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| Title | Page 28 |
| Creator | Holland, Frederick Whitmore, 1837-1880.
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| Description | Sinai and Jerusalem; or, Scenes from Bible Lands: Illustrated by Twelve Colored Photographic Views, Including a Panorama of Jerusalem, With Descriptive Letterpress. |
| Caption | HEBRON. Abraham and the Patriarchs long before any city at all existed there. There Abraham buried Sarah his wife, "in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre " (Gen. xxiii. 19); and we have a most graphic account of his purchase of it from the children of Heth. The cave is still there, enclosed within the massive walls of the mosque, which forms so prominent an object in the midst of the town. " Bury me, " said Jacob, " with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah" (Gen. xlix. 31). Ever since it has been in the hands of the Mohammedans they have closed the door of the mosque against all Christians, until, in 1862, the Prince of Wales was allowed to enter, accompanied by Dr. Stanley, who has given an accurate description of the interior. They were shown the shrines of the Patriarchs and their wives who were buried here, but not the real tombs ; these lay beneath in the sacred cave, into the darkness of which they could only gaze through a small circular hole, the only aperture now left. The guardians of the mosque tell of a servant of a great king, Avho once, 2, 500 years ago, penetrated through some other entrance: he descended in full possession of his faculties, and of remarkable corpulence, but returned blind, deaf, Avithered, and crippled; and fear to open the cave. The valley which runs below the town is the valley of Eshcol, where the Jewish spies got the great bunch of grapes (Numbers xiii. 23). Here is seen a large reservoir, the ancient "Pool of Hebron, " where David hanged the murderers of Ishbosheth (2 Samuel iv. 12). Higher up in the valley stands an aged oak, said to be that under which Abraham pitched his tent; and other spots of traditional interest are pointed out around the toAvn. But all these sink into insignificance by the side of that sacred cave, Avhich still doubtless contains, not only the tombs, but also the carefully- embalmed bodies of the Jewish Patriarchs and their wives. |
| Date | 1870 |
| Publisher | London: Printed by Jas. Truscott and Son, Suffolk Lane, City. |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) | Palestine -- Description and travel.
Sinai Peninsula -- Description and travel.
Jerusalem -- Description and travel.
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| Subject (Geographic) | Palestine
Sinai Peninsula
Jerusalem
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| Original Item Location | http://library.uh.edu/record=b3601783~S11 |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Use and Reproduction | This image is in the public domain and may be used freely. If publishing in print, electronically, or on a website, please use the citation button above. To request higher resolution images, please use the Request High Res button above. |
| File name | meast_201009_057.jpg |
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