In his journey up the Nile, Ibn Batuta never fails to give an account of
every Moslem saint or theologian whom he meets, but only in one or two
instances does he mention the antiquities, which, in that age, must have
been still more conspicuous than now. He even passes over the plain of
Thebes without the slightest notice of the great temple of Karnak.
Disappointed in his plan of crossing the Red Sea to Jidda, he returned
to Cairo, and at once set out for Syria. Here, the first place of
interest which he visited was Hebron, where he performed his devotions
at the tombs of the patriarchs. We learn that there were archæcological
writings in those days, for he quotes from a work entitled 'The Torch of
Hearts, on the Subject of the Authenticity of the Tombs of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.' Unfortunately, the evidence adduced would not be very
satisfactory to us, for it rests entirely on the following statement
made by Mohammed to a certain Abou Horairah: 'When the angel Gabriel
took me on the noctural journey to Jerusalem, we passed above the tomb
of Abraham, and he said to me, "Descend, and make a prayer of two
genuflexions, for here is the sepulchre of thy father Abraham!" Then we
traversed Bethlehem, and he said also, "Descend, make a prayer of two
genuflexions, for here was born thy brother Jesus!"'

Of Jerusalem, which he calls 'the noble, the holy--may God glorify it!'
he says: 'Among the sanctuaries on the borders of the valley known under
the name of Gehenna, east of the city and on an elevated hill (the Mount
of Olives), one sees an edifice which is said to stand on the spot
whence Jesus ascended to heaven. In the middle of the same valley there
is a church where the Christians worship: they affirm that it contains
the sepulchre of Mary. There is also another church, equally venerated,
to which the Christians make a pilgrimage. The reason whereof, however,
is a lie, for they pretend that it contains the tomb of Jesus. Each