Hebron, Hebron

It is home to some 166,000 Palestinian, Projected Mid -Year Population for Hebron Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

It is also the location of the major dairy product manufacturer, al-Junaidi. The old city of Hebron is characterized by narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, and old bazaars. Hebron is home to Hebron University and the Palestine Polytechnic University.

According to Genesis , he purchased the cave and the field surrounding it from Ephron the Hittite to bury his wife Sarah, subsequently Abraham Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were also buried in the cave (the remaining Matriarch, Rachel, is buried outside Bethlehem). For this reason, Hebron is also referred to as 'the City of the Patriarchs' in Judaism, and regarded as one of its Four Holy Cities. Over and around the cave itself churches, synagogues and mosques have been built throughout history (see "History" below). The Isaac Hall is now the Ibrahimi Mosque, while the Abraham Hall and Jacob Hall serve as a Jewish synagogue. In medieval Christian tradition, Hebron was one of the three cities, the other two being Juttah and Ain Karim, that boasted of being the home of Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and wife of Zacharias, and thus possibly the birthplace of the Baptist himself. Marcello Craveri, The Life of Jesus: An assessment through modern historical evidence, 1967, p.25 A minor tradition suggests that Zachiarah himself, as a priest, perhaps hailed from Hebron, which was a Levitical city. See Henry Hart Milman, The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire ,Baudry's European Library, 1840, Vol.1, p.49 and note 2.

Joshua, ch.20, 1-7 The Bible account gives various conflicting identities to the owners of the city before Israelite settlement. At times Hebron is Amorite (Gen. 13:18), or Hittite (Gen. 23) and elsewhere Canaanite (Joshua 10:5,6). Archaeological excavations reveal traces of strong fortifications dated to the Early Bronze Age. The city was destroyed in a conflagration, and resettled in the late Middle Bronze Age. Avraham Negev, Shimon Gibson, Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land , Continuum International Publishing Group (2001) p.224-5 It is mentioned in the Bible as being the site of Abraham's purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs from the Hittites, in a narrative that some recent historians regard as constituting a late 'pious prehistory' of Israel's settlement. Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, Free Press, New York, 2001, p.45 In settling here, Abraham made his first covenant, an alliance with two local Amorite clans who became his baalei brit or masters of the covenant . Daniel J.Elazar, Covenant and Polity in Biblical Israel, Transaction Publishers, 1998 p.128 The Abrahamic traditions associated with Hebron are nomadic, and may also reflect a Kenite element, since the nomadic Kenites are said to have long occupied the city, W. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, ed.Stanley A.Cook (1903) Beacon Press, reprint, Boston (n.d.) p.200 and Heber is the name for a Kenite clan. E:G:H.Kraeling, "The Early Cult of Hebron and Judg. 16:13", in The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol.41, No.3 (April,) 1025 pp.174178 p.178 Hebron is also mentioned there as being formerly called Kirjath-arba, or "city of four", possibly referring to a federation of four hamlets, or four hills, Robert Alter, tr. Genesis: Translation and Commentary , 1996 p.108 before being conquered by Caleb and the Israelites Joshua Later, the town itself, with some contiguous pasture land, was granted to the Levites of the clan of Kohath, while the fields of the city, as well as its surrounding villages were assigned to Caleb. Joshua 21:3-12: I Chronicles 6.54-56 Robert G. Bratcher, Barclay Moon Newman, A Translator's Handbook on the Book of Joshua , United Bible Societies, 1996 p.262 King David reigned from Hebron for over seven years. Initially as a vassal of the Philistines and anointed by the men of Judah, while he gradually extended his authority over a wider area, until he was able to incorporate the remnants of Sauls kingdom with the capture of Jerusalem, where he was subsequently anointed king of the Kingdom of Israel. Miller, James Maxwell (1986), A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 066421262X p 168 It constituted an important local economic centre, given its strategic position along trading routes, but, as is shown by the discovery of seals with the inscription lmlk Hebron (to the king. Hebron), it remained administratively and politically dependent on Jerusalem. Detlef Jericke, Abraham in Mamre: Historische und exegetische Studien zur Region von Hebron und zu Genesis 11,27-19,38 , Brill, 2003 pp.26ff.p.31 After the destruction of the First Temple, most of the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron were exiled, and according to the conventional view, Charles E.Carter, The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study', Continuum International, 1999 pp.98-9. Carter challenges this view, since it has no archeological support.

In the middle of this stands a dome of stone, built in Islamic times, over the sepulchre of Abraham. The tomb of Isaac lies forward, in the main building of the mosque, the tomb of Jacob to the rear; facing each prophet lies his wife. The enclosure has been converted into a mosque, and built around it are rest houses for the pilgrims, so that they adjoin the main edifice on all sides. A small water conduit has been conducted to them. All the countryside around this town for about half a stage has villages in every direction, with vineyards and grounds producing grapes and apples called Jabal Nahra...being fruit of unsurpassed excellence...Much of this fruit is dried, and sent to Egypt. In Hebron is a public guest house continuously open, with a cook, a baker and servants in regular attendance. These offer a dish of lentils and olive oil to every poor person who arrives, and it is set before the rich, too, should they wish to partake. Most men express the opinion this is a continuation of the guest house of Abraham, however, it is, in fact from the bequest of sahaba (companion) of the prophet Muhammad Tamim-al Dari and others.... The Amir of Khurasan...has assigned to this charity one thousand dirhams yearly, ...al-Shar al-Adil bestowed on it a substantial bequest. At present time I do not know in all the realm of al-Islam any house of hospitality and charity more excellent than this one.. Al-Muqaddasi (Basil Anthony Collins (Translator)): The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions. Ahasan al-Taqasim Fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim.

Six years later, while on pilgrimage to Hebron, Baibars promulgated an edict forbidding Christians and Jews from entering the sanctuary, Michael Angold, Eastern Christianity, Cambridge University Press, 2006,p.402 and the climate became less tolerant of Jews and Christians than it had been under the prior Ayyubid rule. Non-Moslems wishing to visit the site were often required to pay a fee or bribe, and were only allowed to climb up to a certain step outside the Eastern wall unless they had permission from the Sultan. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville: (1322-1356) The Version of the Cotton Manuscript in Modern Spelling : with Three Narratives in Illustrations of It, from Hakluyt's "Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries" By John Mandeville, C. W. R. D. Moseley, Hakluyt, Robert Hardcastle, Alfred William Pollard Published by Penguin Classics, 1900 ISBN 0140444351 p 73 The edict for the exclusion of Christians and Jews was not strictly enforced until the middle of the 14 Century and by 1490 not even Muslims were permitted to enter the underground caverns. Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (1998) The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192880136 p 274 The mill at Artas was built in 1307 where the profits from its income were dedicated to the Hospital in Hebron. Sharon, Moshe (1997) Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, (CIAP) BRILL, ISBN 9004108335 Many visitors wrote about Hebron over the next two centuries, among them Nachmanides (1270), Ishtori HaParchi (1322), and Rabbi Meshulam from Volterra (1481). See the account in Leo Walder Schwarz, Memoirs of My People: Jewish Self-portraits from the 11th to the 20th Centuries, Schocken Books, New York 1963 p.40 HaParchi in 1322 does not record any Jews in Hebron.

For example, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen noted during his travels in Palestine in 1808-09 that 150 persons were employed in the glass industry in Hebron, Quoted in Alexander Schlch (1993): Palestine in Transformation, 1856-1882, p.161 while later, in 1844, Robert Sears wrote that Hebron's population of 400 Arab families "manufactured glass lamps, which are exported to Egypt. Provisions are abundant, and there is a considerable number of shops." Sears, A New and Complete History of the Holy Bible as Contained in the Old and New Testaments , 1844, p. 260 Early 19th century travellers also remarked on Hebron's flourishing agriculture. Apart from glassware, it was a major exporter of dibs , grape sugar, Conrad Malte-Brun, Universal Geography: Or, a Description of All Parts of the World, on a New Plan , J.Laval, 1829 p.362. The word is a loan-word from Hebrew ( debash , 'honey, syrup of grapes' from the famous Dabookeh grapestock characteristic of Hebron. James Finn, Byeways in Palestine, 1868 p.39 thumb|250px|Northern Hebron in the mid-19th century In 1823, the Lubavitcher Hasidic movement established a community in Hebron. Martin Sicker (1999) Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831-1922 Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275966399 and ISBN 9780275966393 p. 6 An estimated 750 Muslims from Hebron had been drafted as soldiers, and some 500 of them were killed.

Kimmerling, Baruch and Migdal, Joel S, (2003) The Palestinian People: A History, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674011317 p. 6-11 p.88 Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine , A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 403 Most of the Muslim population managed to flee beforehand to the hills. The Jews however remained, and during the general pillage of the town five of them were killed. Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine , A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 399 In 5594 (1834) Hebron met with a heavy calamity, since it was taken by storm on the 28 day of Tamuz (July), by Abraim Pacha, and given up to his soldiers for several daysNearly all the Mahomedans inhabitants fled into the depth of the mountain range, but the Jews could not do this; besides which, they entertained little fear, since they could not be viewed as rebels and enemies by Abraim, wherefore they fell an easy prey into the hands of the assailants.

Schlch (1993), p. 234-235 By 1850 Hebron had grown to the point where it was considered a large village or small town.

The Palestinian Arab decision to boycott the 1923 elections for a Palestinian Legislative Council was made at the fifth Palestinian Congress, at which most of the Palestinian Arab political organisations were represented. It was reported by Murshid Shahin (a pro-zionist activist) that there was intense resistance in Hebron to the elections. Hillel Cohen (2008) Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948 Translated by Haim Watzman, University of California Press, ISBN 0520252217 pp 19-20 At this time, following attempts by the Lithuanian government to draft yeshiva students into the army, the famed Lithuanian Knesses Yisroel, relocated, after consultations between Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Yechezkel Sarna and Moshe Mordechai Epstein, to Hebron. Berel Wein Triumph of Survival: The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era, 1650-1990, Mesorah Publications, 1993 pp.138-9 Mark K. Bauman, Harry H. Epstein and the Rabbinate as Conduit for Change, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1994 p.22 Rabbi Shimon, Shimon Yosef ben Elimelekh. Meller, Yosef Meller, Boruch Kalinsky, Prince of the Torah Kingdom , Feldheim Publishers, 2006 p.61 The majority of the Jewish population lived on the outskirts of Hebron along the roads to Be'ersheba and Jerusalem, renting homes owned by Arabs, a number of which were built for the express purpose of housing Jewish tenants, with a few dozen within the city around the synagogues. Segev, Tom (2000) p 318 In the 1929 Hebron massacre, Arab rioters killed 67 Jews and wounded 60, and Jewish homes and synagogues were ransacked; 435 Jews survived by virtue of the shelter and assistance offered them by their Arab neighbours, who hid them.

The sole exception was Ya'akov ben Shalom Ezra, who processed dairy products in the city, and resided in the city on weekdays. In November 1947, in anticipation of the UN partition vote, the Ezra family closed its shop and left the city. Shragai, Nadav, And the Loser Rejoiced , Haaretz June 11, 2008 thumb|left|250px|Shavei Hebron yeshiva in the Beit Romano building of the Jewish quarter in old Hebron. Modern city visible at topAt the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt took control of Hebron. By late 1948 part of the Egyptian forces had been isolated around Hebron and Bethlehem, Pasha Glubb sent 350 Arab Legionnaires and established a Jordanian presence there. Wilson, Mary Christina. (1990) King Abdullah, Britain and the Making of Jordan Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521399874 pp 181-183 With the signing of the Armistice agreements the city fell exclusively under Jordanian military control. The day after the truce agreement Shaykh Muhamad 'Ali al-Ja'bari, Mayor of Hebron and supporter of King Abdullah of Jordan attended the Jericho conference of Palestinian notables where the resolution calling for the unification of the Palestinian West Bank and Jordan was adopted.

Chaim Herzog Heroes of Israel , p.253 thumb|200px|right| of David carved above entrance to a now Arab home in the old city of Hebron.

Survivors and descendants of that prior community are mixed. Some support the project of Jewish redevelopment, others commend living in peace with Hebronite Arabs, while a third group recommend a full pullout.

On February 8, 2006, TIPH temporarily left Hebron after attacks on their headquarters by some Palestinians angered by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. TIPH came back to Hebron a few months later.

The great patriarch planted, indeed, a grove at Beersheba; but the Elon Manre they declare to have been plains, not oaks, (which would be Allon Mamre,) and to have been situated northwards instead of westwards from the present Hebron.' James Finn, Byeways in Palestine.

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