Rachel's Tomb ( ''Qǝbūrat Rāḥēl''; Modern ''Qever Raḥel;'' ''Qabr Rāḥīl'') is a site revered as the burial place of the
Biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
matriarch
Rachel
Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
. The site is also referred to as the Bilal bin Rabah mosque (). The tomb is held in esteem by
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
,
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, and
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
.: “Rather than being content with half a dozen or even a full dozen witnesses, we have tried to compile as many sources as possible. During the Roman and Byzantine era, when Christians dominated there was really not much attention given to Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem. It was only when the Muslims took control that the shrine became an important site. Yet it was rarely considered a shrine exclusive to one religion. To be sure, most of the witnesses were Christian, yet there were also Jewish and Muslim visitors to the tomb. Equally important, the Christian witnesses call attention to the devotion shown to the shrine throughout much of this period by local Muslims and then later also by Jews. As far as the building itself, it appears to be a cooperative venture. There is absolutely no evidence of a pillar erected by Jacob. The earliest form of the structure was that of a pyramid typical of Roman period architecture. Improvements were made first by Crusader Christians a thousand years later, then Muslims in several stages, and finally by the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore in the nineteenth century. If there is one lesson to be learned, it is that this is a shrine held in esteem equally by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. As far as authenticity we are on shaky ground. It may be that the current shrine has physical roots in the biblical era. However, the evidence points to the appropriation of a tomb from the Herod family. If there was a memorial to Rachel in Bethlehem during the late biblical era, it was likely not at the current site of Rachel's Tomb.” The tomb, located at the northern entrance to the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
city of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
maqam
Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to:
Musical structures
* Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music
** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq
* Persian maqam, a notion in Persian clas ...
, Arabic for shrine.
The burial place of the matriarch
Rachel
Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
had a matzevah erected at the site according to ;Sered, Rachel's tomb: Societal liminality and the revitalization of a shrine, Religion, January 1989, Vol.19(1):27–40, , p. 30, "Although the references in Jeremiah and in Genesis 35:22 perhaps hint at the existence of an early cult of some sort at her Tomb, the first concrete evidence of pilgrimage to Rachel's Tomb appears in reports of Christian pilgrims from the first centuries of the Christian Era and Jewish pilgrims from approximately the 10th century. However, in almost all of the pilgrims' records the references to Rachel'sTomb are incidental – it is one more shrine on the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Rachel's Tomb continued to appear as a minor shrine in the itineraries of Jewish and Christian pilgrims through the early 20th century." the site was also mentioned in Muslim literature. Although the site is considered by some scholars as unlikely to be the actual site of the grave – several other sites to the north have been proposed – it is by far the most recognized candidate. The earliest extra-biblical records describing this tomb as Rachel's burial place date to the first decades of the 4th century CE. The structure in its current form dates from the Ottoman period, and is situated in a Christian and Muslim cemetery dating from at least the
Mamluk
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
period.Bowman, 2015, p. 34: "Jachintus's mention of a Christian cemetery surrounding the tomb suggests that for Bethlehemites – exclusively Christian up until the late eighteenth century – the biblical site on the outskirts of the city was blessed by the presence of a nurturing saint likely to help those buried in her vicinity to achieve salvation. By the fifteenth century, according to the pilgrim Johannes Poloner, Muslims, most likely from surrounding Muslim villages, were being buried on the southern side of the shrine. Increasingly the cemetery surrounding the tomb became Muslim. In 1839, Mary Damer described bedouin burying a shaykh in the graveyard, while in 1853 James Finn wrote of witnessing Bethlehem Muslims “burying one of their dead near the spot". Philip Baldensperger, a resident of nearby Artas between 1856 and 1892, wrote of Rachel's Tomb in his Immovable East that "a number of Bedawin, men and women, were assembled there for a funeral service, for the Bedawin of the desert of Judah all bury their dead near Rachel's sanctuary as their forefathers the Israelites of old did around their sanctuaries." Christian burial in the Tomb's vicinity had dropped off by the mid-nineteenth century”
The first historically recorded pilgrimages to the site were by
early Christians
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...
. Throughout history, the site was rarely considered a shrine exclusive to one religion and is described as being "held in esteem equally by Jews, Muslims, and Christians". Rachel's Tomb has been a site of Jewish pilgrimage since at least the eleventh century—possibly since ancient times—and remains a holy pilgrimage site for modern Jews. Meron Benvenisti described it as "one of the cornerstones of Jewish-Israeli identity".
British Jewish financier Sir Moses Montefiore significantly expanded the building in 1841,, page 47: "The Jews claim possession of the Tomb as they hold the keys and by virtue of the fact that the building which had fallen into complete decay was entirely rebuilt in 1845 by Sir M. Montefiore. It is also asserted that in 1615 Muhammad, Pasha of Jerusalem, rebuilt the Tomb on their behalf, and by firman granted them the exclusive use of it. The Moslems, on the other hand, claim the ownership of the building as being a place of prayer for Moslems of the neighbourhood, and an integral part of the Moslem cemetery within whose precincts it lies. They state that the Turkish Government recognised it as such, and sent an embroidered covering with Arabic inscriptions for the sarcophagus; again, that it is included among the Tombs of the Prophets for which identity signboards were provided by the Ministry of Waqfs in 1328. A.H. In consequence, objection is made to any repair of the building by the Jews, though free access is allowed to it at all times. From local evidence it appears that the keys were obtained by the Jews from the last Moslem guardian, by name Osman Ibrahim al Atayat, some 80 years ago. This would be at the time of the restoration by Sir Moses Montefiore. It is also stated that the antechamber was specially built, at the time of the restoration, as a place of prayer for the Moslems." obtaining the keys for the Jewish community while building an antechamber, including a ''
mihrab
''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall".
...
'' for Muslim prayer. Following a 1929 British memorandum, in 1949 the UN ruled that the ''
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...
—''an arrangement approved by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin concerning rights, privileges and practices in certain Holy Places—applies to the site. According to the 1947
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, which prohibited Jews from entering the area. Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the site's position was formalized in 1995 under the
Oslo II Accord
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, commonly known as Oslo II or Oslo 2, was a key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Because it was signed in Taba, Egypt, it is sometimes called the Taba Agre ...
in a Palestinian enclave (Area A), with a special arrangement making it subject to the security responsibility of Israel. In 2005, following Israeli approval on 11 September 2002, the
Israeli West Bank barrier
The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...
was built around the tomb, effectively annexing it to Jerusalem; Checkpoint 300 – also known as Rachel's Tomb Checkpoint – was built adjacent to the site.: "Rachel’s Tomb was originally assigned to Palestinian Area A under the 28 September 1995 Israel–Palestine Interim Accords and thus came under full Palestinian responsibility for internal security, public order and civil affairs. Annex I, Article 5 provided that "during the Interim Period" Israel will have security control of the road leading to the Tomb and may place guards at the Tomb. On 11 September 2002, the Israeli security cabinet approved placing Rachel's Tomb on the Jerusalem side of the Security Wall, thus placing Rachel's Tomb within the "Jerusalem Security Envelope," and de facto annexing it to Jerusalem." A 2005 report from
OHCHR
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...
Special Rapporteur John Dugard noted that: "Although Rachel's Tomb is a site holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, it has effectively been closed to Muslims and Christians." On October 21, 2015,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
adopted a resolution reaffirming a 2010 statement that Rachel's Tomb was "an integral part of Palestine." On 22 October 2015, the tomb was separated from Bethlehem with a series of concrete barriers.
Biblical accounts and disputed location
Northern vis-à-vis southern version
Biblical scholarship identifies two different traditions in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Ramah, modern
Al-Ram
Al-Ram (), also transcribed as Al-Ramm, El-Ram, Er-Ram, and A-Ram, is a Palestinian town which lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem, the Atarot industr ...
, and a southern narrative locating it close to Bethlehem. In rabbinical tradition the duality is resolved by using two different terms in Hebrew to designate these different localities. In the Hebrew version given in Genesis,
Rachel
Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
and
Jacob
Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
journey from
Shechem
Shechem ( ; , ; ), also spelled Sichem ( ; ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israe ...
to
Hebron
Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
, a short distance from
Ephrath
Ephrath or Ephrathah or Ephratah () is a biblically referenced former name of Bethlehem, meaning "fruitful". It is also a personal name.
Biblical place
A very old tradition holds that Ephrath refers to Bethlehem, as the first mention of Ephrath o ...
, which is glossed as
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
(35:16–21, 48:7). She dies on the way giving birth to
Benjamin
Benjamin ( ''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 younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
:
''"And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day."'' — Genesis 35:19–20
Tom Selwyn notes that R. A. S. Macalister, the most authoritative voice on the topography of Rachel's tomb, advanced the view in 1912 that the identification with Bethlehem was based on a copyist's mistake.
The Judean scribal gloss "(Ephrath, ) which is Bethlehem" was added to distinguish it from a similar toponym Ephrathah in the Bethlehem region. Some consider as certain, however, that Rachel's tomb lay to the north, in Benjamite, not in Judean territory, and that the Bethlehem gloss represents a Judean appropriation of the grave, originally in the north, to enhance Judah's prestige. At 1 Samuel 10:2, Rachel's tomb is located in the 'territory of Benjamin at Zelzah.' In the monarchic period down to the
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurred ...
, it would follow, Rachel's tomb was thought to lie in Ramah. The indications for this are based on 1 Sam 10:2 and Jer. 31:15, which give an alternative location north of Jerusalem, in the vicinity of ar-Ram, biblical Ramah, five miles south of
Bethel
Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Bet ...
. One conjecture is that before David's conquest of Jerusalem, the ridge road from Bethel might have been called "the Ephrath road" (''derek ’eprātāh''. ; ''derek’eprāt,'' ), hence the passage in Genesis meant 'the road ''to'' Ephrath or Bethlehem,' on which Ramah, if that word refers to a
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
, lay. A possible location in Ramah could be the five stone monuments north of Hizma. Known as '' Qubur Bene Isra'in'', the largest so-called tomb of the group, the function of which is obscure, has the name ''Qabr Umm beni Isra'in'', that is, "tomb of the mother of the descendants of Israel".
Bethlehem structure
As to the structure outside Bethlehem being placed exactly over an ancient tomb, it was revealed during excavations in around 1825 that it was not built over a cavern; however, a deep cavern was discovered a small distance from the site.Schwarz, Joseph Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine 1850. "It was always believed that this stood over the grave of the beloved wife of Jacob. But about twenty-five years ago, when the structure needed some repairs, they were compelled to dig down at the foot of this monument; and it was then found that it was not erected over the cavity in which the grave of Rachel actually is; but at a little distance from the monument there was discovered an uncommonly deep cavern, the opening and direction of which was not precisely under the superstructure in question."
History
Byzantine period
Traditions regarding the tomb at this location date back to the beginning of the 4th century AD.Pringle, 1998, p 176 /ref>
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
' ''Onomasticon'' (written before 324), the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333–334), and
Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known ...
(404) mention the tomb as being located 4 miles from Jerusalem.
The anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza () also mentions the tomb, writing that a church had recently been erected on the site.
Early Muslim period
In the late 7th century Arculf reported a tomb "of crude workmanship, without any adornment, surrounded by a stone coping" marked with the name "Rachel."
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
similarly describes "an unopened tomb marked with the name Rachel".
During the 10th century,
Muqaddasi
Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr, commonly known by the ''Nisba (onomastics), nisba'' al-Maqdisi or al-Muqaddasī, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of ''The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions'' and '' ...
and other geographers fail to mention the tomb, which indicates that it may have lost importance until the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
revived its veneration.
Crusader period
Muhammad al-Idrisi
Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...
Joseph
Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
and of
Benjamin
Benjamin ( ''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 younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
, the two sons of
Jacob
Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
peace upon them all! The tomb is covered by twelve stones, and above it is a dome vaulted." Pseudo-Beda (12th century) similarly writes "Over her tomb Jacob piled up twelve great stones for a memorial of his twelve sons. Her tomb, together with these stones, remains to this day."
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela (), also known as Benjamin ben Jonah, was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the twelfth century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. With his ...
(1169–71) and () were the first Jewish pilgrims to describe visits to the tomb. Benjamin mentioned a monument made of 11 stones and a cupola resting on four columns "and all the Jews that pass by carve their names upon the stones of the monument." Benjamin and Jacob explain that the 11 stones represent the tribes of Israel, excluding the baby Benjamin, while Petachiah of Regensburg () and the "student of Nachmanides" (14th century) argue that Joseph did not contribute a stone either, with the 11th stone representing Jacob: "The monument is of 12 (!) stones. Each stone is as wide as the grave and half as long, so that five layers of two stones each make ten. A final stone rests on top, which is as wide and as long as the grave." Already in the 11th century Tobiah ben Eliezer had written, "Each son contributed one of the 11 stones." Petachiah says the stones were "marble" (others describe them as "hewn") and that "Jacob's stone is very large, the burden of many men. The local priests tried several times to take it for use in a church, but each time they awoke to find it had returned to its place. It is engraved with 'Jacob'".
Mamluk period
In 1327, Antony of Cremona referred to the cenotaph as "the most wonderful tomb that I shall ever see. I do not think that with 20 pairs of oxen it would be possible to extract or move one of its stones." A Jewish pilgrimage guide (before 1341) describes a large dome, open on all four sides, with ten stones "ten fingers long" topped by one "sixteen fingers long" (diagram left). Nicolas of Poggibonsi (1346–50) describes the grave, including the "twelve stones", as 7 feet high and enclosed by a rounded tomb with three gates.
In the 15th century, if not earlier, the tomb was "appropriated by the Muslims" and rebuilt.
The Russian deacon
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to:
People
*
* Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints
* Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy
* Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...
describes a "Saracen mosque" in 1421, and John Poloner describes a "Saracen building" in 1422. A guide published in 1467 credits Shahin al-Dhahiri (1410-1470) with the building of a cupola, cistern and drinking fountain at the site. The Muslim rebuilding of the "dome on four columns" was also mentioned by Francesco Suriano in 1485.Felix Fabri (1480–83) described it as being "a lofty pyramid, built of square and polished white stone";Fabri, 1896, p 547 /ref> He also noted a drinking water trough at its side and reported that "this place is venerated alike by Muslims, Jews, and Christians".Bernhard von Breidenbach of Mainz (1483) described women praying at the tomb and collecting stones to take home, believing that they would ease their labour.Reflections of God's Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008. p. 57. Pietro Casola (1494) described it as being "beautiful and much honoured by the
Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
".
Obadiah of Bertinoro
Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro (; 1445 – 1515), commonly known as "The Bartenura", was a 15th-century Italian rabbi best known for his popular commentary on the Mishnah. In his later years, he rejuvenated the Jewish community of Jerusale ...
(1488) writes that "There is a round dome built upon it but it does not look old to me." Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi (1495), the Jerusalemite ''
qadi
A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works.
History
The term '' was in use from ...
'' and Arab historian, writes under the heading of ''Qoubbeh Râhîl'' ("Dome of Rachel") that Rachel's tomb lies under this dome on the road between Bethlehem and Bayt Jala and that the edifice is turned towards the '' Sakhrah'' (the rock inside the
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...
) and widely visited by pilgrims.Mujir al-Dyn, 1876, p 202 /ref>
Noe Bianco (1527) describes "three beautiful domes, each with four columns".
Ottoman period
Seventeenth century
According to legend, Mehmet Pasha of Jerusalem repaired the structure in 1625 and granted exclusive access to Jews. A 1636 book says that Mehmet favored Jewish settlement in Jerusalem in 1625, and Samuel ben David, a Karaite from
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, reported in 1642 that "Mehmet Pasha built a beautiful '' qubba'' building over her tomb, as graceful as a dove in flight." In 1626, Franciscus Quaresmius visited the site and "heard from the elders that the tomb had sometime collapsed, but that it was continually restored in her memory and thus retained its dignity . . . on the front of the tomb, facing the road, is an inscription, but I could not determine the language".George Sandys wrote in 1632 that “The sepulchre of Rachel... is mounted on a square... within which another sepulchre is used for a place of prayer by the Mohometans".
Moses Poryat of Prague (1650) described a high dome, one side opening to a walled courtyard, and Jewish ritual observance:Yiddish travelogue printed
Frankfurt">Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
?], 1650 under the title דרכי ציון Link . At the end signed "Moses ben Israel Naftali Z"L of Prague, who everyone calls Moses ben Hirsch Poryat of Jerusalem" and dated Friday, 1 Adar Sheni, AM 10. Translated into Hebrew by Jacob David Wilhelm and translation published, as edited by Abraham Yaari, i מסעות ארץ ישראל (1946) p. 267-304. This section retranslated from the Hebrew by Susan Sered, "Our Mother Rachel", in Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young eds. ''The Annual Review of Women in World Religions'' vol IV ( 1991), pp. 21–24 isidentifies author as "Moses Sureit" According to Yaari (1946) p. 267, the author's descendants survive under the name Porges; see also "Poryat" in Simon Hock ''Families of Prague'' ebrewp. 262-269.
According to Giovanni Mariti, Mehmed IV "entertained a peculiar veneration for this sepulchre, and in the year 1679 sent orders for its being repaired . . . it was perhaps entirely rebuilt by Mehmed IV in 1679".
Eighteenth century
Gedaliah of
Siemiatycze
Siemiatycze ( ''Siamiatyčy'') is a town in eastern Poland, with 14,391 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Siemiatycze County in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.
History
The history of Siemiatycze dates back to the mid-16th century, when the vil ...
, who lived in Jerusalem from 1700 to 1706, writes that "Wayfarers rest at the tomb to avoid the sun in summer and the rain in winter. And every year in
Elul
Elul (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ) is the twelfth month of the civil year and the sixth month of the Jewish religious year, religious year in the Hebrew calendar. It is a m ...
, the prince of the
Sephardim
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendan ...
goes there with other eminences and sleeps there and learns all night, taking with him Arabs for protection." According to Richard Pococke, the arches had "lately been filled up to hinder the Jews from going into it" as of 4 April, 1738.Pococke, 1745, vol 2, p 39 /ref> In March 1756, the Istanbul Jewish Committee for the Jews of Palestine instructed that 500
kuruş
Kuruş ( ; ), also gurush, ersh, gersh, grush, grosha, and grosi, are all names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. The variation in the name stems from the different languages it is us ...
used by the Jews of Jerusalem to fix a wall at the tomb were to be repaid and used instead for more deserving causes. On 25 April, 1767 Giovanni Mariti visited, finding the site "almost ruined" but the arches "open from top to bottom". Mariti apparently penetrated the sarcophagus and writes that it is completely empty. Moses of Jerusalem wrote (Amsterdam, 1769) that "The tomb is closed. The building has three windows and to enter one must pay an Arab attendant," but this author may have relied on old reports. Eugene Hoade says that the arches were re-walled in 1788. Nachmu ben Solomon, a Karaite from
Kale
Kale (), also called leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars primarily grown for their Leaf vegetable, edible leaves; it has also been used as an ornamental plant. Its multiple different cultivars vary quite ...
, reported in 1795 "we entered the ''qubba'' and said the appropriate prayers . . . the ''qubba'' is extremely large and tall."
Pococke reports that the site was highly regarded by Turks as a place of burial, and that the ground had been raised by the number of graves. According to Mariti, the early-modern outbuildings were locals' tombs.
Nineteenth century
In 1806 François-René Chateaubriand described it as "a square edifice, surmounted with a small dome: it enjoys the privileges of a
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
, for the Turks as well as the Arabs, honour the families of the patriarchs. .it is evidently a Turkish edifice, erected in memory of a santon.
An 1824 report described "a stone building, evidently of Turkish construction, which terminates at the top in a dome. Within this edifice is the tomb. It is a pile of stones covered with white plaster, about 10 feet long and nearly as high. The inner wall of the building and the sides of the tomb are covered with Hebrew names, inscribed by Jews."
When the structure was undergoing repairs in around 1825, excavations at the foot of the monument revealed that it was not built directly over an underground cavity. However, a small distance from the site, an unusually deep cavern was discovered.Proto-Zionist banker Sir
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of London. Born to an History ...
visited Rachel's Tomb together with his wife on their first visit to the Holy Land in 1828. The couple were childless, and Lady Montefiore was deeply moved by the tomb, which was in good condition at that time. Before the couple's next visit, in 1839, the Galilee earthquake of 1837 had heavily damaged the tomb. In 1838 the tomb was described as "merely an ordinary Muslim Wely, or tomb of a holy person; a small square building of stone with a dome, and within it a tomb in the ordinary Muhammedan form; the whole plastered over with mortar. It is neglected and falling to decay; though pilgrimages are still made to it by the Jews. The naked walls are covered with names in several languages; many of them Hebrew."Edward Robinson, Eli Smith ''Biblical researches in Palestine and the adjacent regions: a journal of travels in the years 1838 & 1852, Volume 1'' J. Murray, 1856. p. 218.
In 1841, Montefiore renovated the site and obtained for the Jews the key of the tomb. He renovated the entire structure, reconstructing and re-plastering its white dome, and added an antechamber, including a mihrab for Muslim prayer, to ease Muslim fears. Professor Glenn Bowman notes that some writers have described this as a “purchase” of the tomb by Montefiore, asserting that this was not the case.
In 1843, Ridley Haim Herschell described the building as an ordinary Muslim tomb. He reported that Jews, including Montefiore, were obliged to remain outside the tomb, and prayed at a hole in the wall, so that their voices enter into the tomb. In 1844, William Henry Bartlett referred to the tomb as a "Turkish Mosque", following a visit to the area in 1842.
In 1845, Montefiore made further architectural improvements at the tomb. He extended the building by constructing an adjacent vaulted ante-chamber on the east for Muslim
prayer
File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)''
rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...
use and burial preparation, possibly as an act of conciliation. The room included a ''
mihrab
''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall".
...
'' facing
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
donated money to dig a well. Although Rachel's Tomb was only an hour and a half walk from the Old City of Jerusalem, many pilgrims found themselves very thirsty and unable to obtain fresh water. Every ''
Rosh Chodesh
In Judaism, Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh (; trans. ''Beginning of the Month''; lit. ''Head of the Month'') is a minor holiday observed at the beginning of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the birth of a new moon. Rosh Chodesh is obs ...
'' (beginning of the Jewish month), the Maiden of Ludmir would lead her followers to Rachel's tomb and lead a prayer service with various rituals, which included spreading out requests of the past four weeks over the tomb. On the traditional anniversary of Rachel's death, she would lead a solemn procession to the tomb where she chanted
psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
in a night-long vigil.
In 1868 a publication by the Catholic missionary society the
Paulist Fathers
The Paulist Fathers, officially named the Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle (), abbreviated CSP, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Isaac Hecker in collaboration w ...
noted that " achel'smemory has always been held in respect by the Jews and Christians, and even now the former go there every Thursday, to pray and read the old, old history of this mother of their race. When leaving Bethlehem for the fourth and last time, after we had passed the tomb of Rachel, on our way to Jerusalem, Father Luigi and I met a hundred or more Jews on their weekly visit to the venerated spot."
The Hebrew monthly ''ha-Levanon'' of August 19, 1869, rumored that a group of Christians had purchased land around the tomb and were in the process of demolishing Montefiore's vestibule in order to erect a church there. During the following years, land in the vicinity of the tomb was acquired by Nathan Straus. In October 1875, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer purchased three
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s of land near the tomb intending to establish a Jewish farming colony there. Custody of the land was transferred to the Perushim community in Jerusalem. In the 1883 volume of the
PEF Survey of Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...
, Conder and Kitchener noted: "A modern Moslem building stands over the site, and there are Jewish graves near it... The court... is used as a praying-place by Moslems... The inner chambers... are visited by Jewish men and women on Fridays."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p 129 /ref>
Twentieth century
In 1912 the Ottoman Government permitted the Jews to repair the shrine itself, but not the antechamber. In 1915 the structure had four walls, each about 7 m (23 ft.) long and 6 m (20 ft.) high. The dome, rising about 3 m (10 ft.), "is used by the Moslems for prayer; its holy character has hindered them from removing the Hebrew letters from its walls."
British Mandate period
Three months after the British occupation of Palestine the whole place was cleaned and whitewashed by the Jews without protest from the Muslims. However, in 1921 when the Chief Rabbinate applied to the Municipality of Bethlehem for permission to perform repairs at the site, local Muslims objected. In view of this, the High Commissioner ruled that, pending appointment of the Holy Places Commission provided for under the Mandate, all repairs should be undertaken by the Government. However, so much indignation was caused in Jewish circles by this decision that the matter was dropped, the repairs not being considered urgent. In 1925 the Sephardic Jewish community requested permission to repair the tomb. The building was then made structurally sound and exterior repairs were effected by the Government, but permission was refused by the Jews (who had the keys) for the Government to repair the interior of the shrine. As the interior repairs were unimportant, the Government dropped the matter, in order to avoid controversy. In 1926 Max Bodenheimer blamed the Jews for letting one of their holy sites appear so neglected and uncared for.
During this period, both Jews and Muslims visited the site. From the 1940s, it came to be viewed as a symbol of the Jewish people's return to Zion, to its ancient homeland, For Jewish women, the tomb was associated with fertility and became a place of pilgrimage to pray for successful childbirth. Depictions of the Tomb of Rachel have appeared in Jewish religious books and works of art. Muslims prayed inside the mosque there and the cemetery at the tomb was the main Muslim cemetery in the Bethlehem area. The building was also used for Islamic funeral rituals. It is reported that Jews and Muslims respected each other and accommodated each other's rituals.
During the riots of 1929, violence hampered regular visits by Jews to the tomb. Both Jews and Muslims demanded control of the site, with the Muslims claiming it was an integral part of the Muslim cemetery within which it is situated. It also demanded a renewal of the old Muslim custom of purifying corpses in the tomb's antechamber.
Jordanian period
Following the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
waqf
A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...
. On December 11, 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194 which called for free access to all the holy places in Israel and the remainder of the territory of the former Palestine Mandate of Great Britain. In April 1949, the Jerusalem Committee prepared a document for the UN Secretariat in order to establish the status of the different holy places in the area of the former British Mandate for Palestine. It noted that ownership of Rachel's Tomb was claimed by both Jews and Muslims. The Jews claimed possession by virtue of a 1615
firman
A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...
granted by the Pasha of Jerusalem which gave them exclusive use of the site and that the building, which had fallen into decay, was entirely restored by Moses Montefiore in 1845; the keys were obtained by the Jews from the last Muslim guardian at this time. The Muslims claimed the site was a place of Muslim prayer and an integral part of the Muslim cemetery within which it was situated. They stated that the Ottoman Government had recognised it as such and that it is included among the Tombs of the Prophets for which identity signboards were issued by the Ministry of Waqfs in 1898. They also asserted that the antechamber built by Montefiore was specially built as a place of prayer for Muslims. The UN ruled that the ''status quo'', an arrangement approved by the Ottoman Decree of 1757 concerning rights, privileges and practices in certain Holy Places, apply to the site.
In theory, free access was to be granted as stipulated in the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Israel and the Palestinian territories Rough Guides, 1998. p. 395. Non-Israeli Jews, however, continued to visit the site. During this period the Muslim cemetery was expanded.
Israeli control
Following the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967, Israel occupied of the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, which included the tomb. The tomb was placed under Israeli military administration. Prime minister
Levi Eshkol
Levi Eshkol ( ; 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...
instructed that the tomb be included within the new expanded municipal borders of Jerusalem, but citing security concerns,
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...
decided not to include it within the territory that was annexed to Jerusalem.Benveniśtî, Mêrôn Son of the Cypresses: Memories, Reflections, and Regrets from a Political Life University of California Press, 2007, pp. 44–45.
Islamic crescents, inscribed into the rooms of the structure, were subsequently erased. Muslims were prevented from using the mosque, although they were allowed to use the cemetery for a while. Starting in 1993, Muslims were barred from using the cemetery. According to Bethlehem University, " cess to Rachel's Tomb is now restricted to tourists entering from Israel."
Oslo negotiations: Area A and Special Security Arrangement
The
Oslo II Accord
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, commonly known as Oslo II or Oslo 2, was a key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Because it was signed in Taba, Egypt, it is sometimes called the Taba Agre ...
of September 28, 1995 placed Rachel's Tomb in a Palestinian enclave (Area A), with a special arrangement making it – together with the main Jerusalem-Bethlehem access road – subject to the security responsibility of Israel.
Initially the arrangement was intended to be the same as that for Joseph's Tomb near
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
; however this was reconsidered following a significant reaction from Israel’s right-wing religious parties. With the explicit intention of creating facts on the ground, in July 1995 MK
Hanan Porat
Hanan Porat (; 5 December 1943 – 4 October 2011) was an Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, educator and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Tehiya, the National Religious Party, Tkuma (political party), Tkuma and the Nat ...
established a
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
at the tomb, and right-wing activists began trying to acquire land around the tomb to create contiguity with Israeli-annexed areas of Jerusalem. On 17 July 1995, following a meeting of Rabin’s cabinet and security forces, the Israeli position was changed to demand that an Israeli force provide security at the tomb and control the access road to it. When this demand was put to
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
during the negotiations, he is said to have responded:
The Palestinians were also strongly against conceding control of the road linking Bethlehem to Jerusalem, but ultimately conceded in order not to threaten the overall accords.
On December 1, 1995, the rest of Bethlehem, with the sole exception of the tomb enclave, passed under the full control of the Palestinian Authority.
Fortification
In 1996, Israel began an 18-month fortification of the site at a cost of $2m. It included a wall and adjacent military post.
After an attack on Joseph's Tomb and its subsequent takeover and desecration by Arabs, hundreds of residents of Bethlehem and the Aida refugee camp, led by the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Bethlehem, Muhammad Rashad al-Jabari, attacked Rachel's Tomb. They set the scaffolding that had been erected around it on fire and tried to break in. The IDF dispersed the mob with gunfire and
stun grenade
A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, a stun grenade produces Flash blindness, ...
s, and dozens were wounded. In the following years, the Israeli-controlled site became a flashpoint between young Palestinians who hurled stones, bottles and firebombs and IDF troops, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
At the end of 2000, when the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
broke out, the tomb came under attack for 41 days. In May 2001, fifty Jews found themselves trapped inside by a firefight between the IDF and Palestinian Authority gunmen. In March 2002 the IDF returned to Bethlehem as part of Operation Defensive Shield and remained there for an extended period of time.
On 11 September 2002, the Israeli security cabinet approved incorporating the tomb on the Israeli side of the West Bank barrier and surrounded by a concrete wall and watchtowers. This has been described as "de facto annexing it to Jerusalem". In February 2005, the Israel Supreme Court rejected a Palestinian appeal to change the route of the barrier in the region of the tomb. Israeli construction destroyed the Palestinian neighbourhood of ''Qubbet Rahil'' (Tomb of Rachel), which comprised 11% of metropolitan Bethlehem. Israel also declared the area to be a part of Jerusalem. From 2011, a "Wall Museum" was created by Palestinians on the North wall of the Israeli separation barrier surrounding Rachel's tomb.
In February 2010, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the tomb would become a part of the national Jewish heritage sites rehabilitation plan. The decision was opposed by the Palestinian Authority, who saw it as a political decision associated with Israel's settlement project. The UN's special coordinator for the Middle East, Robert Serry, issued a statement of concern over the move, saying that the site is in Palestinian territory and has significance in both Judaism and Islam. The Jordanian government said that the move would derail peace efforts in the Middle East and condemned "unilateral Israeli measures which affect holy places and offend sentiments of Muslims throughout the world". UNESCO urged Israel to remove the site from its heritage list, stating that it was "an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories". A resolution was passed at UNESCO that acknowledged both the Jewish and Islamic significance of the site, describing the site as both Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque and as Rachel's Tomb. The resolution passed with 44 countries supporting it, twelve countries abstaining, and only the United States voting to oppose. Also writing in the ''Jerusalem Post'', Larry Derfner defended the UNESCO position. He pointed out that UNESCO had explicitly recognized the Jewish connection to the site, having only denounced Israeli claims of sovereignty, while also acknowledging the Islamic and Christian significance of the site. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office criticised the resolution, claiming that: "the attempt to detach the Nation of Israel from its heritage is absurd. ... If the nearly 4,000-year-old burial sites of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish Nation –
Abraham
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
,
Isaac
Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
,
Jacob
Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
,
Sarah
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...
,
Rebecca
Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...
, Rachel and
Leah
Leah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has thr ...
– are not part of its culture and tradition, then what is a national cultural site?"PM insists Rachel's Tomb is heritage site Ynet, 10/29/2010
Jewish religious significance
Rabbinic traditions
In Jewish lore, Rachel died on 11
Cheshvan
Marcheshvan (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ; from Akkadian language, Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), generally shortened to Cheshvan (, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, S ...
1553 BCE.
* According to the
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" . ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...
, the first person to pray at Rachel's tomb was her eldest son,
Joseph
Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
. While he was being carried away to Egypt after his brothers had sold him into slavery, he broke away from his captors and ran to his mother's grave. He threw himself upon the ground, wept aloud and cried "Mother! mother! Wake up. Arise and see my suffering." He heard his mother respond: "Do not fear. Go with them, and God will be with you."
* A number of reasons are given why Rachel was buried by the road side and not in the Cave of Machpela with the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs:
** Jacob foresaw that following the destruction of the First Temple the Jews would be exiled to Babylon. They would cry out as they passed her grave, and be comforted by her. She would intercede on their behalf, asking for mercy from God who would hear her prayer.
** Although Rachel was buried within the boundaries of the Holy Land, she was not buried in the Cave of Machpelah due to her sudden and unexpected death. Jacob, looking after his children and herds of cattle, simply did not have the opportunity to embalm her body to allow for the slow journey to Hebron.Ramban. Genesis, Volume 2. Mesorah Publications Ltd, 2005. pp. 545–47.
** Jacob was intent on not burying Rachel at Hebron, as he wished to prevent himself feeling ashamed before his forefathers, lest it appear he still regarded both sisters as his wives – a biblically forbidden union.
* According to the mystical work,
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...
, when the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
appears, he will lead the dispersed Jews back to the Land of Israel, along the road which passes Rachel's grave.
Location
Early Jewish scholars noticed an apparent contradiction in the Bible with regards to the location of Rachel's grave. In Genesis, the Bible states that Rachel was buried "on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem". Yet a reference to her tomb in
Samuel
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
states: "When you go from me today, you will find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the border of
Benjamin
Benjamin ( ''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 younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
, in Zelzah" (1 Sam 10:2).
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi ().
Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...
asks: "Now, isn't Rachel's tomb in the border of Judah, in Bethlehem?" He explains that the verse rather means: "Now they are by Rachel's tomb, and when you will meet them, you will find them in the border of Benjamin, in Zelzah." Similarly, Ramban assumes that the site shown today near Bethlehem reflects an authentic tradition. After he had arrived in Jerusalem and seen "with his own eyes" that Rachel's tomb was on the outskirts of Bethlehem, he retracted his original understanding of her tomb being located north of Jerusalem and concluded that the reference in
Jeremiah
Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...
(Jer 31:15) which seemed to place her burial place in Ramah, is to be understood allegorically. There remains however, a dispute as to whether her tomb near Bethlehem was in the tribal territory of Judah, or of her son
Benjamin
Benjamin ( ''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 younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
.
Customs
A Jewish tradition teaches that Rachel weeps for her children and that when the Jews were taken into exile, she wept as they passed by her grave on the way to
Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
. Jews have made pilgrimage to the tomb since ancient times.
There is a tradition regarding the key that unlocked the door to the tomb. The key was about long and made of brass. The
beadle
A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational or ceremonial duties on the manor.
The term has pre- ...
kept it with him at all times, and it was not uncommon that someone would knock at his door in the middle of the night requesting it to ease the labor pains of an expectant mother. The key was placed under her pillow and almost immediately, the pains would subside and the delivery would take place peacefully.
Till this day there is an ancient tradition regarding a ''segulah'' or charm which is the most famous women's ritual at the tomb.Sered, "Rachel's Tomb and the Milk Grotto of the Virgin Mary: Two Women's Shrines in Bethlehem", ''Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion'', vol 2, 1986, pp. 7–22. A red string is wound around the tomb seven times, then worn as a charm for fertility. This use of the string is comparatively recent, though there is a report of its use to ward off diseases in the 1880s.Sered, "Rachel's Tomb: The Development of a Cult", ''Jewish Studies Quarterly'', vol 2, 1995, pp. 103–48.
The
Torah Ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...
in Rachel's Tomb is covered with a curtain (Hebrew: ''parokhet'') made from the wedding gown of Nava Applebaum, a young Israeli woman who was killed by a Palestinian terrorist in a suicide bombing at Café Hillel in Jerusalem in 2003, on the eve of her wedding.
Replicas
The tomb of Sir
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of London. Born to an History ...
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...
, England, is a replica of Rachel's Tomb.
In 1934, the Michigan Memorial Park planned to reproduce the tomb. When built, it was used to house the sound system and pipe organ used during funerals, but it has since been demolished.
List of oldest synagogues
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others were ...
File:Bethlehem rachel tomb 1880.jpg, c.1880
File:Bethlehem. Rachel's Tomb, 68.Holy land photographed. Daniel B. Shepp. 1894.jpg, 1894
File:Rachel's Tomb c1910.jpg, c.1910
File:RACHEL'S TOMB IN BETHLEHEM. קבר רחל בבית לחם.D21-004.jpg, 1933
File:TOMB-GATE.JPG, 2005 showing the two Ottoman Sebils (now inside the expanded compound)
File:Fortified entrance road to Kever Rachel in Jerusalem, West Bank.jpg, 2011
* Mid 1990s North-east perspective available externally:
* 2008 picture of the same North-east perspective:
Ludwig Blum
Ludwig Blum (; 24 July 1891 – 28 July 1974) was a Moravian-born Israeli painter. He emigrated to Israel in 1923, as part of the Third Aliyah, and became known as "the painter of Jerusalem".
Early life
Memorial plaque in Líšeň.html" ;"titl ...
File:RACHEL'S TOMB NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO BETHLEHEM. קבר רחל בבית לחם.D11-133.jpg, 1940
West perspective
File:Muslim cemetery Bethlehem 03.jpg, 2016
File:Rachel’s Tomb, Bethlehem, from the West, March 2018.jpg, 2018
East perspective
File:Roman aqueduct near Rachel's Tomb LOC matpc.16575.jpg, 1934–1939
File:Raakelinhauta.png, 1978
* A 2014 photo from Hebrew Wikipedia::he:קובץ:Keverachel01.jpg
South perspective
File:PikiWiki Israel 13447 Rachels Tomb.jpg, 1912
File:Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem.jpg, Unknown
File:Rachel's Tomb LOC matpc.09188.tif, 1898–1946
File:Rachel's tomb 1930s.jpg, 1930s
File:131011 11403אוקה.jpg, 1940s?
File:Rachel’s tomb 2018, close up.jpg, 2018
South-east perspective
File:Rachel's Tomb, near Bethlehem, 1891.jpg, 1891
PikiWiki Israel 4649 Rachels Tomb.jpg, 1934
References
Bibliography
* Bowman, Glenn W. 2014. � Sharing and Exclusion: The Case of Rachel's Tomb �� Jerusalem Quarterly 58 (July): 30–49.
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* Gitlitz, David M. & Linda Kay Davidson. “Pilgrimage and the Jews’’ (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006).
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* Pullan, W. (2013). Bible and Gun: Militarism in Jerusalem's Holy Places. Space and Polity, 17 (3), 335–56, dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2013.853490
* Selwyn, T. (2009) Ghettoizing a matriarch and a city: An everyday story from the Palestinian/Israeli borderlands, Journal of Borderlands Studies, 24(3), pp. 39– 55
* p. 177 ff)
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* UNESCO (19 March 2010), 184 EX/37 The Two Palestinian Sites of Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosques/Rachael's Tomb in Bethlehem Fact Sheet on Israeli Consolidation of Palestinian Heritage Sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: The Case if Hebron and Bethlehem
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