It is Shavuot, the feast of the new harvest in Israel, the best weather of the year. This is the time when Ruth the Moabite slept in the fields and happened to call the attention of Boaz, her wealthy employer, so the King David dynasty was born. Ruth's Tomb is on a hill overlooking Hebron, and a cult has developed in the last twenty years: converts from all the nations, who adopted the Jewish people as their own like Ruth did, visit the tomb during this time of the year. The tomb itself consists of a number of underground chambers and the entrance is the ruin shown on the pic. The tomb is on asmall hill between Tel Rumeyda (the Jewish settlement) and the city of Hebron, near the old Jewish cemetery. On roof of the tomb there is a Zahal post guarding the entrance to the Jewish settlement.
2 comments:
A ruin indeed. The horrible hand painted sign scrawled on the outside looks like graffiti. The Orthodox have always been indifferent to aesthetics (I suppose because spiritual matters are more important) but for the tomb of a matriarch the condition is shameful. Is there no one in Israel willing to fund at least a dignified sign for the entrance?
Have archeologists verified that the structure is even of the appropriate period? Sometimes the legendary associations of a place with a particular person arose much later.
K
The structure is modern, that is, Turkish and Arab. Like everything in this country, built over dozens of layers of ruins from prehistoric times. Of course it is a legend, which does not bother those who visit the place.
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