The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-01-23


The palace of Solomon whore he -ooa5vad tho
queen OF Sheba, is building concerning which
great interest IS naturally felt. It was built of
'ue cedafs OF Lebanon" When the stories of Her
ods palace are unearhed it is not improbable that
beneath these may be found the cedars of Solo,
mon building for in those times they had habit
OF building on the ruins of their predecessors.
notable instance of a Biblical site of extraor-
binary interest from which investigators are en-
urely excluded is the tomb of Abraham and the
Hebrew patriarchs at Hebron in Palestine It was
here that Abraham the forefather Of all the israel
ites' dWelt with his family the book of Genesis
tells US.
Before he died Abraham bought the cave Of
Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite as burial
place for himself and his family Genesis ID The
site or the cave of Hebron has been known from
time mmemorial It was known. in early Chris
Iian times, and In the days of the Savior. No con-
fusion has ever arisen to its position, such as
has occurred in the of other Bible sites
The cave of Machpelah is situated within an
Enclosure called the Haram, formed by a gigantic
HeTodian wall Above the cave stands church
built by the crusaders in 1887 but since converted
into mosque and for many centuries in the pos
session of the Turks.
In the cave we're buried Abraham his wife, Sa-
rah; his son. Isaac; the latters wife, Rebekah;
Jacob. of Isaac; Leah, wife of Jacob, and Jo
seph. 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 nclose the actual bones
These presumably in the cave below. The
Mohammedans 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 inf1u-
ence. such the king of Englands 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 a recent report of the Palestine
exploration fund, which gives very inter
esting information about the building
I'm the church pavement says the Rev. A. B.
Grimaldi in this article, ARE three movable slabs
which give access by ladder rope to the
But two are fastened up and not Moslems
are allowed to enter by the third. 1t is used to
throw down written petitions to Abraham; and
looking down. the floor is to be covered
with snowfakes.
when King George V (then prince of Wa1es)
visited the mosque a light let down, and the
rocky sides and a doorway entering
out of this antechamber into the tomb cave itself
With the granting of freedom to the inhabf
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 seven years for Rachel, and Esau
sold his birthright for a 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, 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