads from Aelia toward the southern quarter to Hebron, to which road Bethlehem, six miles distant from Jerusalem, lies near on the eastern quarter. The tomb of Rachel is held at the very end of that road on the western side, that is, on the right-hand side, adjoining for those going to Hebron, placed with poor workmanship and having no adornment, surrounded by a stone pyramid. There also the inscription of her name is shown to this day, which Jacob her husband erected over it.' VIII.

CONCERNING HEBRON. Hebron, which is also Mamre, had once been the metropolis of the Philistines and the dwelling-place of giants, and in which David reigned seven years, now, as holy Arculf reports, has no circuit of walls; it shows only certain traces of ruins in the remnants of a city once destroyed; yet it has certain villages built with poor workmanship and farmsteads, some within and others outside those remnants of the wall's destruction, set along the level plain, in which villages and farmsteads, that is, a multitude of people dwell. IX. CONCERNING THE VALLEY OF MAMRE. From the eastern quarter of that same Hebron there comes a field facing the double cave, looking toward Mamre, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a double sepulchre. X.

CONCERNING THE TOMBS OF THE FOUR PATRIARCHS. In the valley of this little field holy Arculf visited the place of the tombs of Arbe, that is, of the four patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Adam the first man, whose feet are not turned toward the east, as is the custom for those buried in other regions of the world, but turned toward the south, and their heads turned toward the northern quarter. The place of these tombs is enclosed by a low square wall. Adam the first-formed, to whom, sinning, immediately after the perpetrated sin it was said by God the Creator:

'Earth thou art, and into earth shalt thou go,' is set apart from the other three, not far off toward the northern outermost part of that quadrangular stone wall, not in a stony tomb hewn out in the rock above the earth, as the others, honoured, rest, who are of his seed, but buried in the earth, covered with soil, and he himself dust turned into dust, awaiting the resurrection together with all his seed, takes his rest. And thus from such a tomb of his the divine sentence pronounced concerning himself by himself is fulfilled. And after the example of the tomb of the first parent, the other three patriarchs themselves also, covered with poor dust, take their rest, sleeping.

The four tombs of these men have small memorials, cut and hewn from single stones placed above, as it were fashioned in the form of some basilica, formed according to the measure of the length and breadth of each tomb. The three tombs of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, neighbouring, are covered by three white stones placed above, formed into this figure of which we have written, as has been said above. But the tomb of Adam is covered by a stone placed above, yet of a darker colour and of poorer workmanship. Arculf also beheld there the poorer and smaller memorials of three women, namely of Sarah and Rebecca and Leah, buried in the earth.

That sepulchral little field of those patriarchs, then, is known to be distant from the wall of that most ancient Hebron by the space of one stadium toward the east. This Hebron, as it is reported, had been founded before all not only the cities of Palestine, but it also preceded in its founding all the cities of Egypt—which now is shown miserably destroyed. Thus far let it suffice to have written concerning the tombs of the patriarchs. Now about the hill of Mamre. XI. CONCERNING THE MOUNT AND OAK OF MAMRE. The hill of Mamre is separated and distant by a thousand paces toward the north from the monuments described above, very grassy and flowering, facing Hebron which meets it from the south-west.

This same little hill, named Mamre, has on its summit a level plain, where on the northern part of that same summit a great stone church is founded, in the right-hand part of which, between two walls of that same large basilica, wondrous to say, the oak of Mamre stands rooted in the earth, which is also called the oak of Abraham, because under it he once received the angels as guests. Holy Jerome relates elsewhere that it remained from the beginning of the world up to the reign of the emperor Constantine; and perhaps for this reason he did not say that it had wholly failed, because at that age, although not the whole of it as great as it had been before, that very great oak was still shown—nevertheless some part of it remained, established in its place.

From it, as Arculf reports, who beheld it with his own eyes, there still remains a certain truncated stump rooted in the earth, sheltered under the covering of the church, having the measure of about two men's lengths; from this gnawed stump, cut all round about with axes, little pieces of splinters are carried away to the various provinces of the world for the veneration and remembrance of that same oak, under which, as was mentioned above, the famous and praiseworthy meeting of angels with the patriarch Abraham had once been granted. Round about that same church, which is held built there for the honour of that place, a few dwellings of religious persons are shown built.

But let these things suffice to have said about these matters; let us proceed to others. XII. CONCERNING THAT PINE GROVE, FROM WHICH WOOD IS CARRIED ON CAMELS TO PERFORM THE SERVICES OF FIRE IN JERUSALEM. For those going out from Hebron, situated in the breadth of the plain on the northern quarter not far from the edge of the road, on the left there meets a pine-bearing, not large mountain, distant three miles from Hebron, from whose pine grove pine wood is carried on camels all the way to Jerusalem for nourishing the fires. On camels, I say, for in all Judaea, as Arculf reports, wagons or even carts can rarely be found. XIII. CONCERNING JERICHO.

Our holy Arculf beheld the site of the city of Jericho, which Joshua, having crossed the Jordan, overthrew, its king being slain; in place of which Hozah of Bethel, of the tribe of Ephraim, built another, which our Saviour deigned to visit with his presence. This, at the same time when the Romans, assaulting, besieged Jerusalem, was captured and destroyed because of the treachery of its citizens. In place of it a third was founded, which also after many intervals of time was itself overthrown, of which now, as Arculf reports, certain traces of ruins are shown.