Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-01-22
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The palace of Solomon wbere be received the
queen OF Sheba, is building concerning which
great interest is naturally felt. It was built Of
'he cedars OF Lebanon" When the stories of Her.
ocs palace are unearthed 1t is not improbable that
peheath 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
notable instance of Biblical site of extraor-
binary interest from which investigators are en-
tlreiy excluded Is the tomb of Abraham and the
Hebrew patrarchs at Hebron in Palestine II was
here that Abraham the forefather of all the Israel
ties. dwelt with his family as the book of Genesis
tells u.s.
Before he died Abraham bought the cave of
Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite as a burial
place for himself and his family Genesis ID 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 Its position, such as
has occurred in the case of other Bible sites
The of Machpelah is situated within an
inclosure called the Haram. formed by gigantic
Herodian wall Above the stands a church
built by the crusaders in 11S7 but since converted
into mosque and for many centuries in the pos
session of the Turks.
In the cave 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 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 DelOw. Inc
Mohammedans venerate the Hebrew patrarchs.
although they oppress their descendants.
Ordinarily Christians and Hebrews not
even allowed to enter the Haram surrounding the
mosque. Occasionally Christians of great iniu-
ence such as the king of Englands 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
reproduced in n 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.
GrInaldi 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 1t is used to
throw down written petitions to Abraham; and.
looking down, the floor is seen to be covered as
with snowfakes.
when King George Cthen prince of Wales,
visited the mosque light was let down. and the
rocky sides seen and doorway entering
out of this antechamber into the tomb cave itself
With the granting of freedom to the nhabt
tants 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 brthright for a mess of pottage. From
here Joseph started his fateful journey to
Egypt.
remarkably interesting relic affected by the
war is the monastery of st. Catherine, on Mount
Sinai shown In 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