Hebron

Hebron is located at 35 km to the south of Jerusalem and at 1012 m of altitude. It is the main urban center on the West Bank of Jordan.

The City is at the crossroads of the Jerusalem historical sense figure leading to Egypt and the Arabic peninsula; and from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean shore.

Considered like one of the oldest cities in the world, Hebron has been famous for centuries thanks to its grapes, its glass and painted ceramic crafts, its rock and marble carriers, its work with leather, and even more so for its main monument – the Haram Al-Ibrahimi/The Patriarchs Tombs – Holy site of the three monotheist religions.

Nowadays, the City counts almost 200 000 inhabitants and the district about 700 000. Three Universities are represented, gathering about 25 000 students: the Hebron University, the Polytechnic University and the opened Al-Quds University. Since January 1997, 80% of the city is under the Palestinian Authority (zone H1), and the remaining 20% are under the Israeli control (H2, including the Old City and its surroundings, and the Patriarchs Tomb).

History:

The History of Hebron is marked by periods of climax and prosperity, but also by periods of troubles and invasions that led to numerous destructions. Each time period left an erasable mark on the City as it appears to us nowadays.

About 3500 B.C. (Old Bronze Age): first human implantation notified on the Tell Rumeida Hill, in the West of the Old City.

In the Middle Bronze (about 2200 B.C.): presence of a fortified “Canaanite” State-City.

About 2000 B.C.: according to the biblical tradition, Abraham ordered to have his wife Sara buried in the cave, known under the name of Machpela, and himself, then Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca and Lea are also said to be buried in the same place.

1000 B.C.: according to the biblical tradition, David was crowned king there and reigned for 7 years.

167 B.C.: Judas Maccabaeus and then his nephew John Hyrcanus took over the city.

28 B.C. (Roman period): Herod ordered to build the present wall of Haram Al-Ibrahimi/¨Patriarchs Tombs. Another sacred wall was built around the location considered as the biblical site of Mambre (Abraham’s Oak tree), in the North of the City.

66-73 and 132-135 B.C.: the City was destroyed by the Romans, consequence to the two Jewish revolts.

Byzantine period: probable construction of a church on the location of the Holy Sanctuary.

Edification of a Byzantine church in Mamre. Most of the Christian monuments were destroyed in 614, during the war between the Persians and Byzantines.

7th century A.D.: Islam arrival. Transformation of the Holy site into a Mosque. The inhabitants fled Tell Rumeida and settled down near Haram Al-Ibrahimi that soon became the implantation spot for the city.

1099: occupation of the City by the Crusaders. The mosque was then turned into a church. The latter was named Saint Abraham.

Beginning of the 12th century: construction of the adjacent citadel (Qa’alah).

1119: an important event is said to have taken place: the access to inside the sacred grotto and the discovery of corpses that according to some people should belong to the Patriarchs.

1168: Hebron became a bishop territory to which was subordinated the convent of the Crusaders from Ein Gedi.

1187: control of the city by Salah Al-Din, the church was once again turned into a mosque. The wooden minbar located in Ascalon, built in 1091, was transported to Hebron.

1227: Hebron and a significant part of the southern Palestine returned to the Ayyubids of Egypt.

1250-1517 MAMLUK PERIOD: Hebron became flourishing and an important Soufi center. The city underwent its “Golden Age”. Hebron will be enriched by mosque, schools, meditation locations, hostels, caravanserais, etc., showing off the scientific and economic new schemes.

1266: under the sultan Baybars’ reign: ordinance forbidding the Christians and Jews to enter the sanctuary, besides the fact that until that day it was possible to get in, in exchange of a certain amount of money.

1268: the sultan Baybars was at the origin of important repairs and gave important contributions to the Haram.

1332: the mosque’s walls were covered with marble, on the Mamluk sultan El- Malek en Nâser Mohammed’s order.

1517-1917 – OTTOMAN PERIOD

15th century: the Ottoman Empire encouraged the Jews from Spain to settle in Hebron. The latter introduced the craft works of glass and leather.

1517: the Ottomans took control of Hebron. The new constructions were essentially residential buildings, knowing that the public and religious buildings from a prior time period were kept in good condition. The city of Hebron developed in the suburbs of the human mamluk implantation, in the old districts, supplementary storeys were added to the already existing buildings.

End of the 18th century: Hebron constituted one of the most important commercial centers in Palestine: the Egyptian caravans preferred the land road by the Sinai and Beer es-Saba, rather than the coastal route.

19th century: development of the soap, skin and cotton factories.

1831-1840: occupation by Ibrahim Pacha, son of Mohammed Ai, governor of Egypt.

1834: revolt in Hebron invaded by the Egyptians. The citadel was destroyed at the time.

1837 and 1927: earthquake.

1840: murder of the Egyptian governor by Abd Al-Rahman Ibn Amro who proclaimed himself the new governor.

1846: several parts of the city were destroyed and robbed by the Ottomans who were after A. Amro, but the latter refused to surrender.

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

1917: British conquest.

1922: Hebron became the prefecture of a smaller district. The population was of about 12000 inhabitants including a Jewish community of about 1000 people.

1929: Demonstrations in Jerusalem in reaction to the attempts of Zionist manifestations, in order to change the status quo related to the access to the Lamentations Wall (Al Buraq). 67 Jews were killed in Hebron, according to Israeli sources; hundreds of others were protected by the Palestinian population.

1948-1949: Hebron was under Egyptian control.

1950-1967: Hebron and the rest of the West Bank were under Jordanian control. Destruction of many buildings dating back to the Mamluk period, so as to enlarge the place in the East of the sanctuary.

1967: occupation of the West Bank by Israel.

1969: first Israeli settlements near Hebron. Numerous old buildings were also destroyed by the Israelis near the sanctuary to develop the esplanade and create an access to enter the Kyriat Arba settlement, as well as the Holy sanctuary.

Starting from 1976: establishment of Israeli settlers in Hebron downtown.

1994: a settler from Kyriat Arba, Baruch Goldstein, entered in the Abraham mosque during a prayer time (Ramadan and Pourim period), and shot at the crowd: 29 Palestinians got killed and about 200 were wounded.

1997: Hebron Protocol (agreements on the redeployment of the Israeli army in Hebron). The City got divided in two parts, H1 under Palestinian authority and H2 under Israeli military control.

Since 2000: the access to a part of the Old City (including the Martyrs’ street, formerly the main street) is forbidden to the Palestinians. In 2009, 1000 houses were abandoned and 1900 shops were shut down for economic reasons or because of a decision made by the Israeli army.