The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-27

by. commander-in-chief of the Egyptian expeditionary force and liberator of Pal estine, has given himself no such title.
 He has, however, posted Indian (Moslem) guards in the Haram esh-Sherif at Jeru- salem and at the huge mosque built over the Tomb of Abraham in the cave Of
 Machpelah at Hebron. Furthermore, actS ing on the reconme ndation of Brig. Gen Roland Storrs, military governor of Jeru- salem under the occupied enemy terri tory administration (south) of the E. E. F., General Alenby has secured the ser vice of Mai Ernest T. Richmond, an au- thority on sacacenic art in Egypt and the son of Sir William Richmond. the British painter, in the making of an exhaustive
 examination of the Haram esh-Sherif at Jerusalem with view to it's repairing
 AS is we'll known. no unbeliever is per
 mitted to enter Mecca. None was per mited to visit the tomb of Abraham at Hebron until the late King Edward (then Prince of Wales), furnished with spe- cial firman from the Sultan. visited 1t Tn 1862 in the face of the bitterest opposition from the inhabitants of Hebron. From that time until now. barely d score or distinguished travellers of the en1inence of the present King of England when Duke of York and the Marquis or Bute were permitted to visit the tomb. since the British liberated Palestine, however Hebrons attitude toward unbelieVers mas undergone a remarkable change How ever, no unbeliever has yet been given ad- mittance to the actual cave Of Mach- pelah, where in the opinion of many au- thorities the actual bodies of Abraham and Sarah still lie. Probably the cave mas not been entered for over FOO years.
 BARRED TO UNBELIEVERS
 Down to about 1854, with very few eN- captions, no unbeliever was permitted to enter the Haram eshSherif at Jerusaleni' although in 1883 Catherwood and Arun- dale, at the peril of their lives. entereu
 the area and took measurements of the dome of the rock, the smaller dome of the chain and the mosque el-Aksa. Condi tions have changed, however, and during the last half century many tourists, ecuipped with consular pernissiops and
 led by their consular canvasses, have gone through the temple area. In 1912.
 Herr Appel a German architect' Was permitted to make an examination or the
 area. but little came of it. He was the first Christian given that privilege
 Major Richmond, who at present is bring ing to completion far more exhaustlVe examination with view to aiding the Moslem guardians in making necessary
 repairs has been given every facility py the Moslem auth critics. Upon his arrival in Jerusalem to begin his work last sum
 mer he was received by the grand multi, the chief cadi and the guardians Of the
 Baram esh-Sherif. They placed at his
 disrosal the learned sheikhs Of Jerusalem, who were able to read the inscriptions on the dome of the rock and the other struc- lures of the temple area, pointed out to him where the old nosaics and tiles which had crumbled from the dome of the rock were buried about the temple area, gave him the use of the Mugharbah Mosque in which to sort out his dtscov- cries and in every possible way placed themselves at his service.
 It may be pointed out that Major Rich mend has proven happy selection for the task of examining the Haram esh- Sheriff Without a knowledge of Arabia | it would be impossible to appnoach such I a task and without a Knowledge of Sa racenic art of which the dome of the rock is one of the finest examples extant, 1t would be profane to approach such a l task Major Richmond came to Jeru- salem from Cairo, where he had been head of the buildings department of the public works ministry, and his work in Egypt, begun in 1885 had included eX- aminations of the mosques and other monuments of Arab art in Egypt, on which he has written a number of papers l It is not impossible that the results of his work in Jerusalem will be published | in book form. Such volume would be ! an important ana dulHofiedliNc Soheiip i ton to the literature of Saracenic art,
 1 The term haram in Moslem romen- 1 clature corresponds to our cathedral, as distinguished from an ordinary church The only other mosques dignif1ed with Ethis title in the Moslem world are those 1 of Mecca, Medina and Hebron. The | Haram esh- Sherif at Jerusalem Cor the r.oble sanctuary is generally known a' l the temple area among Christians ane { covers an area of 3 acres, or about one
 sixth of the area of Jerusalem. It's prin
 cipal building, the dome of the rock, |:
 frequently n1iscalled the mosque of Onse
 Moslen,s do not consider it the chief tenn