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Susya At this ancient mountain village on the edge of the desert you’ll see remains o...
The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron marks the burial ground purchased by Abraham where all ...
A Catholic-Greek church built in 1877 in the heart of the market in Nazareth. According...
Large, well-lit cave in the wall of the Old City, which was a quarry in the days of the...
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to Christian tradition, the Church of the H...
Catholic church of the Benedictine Fathers, built between the years 1900-1910. Accordin...
The Cave of Machpelah
Tomb of the Patriarchs
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The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is one of the holiest places in the Land of Israel. It is the burial place that Abraham purchased for his family after Sarah died (Genesis 23:8-17). Later, Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham there (Gen. 25:9). Subsequently, it became the final resting place for all the patriarchs and matriarchs, except Rachel, who died near Bethlehem.
The building over the tomb is truly amazing in its dimensions, complexity and antiquity. Huge walls built by Herod the Great 2,000 years ago surround it, while the interior is a combination of medieval architecture, Arabesque décor from later centuries, and synagogues founded after the reestablishment of the Jewish community here following the 1967 Six Day War. In one corner of the largest hall, with its house-like tomb markers for Isaac and Rebecca, a cupola stands over a small opening into the actual Cave of Machpelah. Another, smaller room contains the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, and across an open courtyard are those of Jacob and Leah.
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The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron marks the burial ground purchased by Abraham where all ...
Five sandstone pillars at the foot of the western cliff of the Amram crater, at the sou...
A Catholic-Greek church built in 1877 in the heart of the market in Nazareth. According...
Large, well-lit cave in the wall of the Old City, which was a quarry in the days of the...
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to Christian tradition, the Church of the H...
Catholic church of the Benedictine Fathers, built between the years 1900-1910. Accordin...
Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs Will Be Packed This Weekend. Photographs from the Cave 100 Years Ago
In synagogues around the world this Sabbath, congregations will read the Torah portion describing Sarah's death and burial. Abraham purchased the Mearat HaMachpela [literally the "double cave" -- so named either because it had two chambers or it would eventually contain pairs of husbands and their wives].
Genesis 23: And these were the days of Sarah, 127 years. Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba which is Hebron....Abraham spoke to the Sons of Heth: grant me legal possession of land for a burial site... for its price in full ... 400 shekels of silver.... Thus it was established, the field and the cave that was in it, for Abraham as legally possessed for a burial site from the Sons of Heth."
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"Inner entrance to Machpelah showing mammoth stones in Herodian wall" |
In Israel, thousands of Jews will converge on Hebron and pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs during the Sabbath.
The massive building surrounding the gravesite was built by King Herod two thousand years ago. The actual graves are located in subterranean caverns beneath. Their locations are marked above ground by cenotaphs -- empty tombs that serve as monuments.
In the 11th and 12th century Jewish travelers documented visiting the caves. One of them, Binyamin of Tudela, described "two empty caves, and in the third ... six tombs, on which the names of the three Patriarchs and their wives are inscribed in Hebrew characters. The cave is filled with barrels containing bones of people, which are taken there as to a sacred place."
The great Jewish scholar Maimonides visited the tombs in 1116 and declared it a personal holy day.
From the 14th century, however, Jews were not permitted to pray at the shrine. The Mamluks (an Islamic army of slave soldiers) forbade Jews from visiting the site other than standing on stairs outside. The practice continued until 1948 when all Jews were banned from the Jordanian-occupied West Bank.
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Hebron today, where school boys recently celebrated completion of the book of Genesis |
When Israel captured the area in 1967 Jews were allowed to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs, but Israel allowed the Islamic Waqf authorities to maintain control of large portions of the site.
Many Jewish families in Israel celebrate weddings, bar mitzvas and circumcisions at the shrine.
Posted 15th November 2011 by Our Mission
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