Syria and the Holy Land : their scenery and their people : incidents of travel, &cfrom the best and most recent authorities . thin. TheGreek writer Pausanias, in the second century, in speaking of the sepulchreshe had seen, mentions two as being worthy of particular admiration; viz.,that of King Mausolus in Caria, and that of Helena at Jerusalem. Thislatter he describes as remarkable for its door, which was of the same rock,and so contrived as to open by means of machinery, once a-year, at a statedday and hour, and to close again after a short interval; all attempts to forcean entrance at any
Syria and the Holy Land : their scenery and their people : incidents of travel, &cfrom the best and most recent authorities . thin. TheGreek writer Pausanias, in the second century, in speaking of the sepulchreshe had seen, mentions two as being worthy of particular admiration; viz.,that of King Mausolus in Caria, and that of Helena at Jerusalem. Thislatter he describes as remarkable for its door, which was of the same rock,and so contrived as to open by means of machinery, once a-year, at a statedday and hour, and to close again after a short interval; all attempts to forcean entrance at any other time would have been vain, unless the door wasbroken. In this exaggerated account we may nevertheless recognise thecarved doors above described; while the passage also shows the celebrity ACELDAMA. 415 which the tomb of Helena had obtained in foreign lands. Taking all thecircumstances indicated by ancient authors into account, there seems littleroom for doubt that the excavations, so long known in modern times as the Tombs of the Kings, ought henceforth to assume their ancient celebrity asthe Sepulchre of Helena.*. Tomb of Jelicskayhat. South of Jehoshaphat and east of Hinnom is the Aceldama or Field of Blood,said to be that purchased by the Jewish priests with the thirty pieces ofsilver. It was not far from the stream of Gihon ; and at the period of ourvisit there were still the marks and remains of bricks and pottery ware in theadjoining ravine; a place always likely to be used for their manufacture, asit contains the clay suited for such purposes, and is in the vicinity of arivulet. There are here shown the decayed remains of a stone buildingarched at top, and excavated within to a considerable depth, belonging to acemetery built by the empress Helena for the reception of the bodies ofChristian strangers. A tradition existed, that the soil at the bottom of thispit possessed the strange property of reducing the flesh to dust withintwenty-four hours, and did not lose its
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