Hebron (el-Khnlil, ' the friend ') is one of the four sacred cities of the Moslems, and the shrines of the patriarchs are very jealously guarded by them, flie town is buUt without walls, and contains about 18,000 Moslems and 1200 to 1500 Jews. It is situated in a shallow valley surrounded by rocky hills, from which spring no fewer than 25 sources of water. Luxuriant vineyards still clothe the hills and vales, and produce some of the best grajies in Palestine, and groves of olive and fruit trees abound. The town is divided into four quarters; the houses are built of stone, with partially flat and partially domed roofs, on account of the scarcity of large timber for rafters. The valley in w hicli the town is built runs from north to south ; the main quarter lies on the eastern sloj)e, with the HarCtm or sacred area conspicuously rising above it. Two other quarters are to be seen in the north and west slopes, and one to the south. The streets opening on to the main roads have gates. At the nortliern end of the main ([uarter is a pool of ancient construction, 85 ft. by 55 ft., and low down in the valley southward is a larger one, also of high antiquity, over 130 ft. square and 28 ft. deep, the traditional spot where the murderers of Ishbosheth were hanjjed.
There are a large number of traditional sites about Hebron. In 'vl in Kesliknlch mav be found the name Eshcol, although this identification is pliilologicallj' dillicult. At'.liH Juilcidcli, west of the Hardin, is a vault where Adam and Eve are said to have mourned for Abel ; and above are the Dcir et-Arabin, said to be the tombs of Jes.se and Kuth ; and the Kabr Hchrun, said by the Hebron .lews to be the tomb of Abner. At the foot of this hill is the .-l^er />a»i««cen»«, from which was ob- tained the red earth of which Adam wa.s made.
About two miles to the west of the Hardin is a venerable oak (SindiAn), one of the finest in Pales- tine. It measures 224 ft- around the lower part. It is probablv the tree de.-^cribed as a terebinth by Sir John >faundeville, Belon, and others. Since the 12th cent, it has been pointed out to Chiis- tians as 'Abraham's Oak,' under which Abralmm pitched his tent. About two miles to the north.
340
HEDGE
HEIFER
near the road to Jernsalem, is the Rdmatel-Khnltl, called bv the Jews of Hebron the bouse of Abra- ham, flere are the foundations of an immense buijdin"— 200 ft. by 165 ft. — of large squared stones, of which two courses only remain, regarded by the Jews as the place of Abrahiim's tent and the terebinth at Jianire. Guiirin {Jin/te, iii. 214) suggests that this enclosure was built round the tree under which the patriarch was supposed to have pitched his tent. Jerome speaks of a fair having been held annually on this spot. It suems probable that from Ist to 12tli cent, this was the traditional site of Mamre. It is suggested (6'irP iii. 323) that this building may have been the market mentioned by Sozomen [Jlist. ii. 4) as the place wliere Hadrian sold Jewish captives for slaves (A.D. 165), close to which Constant me after- wards built his basilica at the terebintli of Mamre, the foundations of which are still to be distin- guished (Conder, Palestine, 85).
It is quite clear that, if the present traditional sepulchres of the patriarchs are genuine, the present site of the city which stands around the HarAm cannot coincide with the site of the ancient city of Abraham's time, which was over-against the sepulchre ; and this idea appears to have been present to the minds of the early Christian writers, who mention a site on the north-west of the modern citv as the original Hebron.
"the Hanlin or 'sacred area' is a quadrangle lO'i ft. by 110 ft. externally. The masonry of tlie wall is identical with that of the Wailing I'lace at Jerusalem, and is therefore probably not later th.an Herodian. The height of the ancient wall still standing is about 40 ft., and above this rise walls of modern construction, with lofty minarets at N.W. and S.E. comers. AVithin the enclosure is a mosque, probably the remains of the thurch built in the llth cent, when the bishopric was established, and ilie monuments to the patri- archs are within. The tombs themselves are, however, below in the rocky cavern, and the iron door which is said to lead to them was shown to the present writer at the bottom of the flight of steps on the outside wall in 1867 (see account by Benjamin of Tudela, Early Travels in Palestine, p. 86; PEF Mem. iii. 333; Cte. Riant, Archives de I'Orient Latin, ii. 411, and art. Maciipki.ah ; Onomast. arts. 'Arboch' and 'Drys'; Antonini Mart. Itin. 30, Early Travels). C. Warren.
HEDGE is used in AV to translate words of two dili'erent Heb. stems. One of these (gAckir, ti;) refers to stone walls, though, perhaps, in some instances, to a stone wall crowned with thorns. In AV its derivatives are often tr. by the word 'wall.' In KV they are prevailingly, though not always, tr. by the word 'fence.' The other stem {silk or s/ikak, r^a or %z<f) refers to a thorn hedge. The Gr. (ppayiids, tr. ' hedge ' in Mt 21», Mk 12', Lk \4", denotes a fence of any kind, whether hedge, or wall, or palings. The purpose of the hedge, aa the term is used in the Bible, is either to protect that which is enclosed in it (f.7. Job 1'"), or to restrain and hinder {e.ff. Job 3=*, Hos 2«). See Fence.