hospital, where 1200 loaves of bread, besides oil and oth- er condiments, were daily distributed to all comers, with- out distinction of age or religion, at the annual expense of 20,000 ducats. Hebron continued to be occasionally visited by European travellers down to the latter part of the 17th century, but from that time till the present century it appears to have been little frequented by them. The principal travellers who have been more re- cently there are Seetzen, Ali Bey, Irby and INIangles, Poujoidat, Monro, Stephens, Paxton, Lord Lindsay, Rus- segger, Schubert, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Olin, De Saulcy, Stanley, etc.
The town of Hebron lies low on the sloping sides of a narrow vaUey (of Mamre), surrounded by rocky hills. This is thought to be the " valley of Eshcol," whence the Jewish spies got the great bunch of grapes (Numb, xiii, 23). Its sides are still clothed with luxuriant vine- yards, and its grapes are considered the finest in South- ern Palestine. Groves of gray olives, and some other fruit-trees, give variety to the scene. The valley runs from north to south ; and the main quarter of the to\Aii, surmounted by the lofty walls of the venerable Ilai-am, lies partly on the eastern slope (Gen. xxxvii, 14; comp. xxiii, 19). The houses are all of stone, solidly built, flat- roofed, each having one or two small cupolas. The town has no walls. The streets are narrow, seldom more than two or three yards in width ; the pavement, where one exists, is rough and difficult. The shops are weU fur- nished, better indeed than those of towns of the same class in Egjqit, and the commodities are of a very simi- lar description. The only display of local manufactures is the produce of the glass-works, for which the place has long been celebrated in these parts. Gates are placed not only at the entrance of the city, but in differ- ent ]3arts of the inteiior, and are closed at night for the better preservation of order, as well as to prevent com- munication between the different cjuarters.
There are nine mosques in Hebron, none of which possess any architectural or other interest, with the ex- ception of the massive structure which is built over the tombs of the patriarchs. This is esteemed by the Mos- lems one of their holiest places, and Christians are rig- orously excluded from it. The only Europeans who, until a late period, have found their way to the interior, were Ali Bey and Giovanni Finati, the Italian servant of Mr. Bankes. The best account of it is that furnished by the Rev. V. Monro, Mho states that " the mosque, which covers the cave of INIachpelah, and contains the patriarchal tombs, is a square building, with Uttle exter- nal decoration, at the south end of the to;vn. Behind it is a small cupola, with eight or ten windows, beneath which is the tomb of Esau, excluded from the privilege of Ij'ing among the patriarchs. Ascending from the street, at the corner of the mosque, you pass through an arched way by a flight of steps to a wide platform, at the end of which is another short ascent ; to the left ii the court, out of which, to the left again, you enter the mosque. The dimensions within are about forty paces by twenty-five. Immediately on the right of the door is the tomb of Sarah, and beyond it that of Abraham, having a passage between thcni into the court. Corre- sponding with these, on the ojiiidsite side of the mosque, are those of Isaac and Kebckah, and behind them is a recess for prayer, and a pidpit. These tombs resemble small huts, with a window on each side and folding- doors in front, the lower parts of which are of wood, and the upper of iron or bronze bars plated. Within each of these is an imitation of the sarcophagus that lies in the cave below the mosque, which no one is al- lowed to enter. Those seen above resemble coflSns with pjTamidal tops, and are covered with green silk, lettered with verses from the Koran. The doors of these tombs are left constantly open ; but no one enters those of the womcn^ — at least men do not. In the mosque is a balda- kin, supported by four columns, over an octagonal figure of black and Avhite marble inlaid, around a small hole in the pavement, through which a chain passes from the
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