Biblical account as given above. This is the more remarkable, because in these particulars the agreement is beyond what might have been expected in a Mussulman sanctuary. The prominence given to Isaac, whilst in entire accordance with the Sacred narrative, is against the tenor of Mussulman tradition, which exalts Ishmael into the first place. And, in like conformity with the Sacred narrative, but unlike what we should have expected, had mere fancy been allowed full play, is the exclusion of the famous Rachel, and the inclusion of the insignificant Leah. 1 The variation which follows rests, as I am informed by Dr. Rosen, on the general tradition of the country (justified, perhaps, by an ambiguous expression of Josephus) that the body of Joseph, after having been deposited first at Shechem, The Shrine was subsequently transported to Hebron. But the of Joseph. peculiar situation of this alleged tomb agrees with the exceptional character of the tradition. It is in a domed chamber attached to the enclosure from the outside, and reached, therefore, by an aperture broken through the massive wall itself, and thus visible on the exterior of the southern side of the wall. It is less costly than the others, and it is remarkable that, although the name of his wife (according to the Mussulman version, Zuleika) is inserted in the certificates given to pilgrims who have visited the Mosque, no grave having that appellation is shown. A staff was hung up in a corner of the chamber. There were painted windows as in the shrine of Jacob. According to the story told by the guardian of the Mosque, Joseph was buried in the Nile, and Moses recovered the body, 1005 years afterwards, by marrying an Egyptian wife who knew the secret. The bodies of the brothers of Joseph after a time were buried by 'their descendants in Hebron; but the 'bones of Joseph afterwards, when the 'Hebrews migrated from Egypt, were 'taken to Canaan.'-Ant. ii. 8, 2. This may be intended merely to draw a distinction as to the time of removal, but probably it refers also to a difference in the places of burial, and expresses nothing positive on the subject. In Acts vii. 15, 16, the sons of Jacob are represented as all equally buried at Shechem; but then it is with the perplexing addition that they were buried in the same place as Jacob, and 'in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a 'sum of money from the sons of Emmor 'the father of Shechem.' The burial of Joseph at Shechem is distinctly mentioned in Josh. xxiv. 32. The bones of 'Joseph, which the children of Israel 'brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in "the parcel of the field" 'which Jacob bought of the sons of 'Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver; and it became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.' 2 This aperture was made by Dâhar Barkok, A.D. 1382-1389.-Quatremère, 247. No other tombs were exhibited inside the Mosque. In a mosque on the northern side of the great Mosque were two shrines, resembling those of Isaac and Rebekah, which were afterwards explained to us as merely ornamental. On a platform immediately outside the Jewish wall on the north side, and seen from the hill rising immediately to the north-east of the Mosque, is the dome of a mosque named Jawalîyeh, Mosque of said to have been built by the Emir Abou Said Sanjar Jâwali. Jâwali, from whom, of course, it derives its name, in the place of the tomb of Judas, or Judah, which he caused to be 'destroyed. The These are the only variations from the catalogue of tombs in the Book of Genesis. In the fourth century, the Bourdeaux Pilgrim saw only the six great patriarchal shrines. But from the seventh century downwards, one or more lesser tombs seem to have been shown. Arculf speaks of the tomb of 2Adam, ' which is of meaner workmanship than the rest, and lies not 'far off from them at the farthest extremity to the north.' If we might take this direction of the compass to be correct, he must mean either the tomb of Judah' or one of the two in the northern mosque. This latter conjecture is confirmed by the statement of Maundeville that the tombs of Adam and Eve were shown; which would thus correspond to these two. The tomb of Joseph is first distinctly mentioned by Sawulf, who says that the bones of Joseph were buried more humbly than 'the rest, as it were at the extremity of the castle.' Mr. Monro describes further a tomb of Esau, under a small cupola, with 'eight or ten windows, excluded from lying with the rest of the 5 Patriarchs.' Whether by this he meant the tomb of Joseph, or the tomb of Judah, is not clear. A Mussulman tomb of Esau was shown in the suburb of Hebron called Sir. 1 A. D. 1319, 1320. Quatremère, i. part ii. p. 248. 2 The tomb of Adam was shown as the Fourth' of the 'Four,' who, with the three Patriarchs, were supposed to have given to Hebron the name of Kirjath-Arba, the city of the Four.' By a strange mistake which Jerome has perpetuated in the Vulgate translation, the word Adam in Joshua xxiv. 15, ‘a great man among the Anakims,' has been taken by some of the Rabbis as a proper name. 'Adam maximus ibi inter Enacim situs est.' 3 Maundeville (Early p. 161). 4 Travellers, A.D. 1102 (Early Travellers, p. 45). 5 Summer Ramble, i. 243. • Quatremère, i. pt. ii. p. 319. Probably Sirah, the scene of the murder of Abner, 2 Sam. iii. 26. The tomb of Abner is shown in the town, and the tomb of Jesse on the hill facing Hebron on the south. But these have no connection with the Mosque, or the patriarchal buryingplace. The Sacred We have now gone through all the shrines, whether of real or fictitious importance, which the Sanctuary includes. It will be seen that up to this point no mention has been made of the subject of the greatest interest, namely, Cave. the sacred cave itself, in which one at least of the patriarchal family may possibly still repose intact - the embalmed body of Jacob. It may be well supposed that to this object our enquiries were throughout directed. One indication alone of the cavern beneath was visible. In the interior of the Mosque, at the corner of the shrine of Abraham, was a small circular hole, about eight inches across, of which one foot above the pavement was built of strong masonry, but of which the lower part, as far as we could see and feel, was of the living rock.' This cavity appeared to open into a dark space beneath, and that space (which the guardians of the Mosque believed to extend under the whole platform) can hardly be anything else than the ancient cavern of Machpelah. This was the only aperture which the guardians recognized. Once, they said, 2,500 years ago, a servant of a great king had penetrated through some other entrance. He descended in full possession of his faculties, and of remarkable corpulence; he returned blind, deaf, withered, and crippled. Since then the entrance was closed, and this aperture alone was left, partly for the sake of allowing the holy air of the cave to escape into the Mosque, and be scented by the faithful; partly for the sake of allowing a lamp to be let down by a chain which we saw suspended at the 1 This hole was not shown to Ali Bey, perhaps as being only an ordinary pilgrim. It is thus described by Mr. Monro or his informant:-'A baldachin, supported on four small columns over an octagon figure of black and white inlaid, 'round a small hole in the pavement' (i. 264). It is also mentioned by the Arab historians. There is a vault that passes for the burial-place of Abraham, in which is a lamp always lighted. Hence the common expression among 6 mouth, to burn upon the sacred grave. We asked whether it could not be lighted now? No,' they said; the saint likes to have a lamp at night, but not in the full daylight.' With that glimpse into the dark void we and the world without must for the present be satisfied. Whether any other entrance is known to the Mussulmans themselves, must be a matter of doubt. The original entrance to the cave, if it is now to be found at all, must probably be on the southern face of the hill, between the Mosque and the gallery containing the shrine of Joseph, and entirely obstructed by the ancient Jewish wall, probably built across it for this very purpose. It seems to our notions almost incredible that Christians and Mussulmans, each for a period of 600 years, should have held possession of the sanctuary, and not had the curiosity to explore what to us is the one object of interest — the cave. But the fact is undoubted that no account exists of any such attempt. Such a silence can only be explained (but it is probably a sufficient explanation) by the indifference which prevailed, throughout the Middle Ages, to any historical spots however interesting, unless they were actually consecrated as places of pilgrimage. The Mount of Olives, the site of the Temple of Solomon, the Rock of the Holy Sepulchre itself, were not thought worthy of even momentary consideration, in comparison with the chapels and stations which were the recognized objects of devotion. Thus at Hebron a visit to the shrines, both for Christians and Mussulmans, procures a certificate. The cave had therefore no further value. In the case of the Mussulmans this indifference is still more general. Sûraya Pasha himself, a man of considerable intelligence, professed that he had never thought of visiting the Mosque of Hebron for any other purpose than that of snuffing the sacred air, and he had never, till we arrived at Jerusalem, seen the wonderful convent of Mar Saba, or the Dead Sea, or the Jordan. And to this must be added, if not in his case, in that of Mussulmans generally, the terror which they entertain of the effect of the wrath of the Patriarchs on any one who should intrude into the place where they are supposed still to be in a kind of suspended animation. As far back as the seventeenth century it was firmly believed that if any Mussulman entered the cavern, immediate death would be the consequence.' It should be mentioned, however, that two accounts are reported of travellers having obtained a nearer view of the cave than was accomplished in the visit of the Prince of Wales. 6 The first is contained in the pilgrimage of Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish traveller of the twelfth century: The Gentiles have erected six sepulchres in this place, which they 'pretend to be those of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. The pilgrims are told that they are the 'sepulchres of the fathers, and money is extorted from them. 'But if any Jew comes, who gives an additional fee to the 'keeper of the cave, an iron door is opened, which dates from 'the time of our forefathers who rest in peace, and with a 'burning candle in his hands, the visitor descends into a first cave, which is empty, traverses a second in the same state, and 'at last reaches a third, which contains six sepulchres, those of 'Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, one opposite the other. All these sepulchres bear inscriptions, 'the letters being engraved. Thus, upon that of Abraham we 'read: "This is the sepulchre of our father Abraham; upon "whom be peace," and so on that of Isaac, and upon all the 'other sepulchres. A lamp burns in the cave and upon the 'sepulchres continually, both night and day, and you there see "tombs filled with the bones of Israelites - for unto this day it ' is a custom of the house of Israel to bring hither the bones of 'their saints and of their forefathers, and to leave them there.' In this account, which, as may be observed, does not profess to describe Benjamin's own experience, there are two circumstances (besides its general improbability) which throw considerable doubt on its accuracy. One is the mention of inscriptions, and of an iron door, which, as is well known, are never found in Jewish sepulchres. The other is the mention of the practice of Jews sending their bones to be buried in a 2 1 Quaresmius, ii. 772. 2 A somewhat similar account is given by Moawiyeh Ishmail, Prince of Aleppo, that in A.D. 1089 the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were found; that M many persons saw the bodies, preserved without change, and that in the cavern were arranged lamps of gold and silver (Quatremère, 245). |