Jewish Group Finds Ancient Site of Abraham's Home Still Preserved

Teresa Neumann : Oct 18, 2010
Hillel Fendel - Teresa Neumann

"The site is remembered by many old-timers from Hevron [Hebron] and nearby Kiryat Arba as situated very close to the Glass Junction, the old entrance to Hevron and Kiryat Arba along what was then the main Jerusalem-Hevron highway."

(Hebron)—As reported in Israel National News, a rare Jewish visit was paid to Abraham's ancient home in Elonei Mamre, a site mentioned in chapters 13, 14, and 18 in the Book of Genesis.

Notes the report: "The site is remembered by many old-timers from Hevron [Hebron] and nearby Kiryat Arba as situated very close to the Glass Junction, the old entrance to Hevron and Kiryat Arba along what was then the main Jerusalem-Hevron highway." (Israel news photo: INN)

Although Jews are allowed to visit the site, after their retreat from the area, they are rarely allowed to do so. According to the report, just a few days ago, a group of Jews did in fact visit the site and they found it to be preserved as before, though encompassed by several apartment buildings.

The following are excerpts of some historical details of the site from Israel National News, using Hebrew terminology:

"During the Second Temple period, the site of Elonei Mamre was identified as just three kilometers north of the city of Hevron, and a similar distance from ancient Tel Hevron, today's Admot Yishai neighborhood of Hevron. Geographic historians explain that Abraham chose not to settle in the Hevron Valley, but rather on the hills north of the city, which were covered by oak forest; oak in Hebrew is "elon," giving the area its name. (Mamre was the name of a man whom the Bible mentions several times in Genesis as having lived in the area. The site's name means, literally, the "Oaks of Mamre".)

Today, Elonei Mamre is also one of Israel's most important archaeological sites. A two-meter-high, 70-by-30-meter wall has been found there, apparently built by King Herod 2,000 years ago. The wall's construction has similar characteristics to that in the Machpelah Cave [the Cave of the Patriarchs, ed.] and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Remains of two towers from an earlier period have also been found in Elonei Mamre."