side only, like an altar:  two persons could stand, one at the head and one at the foot; and there was a place also for a third in front, even if the door of the cavity was closed.  This door was made of some metal, perhaps of brass, and had two folding doors.  These doors could be closed by a stone being rolled against them; and the stone used for this purpose was kept outside the cavern.  Immediately after our Lord was placed in the sepulchre it was rolled in front of the door.  It was very large, and could not be removed without the united effort of several men.  Opposite the entrance of the cavern there stood a stone bench, and by mounting on this a person could climb on to the rock, which was covered with grass, and from whence the city walls, the highest parts of Mount Sion, and some towers could be seen, as well as the gate of Bethlehem and the fountain of Gihon.  The rock inside was of a white colour, intersected with red and blue veins.

CHAPTER L.

The Descent from the Cross.

At the time when everyone had left the neighbourhood of the Cross, and a few guards alone stood around it, I saw five persons, who I think were disciples, and who had come by the valley from Bethania, draw nigh to Calvary, gaze for a few moments upon the Cross, and then steal away.  Three times I met in the vicinity two men who were making examinations and anxiously consulting together.  These men were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.  The first time was during the Crucifixion (perhaps when they caused the clothes of Jesus to be brought back from the soldiers), and they were then at no great distance from Calvary.  The second was when, after standing to look whether the crowd was dispersing, they went to the town to make some preparations.  The third was on their return from the tomb to the Cross, when they were looking around in every direction, as if waiting for a favourable moment, and then concerted together as to the manner in which they should take the body of our Lord down from the Cross, after which they returned to the town.

Their next care was to make arrangements for carrying with them the necessary articles for embalming the body, and their servants took some tools with which to detach it from the Cross, as well as two ladders which they found in a barn close to Nicodemus’s house.  Each of these ladders consisted of a single pole, crossed at regular intervals by pieces of wood, which formed the steps.  There were hooks which could be fastened on any part of the pole, and by means of which the ladder could be steadied, or on which, perhaps, anything required for the work could also be hung.