'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎494] (583/905)

494
HEBRON.
[CHAP. XX.
ductive vineyards, each of tlie latter having in it generally a
high square watch-tower. The three portions of the city,
together with the intervening gardens, occupy both sides of a
deep and narrow valley, extending N.N.W. and S.S.E.,
which was probably once the field of Machpelah. 1 It contains
Population of about 8000 inhabitants, several mosques, two synagogues,
some khans, baths, and 1500 stone dwellings; many of them
with pointed arcades below, and having either terraced roofs
or roofs covered with low cupolas. But the celebrated
The great mosque, which is towards the north-eastern extremity, is the
mosque. principal object in the place. At the northern side of the
enclosure there is a flight of steps to the entrance of the
building, which is a quadrangle surmounted by a cupola, and
having minarehs; the high walls and pilasters around the
court appear to be ancient, and these, as well as the body of
the structure, are very plain. A descending passage leads to
the basement story of the mosque, probably once the cave of
Machpelah, in which were deposited the bones of Sarah and
Abraham. On the eastern slope of the hill, to the northward
of the mosque, are the remains of a castle; here, also, is
the bazar, and the principal part of the town; the latter
extending across the valley, and again along a portion of the
western declivities. Northward, beyond some'gardens, there
is another part of the town; and between these is a pool or
reservoir, about 80 feet long by 50 feet wide, and 18 feet
deep: in the bed of the valley, farther south, there is a second,
called the lower pool, 2 which is 120 feet square and 20 feet
deep, with a flight of steps at each angle.
House of In the town, the supposed tomb of Abner is shown by the
Jews, and nearly three miles northward are the walls of a
low quadrangular building, containing a well; this enclosure
is called Ramet-el-Khulil (House of Abraham), or simply
El Khulil, the friend, or intimate friend ; 3 the town itself being
known as the sepulchre of that patriarch. 4
1 Benjamin of Tudela, by A. Asher, vol. I., p. *76.
2 2 Samuel, chttp. IV., v. 12.
3 Bibliotheque Orientale.—D'Herbelot.
4 Edrisi, torae V., p. 339, Recueil de Voyages et Mdmoires.