The Building above the Cave
When we read Josephus, we found another interesting reference to the cave of Machpelah and that there was
knowledge that a shrine was erected there. In speaking of Isaac's burial, he tells of a monument existing in Hebron which was erected by Isaac's "forefathers". The only land the family owned there was the cave and the field. Since Isaac was buried in the cave of Machpelah, Josephus may be telling us about the very building above the cave:
"Isaac also died not long after the coming of his son, and was buried by his sons, with his wife, in Hebron, where they had a monument belonging to them from their forefathers." Antiq. of the Jews, Bk. II, chapter XXII, para. 1.
GEN 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
As we mentioned, there is an opening from the building into the cave, which has been sealed by very ancient stones. There is evidence that the cave was fractured by an earthquake at some unknown point in time. There are other numerous places where rocks have been inserted in the cracked areas to seal it back up, so we don't fully understand the hole from inside the building into the cave yet.
There is what appears to be a type of altar within the fenced-in area. Our studies of the Bible showed that Abraham built altars wherever he went:
GEN 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
GEN 13:3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. GEN
13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
Thus far, it is consistent to have an altar at a place that was sacred to Abraham, and it wouldn't be taking too much liberty to expect that Abraham would certainly consider the final resting place of his wife, himself and his descendants to be worthy of an altar to the Lord. So here is one more evidence which points to this cave as the true cave of Machpelah.
The "Traditional" Cave of Machpelah The final observations we can offer in consideration of this site as the true cave of Abraham's burial is that the site that is presently considered the cave of Machpelah is known to be incorrect. In fact, we found no references to the cave which emphaticly state it to be authentic. In fact, most recognize the impossibility of the site as it meets virtually none of the requirements, and it is from a much later date. For example:
"The only indisputable fact in all this is that the cave at Hebron cannot possibly be the Biblical Cave of Machpelah; it is in fact a man-made water-cistern, once carefully plastered to prevent the water seeping into the rock." Archaeology of the Bible, by Magnus Magnusson, p. 42.
It seems most likely that the true location of the cave was lost sight of many, many years ago- possibly when the Jews were in exile, or even earlier.
As far as we are concerned, the strongest evidence for this being the cave of Machpelah to us is the manner in which the whole thing came about. It was brought to Ron's attention 14 years ago because of very strange events which were occurring on this family's property. Ron has not actively sought to work on the site- in fact, he has been hoping to be able to finish all the overseas work soon- a new project was not in our plans. But suddenly, things fell in place. With no more "evidence" than that to go on, we proceeded, and found a cave which certainly meets every qualification required to be the cave of Machpelah, except that the "deceased" are not there.
