Sights

Abraham chose Hebron, the highest of the four Jewish holy cities (at an altitude of 1030m), as the site of his family cemetery. Beginning with his wife, Sarah (Genesis 23:17-19), all the subsequent matriarchs and patriarchs but one were buried in the Cave of Makhpela. (The exception is Jacob’s second wife, Rachel, who died on the way to Bethlehem.) Makhpela means a double cave, or cave over a cave. Some claim that Abraham chose the cave because he knew it to be the burial place of Adam and Eve. Consequently, many rabbis explain that Kiryat Arba refers not to four giants, but to the four married couples purportedly interred here: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and Adam and Eve. The patch of land above the tombs has been fiercely contested throughout history by Crusaders, Muslims, and Jews.

The colossal edifice that now stands over the Cave of Makhpela more resembles a fortress than a house of worship. Both Jewish and Muslim traditions attribute the original stonework of the building to King Solomon’s reign. The king is said to have enlisted the help of demons to cut and paste the large blocks. The oldest surviving sections, forming the base of the 3m-thick walls, date from King Herod’s time. The building fell into disrepair in subsequent centuries, though a small synagogue inside the ruins was continually maintained. In 372 AD the Byzantines built a roof and used the refurbished structure as a church.