During the 14th century, the Muslim Mameluks added minarets over the wall of the Jewish edifice, thus making the site look like a mosque. The form of the minarets is characteristic of Mameluk structures. In the past, these minarets served for the Muezzin's call, but for years the call has been made via very powerful loudspeakers. The microphone room is inside the Jewish hall of prayer, and the Muezzin's approach during crowded times of Jewish prayer has often caused a disturbance to worshippers.

During the Mameluk Period an additional mosque was constructed north of the original edifice. It was built by the Mameluk Sultan Al-Ja'uli, hence it was called the "Ja'ulia".

In 1267 the Muslim Mameluk Sultan Baybars forbade Jews from entering Ma'arat HaMachpela, and they could approach no closer than the seventh step of the steps running up the slope outside the Ma'ara along its eastern wall. Any Jew who dared to ascend an additional step was punished cruelly and severely. This prohibition lasted 700 years, under Ottoman, British and Jordanian rule as well. Throughout this period, Jews stood at the seventh step and raised their voices in prayer and entreaty.
Only with Hebron's liberation in 1967 did the Chief Rabbi of the Army, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, æö"ì, with the rank of general, merit to be the first Jew to enter the gates of the Ma'ara and to pray there. The gate and the eastern steps were destroyed in 1969 on the instructions of the Head of Central Command, General Rechavam Zeevi (Gandi), following a nearby terror attack. He viewed the removal of those steps as the blotting out of a symbol of hundreds of years of humiliation. At the same time, many Jews still pray at this site, which was hallowed through prayer and tears over many generations.

Ancient Hebron sat atop Tel Hebron (a.k.a. Tel Rumeida). There, the walls from the Patriarchal period were uncovered. The city's fields were in the valley. According to the Torah's description, Ma'arat HaMachpela was at the edge of the field: "Let him sell me the Machpela Cave, which belongs to him, at the edge of his field" (Genesis 23:9). The edge of that field can be seen today, as well - it is the row of boulders which borders the field on its northern edge, and upon which the northern walls of the edifice over Ma'arat HaMachpela were built.
Just as in Patriarchal times, the field is full of trees, thus crystallizing the verses of the Torah: "Ephron's field in Makhpelah adjoining Mamre thus became [Abraham's] uncontested property. [This included] the field, its cave, and every tree within its circumference" (verse 17). It was in this field that Isaac prayed, and it was here that he met Rebecca for the first time (ibid., 24:67). Today, this field is a large plaza which serves for weddings, special events and mass holiday celebrations.

The original wall of the edifice was about twenty meters high. It was not meant for defense but as a memorial for the Patriarchs. Additions were subsequently made to the wall during the Mameluk and Ottoman periods. In 2005 the Arabs carried out renovations and the plaster was scraped off part of the wall's additions and projections.

This is the largest, most majestic and most important of all the halls of the Ma'ara. The roof's shape attests to the fact that it was added during the Crusader period over the eastern portion of the Jewish edifice. At first it served as a church. Later on it was turned by the Muslims into a mosque. Over the Jacob and Rebecca grave markers, chambers were built, during the Mameluk period (14th century). At the eastern and western edges of the Isaac hall are apertures in the floor leading down into the depths of the edifice. The apertures are covered by canopies. One aperture is closed off with cement, but the other has a circular opening. In the past there were legends that whoever descends into the depths will not emerge alive. Only the Mystic, Rabbi Avraham Azulai, the Rabbi of Hebron 400 years ago, descended and came back out alive after the Jews were commanded to extract the Sultan's sword that fell down through the aperture. In 5728 (1968) a girl named Michal Arbel was lowered down through the round aperture, and she discovered the tunnel that connects the two apertures. In Elul of 5741 [September of 1981], a group of Jews descended into the depths of the edifice and discovered the double cave hidden below.

In the past, this small hall served as the entranceway to Isaac's Hall. On the western side stand pillars from the Crusader period. From the Hall, doors lead to the chambers of Abraham and Sarah. After Isaac's Hall was closed to Jews, the Hall began to serve as an established synagogue, being the hall closest to the underground cave that is three floors below its south-east corner. The entrance to Isaac's Hall is marked here by an elegant curtain that was donated in memory of Major Shachar Ben-Yishai, HY”D, who was a company commander in Hebron and was killed in Shechem. The pictures presented here of Isaac's Hall will help to make the site more real and help you remember it during these times when entry by Jews is forbidden.

The walls of the site are impressive in their power and simplicity. The walls encircle the compound constructed over the cave during the Second Temple Period - more than two thousand years ago. The compound was apparently constructed by Herod, who ruled over Judea under the Roman flag during the first century b.c.e. The style of construction is identical to that of the Temple Mount walls. The first floor is built of hewn stones with chiseled margins, and on the second floor, cornrows protrude. The Hebron stone (dolamite) is strong and very resistant to wear. The level of construction is very high. Thanks to this, the compound has been preserved in a manner rarely seen, and it one of a kind - a two-thousand-year-old edifice, totally intact, constituting a magnificent example of Jewish construction from the Second Temple Period. The compound has been in continuous use since its construction as a monument to the patriarchs, as well as for gatherings, prayer and visits.

The Wall's Thickness
The breaching of the wall at the second story level makes it possible to examine the method of construction of the solid stone walls of the edifice. The wall's thickness, ??? meters, results from the wall's having been built of two parallel walls linked together by widening stones. This wall, which has stood the test of time, weather and earthquakes, was built without mortar or any other bonding agent. This is a unique example of the quality of construction of the Jewish People during the Second Temple period - over 2,000 years ago.

In the past there was an open courtyard here, which preserved its original shape of the open structure. After the Ma'ara's division in 1995, and the prohibiting of Jews from entering the Isaac Hall, a need was created for a large, central prayer hall, and a cloth cover was added over the courtyard. Today, the courtyard serves as the central prayer hall for the Jews. The cover does not keep out rain, snow, wind or pigeons. Requests submitted for authorization to erect an efficient, attractive glass roof over the courtyard, one that would protect the Jewish worshippers from various mishaps, have not yet been answered.

This is the main, central marker, tallest of the grave markers in the edifice. It is also the closest to the underground cave. Abraham was the herald of faith in the One G-d, the father of the Jewish Nation and an admired personality the world over. He purchased Ma'arat HaMachpela and transformed it into the first Jewish acquisition in the Land, and the burial place of the patriarchs and matriarchs. Once members of other faiths took control of the site over various periods, Abraham's marker, as well, was covered with Arabic inscriptions, and Jews are today prevented from entering his chamber. Over the monument is draped a gold-embroidered curtain, donated by an Indian prince.

After Hebron's liberation in 1967, archaeological excavations were conducted by the southern wall by the archaeologist Dr. Zeev Yevin. He discovered a water basin, built at the same time as the Herodian compound. That basin served for storing rain water that had drained out of the open compound. The drainage hole can be seen clearly, and the drainage system still works after two thousand years.

Beneath the basin was discovered a burial cave from the period of the Patriarchs. This is not the Cave of Machpela, yet it is close to it in time and space, and it spells out what the children of Heth said to Abraham, "Take our best burial site to bury your dead" (Genesis 23:6).

This Hall stands between the Jacob and Leah chambers, and today serves as a permanent synagogue. The hall contains a Holy Ark and a Torah library.

In the past this long hall served as an entryway. After the Ma'ara's partitioning, the need arose for halls of prayer on the Jewish side, and this section was declared a hall of prayer and an established synagogue. During the day, lectures in Torah and Jewish law are given there. Rising prominently over the northern wall is a latticework of ornamental Jewish stars. A folk tradition recounts that the Turkish authorities invited Jewish craftsmen to adorn the site, and these cleverly worked Jewish stars into their designs.

The first monument one sees on entering the edifice is that of our Father Jacob. It is true that Jacob died in Egypt, a land full of graves, pyramids and majestic monuments. Even so, in his last will, Jacob commanded his sons to bring him up to Eretz Yisrael and to bury him there with our ancestors in the Ma'ara. He thereby linked his descendants down through the generations with their ancestors' heritage. This marker as well is covered with Muslim inscriptions, added by the Arabs during later periods.

The Grave Markers
The grave markers are part of the original Jewish edifice. They, too, were built about 2,000 years ago. They are not graves, neither were they built over graves. Rather, they are monuments, built in three pairs, spread out symmetrically and precisely in the edifice. The central pair commemorate Abraham and Sarah, the eastern pair Isaac and Rebecca, and the western pair Jacob and Leah. The division of the edifice in later periods prevents one's discerning how the monuments were laid out. Around and above the monuments, rooms were built during the Mameluk period, and they were covered with Muslim inscriptions. Entry into these rooms is today forbidden to Jews even for the purposes of security, cleaning or renovations.

On the right side can be seen a monument that resembles the others, but unlike those others it is built outside the wall of the edifice. This is part of the external Arabic annex, which was intended to close off the original entrance. The Arabs attached to it the name "Joseph's Monument," even though all sources testify that Joseph was buried at Shechem. In later generations the monument was associated with "Esau's head," for according to Talmudic tradition Esau tried to prevent Jacob's burial in the cave and Esau's head was removed by Dan's son Chushim, and was placed in the cave.

The "Yusufiah"
During the tenth century, the Arabs built an annex that blocked off and concealed the original entrance to the first floor of the structure. The Arabs called this annex "Joseph's Tomb", even though, according to all the sources, Joseph was buried in Shechem [Nablus]. This structure has two stories, and both of them house monuments. Jewish travelers later nicknamed the upper story "The Tomb of Esau's Head" in accordance with a Talmudic legend that Esau tried to prevent Jacob's burial and in response his head was knocked off by Dan's son, Chushim. The upper story today serves as the Jews' entranceway into the edifice, and part of it, nicknamed "the Circumcision Hall", serves for Torah study, joyous occasions and ceremonial meals.

During the 14th century, the Muslim Mameluks added minarets over the wall of the Jewish edifice, thus making the site look like a mosque. The form of the minarets is characteristic of Mameluk structures. In the past, these minarets served for the Muezzin's call, but for years the call has been made via very powerful loudspeakers. The microphone room is inside the Jewish hall of prayer, and the Muezzin's approach during crowded times of Jewish prayer has often caused a disturbance to worshippers.

This hall is part of the annex built in the tenth century. To allow access to the main edifice, an entranceway was breached in the Ma'ara's southern wall. Today, this room serves many purposes: prayer, communal study, a library, ceremonial meals for britot and other joyous occasions. On Shabbat, Kiddushes and Se'uda Shlishit are held there. Passing from this room to main edifice, one can see a cross section of the chiseled wall, showing the manner in which the ancient edifice was constructed: the wall is double, about three meters wide, and its enormous stones were precisely fitted to each other.

The crusaders conquered Hebron in 1099, after leaving a trail of death amongst the Jews of Europe and Eretz Yisrael. Hebron's Jews were forced to flee their city. The crusaders transformed the mosque that the Arabs had built within the Jewish edifice into a church, which they named "Saint Abraham D' Hebron". Attached to it they built a fortress which they called "the Fortress of Saint Abraham". From this fortress one wall remains - the western one, and oblong shooting slits can be seen along it. Later on, the Crusaders allowed the Jews to enter the edifice and to pray in it. Crusader monks entered the lower intermediate story, and apparently allowed a number of Jews, amongst them the famed traveler Rabbi Binyamin of Tudela, to enter within.