On the site of our Lord’s Ascension, Adamnan writes: ‘The Mount of Olives is the same height as Mount Sion but is broader and longer. It is sparsely wooded, except for olives and vines, but grows wheat and barley for the soil is thin and suitable only for grass and flowers. On the very top of the hill, where our Lord ascended into heaven, stands a lofty circular church, with three roofed-in porches on the outside. The interior of the building could not be roofed and vaulted because of the upward flight of our Lord’s body; but it has an altar on the east side, protected by a narrow canopy. In the centre of the Church, where our Lord ascended, can be seen His last footprints, exposed to the sky above. And although the earth is daily removed by the faithful, it remains undiminished, and still retains these marks resembling footprints. Round these lies a bronze wheel, as high as a man’s neck, with great lamps hanging above it on a pulley and burning day and night. On the west side of the Church are eight windows and as many lamps hanging opposite them on cords. These cast their rays through the glass as far as Jerusalem, and their light is said to evoke a feeling of ardour and penitence in the hearts of all who see it. Each year on the day of our Lord’s Ascension, at the end of Mass, a powerful rush of wind descends from above and throws to the ground all who are in the Church.’
On the situation of Hebron, and the tombs of the patriarchs, Adamnan writes:
‘Hebron, once a city and the capital of David’s kingdom, now only shows what it was by its ruins. In a valley one furlong to the east of it is a double cave, where the tombs of the patriarchs are enclosed in a square wall with their heads to the north. Each tomb is covered by a single stone slab, cut like those in a church: those of the three patriarchs are white, while that of Adam is of humbler and inferior workmanship, and lies not far from the others at the northern extremity of the wall. There are also three smaller and plainer monuments to three women. The hill of Mamre rises a thousand paces away from these monuments to the north, and is covered with grass and flowers. There is a level plateau at the summit, to the north of which stands Abraham’s Oak – a trunk twice the height of a man, enclosed in a church.’
I have thought it useful to include these extracts from the works of the above author for the benefit of those who read this history, and have retained the sense of his words but summarized them in a shorter form. Should anyone wish to know more about this book, they may either study it in the original form or read the abridgement containing short extracts which I have recently compiled.