Since then, the holy spot has been divided — half mosque and half synagogue — with each community getting a chance to pray at the tomb of Abraham separated by bulletproof glass. That horrific massacre wasn't the first. In , local Arabs went on a rampage, killing 67 Hebron Jews and destroying Jewish homes and synagogues. More than Jews survived the bloodbath because they were hidden by their Arab neighbors.
I visited both sides. On the synagogue side, devout Jews gathered to study, sing, and pray among the tombs. When I was there, a group of soldiers, mostly recent immigrants, were visiting with a teacher to learn about their Jewish heritage. According to their faith, the Tomb of the Patriarchs marks the first Jewish possession in the land of Israel. Abraham purchased the burial plot almost 4, years ago as explained in Genesis Each soldier took turns bobbing in prayer at the foot of Abraham's tomb, just a few feet and a bulletproof pane of glass away from another window where Muslims gathered to pray as well.
On the mosque side stands a venerable "mimber" — a staircase from which the imam gives sermons. A standard feature in mosques, the mimber represents how teachers, spreading the word of the Prophet Muhammad to a growing number of followers, had to stand ever higher on a staircase to be heard.
This one is a rare original from the 11th century made of inlaid wood with no nails, one of the oldest Islamic wooden pulpits in the world. And above the Muslim worshipers was the silent but very present Israeli security camera keeping a wary eye on things. Leaving Hebron, I wondered what Abraham would think about the inability of his feuding descendants to live together.
In this land — so treasured by Jews, Muslims, and Christians — I'm reminded that the prophets of each of these religions taught us to love our neighbors. Here's hoping the lessons learned while traveling in the Holy Land can inspire us all to strive for that ideal. So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
During the late 8th Century BC the area of Hebron and the Negev witnessed a growth of settlement activity, with dozens of new towns established. This growth decreased in the 7th Century following the Assyrian intrusions headed by Sennacherib BC , and stopped at the end of the 6th Century following the Babylonian intrusion headed by Nebuchadnezzar BC. The Assyrian empire, a rising force in the region, conquered the North Kingdom of Israel in BC, destroying most of the cities and villages in the land.
The South Kingdom of Judah managed to survive this onslaught by teaming up with the Assyrians, but not for long.
Anticipating the coming Assyrian intrusion, he fortified Jerusalem and the major cities. According to an Assyrian clay tablet, Sennacherib conquered 46 cities in Judea, including Hebron, as found in the excavations of in the form of a layer of ash.
So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. In this intrusion most of the cities were leveled, including Hebron. The destruction of Judea brought the Idumeans from the south to occupy the region of Hebron, after they were driven out their country in Trans-Jordan by the Nabateans. During the Maccabee revolt, the Idumeans supported the Seleucids and helped them fight the Jews, although they resisted Hellenism.
This caused the Maccabees, who founded the Hasmonean Kingdom, to wage war against the Idumeans. The Idumeans were descendents of Esau, father of Edom and brother of Jacob, and had religious proximity to the Jews. Therefore, according to the historian Josephus Flavius and other historians of his times Ptolemy and Strabo of Amesia , the Idumean cities and villages an area around Hebron and Beersheba were converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans.
The conversion of the Idumeans increased the size of the Jewish population, and beefed up the Hasmonean army. Furthermore, Herod the Great was born in Idumea 74 BC , the second son of Antipater the Idumean a powerful official who was appointed as the governor of Idumea by the Hasmoneans. Herod later became king of Judea under the Roman influence. Roman and Byzantine periods 1st Century B. Herod the Great built a massive structure on top of the cave of the Patriarchs.
He erected the building in honor of the Patriarchs, establishing a grand pilgrimage site. During the Roman period, Hebron was at the crossroad of a number of major roads. One road, connecting Jerusalem to Beersheba and the south, passed through a place called Er Rameh see PEF map below, where a double dashed line depicts the ancient road.
Other roads passed to Gaza , Beit Jibrin, Ashdod and other locations. The road to Jerusalem appears on the Peutinger map based on a 4th C Roman military road map, with an orientation of north on the right side. The location of Hebron, on the left side, is marked by us as a red square. During the Byzantine period, Hebron was a small village, but was considered as a holy place due to its historic burial place. The authorities converted the eastern part of the cave of the Patriarchs to a church.
After the Muslim conquest, the structure above the cave continued to function as a pilgrimage site, as Abraham and his sons are also holy to the Muslims. The building became a mosque. The structure became a mosque again after the defeat of the Crusaders. In March the Mongols arrived from the far east, and captured the land, including Hebron.
The Mamelukes were Turkish prisoners who were sold to the Sultan of Egypt, trained by him and served as his palace guards. In they seized the control of Egypt.
The Mamlukes, headed by Baybars, captured Hebron from the Mongols in They changed the exterior of the building , added minarets prayer calling towers over the outer wall, rooms in the interior, and inscribing Muslim inscriptions. Jews and Christians were forbidden, by an order of Bybars, to pass the seventh step on the eastern staircase. This ban continued for years until Hebron was liberated in by Israel.
The report of modern Hebron and the ancient sites is found in sheet XXI. The hill above Hebron is terraced with stone walls and olive plantations. There is a ruined fortress on the north-west side of the Haram, and a Khan to the south, with an inscription, dating A.
A school south of the Haram has over the door an inscription of the same Sultan, with the date A. An illustration of the Arab village, dated , is shown here. This is from a book by CH. Wilson , one of the PEF explorers. Hierosol gives this distance as 2 Roman miles. Paula A. Theodorus in sixth century finds the oak 4 Roman miles from the Spelunca Duplex, or cavern of the Patriarchs, and this cavern 2 miles from Hebron.
Arculphus A. Saewulf A. Benjamin of Tudela A. Abraham, and speaks of the old city as on a hill and in ruins. Marino Sanuto A. In August , under the blind watch of the British mandate police, the Arab residents of Hebron massacred the small Jewish community in the city. These riots in Hebron, resulting in 67 dead and many wounded, then spread to the rest of the country, with 66 more dead.
The Jewish community was reestablished in , but another wave of terror of sealed the fate of Jewish Hebron. The Jews returned to Hebron only following the six-day-war , after the city returned to Israeli control.
A new community — Kiryat Arba — was established in on the east side of Hebron. In the Jewish presence in the heart of Hebron was reestablished following the reoccupation of Beit Hadassah.
The massive structure, which was first constructed by Herod the Great 2, years ago, is built around the cave of the patriarchs. It is seen here from the southern side. The cave is now sealed off, and around it is the court 34m by 60m or ft by ft , which is surrounded by the 12m 39 ft high walls. The width of the walls is 2m 6 ft. In the decade following the Six Day War , when the euphoria of the victory had subsided, Judea and Samaria were still largely unsettled by Jews.
Rabbi Moshe Levinger and a group of like-minded individuals determined that the time had come to return home to the newly liberated heartland of Eretz Yisrael. Word of the decision spread quickly and soon a nucleus of families was formed. The Six Day War forced the vacationers to change their travel plans. In exchange, they agreed to rent the hotel to an unlimited amount of people for an unspecified period.
That same year, a Palestinian threw a grenade at Jews praying at the tomb, wounding 47, among them an 8-month-old child. An additional floor was built on Beit Hadassah , and 11 families moved in during Since that time, the city has been the scene of violence on several occasions.
In , month old Shalhevet Pass was shot in her stroller by a sniper. In , a pregnant Israeli woman and her husband were killed when a suicide-bomber detonated next to them in the market on Shuhada Street. Today, Hebron has a population of approximately , Palestinians, mostly Sunni Muslims.
The Jewish community is comprised of roughly people, including approximately yeshiva students. An additional 6, Jews live in the adjacent community of Kiryat Arba.
The Association is funded both through the state budget and by private contributions. It deals with general development of, and for, the Jewish community. Farmers in the Hebron region usually cultivate fruits such as grapes and plums. In addition to agriculture, the local economy relies on handicraft, small- and medium-scale industry and construction. Hebron is also one of the most important marketplaces in the Palestinian Authority. In January , after nearly thirty years of controlling the city, the Israel Defense Forces IDF withdrew from 80 percent of the Hebron municipal territory.
The IDF maintains indirect control over this part of the city by occasionally establishing checkpoints at entrances or by closing these points of access.
Palestinian civil institutions operate under certain restrictions imposed by the Israeli military administration. It comprises the entire Qasba and areas adjacent to the Jewish settlements. The population in this area is composed of an estimated 30,, Palestinians and approximately Jews. This relatively small sector is the geographic, economic, historic and religious center of Hebron.
It was once the site of a bustling Palestinian marketplace before the city was divided. The traffic on this street is tightly controlled by the IDF to protect the 85 Jewish families in the neighborhood.
Various restrictions are imposed on Palestinian motorists who want to use it. A bus station used to be located along Shuhada Street but was closed in and subsequently turned into an Israeli military compound. Palestinians who are not residents of H-2 are not allowed on Shuhada Street.
Despite being located inside the Israeli-controlled area of the city, the Souq situated inside the Qasba and behind Shuhada Street remains one of the busiest in the West Bank. However, the wholesale vegetables market Al-Hisbe , adjacent to the Souq, has also been closed by Israel, due to security considerations. The Qasba itself is no longer among the most densely populated areas of the city. Since the first half of the twentieth century, its population dropped from 8, to a few hundred.
To reverse this evolution, the Palestinian local authorities have, since , made a continuous effort to renovate, rehabilitate and develop the Old City. This led to an increase in the number of families moving into the Qasba. Similarly, efforts are being made to highlight its cultural heritage.
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