jecting from the west side of the Haram is a little build- ing containing the tomb of Joseph — a Moslem tradition states that his body was first buried at Shechem, but was subsequently transferred to this place (Stanley, Jew- ish Church, i, 498). The Jews cling around this build- ing still, as the}' do aromid the ruins of their ancient Temple — taking pleasure in its stones, and loving its very dust. Beside the principal entrance is a little hole in the wall, at which they are permitted at certain times to pray" (Kitto). "A belief seems to prevail in the town that the cave communicates with some one of the mod- ern sepulchres at a considerable distance outside of He- bron (Lowe, in Zeitung des Jndcnth., June 1, 1839). The ancient Jewish tradition ascribes the erection of the mosque to David (Jiehus ha-Aboth in Hottinger, Cippi Ilebr. 30), thus making it coeval with the pool in the valley below ; but, whatever the worth of this tradition, it may well be of the age of Solomon, for the masonry is even more antique in its character than that of the lower portion of the south and south-western walls of the Haram at Jerusalem, which many critics ascribe to Solomon, while even the severest allows it to be of the date of Herod. The date must always remain a mystery, but there are two considerations which may weigh in favor of fixing it very early. 1. That, often as the town of Hebron may have been destroyed, this, be- ing a tomb, would always be spared. 2. It cannot, on architectural grounds, be later than Herod's time, while, on the other hand, it is omitted from the catalogue given by Josephus of the places which he rebuilt or adorned" (Smith). The fullest historical notices of Machpelah wiU be found in Ritter, Pal. und Si/r. vol. iii, and Kobinson, Bib. lies. vol. ii. The chief authorities are Arculf (A.D. 700) ; Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. cir. 1 170) ; the Jewish tract Jichns ha-Aboth (in Hottinger, Cippi Ilebr aid; and also in Wilson, i, 365) ; Ali Bey (Travels, A.D. 1807, ii, 232, 233) ; Giovanni Finati (Life by Bankes, ii, 236) ; Monro (Summer Ramble in 1833, i,243) ; Lowe, in Zeitung des Judenth., 1839, p. 272, 288. In a note by Asher to his edition of Benjamin of Tudela (ii, 92), men- tion is made of an Arabic MS. in the Bibliotheque Koy- ale at Paris, containing an account of the condition of the mosque under Saladin. This MS. has not yet been published. The travels of Ibrahim el-Khijari in 16G9- 70, a small portion of which, from the manuscript in the Ducal Library at Gotha, has been published by Tuch, with translation, etc. (Leipzig, 1850), are said to con- tain a minute description of the mosque (Tuch, p. 2).
MACHZOR
622
MACKENZIE
The best description of the interior is that of Stanley, Jevish Church and Sermons in the East (the two are identical), in which he gives the singular narrative of rabbi Benjamin, and a letter of M. Pierotti, which ap- peared in the Times immediately after the prince of Wales's visit. A plan of the mosque is attached to Stanley's narrative. The description given by Ali Bey (Travels, vol. ii) is substantially the same as that of Dean Stanley. A few words about the exterior, a sketch of the masonrj', and a view of the town, showing the inclosure standing prominently in the foreground, wiU be found in Bartlett's Walks, etc., p. 216-219. A pho- tograph of the exterior, from the East (?), is given as No. Go of Palestine as it is, by Rev. G. W. Bridges. A ground-plan exhibiting considerable detail, made by two Moslem architects who lately superintended some re- pairs in the Haram, and given by them to Dr. Barclay of Jerusalem, is engraved in Osborn's Palestine, Past and Present, p. 3G4. Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 385 sq., gives some additional particulars ; also Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 393 sq. See Hebuox.
Machzor (litrip, i. e. cycle) is the title of that part of Jewish liturgy which contains generally the prayers used in the synagogues on the Sabbath and feast-daj-s, but principally those of the three most important festivals. They are usually rythmical, and are the productions of the most eminent Jewish writers. Unfortunately, many of the modern Jews cannot understand tliem in the original, and are obliged to have recourse to translations. The first author of such a cf>llection of Sabbath and feast-day prayers, Piutim (D"i::'Tia), is R. Eleazar ben- Jacob Kalir, usually known only as Kalir (Tipp), who lived in the second half of the 10th century. This was followed by others (Peitanim, CJU'^'^S, TToiTjrai). The time of the Peitanim really closes with the 12th centu- ry, although fragmentary works still appeared in the 13th and 14th centuries. These collections vary gen- erally according to the nationality of the author, as di- vers rites and liturgies obtained in the synagogues of different countries. Thus there are Machzors according to the rites of the German, Polish, Spanish, and Italian Jews, and also translations from the Hebrew into the different languages, the use of which translations in the synagogues is, however, not general. The first scientific work on the INIachzor is that of W. Heidenheim, pub- lished in 1800. This author corrected the text by means of ancient IMSS., according to the German and Polish rites, and added to it a commentary and a historical in- troduction. His work gave rise also to further researches on the Peitanim and liturgies by other modern Jewish writers. Among them may be mentioned Eapoport (Bioijraphie Kalirs, etc., in lUkkure llaittim, Vienna, 1829-32), Zunz (Gottesdienstl. Vortrage d. Jiiden, p. 380-