After we had prostrated ourselves and kissed the ground, we entered the Holy City and venerated the Lord's Tomb. The Tomb is hewn out of living rock, or rather in the rock itself ... and in the place where the Lord's body was laid, at the head, has been placed a bronze lamp. It burns there day and night, and we took a blessing from it, and then put it back. Earth is brought to the tomb and put inside, and those who go in take some as a blessing. The stone which closed the Tomb is in front of the tomb door, and is made of the same coloured rock as the rock hewn from Golgotha. This stone is decorated with gold and precious stones, but the rock of the tomb is like a millstone. There are ornaments in vast numbers, which hang from iron rods: armlets, bracelets, necklaces, rings, tiaras, plaited girdles, belts, emperors' crowns of gold and precious stones, and the insignia of an empress. The Tomb is roofed with a cone which is silver, with added beams of gold. In front of the Tomb stands an altar.
(transl. Wilkinson)
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