God in Jerusalem; they would visit the Temple itself. As for Qumāmah (the Holy Sepulchre), it is never mentioned in the books of the prophets, peace be upon them. Qumāmah first came to prominence in the reign of Emperor Constantine, when his mother, Helena of Harran, traveled to Jerusalem. She selected three Jews and demanded that they show her the site of the cross. When they refused, she punished them with imprisonment and starvation. They then pointed out the place—in a rubbish heap—whereupon the cross was unearthed, encased in gold, and carried off. She built the Church of the Sepulchre on that spot, as Ibn al-Batriq records in his History and others likewise relate, as will be mentioned. All of this took place more than three hundred years after Christ.
From that time they displayed the cross and instituted the “Feast of the Cross,” though neither Christ nor the disciples ever ordained it. This is stated in their own books and unanimously acknowledged by their scholars, as has been noted elsewhere. Nor do they bring offerings to God on beasts and conveyances up to the sacred mountain—the House of God in Jerusalem.