HebronHebron (الخليل DIN or اَلْخَلِيل الرَّحْمَن DIN; חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East Jerusalem), and the third-largest in the Palestinian territories (after East Jerusalem and Gaza), it has a population of over 215,000 Palestinians (2016), and seven hundred Jewish settlers concentrated on the outskirts of its Old City.
Patriarchs (Bible)The patriarchs ( אבות Avot, singular אב Av) of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites. These three figures are referred to collectively as the patriarchs, and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam hold that the patriarchs, along with their primary wives, known as the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebekah and Leah), are entombed at the Cave of the Patriarchs, a site held holy by the three religions.
Cave of the PatriarchsThe Cave of the Patriarchs or Tomb of the Patriarchs, known to Jews by its Biblical name Cave of Machpelah ( מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה, , Cave of the Double) and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque (ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْإِبْرَاهِيمِيّ, Mosque of Abraham), is a series of caves situated south of Jerusalem in the heart of the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank. According to the Abrahamic religions, the cave and adjoining field were purchased by Abraham as a burial plot, although most historians believe the Abraham-Isaac-Jacob narrative to be primarily mythological.
Promised LandThe Promised Land (הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ha'aretz hamuvtakhat; أرض الميعاد, translit.: ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey") is the land that according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament), God promised and subsequently gave to Abraham and several more times to his descendants. In modern contexts, the phrase "Promised Land" expresses an image and an idea that is related to the restored homeland for the Jewish people and the concepts of salvation and liberation.
ZebulunZebulun (; also Zebulon, Zabulon, or Zaboules) was, according to the Books of Genesis and Numbers, the last of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's tenth son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Zebulun. Some biblical scholars believe this to be an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation. With Leah as a matriarch, biblical scholars believe the tribe to have been regarded by the text's authors as a part of the original Israelite confederation.
IssacharIssachar () was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fifth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's ninth son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Issachar. However, some Biblical scholars view this as an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation. Two different etymologies for the name of Issachar have been proposed based on the text of the Torah, which some textual scholars attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist.
Jordan RiverThe Jordan River or River Jordan (نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, Nahr al-ʾUrdunn; נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, Nəhar hayYardēn; ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ Nahrāʾ Yurdnan), also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat ( نهر الشريعة), is a river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: כנרת Kinneret, Arabic: Bohayrat Tabaraya, meaning Lake of Tiberias) and on to the Dead Sea. Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while the West Bank and Israel lie to its west.
HebrewsThe Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who are mostly considered to be synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era that preceded the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel. However, in some instances, it may also be used in a wider sense, referring to the Phoenicians or other ancient civilizations, such as the Shasu on the eve of the Late Bronze Age collapse, appearing 34 times within 32 verses of the Hebrew Bible.
Lot (biblical person)Lot (lɒt; לוֹט Lōṭ, lit. "veil" or "covering"; Λώτ Lṓt; لُوط Lūṭ; Syriac: ܠܘܛ Lōṭ) was a man in the biblical Book of Genesis, chapters 11–14 and 19. Notable events in his life include his journey with his uncle Abram (Abraham); his flight from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, during which Lot's wife became a pillar of salt; and him being intoxicated by his daughters so that they could have sexual intercourse with him and ensure their family would have descendants.
Patriarchal ageThe patriarchal age is the era of the three biblical patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, according to the narratives of Genesis 12–50 (these chapters also contain the history of Joseph, although Joseph is not one of the patriarchs). It is preceded in the Bible by the primeval history and followed by The Exodus. The Bible contains an intricate pattern of chronologies from the creation of Adam, the first man, to the reigns of the later kings of ancient Israel and Judah.
