![]() ![]() In 614 C.E., the Persians conquered the area and destroyed the church, leaving only ruins but in 637 C.E., the area came under the control of the Muslims, and the building was reconstructed as a roofed mosque.ĭuring the tenth century, an entrance was pierced through the northeastern wall, some way above the external ground level, and steps from the north and from the east were built up to it (one set of steps for entering, the other for leaving). Under Byzantine rule, a simple basilica was constructed at the southeastern end, and the enclosure was roofed everywhere except at the center. Until the era of the Byzantine Empire, the interior of the enclosure remained exposed to the sky. ![]() Archæologists are not certain where the original entrance to the enclosure was located, or even if there was one. Herod's building, with six-foot-thick stone walls made from stones that were at least three feet tall and sometimes a length of 24 feet, did not have a roof. Herod the Great built a large rectangular enclosure over the caves, the only fully surviving Herodian structure. The Book of Genesis refers to the cave as the cave of Machpelah, and elsewhere designates it as the cave of the field of the Machpelah, suggesting that the term Machpelah may actually be intended to describe the area in which the field containing the cave was located, near Mamre. The Bible gives the sum Abraham paid for the cave as 400 silver shekels. Their faith, rather than their tomb, is the most fitting monument for Christians.Painting by Gustave Doré depicting the burial of Sarah in the cave.Īccording to the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Abraham purchased the site from Ephron the Hittite as a family burial plot after the death of his wife Sarah. The fact that all the patriarchs of Israel desired to be buried in Canaan shows their faith in God’s promise to give the land of Canaan to their family. God is “not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27). Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their wives are not at Machpelah but in heaven in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah to whom they looked forward with faith and anticipation. The place is sacred to Muslims and Jews, and both groups have separate, limited access to the building.įor Christians today, there is no major significance to the cave of Machpelah other than historical interest. Today, the cave of Machpelah is inaccessible, but the area over the cave is the site of a large mosque called the Ibrahimi Mosque or, alternately, the Sanctuary of Abraham. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites” (Genesis 49:29–32). There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. And, in Egypt, Jacob gave his sons a solemn command to bury him in Canaan on the family property: “Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. Later, Abraham’s sons buried him in the same spot (Genesis 25:9–10), and Jacob and Esau buried Isaac in the cave of Machpelah, per his instructions. “So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre-both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field-was deeded to Abraham as his property” (Genesis 23:17–18). The field he bought had belonged to a Hittite named Ephron. While in Canaan, Abraham purchased a burial place for his wife, Sarah, after her death. ![]() The cave of Machpelah is the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah. The cave of Machpelah, also called the Cave of the Patriarchs, is located near the ancient city of Hebron in Israel. ![]()
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