And
Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years
of Sara’s life. Sara died in Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron in the land
of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn Sara and to weep for her. And
Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Het saying:
« I am a stranger residing among you; give me property for a burial
site among you that I may bury my dead that is before me. » The sons
of Het replied to Abraham saying: « Hear us, lord, you are a prince
of God among us. Bury your dead in your choice of burial site; none
of us will withhold his tomb from you to bury your dead. » Abraham
rose and bowed to the people of the land, to the sons of Het and he
spoke to them saying: « If you will allow me to bury my dead that
is before me, hear me: ask Ephron, the son of Zohar, to give me the
cave of Machpela, which is in his possession and is at the end of
his field, for the full price to give to me as a burial site among
you. » Ephron dwelled among the children of Het. Ephron, the Hittite,
answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Het, of all those
who had come to the gates of the city, saying: « No, my lord, listen
to me: I give you the field as well as the cave that is on it; I give
it to you in the presence of the sons of my people; bury your dead.
» Abraham bowed before the people of the land and said to Ephron in
the presence of the people of the land: «Please listen to me: I am
offering you the price of the field; accept it so that I may bury
my dead there. » Ephron responded saying to Abraham: « My lord, hear
me: land worth four hundred shekels, what is that between you and
me? Bury your dead there. » Abraham heard Ephron and weighed the silver
for Ephron as he had said in the presence of the sons of Het, four
hundred shekels of silver in currency. The field of Ephron, located
in Machpela, facing Mamre, the field and the cave that was on it,
and all the trees that were on it and all its borders were thus acquired
by Abraham in the presence of the sons of Het and before all those
who had come to the city gates. Thereafter, Abraham buried Sara, his
wife, in the cave of the field of Machpela, facing Mamre, which is
Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field and the cave that was
on it were acquired by Abraham as a possession for a burial place
from the sons of Het.
Genesis
23: 1 – 20
 Later,
this cave, which, according to Tradition, is the site of the tombs of
Adam and Eve, will receive the remains of Abraham, Isaac and Rebecca,
Jacob and Leah. The tombs of the four couples in Hebron earn it a second
name in Hebrew: Kiryat Arba or the City of Four. The Moslems, in turn,
consider it to be one of the sites visited by the prophet Mohammed,
making it one of the holy cities of Islam. The testimony of Ibn Battuta,
a Moroccan dignitary from Tanger, where he was born in 1304, and a great
Arab traveler, emphasizes the religious importance of the city of Hebron
to the Moslems. He was in the city around 1326-27:
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