E06327: Jerome describes how Paula travelled to Sebaste (Palestine) in 385 to visit the graves of *John the Baptist (S00020), *Elisha (Old Testament prophet, S00239), and *Obadiah (Old Testament prophet, S01420). Letter 108, written in Latin in Bethlehem (Palestine), 404.

Jerome of Stridon, Letter 108.13 ('Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae')

Atque inde revertens vidit duodecim patriarcharum sepulchra et Sebasten, id est Samariam, quae in honorem Augusti ab Herode Graeco sermone Augusta est nominata. Ibi siti sunt Heliseus et Abdias prophetae et quo maior inter natos mulierum non fuit baptista Iohannes. Ubi multis intremuit mirabilius. Namque cernebat daemones variis rugire cruciatibus et ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare homines luporum vocibus, latrare canum, fremere leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput et post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede feminis vestes non defluere in faciem.

'After departing thence she saw the tombs of the twelve patriarchs and Samaria, which Herod, in honor of Augustus, renamed Sebaste, meaning 'Augusta' in Greek. Buried there are the prophets Elisha, Obdiah, and John the Baptist, than whom nobody born among women has been greater. Here she trembled at many shocking things. For she witnessed demons hollering from many kinds of torment and, in front of saints' tombs, men howling like wolves, barking like dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like serpents, and bellowing like bulls. Some twisted their heads and leaned backwards until they touched the ground with the crown of their head, and women were suspended upside down, yet their clothes did not fall down over their face.'

Text: Hilberg 1996 (1912). Translation: Cain 2013.