Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/298

 26S A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud.ra. hands of the Moslems ; were we able to visit the crypt within the mosque, the chances are that we should find the tomb of the patriarch almost in its pristine state. 1 It is not unusual to find in the vicinity of these vaults immense boulders, piled up one on the top of the other, like some huge cairn, or artificial grotto. This is particularly observable in the land of Ammon, Moab, and in the district formerly occupied by Reuben. 2 Some few are not unlike the Sardinian examples, 3 and properly belong to the class known as " holed " dolmens. 4 The tomb consists of a huge slab laid flat to form the floor ; on either side two raised stones similar to this support the roof or slab, with wide projection each way ; the passage between the side stones being closed at both ends by a smaller stone. Not a few show a moulding or kind of frame on the face of the north block (where is generally the entrance), as if intended for a wooden door (Fig. 177). Some believe that these sepulchral memorials were raised by the Anakim and Rephaim, who are supposed to have held the country before the invasion of the Semitic races. 5 An hypothesis which it is hard to reconcile with the fact, that here and there the stones bear distinct traces of the chisel. But even if we only admit those examples that show no marks of implements, we fail to see valid reasons for ascribing to a fabulous people these tombal stones, rather than the Israelites and the kindred tribes of the Pierotti, one of the few Europeans who had a glimpse of it, alleges that there exist two vaults at different levels. See also F. Vigoureux, La Bible et les Découvertes en Palestine et en Assyrie, tom. i. pp. 507-518, 1884. Whatever may be the indi- vidual opinions of the reader, he cannot fail to be interested and to learn much in the company of the good abbé, whose sincere piety is so evident that it should disarm the criticism of those who do not share his views (Gen. xxiii.). 1 During the occupation of the country by the Crusaders, the mosque was turned into a church. Unfortunately for the archaeologist, the monks in charge of the crypt were too busy with their religious feuds to think of a description of one of the oldest monuments in Palestine. See Riant, Sur ? Invention de la Sépulture des Patriarches, etc., à Hébron (11 19). Archives de F Orient latin, tom. ii., 1884, i re partie, pp. 411-422. 2 Broadly speaking, dolmens are only found east of Jordan, where they occur by hundreds ; whilst very few were discovered in Galilee, and not a single one in Judaea, notwithstanding the careful investigations of the surveyors of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Conder, Beth and Moab ; De Luynes, Voyage d'Exploration autour de la mer Morte, tom. i. p. 158. 3 Hist, of Art, tom. iv. pp. 57, 58. 4 L. Lartet, Géologie de la Palestine, p. 16. 5 Lartet, Letter addressed to A. Bertrand, reproduced in The Celtic and Gallic