<< Text Pages >> Rachel's Tomb - Ancient Temple in Palestine
Submitted by Andy B on Thursday, 25 February 2010 Page Views: 5380
Roman, Greek and ClassicalSite Name: Rachel's Tomb Alternative Name: Bilal Ibn Ribah mosque, Dome of RachelCountry: Palestine Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Bethlehem
Latitude: 31.720447N Longitude: 35.202475E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Ancient Temple in the West Bank. Rachel's Tomb is located at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, along Route 60.
Traditions regarding the site as the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel at this location date back to the beginning of the 4th-century AD. It is considered the third holiest site in Judaism and the symbol of the return of the Jewish People to its ancient homeland. Historically, Muslims also associated the tomb with that of the biblical figure. In recent years however the site has been claimed to be a mosque built at the time of the Arab conquest. Others, relying on biblical texts, place her burial site north-east of Jerusalem in the vicinity of biblical Ramah, modern day ar-Ram.
In 1154 al-Idrisi writes “The tomb is covered by 12 stones and above is a dome vaulted over with stone.” Benjamin of Tudela (1169-71) mentions 11 stones upon the grave covered by a cupola resting on four columns “and all the Jews that pass by carve their names upon the stones of the pillar.” Petachiah of Regensburg explains that the 11 stones represented the tribes of Israel, excluding Benjamin, since Rachel had died during his birth. All were marble, with that of Jacob on top.” In the 14-century, Antony of Cremona referred to the cenotaph as “the most wonderful tomb that I shall ever see. I don not think that with 20 pairs of oxen it would be possible to extract or move one of its stones.” It was described by Franciscan pilgrim Nicolas of Poggibonsi (1346-50) as being 7 feet high and enclosed by a rounded tomb with three gates.
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