HEBRON

Arabic Al-khalil, in full Al-khalil Ar-rahman ("The Beloved of the Merciful" [a reference to Abraham]), Hebrew Hevron, city in the southern Judaean Hills, south-southwest of Jerusalem. It is 3,050 feet (930 m) above sea level. In modern times, it was part of mandated Palestine during 1923-48; after the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49, it was in the territory annexed by Jordan (1950); since the Six-Day War of June 1967, it has been part of the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria) territory under Israeli administration. Hebron is one of the oldest cities in the region; because of its associations with the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and with King David, it is one of the four holy cities of Judaism (Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Zefat ). Islam, which reveres Abraham as a founder of monotheism and precursor of Muhammad, also considers it a holy city. An ancient Canaanite royal city, Hebron was founded "seven years before Zoan in Egypt" (Numbers 13:22), and Zoan, later Tanis, the capital of the Hyksos invaders, has been dated to the 18th century BC. Abraham, founder of the Jewish people, long lived in Hebron, which was often referred to as Qiryat Arba' (Hebrew: "City of the Four," or "Tetrapolis"), possibly referring to four confederated settlements in the area in biblical times, or to the fact that the city is built on four hills. At Hebron, Abraham purchased the cave of Mach-pelah as a burial place for his wife, Sarah, from Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23); this became a family sepulchre. According to tradition, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, were buried in the cave. After the exodus from Egypt, Hebron was one of the cities visited by the spies sent by Moses. Later, Joshua fought the Battle of Aijalon, where "the sun stood still," against a confederation of Amorite chiefs including the "king of Hebron" (Joshua 10). King David (c. 10th century BC) was ordered by God to go to Hebron; he was anointed king of Israel there, and made it his capital for 7 1/2 years, until the taking of Jerusalem (II Samuel 2-5). In post-exilic times Hebron fell to the Edomites; King Herod the Great (ruled 37-4 BC) built a wall around the cave of Mach-pelah, portions of which survive beneath additions by Byzantines, crusaders, and Mamluks. The Muslims ruled the city from AD 635 until after World War I, except for 1100-1260, when the crusaders controlled it. In the early 20th century, Hebron was a Muslim Arab city, with a small, old Jewish community, largely of pious seminarians. In the Arab riots of 1929, 67 Hebron Jews were massacred; the remainder of the community left the city after the beginning of the Arab uprising of 1936-39. Modern Hebron is an agricultural marketing and trade centre, with glass and leather manufactures. The Cave of Mach-pelah (Hebrew Me'arat ha-Makhpela) is surmounted by a large mosque, al-Haram al-Ibrahimi al-Khalil (The Sanctuary of Abraham, the Friend). After the Six-Day War (1967), the tombs of the patriarchs were opened to all worshippers for the first time in exactly 700 years, the original prohibition against non-Muslims having been made by the Mamluk sultan Baybars in 1267. Both Muslim and Jewish services are now held in the cave; the upper mosque remains the exclusive property of the Muslims. In 1968 Orthodox settlers renewed Jewish presence in the city; their presence was finally approved by the Israeli government in 1970, and a new housing project for them was built in the early 1970s. Many tourists and pilgrims visit the Cave of Mach-pelah and other sites connected with the lives of the patriarchs, such as Abraham's Oak (Hebrew, Eshel Avraham), just northwest of the city. Pop. (1984 est.) 75,000.