Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-02-12
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The palace of Solomon wboro h.. r.,o,,a 81.
queen OF Sheba. is a building concerning which
great interest Is naturally felt II was "built Of
tne cedars OF Lebanon" When the stories Of Her.
Ods palace are unearthed It is not improbable that
oeneatn these may be found the cedars of Solo.
mons building. for in those times they had babit
vi "uiuhs on the ruins OF their predecessors
notable instance of a Biblical site tf extraor.
uihary interest from which investigator, are on
tirely excluded is the tomb of Abraham ana tha
heorew patriarchs at Hebron in Palestine II was
mere that Abraham the forefather of all tn, israel
hes. dwelt with his family as the book of Genesis
tells u.s. '
Before he died Abraham bought the cave Of
Macnpelah from Ephron the Hittite as a burial
place for himself and his family Genesis 10. The
site OF the cave Of Hebron has been known from
time immemorial. 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
mas occurred In the case of other Bible sites
The cave of Machpelah Is Situated within an
inclosure called the Haram, formed by a gigantic
Herodian wall. Above the cave stands a church
built by the crusaders in 1857, but since converted
into 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 latter's wife. Rebekah;
Jacob son of Isaac; Leah, wife of Jacob, and Jo-
seph, son Of Jacob and Rachel. In the mosque
above the cave 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 infiu-
ence such as the king Of England's heir have
been permitted to enter the mosque.
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.
I'm the church pavement" says the Rev. A. B.
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 to be covered as
with snowflakes.
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 inhabi.
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 patriarcha 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 mess of pottage From
here Joseph started on his fatefu journey to
Egypt.
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