a considerable place, situated on the ascent of the mount of
Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem, John xi, 18; Matt. xxi, 17;
xxvi, 6, &c. Here it was that Martha and Mary lived, with their brother
Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead; and it was here that Mary
poured the perfume on our Saviour’s head. Bethany at present is but a
very small village. One of our modern travellers tells us, that, at the
entrance into it, there is an old ruin, called the castle of Lazarus,
supposed to have been the mansion house where he and his sisters
resided. At the bottom of a descent, not far from the castle, you see
his sepulchre, which the Turks hold in great veneration, and use it for
an oratory, or place for prayer. Here going down by twenty-five steps,
you come at first into a small square room, and from thence creep into
another that is smaller, about a yard and a half deep, in which the body
is said to have been laid. About a bow-shot from hence you pass by the
place which they say was Mary Magdalene’s house; and thence descending a
steep hill, you come to the fountain of the Apostles, which is so called
because, as the tradition goes, these holy persons were wont to refresh
themselves there between Jerusalem and Jericho,--as it is very probable
they might, because the fountain is close to the road side, and is
inviting to the thirsty traveller. Bethany is now a poor village, but
pleasantly situated, says Dr. Richardson, on the shady side of the mount
of Olives, and abounds in trees and long grass.
Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem, John xi, 18; Matt. xxi, 17;
xxvi, 6, &c. Here it was that Martha and Mary lived, with their brother
Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead; and it was here that Mary
poured the perfume on our Saviour’s head. Bethany at present is but a
very small village. One of our modern travellers tells us, that, at the
entrance into it, there is an old ruin, called the castle of Lazarus,
supposed to have been the mansion house where he and his sisters
resided. At the bottom of a descent, not far from the castle, you see
his sepulchre, which the Turks hold in great veneration, and use it for
an oratory, or place for prayer. Here going down by twenty-five steps,
you come at first into a small square room, and from thence creep into
another that is smaller, about a yard and a half deep, in which the body
is said to have been laid. About a bow-shot from hence you pass by the
place which they say was Mary Magdalene’s house; and thence descending a
steep hill, you come to the fountain of the Apostles, which is so called
because, as the tradition goes, these holy persons were wont to refresh
themselves there between Jerusalem and Jericho,--as it is very probable
they might, because the fountain is close to the road side, and is
inviting to the thirsty traveller. Bethany is now a poor village, but
pleasantly situated, says Dr. Richardson, on the shady side of the mount
of Olives, and abounds in trees and long grass.