, alternate_name = Mashhad al-Arba’in (Sanctuary of the Forty), later D(a)ir al-Arba'in (Mosque of the Forty itnesses , image = Tomb of Ruth and Jesse Hevron 06.jpg , alt= , caption= , map_type= , map_alt= , map_size = 220 , location =

Deir Al Arba'een Deir Al Arba'een ( ar, دير الأربعين, lit=Sanctuary of the Forty), also Masha'ad Al Arba'een, is a ruined building approximately 300 meters to the West of the Old City of Hebron. It is considered the most notable ancient structure on Tel ...

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

, region =

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, coordinates = , type = tomb , part_of= , length= , width= , area= , height= , builder= , material= , built= , abandoned= , epochs= , cultures= , dependency_of= , occupants= , event= , excavations= , archaeologists= , condition= , ownership= , public_access= , website= , notes= The tomb of Jesse and Ruth ( he, קבר ישי ורות, Kever Yishai v'Rut) is an ancient structure located within the ruin of

in the Tel Rumeida section of

that Jewish tradition considers to be the tomb of

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

and

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

. The place is in area H2 of Hebron, under Israeli control. A small synagogue in the room adjacent to the tomb receives visitors throughout the year, especially on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which the Book of Ruth is read.

Historical references

Mamluk period

One of the earliest known references to the tomb comes from an unnamed student of the Ramban who visited the site between 1289 and 1290. He wrote of visiting the "cave of Jesse's grave" on a hilltop near the Cave of Machpela and the ancient Jewish Cemetery of Hebron. The Jewish traveller Yaakov HaShaliach mentions visiting the grave of Jesse, father of David in Hebron in the year 1235, but he does not specify the burial place. Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro (1445-1515) mentions praying there in his travel writings.

Ottoman period

In 1522, Rabbi

Moses ben Mordecai Bassola Moses ben Mordecai Bassola or simply Moses Bassola, alternative spelling: Moshe Basola, Basilea, Basila (Hebrew באסולה or simply: משה באסולה; alternative Hebrew spelling: באזלה ,איש באזולה ,ב(א)סולה ,באסל ,בא ...

wrote,

"at the summit of the mountain opposite Hebron is the burial place of Jesse, David's father. It has a handsome building with a small window that looks down on the burial cave. They say that once they threw a cat through the window and it emerged from the hole in the Cave of the Patriarchs. The distance between them is half a mile."

''Yihus HaAvos V'Neviim (Lineage of the Patriarch and the Prophets), a book from 1537'' refers to the site as "a handsome building up on the mount, where Jesse, the King David's father is buried." It includes a drawing of the site, and notes an "ancient Israelite burial ground" nearby and Crusader courtyard. Two Karaite travellers wrote of the site: Samuel ben David of Crimea in 1642 and

Benjamin Ben-Eliyahu Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

in 1785. The first known written reference to the site housing the tomb of both Jesse and Ruth comes from the 1835 book ''Love of Jerusalem '' by Haim Horwitz, referencing local oral traditions. Menachem Mendel of Kamenitz wrote in 1839,

"Here I write of the graves of the righteous to which I paid my respects. Hebron – Described above is the character and order of behavior of those coming to pray at the Cave of ha-Machpelah. I went there, between the stores, over the grave of Abner ben Ner and was required to pay a Yishmaeli – the grave was in his courtyard – to allow me to enter. Outside of the city I went to the grave of Othniel ben Kenaz and, next to him, are laid to rest 9 students in niches in the wall of a shelter standing in a vineyard. I gave 20 pa’res to the owner of the vineyard. Also in the vineyard was a shelter with 2 graves: one of Jesse, father of David, and one of Ruth, the Moabite. I gave the vineyard owner 20 pa’res. I also went to a grave said to be that of the Righteous Rav, author of ''Reshit Hokhma''."

British Mandate period

Louis-Hugues Vincent Louis-Hugues Vincent (31 August 1872 – 30 December 1960) was a French archeologist, archaeologist, monk of the Dominican Order, who was educated at Jerusalem's École Biblique. He undertook important archaeological research in Palestine (region) ...

(1872-1960), a French monk and archaeologist who lived in Jerusalem, discusses the site in his two-volume work ''Hebron'' in 1923. In 1935,

Zev Vilnay Zev Vilnay ( he, זאב וילנאי, 12 June 1900 – 21 January 1988) was an Israeli geographer, author and lecturer. Biography Zev Vilnay was born as Volf Vilensky in Kishinev, Russian Empire (now in Moldova). He immigrated to Palestine with ...

wrote that visitors were required to pay to access the site, and that it once connected to the

Tomb of Machpela A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

but was filled in during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the entrance was now unknown. Archaeologist

Jacob Pinkerfield Jacob Pinkerfeld, also spelled Pinkerfield (1897–1956) ( he, יעקב פינקרפלד) was an Israeli archaeologist and architect. Biography Jacob Pinkerfeld was born in the city of Przemysl, Galicia, Poland in 1897, the son of an architect ...

(1897–1956) visited the site and wrote about it in his 1945/46 book ''The Synagogues in Eretz Yisra'el.''

Post-1967 period

In the 1970s, Prof.

Ben Zion Tavger Ben Zion Tavger (russian: Бенцион Аронович Тавгер, he, בן ציון טבגר), August 5, 1930 (Barysaw) - July 22, 1983, was a physicist and an activist for the renewed Jewish community of Hebron. Early years Tavger was bor ...

(1930 - 1983) excavated the site, and it was reopened to the public. The site was renovated in 2009.

Historical references

Mamluk period

Ottoman period

British Mandate period

Post-1967 period

References

Further reading