Rachel's Tomb

This article is about the burial place of Rachel and of the Bilal bin Rabah mosque. For the companion of Muhammad, see Bilal bin Rabah.
Tomb of Rachel
Kever Rachel (Hebrew); Qabr Raheel (Arabic)
Top: Rachel's Tomb and adjacent Islamic cemetery in the early 20th century, prior to the building of the modern Israeli fortification structure
Bottom: Sarcophagus with a parochet covering
Rachel's Tomb is located in State of Palestine
Rachel's Tomb
Shown within State of Palestine
Locationnear Bethlehem[1]
RegionWest Bank
Coordinates31°43′10″N 35°12′08″E / 31.7193434°N 35.202116°E / 31.7193434; 35.202116
Palestine grid1691/1251
Typetomb, prayer area
History
FoundedOttoman
CulturesJews, Muslims, Christians
Site notes
ManagementIsraeli Ministry of Religious Affairs
Public accessLimited
Websitekeverrachel.com
Venerated as the fourth holiest site in Judaism

Rachel's Tomb (Biblical Hebrew: קְבֻרַת רָחֵל Qǝbūrat Rāḥēl; Modern Hebrew: קבר רחל Qever Raḥel; Arabic: قبر راحيل Qabr Rāḥīl) is a site revered as the burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel. The site is also referred to as the Bilal bin Rabah mosque (Arabic: مسجد بلال بن رباح).[2][3] The tomb is held in esteem by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.[4] The tomb, located at the northern entrance to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, next to the Rachel's Tomb checkpoint, is built in the style of a traditional maqam, Arabic for shrine.[5]

The burial place of the matriarch Rachel had a matzevah erected at the site according to Genesis 35:20;[6][7][8] the site was also mentioned in Muslim literature.[9] Although the site is considered by some scholars as unlikely to be the actual site of the grave[4] – several other sites to the north have been proposed – it is by far the most recognized candidate.[10] The earliest extra-biblical records describing this tomb as Rachel's burial place date to the first decades of the 4th century CE. The structure in its current form dates from the Ottoman period, and is situated in a Christian and Muslim cemetery dating from at least the Mamluk period.[11][12][13]

The first historically recorded pilgrimages to the site were by early Christians. Throughout history, the site was rarely considered a shrine exclusive to one religion and is described as being "held in esteem equally by Jews, Muslims, and Christians".[4] Rachel's Tomb has been a site of Jewish pilgrimage since at least the eleventh century—possibly since ancient times[14]—and remains a holy pilgrimage site for modern Jews.[15][16][17][18] Meron Benvenisti described it as "one of the cornerstones of Jewish-Israeli identity".[19]

British Jewish financier Sir Moses Montefiore significantly expanded the building in 1841,[12] obtaining the keys for the Jewish community while building an antechamber, including a mihrab for Muslim prayer.[20][21] Following a 1929 British memorandum,[12] in 1949 the UN ruled that the Status Quo—an arrangement approved by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin concerning rights, privileges and practices in certain Holy Places—applies to the site.[22] According to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the tomb was to be part of the internationally administered zone of Jerusalem, but the area was ruled by Jordan, which prohibited Jews from entering the area.[23] Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the site's position was formalized in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord in a Palestinian enclave (Area A), with a special arrangement making it subject to the security responsibility of Israel.[1] In 2005, following Israeli approval on 11 September 2002, the Israeli West Bank barrier was built around the tomb, effectively annexing it to Jerusalem; Checkpoint 300 – also known as Rachel's Tomb Checkpoint – was built adjacent to the site.[24][1][25][26] A 2005 report from OHCHR Special Rapporteur John Dugard noted that: "Although Rachel's Tomb is a site holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, it has effectively been closed to Muslims and Christians."[27] On October 21, 2015, UNESCO adopted a resolution reaffirming a 2010 statement[28] that Rachel's Tomb was "an integral part of Palestine."[29] On 22 October 2015, the tomb was separated from Bethlehem with a series of concrete barriers.[30]

  1. ^ a b c Breger, Reiter & Hammer 2013, p. 12: "Rachel’s Tomb was originally assigned to Palestinian Area A under the 28 September 1995 Israel–Palestine Interim Accords and thus came under full Palestinian responsibility for internal security, public order and civil affairs. Annex I, Article 5 provided that "during the Interim Period" Israel will have security control of the road leading to the Tomb and may place guards at the Tomb. On 11 September 2002, the Israeli security cabinet approved placing Rachel's Tomb on the Jerusalem side of the Security Wall, thus placing Rachel's Tomb within the "Jerusalem Security Envelope," and de facto annexing it to Jerusalem."
  2. ^ Carbajosa, Ana (29 October 2010). "Holy site sparks row between Israel and UN". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Israel clashes with UNESCO in row over holy sites". Haaretz. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Strickert 2007, p. 72: “Rather than being content with half a dozen or even a full dozen witnesses, we have tried to compile as many sources as possible. During the Roman and Byzantine era, when Christians dominated there was really not much attention given to Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem. It was only when the Muslims took control that the shrine became an important site. Yet it was rarely considered a shrine exclusive to one religion. To be sure, most of the witnesses were Christian, yet there were also Jewish and Muslim visitors to the tomb. Equally important, the Christian witnesses call attention to the devotion shown to the shrine throughout much of this period by local Muslims and then later also by Jews. As far as the building itself, it appears to be a cooperative venture. There is absolutely no evidence of a pillar erected by Jacob. The earliest form of the structure was that of a pyramid typical of Roman period architecture. Improvements were made first by Crusader Christians a thousand years later, then Muslims in several stages, and finally by the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore in the nineteenth century. If there is one lesson to be learned, it is that this is a shrine held in esteem equally by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. As far as authenticity we are on shaky ground. It may be that the current shrine has physical roots in the biblical era. However, the evidence points to the appropriation of a tomb from the Herod family. If there was a memorial to Rachel in Bethlehem during the late biblical era, it was likely not at the current site of Rachel's Tomb.”
  5. ^ Conder, C. R. (1877). "The Moslem Mukams". Quarterly Statement – Palestine Exploration Fund. 9 (3): 89–103. doi:10.1179/peq.1877.9.3.89. Alone and separated from the family sepulchre, the little "dome of Rachel " stands between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Kubbeh itself is modern, and has been repaired of late years. In 700 A.D. Arculphus saw only a pyramid, which was also visited by Benjamin of Tudela in1160 A.D., and perhaps by Sanuto in 1322 A.D. The site has been disputed on account of the expression (1 Sam. x. 2) " in the border of Benjamin," and there can be no doubt that the Kubbet Rahil never was on or very near this border. The Vulgate translation, however, seems perhaps to do away with this difficulty, and as Rachel's tomb was only "a little way" from Ephrath, "which is Bethlehem" (Gen. xxxv. 16–19), and the tradition is of great antiquity, there is no very good reason for rejecting it.
  6. ^ Langton, Edward (2014). Good and Evil Spirits: A Study of the Jewish and Christian Doctrine, Its Origin and Development. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62564-991-1. In ancient Israel a sacred tree was a necessary adjunct of an altar. Another adjunct was a pillar (mazzebah). In several instances a grave is said to be marked by the setting up of such a pillar. Thus concerning the burial of Rachel it is said, "And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day" (Gen. xxxv. 20; cf. 1 Sam. x. 2) There appears to be no reason for doubt that in all these cases the graves were places of worship, which at a later date were adapted to the worship of Yahweh.
  7. ^ "Tombs". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-08-30. Desecration of a tomb was regarded as a grievous sin, and in ancient times the sanctity of the grave was evidenced by the fact that it was chosen as a place of worship, thus explaining the circumstance that a sacred stone ("maẓẓebah") was set on Rachel's grave, and that sacred trees or stones always stood near the tombs of the righteous.
  8. ^ Sered, Rachel's tomb: Societal liminality and the revitalization of a shrine, Religion, January 1989, Vol.19(1):27–40, doi:10.1016/0048-721X(89)90075-4, p. 30, "Although the references in Jeremiah and in Genesis 35:22 perhaps hint at the existence of an early cult of some sort at her Tomb, the first concrete evidence of pilgrimage to Rachel's Tomb appears in reports of Christian pilgrims from the first centuries of the Christian Era and Jewish pilgrims from approximately the 10th century. However, in almost all of the pilgrims' records the references to Rachel'sTomb are incidental – it is one more shrine on the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Rachel's Tomb continued to appear as a minor shrine in the itineraries of Jewish and Christian pilgrims through the early 20th century."
  9. ^ Strickert 2007, p. 48.
  10. ^ Strickert 2007, pp. 68ff.
  11. ^ Bowman, 2015, p. 34: "Jachintus's mention of a Christian cemetery surrounding the tomb suggests that for Bethlehemites – exclusively Christian up until the late eighteenth century – the biblical site on the outskirts of the city was blessed by the presence of a nurturing saint likely to help those buried in her vicinity to achieve salvation. By the fifteenth century, according to the pilgrim Johannes Poloner, Muslims, most likely from surrounding Muslim villages, were being buried on the southern side of the shrine. Increasingly the cemetery surrounding the tomb became Muslim. In 1839, Mary Damer described bedouin burying a shaykh in the graveyard, while in 1853 James Finn wrote of witnessing Bethlehem Muslims “burying one of their dead near the spot". Philip Baldensperger, a resident of nearby Artas between 1856 and 1892, wrote of Rachel's Tomb in his Immovable East that "a number of Bedawin, men and women, were assembled there for a funeral service, for the Bedawin of the desert of Judah all bury their dead near Rachel's sanctuary as their forefathers the Israelites of old did around their sanctuaries." Christian burial in the Tomb's vicinity had dropped off by the mid-nineteenth century”
  12. ^ a b c Cust, L. G. A. (1929). The Status Quo in the Holy Places. H.M.S.O. for the High Commissioner of the Government of Palestine., page 47: "The Jews claim possession of the Tomb as they hold the keys and by virtue of the fact that the building which had fallen into complete decay was entirely rebuilt in 1845 by Sir M. Montefiore. It is also asserted that in 1615 Muhammad, Pasha of Jerusalem, rebuilt the Tomb on their behalf, and by firman granted them the exclusive use of it. The Moslems, on the other hand, claim the ownership of the building as being a place of prayer for Moslems of the neighbourhood, and an integral part of the Moslem cemetery within whose precincts it lies. They state that the Turkish Government recognised it as such, and sent an embroidered covering with Arabic inscriptions for the sarcophagus; again, that it is included among the Tombs of the Prophets for which identity signboards were provided by the Ministry of Waqfs in 1328. A.H. In consequence, objection is made to any repair of the building by the Jews, though free access is allowed to it at all times. From local evidence it appears that the keys were obtained by the Jews from the last Moslem guardian, by name Osman Ibrahim al Atayat, some 80 years ago. This would be at the time of the restoration by Sir Moses Montefiore. It is also stated that the antechamber was specially built, at the time of the restoration, as a place of prayer for the Moslems."
  13. ^ Hovannisian, Richard G. (2000). Georges, Sabagh (ed.). Religion and Culture in Medieval Islam. Cambridge University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-521-62350-6.
  14. ^ Martin Gilbert (1985). Jerusalem: rebirth of a city. Viking. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-670-80789-5. Retrieved 8 February 2011. Rachel's tomb has been a place of Jewish pilgrimage even before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
  15. ^ Sered, "Rachel's Tomb: The Development of a Cult." Jewish Studies Quarterly 2, no. 2 (1995): 103–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40753126.
  16. ^ Strickert 2007, p. 48: "At the same time, the location of Rachel's Tomb plays an important role for mystics, along with Jerusalem's Western Wall and Hebron's Machpelah cave, as one of the three holiest sites of Jewish pilgrimage."
  17. ^ Israel yearbook on human rights, Volume 36, Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University, 2006. p. 324
  18. ^ Pullan, Wendy (2013-12-01). "Bible and Gun: Militarism in Jerusalem's Holy Places". Space and Polity. 17 (3): 335–56. doi:10.1080/13562576.2013.853490. ISSN 1356-2576. S2CID 143673339. The Western Wall is undisputedly Judaism's holiest shrine and Rachel's Tomb has been described as the religion's second or third holiest place (the discrepancy seems to come from self-appointed guardians.)
  19. ^ Meron Benvenisti, Son of the Cypresses: Memories, Reflections, and Regrets from a Political Life,University of California Press, 2007 p. 45.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Selwyn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Whittingham, George Napier (1921). The Home of Fadeless Splendour: Or, Palestine of Today. Dutton. p. 314. "In 1841 Montefiore obtained for the Jews the key of the Tomb, and to conciliate Moslem susceptibility, added a square vestibule with a mihrab as a place of prayer for Moslems."
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNJC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference RG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Wendy Pullan,Bible and Gun: Militarism in Jerusalem's Holy Places, 2013, page 16: "In legal terms its location is heavily contested; it was to have been returned to Palestine under the Oslo agreements but in 1995, under pressure from settlers and religious groups, Israel decided to retain it. Since then this important Jewish holy place has been made into a high-profile national religious shrine, referred to by its devotees as either the second or third holiest place in Judaism. The uncertainty about its status stems from different competing interest groups, but the ranking also indicates a recently revived and politically motivated place in the Jewish pantheon. The site's religious status and political value have resulted in extraordinary defensive measures being adopted. Today, the Tomb is completely enveloped by the concrete separation barrier making it available to Israeli Jews and tourists coming from Jerusalem in approved vehicles, but inaccessible to Palestinians. It has become a military zone, literally an urban fortress."
  25. ^ Strickert 2007, pp. 134–37.
  26. ^ "Wall annexes Rachel's Tomb, imprisons Palestinian families – Haaretz – Israel News". Haaretz.com. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  27. ^ Westra, Laura (2011). Globalization, Violence and World Governance. Brill. pp. 147–. ISBN 978-90-04-20133-0.
  28. ^ UNESCO (19 March 2010), 184 EX/37
  29. ^ "UN cultural heritage body condemns Israeli handling of Jerusalem holy sites – Israel News". Haaretz. Haaretz.com. 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  30. ^ Times of Israel, 22 October 2015: "Israeli soldiers on Thursday placed a concrete barrier near a Jewish holy site in the West Bank, ahead of a religious pilgrimage there this weekend." and Times of Israel, August 2016: "In October, the IDF installed a series of concrete barriers around the tomb, effectively separating it from the rest of Bethlehem."