The passage in Neh. iii, IG, and in Ezek. xliii, 7, 9, together with the reiterated assertion of the books of Kings and Cbronicles, that these sepulchres were situ- ated in the city of David, leave no doid)t tbat they were on Zion (q. v.). It is quite clear, however, that
SEPULCHRE
558
SEPULCHRE
the spot was well known dur- ing the whole of the Jewish period, inasmuch as the sepul- chres were again and again opened as each king died ; and from the tradition that Hyrcanus and Herod opened these sepulchres (Ant. xiii, 8, 4; xvi, 7, 1). The accounts of these last openings are, it must be confessed, somewhat apiicryphal, resting only on the authority of Josephus; but they prove at least that he considered there could be no difficultj' in finding the place. It was a secret transaction, if it took place, regarding which rumor might fashion what wondrous tales it pleased, and
no one could contradict them; but there having been built a marble stele (Ant. xvi, 7, 1) in front of the tomb may have been a fact within the cognizance of Josephus, and would, at all events, serve to indicate that the sepul- chre was rock-cut, and its site well known. So far as we can judge from this and other indications, it seems probable there was originally a natural cavern in the rock in this locality, which may afterwards have been improved by art, and in the sides of which loculi were sunk, where the bodies of the eleven kings and of the good high-priest were laid, without sarcophagi or coffins, but "wound in linen clothes with the spices, as the man- ner of the Jews is to bury" (John xix, 40).
Modern tradition has assigned the name of the Tomb of Da rid (also of Solomon) to a structure still standing on Mount Zion outside the present city walls, other- wise called the Cawtculum, from the tradition that it was likewise the building in which the Lord's supper was instituted. From the time of the notice by the apostle Peter (Acts ii, 29), which shows that the true site was then well known, the royal tombs appear to have been forgotten, or at least they are not mentioned till the close of the 11th centur\% when Raymond d'Agiles, one of the historians of the first crusade, savs regariiing the Cccnaculum, " There are also in that church . . . the sepulchres of king David and Solo- mon, and of the holy protomartyr Stephen" (Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 174). In the next century Benjamin of Tudela visited the holy city, and wrote the follow- ing singular story, which has perhaps some foundation in fact : " On Mount Zion are the sepulchres of the house of David, and those of the kings who reigned after him. In consequence of the following circum- stance, this place is hardly to be recognised. Fifteen years ago one of the walls of the church on Zion (the Coenaculuin) fell down, and the patriarch commanded the priest to repair it. He ordered stctnes to be taken from the original wnU. of Zion for that purpose, and twenty workmen were hired at stated wages, who broke stones taken from the very foundation of the wall of Zion. Two laborers thus employed found a stone which covered the mouth of a cave. This they entered in search of treasures, and proceeded until they reached a large hall, supported by pillars of marble, encrusted with gold and silver, and before which stood a table w-ith a golden sceptre and crown. This was the sepulchre of David; to the left they saw that of Sdlomon in a simi- lar state; and so on the sepulchres of the other kings buried there. They saw chests locked up, and were on the point of entering when a blast of wind like a storm issued from the mouth of the cave w^ith such force that it threw them lifeless on the ground. They lay there until evening, when they heard a voice commanding them to go forth from the place. They immediately rushed out and communicated the strange tale to the patriarch, who summoned a learned rabbi, and heard from him that this was nideed tlie tomb of the great
The " Tomb of David" at Jerusalem. (Fiom a photogiaph by the Editor.)
king of Israel. The patriarch ordered the tomb to be walled up so as to hiile it effectually." The narrator closes by the statement, '"The above-mentioned rabbi told me all this." About the middle of the 15th cen- turj' the tombs are mentioned by several travellers, and one (Tucher of Nuremberg, A.D. 1479) says that the Moslems had converted the crypt, or low^er story of the Coenaculum, into a mosque, within which were shown the tombs of David, Solomon, and the other kings. In the following century, Fiirer, a German traveller, pro- fesses to have visited the tombs, and gives a brief de- scription. "On the left of the Coenaculum, under the choir, is a large vaulted cave ; from it we come by a narrow passage, shut in b}' wooden rails, to an arch on the left, in which is a very long and lofty monument cut entirely out of the rock, with carving admirably exe- cuted. Under this are buried David, Solomon, and the other kings of Judah." This account also partakes of the marvellous, and must be received with caution. It is a fact, however, that Jews, Christians, and Moslems have now for more than four centuries agreed in regard- ing the Coenaculum as the spot beneath which the dust of the kings of Judah lies. Numbers of Jews may be often seen standing close to the venerable building, look- ing with affectionate sadness towards the spot. In 1839 Sir Moses Montefiore and his party were admitted to the mosque. They were led to a trellised doorway, through which they saw the tomb, but they were not permitted to enter. A few years ago an American lady, daughter of Dr. Barclay, was enabled, through the kindness of a Mohammedan lady friend, to enter and sketch the sacred chamber. She says, "The room is insignificant in its dimensions, but is furnished very gorgeously. The tomb is apparently an immense sarcophagus of rough stone, and is covered by green satin tapestry richly embroid- ered with gold. A satin canopy of red, blue, green, and yellow stripes hangs over the tomb ; and another piece of black velvet tapestry embroidered in silver covers a door in one end of the room, which, they said, leads to a cave underneath. Two tall silver candlesticks stand before this door, and a little lamp hangs in a window near it, which is kept constantly burning" (Cify of the Great King, p. 212). The real tomb, if it be in this place, must be in the cave below. The structure cov- ered with satin and described by Miss Barclay is merely a cenotaph, like those in the mosque at Hebron. \Mien both mosque and cave are thrown open, and full oppor- tunity given for the search, then, and not till then, can it be satisfactorily established that the royal tombs are or are not in this place (Porter, Hand-book for Palestine, p. LSI sq.).