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.
Babylonian captivityThe Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat in the Jewish–Babylonian War and the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The event is known to be historical, and is described in the Hebrew Bible in addition to archaeological and extra-biblical sources.
Nabataean KingdomThe Nabataean Kingdom (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 Nabāṭū), also named Nabatea (ˌnæbəˈtiːə), was a political state of the Nabataeans during classical antiquity. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, amassing large wealth and drawing the envy of its neighbors. It stretched south along the Tihamah into the Hejaz, up as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71 BC). Nabataea remained an independent political entity from the mid-3rd century BC until it was annexed in AD 106 by the Roman Empire, which renamed it Arabia Petraea.
JerichoJericho (ˈdʒɛrɪkoʊ ; أريحا DIN ʔaˈriːħaː; יְרִיחוֹ DIN) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Governorate of the State of Palestine and is governed by the Palestinian National Authority as part of Area A. In 2007, it had a population of 18,346.
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.
Bar Kokhba revoltThe Bar Kokhba revolt (, Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ), also known as the Third Jewish Revolt or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it (Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Roman province of Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, against the Roman Empire. The last of the three Jewish–Roman wars, it was fought 132–136 CE. The revolt erupted as a result of religious and political tensions in Judea following on the failed First Revolt in 66–73 CE, including the establishment of a large Roman military presence in the province, changes in administrative and economic life, and the failure of revolts in the diaspora.
DecapolisThe Decapolis (Greek: Dekápolis) was a group of ten Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. They formed a group because of their language, culture, religion, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous city-state dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.
NabataeansThe Nabataeans or Nabateans (ˌnæbəˈtiːənz; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as Nabāṭū; Arabic: ٱلْأَنْبَاط, , singular النبطي, ; compare Ναβαταῖος; Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra, Jordan)—gave the name Nabatene (Ναβατηνή) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.
RamallahRamallah (UKrəˈmælə , USrəˈmɑːlə ; ) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the de facto administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of above sea level, adjacent to al-Bireh. Ramallah has buildings containing masonry from the period of Herod the Great, but no complete building predates the Crusades of the 11th century. The modern city was founded during the 16th century by the Hadadeens, an Arab Christian clan descended from Ghassanids.
BethlehemBethlehem (ˈbɛθlɪhɛm; بيت لحم ; בֵּית לֶחֶם Bēṯ Leḥem) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people. The city's economy is largely tourist-driven; international tourism peaks around and during Christmas, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, revered as the location of the Nativity of Jesus. At the northern entrance of the city is Rachel's Tomb, the burial place of biblical matriarch Rachel.
