The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-01-22
N7zEREEN SIS lIIN11E2

The palace OF Solomon, where he received the
queen or Sheba, is building concerning which
great interest is naturally felt 1t was built of
the cedars of Lebanon" When the stories of Her.
ods palace are unearthed it Is not improbable that
beneath these may be found the cedars of Solo,
mons building for In those times they had habit
OF building on the ruins OF their predecessors
A notable instance of a Biblical site OF extraor-
dinary interest from which investigators are en-
tirely excluded Is the tomb of Abraham and the
Hebrew patriarchs at Hebron i'm Palestine It was
here that Abraham, the forefather of all the Israel
ties, dwelt with his family, the book Of Genesis
tells u.s.
Before he died Abraham bought the cave Of
Machpelah from Ephron the Hittte a burial
place for himself and his family Genesis 10 The
site of the cave of Hebron has been known from
time immemorial. 1t known in early Chris.
tian times, and in the days of the Savior. No con-
fusion has ever arisen as to it's position, such as
has occurred in the OF other Bible sites.
The of Machpeah is situated within an
inclosure called the Haram, formed by gigantic
Herodian wall Above the stands church
built by the crusaders in 1887, but since converted
into a mosque and for many centuries in the pos
session of the Turks.
In the cave were buried Abraham his WIFE, Sa-
rah; his son, Isaac; the latters wife, Rebekah;
Jacob, son OF Isaac; Leah, wife Of Jacob, and Jo-
seph son of Jacob and Rachel. In the mosque
above the monuments in the form of
tombs to Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah Jacob Leah and
Joseph, but they do not inclose the actual bones.
These are presumably in the cave below. The
Mohammedans venerate the Hebrew patriarchs,
although they oppress their descendants
Ordinarily Christians and Hebrews are not
even allowed to enter the Haram surrounding the
mosque. Occasionally Christians of great infu-
ence, such the king of Engand's heir. have
been permitted to enter the mosque.
Recently photographs taken for the
first time OF the six cenotaphs or memorial tombs
of the patriarchs within the mosque. These are
reproduced in recent report of the Palestine
exploration fund, which gives some very inter
esting information about the building
"in the church pavement" says the Rev. A. h.
Grimaldi in this article, ARE three movable slabs
which give access by ladder rope to the cave
But two are fastened up, and not even Moslems
are allowed to enter by the third. It is used to
throw down written petitions to Abraham; and
looking down, the floor is seen TO be covered as
with snowlakes.
when King George v (then prince OF wales)
visited the mosque light was let down, and the
rocky sides were seen and doorway entering
out OF this antechamber into the tomb cave itself
With the granting of freedom to the inhab
tants of Palestine the representatives of religion
and science will be able TO enter this mysterious
cave and disclose its contents to the world.
| Around Hebron center all the interesting
events OF the patriarchal age recorded in the
| Bible. Here Abraham prepared TO sacrifice his
| own son. Isaac, in obedience to the will OF God.
| Jacob labored years for Rachel, and Esau
| sold his birthright for mess of pottage. From
here Joseph started his fateful journey to
| Egypt.
| A remarkably interesting relic affected by the
| war is the monastery Of St Catherine, on Mount
Sinai. shown in one of the accompanying photo
| graphs. This occupies the traditional spot where
| the Lord delivered the ten commandments to
Moses.
/ In the library of this monastery was recently