were drawn have an effect hardly inferior to that of the paintings in the tombs of the kings at Thebes. In front was a large table of rock, forming a sort of court for the excavated dwelling, where probably, year after year, in this beautiful climate, the Edomite of old sat, under the gathering shades of evening, looking down upon the congregated thousands and the stirring scenes in the theatre below, or beyond, upon the palaces and dwellings in the area of the then populous city...."-Incidents of Travel, vol. ii.

In the south of Judea are some remarkable caverns, thus described by Dr. Robinson:- "In the soft limestone or chalky rock, which the soil here scarcely covers, are several irregular pits...some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides... (in which) are doors, or low arched passages...leading into large excavations in the adjacent rock, in the form of tall domes, or bell-shaped apartments...the top of the dome usually terminates in a small circular opening at the surface of the ground above, admitting light into the cavern. These apartments are mostly in clusters, three or four together, communicating with each other. Around one pit...we found sixteen such apartments thus connected...Some of them are ornamented with rows of small holes...like pigeon-holes, extending quite round the wall..."

Lighting several candles, we entered by a narrow and difficult passage from a pit overgrown with briers, and found ourselves in a dark labyrinth of galleries and apartments, all cut from the solid rock, and occupying the bowels of the hill...Several were entered by a door near the top, from which a staircase, cut in the same rock, wound down around the wall to the bottom...'

"We could discover (nothing) which might afford the slightest clue for unravelling the mystery in which the history and object of these remarkable excavations are enveloped." It appears, however, from history, that the

Edomites spread themselves throughout the south of Judea after the Jewish exile; and as they originally were dwellers in caverns, or under ground, Dr. Robinson suggests that possibly they brought with them into Judea their habits of life; and that they excavated for themselves these dwellings under ground in the soft limestone rock.-See Researches, vol. ii. pp. 353, 398, 424. "We were now in the wilderness of En-gedi, where David and his men lived among the rocks of the wild goats, and where the former cut off the skirts of Saul's robe in a cave. The whole scene is drawn to the life. On all sides the country is full of caverns, which might then serve as lurking places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day."-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. p. 203.

"I visited a fortress in the mountain (near Medjdel Magdala), of which I had heard much at Tabaria (Tiberias). It is called...the pigeons' castle, on account of the vast quantity of wild pigeons that breed there...In the mountain are many natural caverns, which have been united together by passages cut in the rock, and enlarged, in order to render them more commodious for habitation; walls have also been built across the natural openings, so that no person could enter them except through the narrow communicating passages; and wherever the nature of the almost perpendicular cliff permitted it, small bastions were built to defend the entrance of the castle, which has been thus rendered almost impregnable. The perpendicular cliff forms its protection above; and the access from below is by a narrow path, so steep, as not to allow of a horse mounting it. In the midst of the caverns several deep cisterns have been hewn. The whole might afford refuge to about six hundred men; but the walls are now much damaged. The place was probably the work of some powerful robber."-BURCKHARDT's Travels in Syria, &c., pp. 330, 331.

Josephus thus describes the seizure of some famous robbers, who dwelt in caves, by Herod the Great.

"Herod hasted away to the robbers that were in the caves, who overran a great part of the country, and did as great mischief to its inhabitants as a war itself could have done...He destroyed a great part of them, till those that remained were scattered beyond the river (Jordan), and Galilee was freed from the terrors they had been under, excepting from those that remained and lay concealed in caves...... .. Now these caves were in the precipices of craggy mountains, and could not be come at from any side, since they had only some winding pathways, very

narrow, by which they got up to them; but the rock that lay on their front had beneath it valleys of a vast depth, and of an almost perpendicular declivity; insomuch, that the king was doubtful for a long time what to do, by reason of a kind of impossibility there was of attacking the place. Yet did he at length make use of a contrivance that was subject to the utmost hazard; for he let down the most hardy of his men in chests, and set them at the mouths of the dens. Now these

men slew the robbers and their families; and when they made resistance, they sent in fire upon them. And as Herod was desirous of saving some of them, he had proclamation made that they should come and deliver themselves up to him; but not one of them came willingly to him; and of those that were compelled to come, many preferred death to captivity. And here a certain old man, the father of seven children, whose children, together with their mother, desired him to give them leave to go out, slew them after the following manner: he ordered every one of them to go out, while he stood himself at the cave's mouth, and slew that son of his perpetually who went out. Herod was near enough to see this sight, and his bowels of compassion were moved at it, and he stretched out his right hand to the old man and besought him to spare his children; yet did he not relent at all upon what he said, but...slew his wife as well as his children; and when he had thrown their dead bodies down the precipice, he at last threw himself down after them. By this means Herod subdued these caves, and the robbers that were in them.”—WHISTON'S JOSEPHUS, vol. iii. pp. 293-295.

In his account of the taking of the city Jotopata by the Romans during the Jewish war, Josephus writes, "And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitude that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding-places, and fell upon those that were under ground, and in the caverns.' -WHISTON'S JOSEPHUS, vol. iv. p. 35.

In the travels of Captains Irby and Mangles, an account is given of a remarkable cavern, not far from Tekoa. "On approaching it, we left our horses at the ruins of a village called Hariatoon, and proceeded on foot by the side of the cliffs on the southern side of a deep and picturesque ravine to the mouth of the cave, which runs in by a long, winding, narrow passage, with small natural chambers or cavities on either side. We soon came to a large chamber, with na

tural arches of a great height; from this last there were numerous passages leading in all directions, occasionally joined by others at right angles, and forming a perfect labyrinth, which our guides assured us had never been thoroughly explored, the people being afraid of losing themselves. The passages were generally four feet high by three feet wide, and were all on a level with each other. The grotto was perfectly clear, and the air pure and good.... In the large chamber, we found some broken pottery, by which it would seem this place had been once inhabited, probably serving for a place of concealment."-Travels, p. 341.

66

TEMPLE OF A HEATHEN GOD.

We have now traced the various kinds of erections made by the industry of man, whether for the purposes