Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1915-01-21
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mentioned IN the Bible.
Inc palace of Solomon, where he received the
queen ~ Shepa, IS a building concerning which
great interest is naturally felt. It was Quilt Of
the cedars of Lebanon When the stories of Her.
oas palace are unearthed it is not improbable that
peheatn these may be found the cedars Of Solo.
mons building, for in those times they had a habit
OF building on the ruins Of their predecessors.
a notable instance of a Biblical site Of extraor-
binary interest from which investigators are on.
tlfely excluded is the tomb of Abraham and the
hebrew patriarchs at Hebron in Palestine. 1t was
mere that Abraham, the forefather of all the Israel
ties, dwelt with his family, as the book of Genesis
tells us.
Before he died Abraham bought the cave Of
Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite as a burial
place for himself and his family Genesis 17). The
site OF the cave of Hebron has been known from
time lmmemorial. 1t was known in early Chris.
tian times, and in the days of the Savior. No CON
fusion has ever arisen as to its position, such as
has occurred in the case of other Bible sites.
The cave of Machpelah is situated within an
Enclosure called the Haram, formed by a gigantic
Herodian wall. Above the cave stands a 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-
rak; his son, Isaac; the ~latter's wife, Rebekah;
Jacob, son of Isaac; Leah, wife of Jacob, and TO-
seph, son of Jacob and Rachel. In the mosque
above the cave are 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
~hammedan venerate the Hebrew patriarchs,
although they Cypress their descendants.
Ordinarily Christians and Hebrews are not
even allowed to enter the Haram surrounding the
mosque. Occasionally Christians OF great inau-
ence, such as the king of England's heir, have
been permitted to enter the mosque.
Recently photographs were taken for the
first time of the six cenotaphs or memorial tombs
of the patriarchs within the mosque. These are
reproduced in a recent report of the Palestine
exploration fund. which gives some very inter
esting information about the building.
In the church pavement" says the Rev. Al 3.
Grimaldi in this article, are three movable slabs
which give access by ladder or rope to the cave.
But two are fastened up, and not even Moslems
are allowed to enter by the third. 1t is used to
throw down written petitions to Abraham; and,
looking down, the floor is seen to be covered as
with snow1akes.
when King George v tthen prince Of Wales)
visited the mosque a light was let down, and the
rocky sides were seen and a doorway entering
out Of this antechamber into the tomb cave itself
With the granting of freedom to the inhabt
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 sevenfyears for Rachel, and Esau
sold his bright for a mess Of pottage. From
here Jos led on his fateful journey to
Egypt.
Al 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