Where was Hebron?

Question

Where was Hebron?

Accepted Answer

Hebron lies high in the hills of Judah, about 30 km south of Jerusalem in a straight line and 40 km north-east of Beersheba, in today's West Bank. The ancient town stood on the hill of Tel Rumeida; the cave of Machpelah lies under the great stone enclosure in the modern city, and Mamre, where Abraham camped, is usually placed a few kilometres to the north at Ramat el-Khalil. In Genesis Abraham buys the cave from Ephron the Hittite: "Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan"; Isaac and Jacob were buried there too. After the conquest Hebron was given to Caleb. David was anointed king at Hebron: "In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah." Absalom began his revolt from the city. Hebron was fortified in the Early Bronze Age and rebuilt with massive walls in the Middle Bronze Age. Royal jar handles of the late eighth century BC bear its name, a sign of a centre of the kingdom's administration. After the fall of Judah in 587 or 586 BC the south of the hills passed to Edomite settlers, the later Idumea; Judas Maccabeus took and burned the town, and John Hyrcanus brought it under Hasmonean rule. The enclosure over Machpelah is usually attributed to Herod the Great. Constantine ordered a basilica built at Mamre, and in the fifth century Sozomen still describes a yearly fair there that drew Christians, Jews and pagans alike.