| Tomb of Jesse and Ruth | |||
| Native Name: | he|קבר ישי ורות | ||
| Image Upright: | 1.4 | ||
| Religious Affiliation: | Judaism | ||
| Festivals: | --> | ||
| Organizational Status: | --> | ||
| Functional Status: | Active | ||
| Location: | Deir Al Arba'een, Hebron, West Bank | ||
| Country: | State of Palestine | ||
| Map Type: | West Bank | ||
| Map Size: | 250 | ||
| Map Relief: | 1 | ||
| Coordinates: | 31.5235°N 35.1037°W | ||
| Date Destroyed: | --> | ||
| Elevation Ft: | --> | ||
| Module: |
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The tomb of Jesse and Ruth (he|קבר ישי ורות|Kever Yishai v'Rut) is an ancient tomb with a small Jewish synagogue, located within the ruin of Deir Al Arba'een in the Tel Rumeida section of Hebron, in the State of Palestine. In the Jewish tradition, the tomb of Jesse and Ruth and considered to be sacred sites.[1] The place is in area H2 of Hebron, under Israeli control.
The small synagogue is located in the room adjacent to the tomb and it receives visitors throughout the year, especially on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which the Book of Ruth is read.[2]
One of the earliest known references to the tomb comes from an unnamed student of the Ramban who visited the site between 1289 and 1290. He wrote of visiting the "cave of Jesse's grave" on a hilltop near the Cave of Machpela and the ancient Jewish Cemetery of Hebron.[3] Yaakov HaShaliach, a Jewish traveller, mentions visiting the grave of Jesse, father of David in Hebron in the year 1235, but he does not specify the burial place.[4] Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro (1445-1515) mentions praying there in his travel writings.[5]
In 1522, Rabbi Moses ben Mordecai Bassola wrote, Yihus HaAvos V'Neviim (Lineage of the Patriarch and the Prophets) a book from 1537 refers to the site as "a handsome building up on the mount, where Jesse, the King David's father is buried." It includes a drawing of the site, and notes an "ancient Israelite burial ground" nearby and Crusader courtyard.
Karaite travellers wrote of the site, Samuel ben David of Crimea in 1642,[6] and Benjamin Ben-Eliyahu in 1785.The first known written reference to the site housing the tomb of both Jesse and Ruth comes from the 1835 book Love of Jerusalem by Haim Horwitz, referencing local oral traditions.
Menachem Mendel of Kamenitz wrote in 1839,
Louis-Hugues Vincent (1872-1960), a French monk and archaeologist who lived in Jerusalem, discusses the site in his two-volume work Hebron in 1923. In 1935, Zev Vilnay wrote that visitors were required to pay to access the site, and that it once connected to the Tomb of Machpela but was filled in during the First World War and the entrance was now unknown. Archaeologist Jacob Pinkerfield (1897–1956) visited the site and wrote about it in his 1945/46 book The Synagogues in Eretz Yisra'el.
In the 1970s, Prof. Ben Zion Tavger (1930 - 1983) excavated the site, and it was reopened to the public. The site was renovated in 2009.[7]