The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1869-07-29
ANCIENT RELICS.

ANCIENT RELlCS.
We may not perhaps be surprised
when told that the red earth from which
Adam was made is still pointed out both
at Hebron and Jerusalem; but it is some,
what startling to be assured by Sir John
Maundrell, that his skull was found at
Golgotha. On the way to Baalbec,
Maundrell mentions the tomb of Abel,
said to have given the adjacent coun-
try in olden times the name of Abilene.
The tomb is thirty yards long, and yet
it is believed to have been just proper
toned to the stature of him who was
buried in it. The men in those days,
and the women, too, must have been
giants indeed. The tomb of Eve, at
Jedda, Burton ;ells us, is two hundred
PAGES long. That of Seth, on the slope
of Antihbanus, is sixty feet in length.
eIt would have been twenty feet long
er, but the prophet Seth, who came
here preaching to the people who Wor,
shipped COWS, was killed by them, and
was hastily buried, with his knees dou-
bled up under his legs" Noah's tomb,
on the opposite side ofthe valley, is one
hundred and twenty feet long. BY the
time of Joshua the human race had be-
gun to degenerate. His tomb, near
Constantinople, is.only thirty feet long.
Oc u,a c;r Tobn Maundrell has
something marvellous to tell US about
Noah's ark. He speaks cf a mountain
called Ararat, but the Jews call 1t La.
neez, where Noah's ship rested, and
still is upon that mountain ; aud men
may see it afar in clear weather. That
mountain is full seven miles high, and
some men say that have seen and touch
ed the ship, and put their fingers on the
part whore the devil went out when
Noah said "Benedicite." But they
that s1y sospeak without knowledge; tor
no one can 90 up to the mountain Tor
the great abundance of snow that Is al
ways on that mountain, both summer
and winter, so that no man ever went
up since the time of Noah, except a
monk, who, by Gods grace, brought
one of the planks down, which is yet IN
the monastery at the foot OF the noun
tain. This must have been the plank
aftcrward carried off to Constantinople,
for three of the doors ofSt. Sophia were
venecred with the wood fiom the ark.
There are few places Of such antlqul-
ty the site of which is so satlstac' 'orliy
determined as that Of fhe Cave OF Mach
pelah 1t is by no means improbable
-tl.at tho bones of Abraham, fsaHc. and
Jacob, ar. rcposing there, though Cal
vim assures US that they were In bis
time in the church ofSt. Sopro Minerva,
at Rome; and portious, at least, are
still to be seen in the Cathedral OF
Prague. Bcrtrandon de 10 Brocqulrt,
was shown in Constantinop!e in lz32,
"a large stone, in the shape of wash
stand, on which they say Abraham gave
the angels to eat when they were going
to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah" An
other relic of Abraham is preserved IN
the Caaba of Mecca. The original Caa,
ba was of radiant clouds, sent down from
Heaven at Adams request as repre-
sentation of the Paradise he had lost
On Adams death this was removed,
whilst another Of the same form, built
of stone by Seth, was destroyed in the
Deluge. Ishmacl, by the command OF
God, rebuilt the Caaba, assisted by Absa'
ham. "a miraculous stone served a
braham as a scaffuld, rising and sinking
with him as he built the walls of the So,
cred dfce. 1t still! remains there, an es-
timablc relic, and the print Of the patri'
arch's foot is clearly to be perceived on
it BY all true believers"
In a corner of the exterior wall of the
Caaba is a stone held. in great veDera-
tion by the Mohammedans. Some say
it was one the precious stones OF Para
disc others that it was Adams guard
ian angel, changed to stone for not be-
ing more watchful. Anyhow, it was
brought to Abraham. and lshmael by
the Angel Gabriel-a jacinth of daz-
zling whiseness then, but now as black
as ink, from the touch of sinful men,
and only to recover its purity at the
Day of Judgment.
If we are to believe the Mohamme-
dams, they are in possession, likewise,
Ct the stone of Jacobs pillow-the rock
of the Sakrah, in the Mosques of Omar,
at Jerusalem-but the real stone, as
everybody knows, is in Westminster
Abbey.-CornhM Magazine.
THE Iowa DEMOCRACY IN THE