 | |||
|
|
Part 2 - Religious Travel | ||
|
|
|||
 | |||
|
The Tombs of the Patriarchs in Hebron is a shrine complex built mainly under Herod in the first century B.C., with additions by the Crusaders in the 12th century. It centers around the Cave of Machpelah, an ancient double cave revered since at least 1000 B.C. as the burial site of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives. The Tombs of the Patriarchs is the second holiest site in Judaism after the Western Wall in Jerusalem and has been a Jewish pilgrimage destination from earliest times to today. It is also highly sacred to Muslims, who revere Abraham highly as a true prophet of God, and to Christians for the same reason. Nearly all of what is seen today was built by Herod in the same style as his Temple of Jerusalem and enclosure at Mamre, neither of which survive, which makes it extremely valuable from a historical standpoint, as well as being a sacred site. The actual bones of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah are believed to be enshrined in the subterranean chambers below, with some relics having been taken to the West in the Crusader period.
| |||
|
Click below to review each section of Part 2 | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
