EUSEBIUS, Bishop of Cæsarea, who flourished in the early part of the fourth century, is the first writer who gives a clear and intelligible account of the Holy Sepulchre after the events recorded in the Gospel. It is to be hoped that in the new discoveries constantly being made in Egypt, some references in Christian documents may be found throwing additional light upon this most interesting subject; nothing, however, of an earlier date than the middle of the fourth century seems to have been found up to the present.

The finding of the Holy Sepulchre is described by the Bishop of Cæsarea as a simple operation. We are given to understand that the site was well known, and the presence of the pagan temple built to desecrate it was sufficient to indicate its exact position. Eusebius seems to have been present at its discovery when a boy; he speaks as an eye-witness.

The temple, already venerable after, as it is supposed, 200 years of heathen use, was first pulled down; then the podium or platform was completely cleared away, and the materials and earth carried to a considerable distance, adding possibly to the enormous accumulations in the Tyropœon valley. Roman temples in Syria were frequently erected on more or less artificial mounds, as, for instance, Baalbek, the greatest of them all. The Holy Sepulchre when laid bare by the removal of the temple podium seems to have astonished the explorers by its intact condition.