(5.) Natural cavities in the rock were and are fre- quently used for other purposes more or less akin with the above, such as stalls for horses and for granaries (Irby and Mangles, p. 146). Again, the ** pits" spo- ken of in some of the foregoing Scripture references seem to have consisted of large wells, in " the sides" of which excavations were made leading into various chambers. See Cistern. Such pits were sometimes ' used as prisons (Isa. xxiv, 22; Ii, 14; Zech. ix, 11). See Prison. Those with niches in the sides were even occupied for bwrying-places (Ezek. x]|xii, 28). Many of these vaulted pits remain to this day. The cave in which Laaarus was buried was possibly something of this kind. No use, indeed, of rock caverns more
CAVE
169
CECIL
ttrikixi^y connects the modem usages of Padestine and the a4jacent regions with their ancient history than the employment of them as tombe or vaults (com- pare the early Christian Catacombs). The rocky sofl of so large a portion of the Holy Land almost for- bids interment,' excepting in cavitiee either natnral or hewn from the rock. 'The dwelling of the dsmoniac among the tombs is thus explained by the rock cav- ems abounding near the sea of Galilee (JolUffs, i, 86). Aoooidlngly, numerous sites are shown in Palestine and adjoining lands of (so-called) sepulchres of saints and heroes of the Old and New Testaments, yenerated both hy Christians and Mohammedans (Early Trav, p. 86 ; Stanley, p. 148). Among these may be mentioned the cave of Machpelah, the tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor, of Joseph,, and of Rachel, as those for which ev- ery probability of identity, in site at least, may be claimed (Irby and Mangles, p. 184; Robinson, i, 821, 822; iii, 9&-97). More questionable are the sites of the tombe of Elisha, Obadiah, and John the Baptist at Samaria; of Habakkuk at Jebatha (Gabatha), Micah near Keila, and of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, at Bethel (Stanley, p. 143, 149; Reland, p. 772, 698, 981; Rob- inson, tii, 140). The questions so much debated re- lating to the tombs in and near Jerusalem and Betha- ny will be found treated under those heads. But, whatever value may belong to the connection of the name of judges, kings, or prophets with the very^re- markable rock-4ombs near Jerusalem, there can be no doubt that the caves bearing these names are sepul- chral caverns enlarged and embellished by art. The sides of the valley of Jehoshaphat are studded with caves, many of which are inhabited by Arab families (Sandys, p. 188; Maundrell, p. 446; Robinson, 1, 855, 516, 539; BarUett, WaUcM about Jenuaiem, p. 117). It is no doubt the vast number of caves throughout the coontiy, together with, perhaps, as Maundrell remarks, the taste for hermit life which prevailed in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian sera, which has placed the sites of so many important events in caves and grottoes ; e. g. the birth of the Virgin, the An- nunciation, the Salutation, the birth of the Baptist and of oar Lord, .the scene of the Agony, of Peter's denial, the composition of the Apostles* Creed, the Transfigu- ration (Shaw, pt. ii, c 1; Maundrell, Early Traveltj p. 479); and the like causes have created a tradition- ary cave-site for the altar of El^ah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings xviii, 19 ; comp. Amos iv, 8), and peopled its •ides, as well as those of Mount Tabor, with hermit inhabitants (see Irby and Mangles, p. 60 ; Reland, p. 829; Sir J. MaundevUle, TrawU, p. 81 ; Sandys, p. 208; Maondrell, Early TVvw. p. 478 ; Jahn, Bibl, Arch, ^.9; Stanley, p. 868; Kltto, P^t. Geogr, p. 80, 81; Van Egmont, Travels, ii, 5-7).— Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. See Sbpulchbb.
Cave, William, an eminent English divine, was bom at Pickwell, Leicestershire, Dec. 80, 1687. He itadied at St. John*s College, Cambridge, where he graduated A.B. in 1666; A.M. in 1660. In 1662 he was appointed vicar of Islington, and afterwards he became chaplain in ordinary to Charles II. Ip 1679 be was made rector of All-Hallows, London ; in 1681 be received a canonry at Windsor, and in 1690 became ▼icar of Isleworth. He died at Windsor August 18, 1713. HiB works are : 1. Primkioe ^kritdanity (Lond. 1672 ; and several times reprinted— a French transla- tion, Amsterdam, 1712, 2 vols. 12mo): —2. Tabula Ec- de$uutictB, or Tables of Ecclesiastical Writers (Lond. 1674; Hamburg, 1676) :— 8. Aniiqukaiei ApostoUca, olr Invs, Actt,eic,o/tke Holy ApotOei, and St$. Mark and iMkt (Lond. 1676 and 1684, fol. ; also, edited by Cary, Oxtl840,8vo):— 4. ApottoUd, or the Imm, AcU, etc., ^f ^ CoiUen^porcaie$ or immedkUe SuccetBorg of the ApotHeSy and the most eminent of the Fathers of the fast three centuries (Lond. 1677, foL ; also, edited by Ciry, Oxf. 1840, 8 vols. 8vo):— 5. A Distertation eon- cermtig the OofKrmmeiU o/tke Ancient Cbmreh^ by Bish-
ops, Metropolitans, and Patriarchs (Lond. 1688, 8vo) : — 6. Eecletkutieiy or Lives, Acts, etc., of the most em- inent Fathers of the fourth century (Lond. 1682, fol.) : — 7. Chartophylax Ecdukuticut, an improved edition of the ra5tf/0 EcdesiattkXB (1685, 8vo):— 8. Scriptonm EodemuHoorum Historia Lkeraria a Ckritto nolo tuque ad Sateulum XIV (2 vols, or parts, fol. 1688 and 1698, Lond. ; reprinted at Geneva, 1706 and 1720, and at B»> sle, 1741 ; best edition that of Oxford, corrected and enlarged by Cave himself, and continued by Wharton (1740 and 1748, 2 vols. fol. The Basle edition was made upon this). Cave was a very credulous writer ; desti- tute of critical talent, he generally took the accounts of andent writers and Roman Catholics as he found them. Jortin calls him **the whitewasher of the ancients." Tet Dowling is justified in saying that " Cave's writings rank undoubtedly among those which have afi^ected the progress of Church history. His smaller works greatly tended to extend an acquaint- ance with Christian antiquity ; his Lives <^ the Apostles and Primitive Faikers^ which may be regarded as an ecclesiastical history of the first four centuries, is to this very day the most learned work of the kind which has been written in our own language ; and his JTisto- ria LUeraria is stOl the best and most convenient com- plete wOTk on tfaft literary history at the Church. For extent and variety of learning he stands high among the scholars of his time, and he had taste and feeling to appreciate ancient piety, but he can scarcely claim any other praise."— Herzog, Real-Encyldopddie^ Sup- plem. i, 188 ; Landon, Ecdes, Dictionary, s. v. ; Hook, Ecdes, Biography, iii, 624 ; Dowling, Jntrod. to EccUs, Hist, (Lond. 1838) ; New Gen, Biog, Diet, vi, 187.