HEBRON, a city of Palestine about 20 M. S.W. of Jerusalem and about 3,00o ft. above sea-level (mod. El-Khalil) ; pop. 17,531 (17,276 Muslims, 135 Jews). The town, no longer walled, with its stone houses, boasting curious vaulted cupolas, and narrow, winding streets, stands on the eastern slope of a shallow valley. It possesses a great many wells and two large reservoirs, one of which is generally identified with the Pool of Hebron (2 Sam. iv. 12) . The town is divided into several quarters, and its chief in dustries are the manufacture of glass objects (lamps, bracelets, etc.), leather water-bottles from goats' skins, cotton goods. The Jews engage in wine-making and produce an excellent wine.
Reputed one of the oldest cities (Num. xiii. 22), it was closely connected with Abraham in Bible tradition and was destroyed by Joshua (x. 26). From Hebron Joseph set out to seek his brethren at Shechem. David made it his home for a period. Absalom was born there and Abner was treacherously murdered at its gates by Joab. Absalom made the town the headquarters of his revolt. It was fortified by Rehoboam, cap tured from the Edomites by Judas Maccabaeus, and destroyed by the Romans. It revived under the Muslims and was a substantial town when captured by the Crusaders. It was occupied by British troops on Dec. 4, 1917.
Hebron's chief interest is its Haram, an enclosure (198 ft. by 112 ft.) built over the traditional side of the cave of Machpelah. The ancient wall which encloses it rises to a height of 4o f t. (above that rise modern walls) and in construction and masonry closely resembles that of the Haram in Jerusalem. Within the enclosure is a mosque formerly a Crusaders' church (12th cen tury), which in its turn was built on the site of a basilica of Justinian's time. Within the mosque are the cenotaphs of Abra ham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, erected above the places where their tombs are presumed to be in the rocky cavern beneath. The cave itself has not been entered for more than 600 years. The mosque is approached by two flights of steps, but Jews are not permitted to go beyond the seventh step. At the fifth step there is an aperture believed to lead to the tomb of the patriarchs.
See C. R. Conder, Pal. Expl. Fund Memoirs, iii. (1880. 333, seq.; C. Warren, "Hebron," in Hastings' Bible Dictionary; L. H. Vincent, E. J. H. Mackay, F. M. Abel, Hebron, Le Haram el-Khalil: Sepulture des Patriarches (1923) , B. Meistermann, Guide to the Holy Land (1923) ; W. M. Flinders Petrie, The Cave of Machpelah: Ancient Egypt (1923), 105, seq.; P. J. Baldensperger, Pal. Expl. Fund Quart. Statement, 1915, seq. (on characteristics of people of Hebron) . (E. Ro.)
