Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-02-14
i. POOL OF BETHESDA.
Thing ABOUT ITS LATER
HISTORY.

HIS 1t Again Been Found PA Report
by Consul GilIman-Curious Discovery
of a Frcsco That the Turks Had
MARRIED The Pool with Five Porches'
The Pool Of Bethesda, in Jerusalem,
has always been an object of interest To
lie people Of Christendom on account
of the sacred narrative of miraculous
healing connected with it In the Cos
pei of st. John, Bethesda is described a
- pool by the sheep market, having i've
porches. The porches were occupied 10y
invaids awaiting the miraculous "troub.
ling of the waters
Some time during the early centurles
of the Christian era all certainty as t."
the exact location of the Pool of Be
thcsda was lost. 1t was supposed b.
some to have been completely over
whclmed in the destruction of Jerusa
lem by the Roman emperor Titus III 10
A. ID. 1t is not strange that 1t shout"
have disappeared, since the Holy Guy
vas twice destroyed, and the materials
which composed it were afterward use"
in new constructions.
Nevertheless, certain Christian pIl-
inns who visited jerusalem III tn"
fou,th century found the fountain o.
3 ihrsda still in existence, and left a.
;ccouni of it which suited the locaio
and brief description given in the gosre
of s.. John.
This description and location, how
ever, did not fit the Birket Israel, tine
pool or p.nd in Jerusalem which III
modern times has been commonly re-
ralded as the site of Bethesda Many
learned men have maintained that the
Bigket Israel could not be Bethesda, but
they have not been able to tell wherr
the pool alluded to i'll the new tesla
ment was.
A report recently made to his Govern
ment by the United States consul a
Jerusalem. Mr.. Henry Gilman, seems
to render it certain that the site OF
bethesda has been found at last.
r. Gently some Algerine monks, il
making an excavation under the ruins
of the Crusader Church of st Anne IL
the Holy City, discovered, beneath TIN"
remains of three successive structures, Il
rock hewn pool containing water, Pul-
suing their excavations further, they
uncovered the remains OF two tiers OF
five arcEed porches, the lower tier being
in the pool.
Still later, the monks came upon
another pool containing water, to tn"
eastward of that first discovered, the
whole agrecing with tie descriptions o.
bethesda given by tie fathers OF the
Church aid the early Christian pilgrims
The number of the porches also agrees
ayith that mentioned in ST. John.
Steps cut in the rock led down to the
water, and an ancient Christian church
in ruins surmounts the whole. The re
mains If the upper tier of porches eX
tend above the o"l at right angles from
the north wall of the 1ypt beneath the
church
o. clearing away the debris that
choked the fifth porch all these dis
noveries eliminated in revealing the re
mains of painting OF fresco upon the
plaster OF the wall in the rear, repre-
.,,.nting an angel rs if descending INTO
and troubling the water The water Is
deI icted by conventional zgzat and
wavy lines of an olive green, shaded
<Nith black, more suggestive OF tGyP'-
san hierogIyphics than OF modern art,
and surrounding the figure on every
side.
The right hand of the angel was
shown as upift d, but this had been
carefully destroyed, probably by the
Mosems. The face had also been in
tentionally lattered so as completely
to oblilerate it, The glory or nimbu,
about the head remained hut little i'll
jured.
On the side of the same arch-the wall
extending at right angles with tie other
are the remains of another figure, also
ia fresco, much defaced, and supposed
TO represent the Saviour Above the
head, evidently Intentionally nlutilatcd,
is a portion of the nimbus, and in the
lower outer corner of the painting part
of a blue robe. After a little exp sure
to the light the colors in both these
fresco, faded greatly.
Consul Gilman thus summarizes thc
discoveries: First comes the rubbish
covering tie ruins, and butt upon by
tie more or less modern TurNi,h houses:
next beneath is the small church, with
al Sc; under this the crypt, with five
porches containing the frescos; and,
fourth and last, underneath all is the
pool itself, cut in the solid rock, and
with five arches of we'll preserved
masonry. This last, from the historical
and OTHER evidence, l have not the
slightest doubt is the veritab'e Pool OF
Bethesda.