Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-01-25

~ rond leadlns ~ I'll ,,d belong
", Mitch is lnclosed by a wan ror,,,ar sys-
VIM r7rcnch consist OF Il resui" 80,
10 Wv underground rooms IRON, .he,e
ten VI n,bers. shaft tombs ana sne'
temp tend In all directions III w
,ornos ' The careful construc-
' e, ~ these catacombs leads 70 'n ,a'.as
10" ,cs that they were the pur'ai p,a ,,es
is's sa,sons of high rank, ana "'e ~
OF pei .,. tho Jews. who from a very
reVei TOD hive called them the GAY
cary p,aol,iab. But what they reaiiy
erh u IN, xnown. They. were now
nv understood to be tomps
eve, .,s Fourteenth century anu "..u
Is ue ,,as referred by tradition to the
SOU. ,.,nes of Judah; on this account
cary s,ui called "tombs of the
kings" rae, tho bote, at
=, and walked to Bethlehem which
,,,nated about five miles sou'h-
from Jerusalem and about SIX
W.. from the olivet house, where l
i.''. After leaving the Yafa gate
s'Vpf .r,are road to Bethlehem crosses
W. INNER end of the Valley OF Hihhoi''
ling the railway station to the risht
sna ,he HIN of Evil Council.
,he left. The top of this hill com
IDS good view of Jerusalem ana
nlshus amos There are some RUNS
surr ,hn Nil which additionally are
on ma u the Country House of Caiaphas,
, Sa, may be simply the remnants Oh
Nv Arabian village. snort uis.'hS ",
an ~ ao,ith is shown the tree on
TO ihe Iwias IL said to have hanged
wn,sn Continuing the journey
hll l,sd nm elevated plain extending TO-
Cross. ~ south. 1t Is called Beka'a-
waiu s,,nnosed to be Identical with
anu , ~ Of Rephaim, through which
w, ,hs boundary of Judah and Ben1amin
s ". Josh. IS: 5 etcD. inc fnnis'in.S
we're frequently encanpeu IN ,n,s a.,
E nss,,d d." 70 sam. 5: Is. etc.l Several
pnmu are seen to the right, where
isn Greek settlement lying on an
MsT called Katamon. some as
. .inaa away. is said to have been the
house OF simeon duke 2: 2o). fur-
,hsr ON. to the left of the road, tne
traveller sees cistern' which ',uu
u Ip,r gxnthisma), where the three wise
.nidng star Matt 2: 81. At the south
axiremity of the plain OF Beka
,sa road ascends hill to the monas-
wy. WV M Mar Elyas, which is very pleas
snilv located on the saddle OF the MI
| from which a good view OF Jerusalem
Ia The north and Bethlehem TO me
south is obtained. On the .ei, VI w,
road is a well from which the hoiy
family is said once to have drann
water Beyond the monastery the road
LADS To the right skirting cultivated
valley. and the traveller soon reaches
an insleniacant building standing on
the right Of the road styled the Tomp
Of Rachel (Kubbet RahiD. The dome
/ Of the tomb closely resembles ,mose Vi
the innumerable MUSLIN welies, or
tombs. found In Palestine. The tomp
\ is revered by Muslims, Christians and
4 Jews and is much visited by pilgrims,
esneeially Jews. Bedouins bring their
i dead TO be buried in the adjoining
graveyard In this instance tradition
4 appears to agree with the Bible mar
n rative. Rachel died on the route to
Ephratah (which an old gloss identi-
flies with Bethlehem, in giving birth
10 BENJAMIN, and was buried on the
way Gen. IS; ig. Throughout the
whole OF the Christian period. the ira
dltlon has always attached to the same
spot, and for many centuries the sup
posed tomb was marked by n pyramid
VI sluiltss VI NHith tit htihpNi "'.S
said to be twelve, corresponding with
the number Of the tribes of Israel. The
monument appears to hav been altered
In the fifteenth century, since which
time IT has been repeatedly restored.
At Rachel's tomb the road forkes.
Taking the left hand one / reached
Bethlehem after walking about u
mile.
on my arrival in Bethlehem / made
my way through the narrow streets to
the Church of St Mary also called the
Church OF the Nativity, erected over
the traditional birthplace of Christ
The church is owned CONFORMITY by the
Latins, Greeks and Armenians. A
Greek servant took me up in the high
tower arising from the roof OF the
Greek monastery. after which a Latin
monk, who could speak German,
guided me through the Latin part and
the Interesting grottos under the main
Moor OF the church. He also showed
me very old tree standing in the
monastery yard.
The tradition which localizes the
olrth OF Christ In a cavern near Beth
lehem extends back as far as the sec
pnu century. In 300 handsome
basllica was erected here by order of
Constantine. The assertion that the
Present church is the original structure
y based on the simplicity of Its style
anu the absence of characteristics of
we SUBSEQUENT era OF Justlnian In
ue year 1910 the church Is said to have
ENORMOUSLY escaped destruction by
Soslems under Hakim; and the
hranks' whose aid had been invoked
* uie CHRISTIANS of Bethlehem. found
me cnurch uninjured On Christmas
gay llOl. Baldwin was crowned king
mere by the crusaders. The church
as ulluersone frequent repairs and
ii,h'VNeunehts. Toward the close of the
r m century the Turks stripped the
io,n VI Ils lead, In order to make hull
,lnn " the occasion of the restora-
ma M -, she church in 1879 the Greeks
The 10 obtain possession of H.
war. a-alns' who had been excluded
were admitted to a share ~ tho 49,
in,ssorship Of the church through the
IN a..n OF .'apoleon III in 1852.
s,rna, esh.ering the church the visitor 10
str,c,,, Wy tne grand simplicity of the
nav ihe building consists M /,
paved am ,,,. double aisles. The floor is
columns VII large slabs Of stone. The
are IA fsot nnviuding capitals and bases.
only by ,s,n nsn The church is lighted
the wsu WINDOWS In the upper mart NJ
ia a vail each window corresnond,n,
low ,space between the columns re
whish y, great choir Is the Cry.,t y,
mas, w. we Chapel OF the Nativity
',iamnpss po ,rtai, part. 1t is lighted by
and DAY. T TbS a, are kept burning night
feet VIA me chapel is 10 feet long 10
at, y, y Of marble. and the walls w phNS,
Under ath,asonry are lined with m"r,,ia
EAST a ,,,, altar in the recess 10 ,ha
men, Why si,vef star is let into the nav ,ne
vIrrlne M the Inscription. "Hic do
ct" Around ,'a i, Jesus chrstus natus.
q which 4 81 ba Ine reeess burn 10 lamps,