The burial site of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is considered a holy place in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. These early prophets were buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Israel. Their wives Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah are also buried there, as are other ancient religious figures.
Jewish people are Abraham’s descendants through his son, Isaac. Muslim people are Abraham’s descendants through his son, Ishmael. In Christianity, Abraham is considered to be the father of all who believe in God. Jacob is the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham.
The Cave of Machpelah
The burial site of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is known to Jews as the Cave of Machpelah. The name is based on Genesis 25: 9 – 10, which reads: “And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him [Abraham] in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre . . . there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.”
Abraham’s Sanctuary
Muslims refer to the patriarch’s burial site as Abraham’s Sanctuary, which is also the name of the mosque that was built above the cave.
Abraham’s Sanctuary is a popular Islamic pilgrimage site. Muhammad himself encouraged the journey, saying “He who cannot visit me, let him visit the Tomb of Abraham” and “He who visits the Tomb of Abraham, Allah abolishes his sins.”
This grate allows visitors to look down into the 40-foot shaft into the cave where Abraham and Sarah are buried. Source
Childless women throw petitions on slips of paper addressed to Sarah, known for giving birth in old age, through a hole in the mosque floor into the caves below. Others drop in written requests for blessings from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
History of the Burial Site of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
According to Genesis 23: 1 – 20, Abraham’s wife Sarah died when Abraham was away on business. He came home to mourn for her and to have her buried.
Abraham told the leaders of the Hittites that he was a foreigner in their land and asked them for a burial site for his family. The Hittites flattered Abraham, by calling him a Lord and mighty prince. They said that he could bury his dead in any of their tombs.
Abraham did not take the Hittites up on their offer. Instead, he offered to buy a cave near Machpelah for the full asking price from a Hittite named Ephron.
Ephron slyly offered to give Abraham the cave and its surrounding field for free, knowing that this would not allow Abraham to permanently claim the land. Abraham declined the offer and insisted on paying for the cave and field.
Ephron said the property was worth 400 shekels of silver and Abraham agreed to buy it without bargaining. He then buried his wife Sarah in the cave. This was the first account of a burial mentioned in the Bible.
The cave remained the burial site for Abraham’s family for three generations.
Abraham
Abraham is considered the father of the covenant line and “the father of the faithful.” The story of Abraham is found in the book of Genesis. In modern times archaeologists have found ancient clay tablets that tell more of his story.
Abraham came from Ur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). His people were nomads who tended sheep. They settled near Haran (modern-day Turkey). There, God instructed Abraham to leave his people and move to a new land.
At age 75, Abraham obeyed God and moved his household to Canaan (modern-day Israel). At this time, Abraham and Sarah had not had children and thought they were too old to do so. Abraham’s first child, Ishmael, was born to Sarah’s servant.
Later, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, Sarah bore Abraham’s son Isaac. This was considered to be a miracle.
Abraham’s purchase of the field and cave at Machpelah is the first commercial transaction mentioned in the Bible. After Sarah’s burial, the next burial in the cave was that of Abraham himself. He died at the age of 175 years and was buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael.
When Abraham died, his property, including the deed to the cave, was passed on to his son Isaac. Later, the cave and the surrounding land were passed on to Isaac’s son, Jacob.
Click HERE to see more photos from Abraham’s burial site.
Isaac
Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, the father of Jacob and Esau, and the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel. Isaac’s name means “he will laugh”, due to his mother Sarah’s laughter when she was told by God that they would have a child in their old age.
Isaac is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan.
Isaac was the third person to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs. He died aged 180, the longest-lived of the three patriarchs.
This print of Isaac’s tomb was created in 1890. Source
Click HERE to see more photos from Isaac’s burial site.
Jacob
Issac and Rebecca had twin sons named Esau and Jacob. Jacob was the younger twin but it was through him that the birthright blessings and covenants continued.
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Jacob had 12 sons. They were known as the “Children of Israel” and “The 12 Tribes of Israel”.
Jacob died at the age of 147. The birthright then passed from Jacob to his son Joseph. By that time, Joseph had become a leader in Egypt and had helped to save his family from famine.
In the final chapter of Genesis, we learn that Joseph had physicians embalm his father Jacob. Then Jacob’s body was carried from Egypt to Hebron, to be buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah.
Just before Jacob died, he gathered his family around him and blessed them. The painting above (by Harry Anderson) depicts Jacob blessing Joseph.
At this time, Jacob also told his family where he would like to be buried. His instructions are recorded in Genesis 49: 29 – 31, as follows:
29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
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 burying place.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
This is Jacob’s tomb. Click HERE to see more photos from Jacob’s burial site.
This is the tomb of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Click HERE to see more photos from Esau’s burial site.
Sarah, Abraham’s Wife
God promised Abraham that his wife, Sarah, would be “a mother of nations” (Genesis 17:16) and that she would conceive and bear a son. This was fulfilled when Sarah bore Isaac in her advanced years.
The Cave of Machpelah was originally purchased by Abraham to be used as a burial ground for his family when his wife Sarah died. This is a woodcut by Gustave Doré depicting the burial of Sarah in Machpelah Cave.
Abraham’s wife Sarah died in the land of Canaan near Hebron at the age of 127. She is the only woman in the Bible whose exact age is given.
Click HERE to see more photos from Sarah’s burial site.
Rebecca, Isaac’s wife
One of the first things that Abraham did after his wife died was to look for a wife for his son Isaac, who was already 37 years old. He commanded his servant to travel to his birthplace at Aram Naharaim (in modern-day Syria) to select a bride from his own family, rather than unite Isaac with a local Canaanite woman.
Abraham sent expensive jewelry, clothing, and food with his servant with instructions to give them to the bride and her family. The servant devised a test to find a wife for Isaac who would be generous, kind, and hard-working. As he stood next to the main well in Abraham’s birthplace with his men and ten camels laden with goods, he prayed to God:
“And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also’: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.”— Genesis 24:14
When the women of the village arrived at the well to draw water for their families, one stepped forward and offered to draw water for the servant and for his camels.
Did you know that a thirsty camel can drink about 50 gallons of water?
Let’s do the math . . . 50 gallons per camel x 10 camels = 500 gallons of water!
Assuming Rebecca was a strong woman, she would have been able to carry about 5 gallons of water at a time. Think of it . . . 500 gallons/5 gallons = 100 trips from the well to the camel’s watering troughs!
Ancient wells did not have a rope to pull up a bucket. Rebecca would have walked down a few stairs, bent over to fill a clay jar, lifted the heavy jar onto her shoulder, walked back up the stairs, and dumped the water in the feeding trough – 100 times!
This definitely showed her kind, generous, and hard-working nature, making her an excellent match for Isaac. Rebecca bade good-bye to her family and went with the servant to meet and marry Isaac.
In time, Rebecca became the mother of twin sons, Jacob and Esau. In Jacob’s final words to his family, he listed his mother Rebecca as one of those buried in Machpelah Cave.
Click HERE to see more photos from Rebecca’s burial site.
Leah, Jacob’s Wife
Leah is recorded in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob’s first wife and the older sister of his second wife Rachel. Jacob favored Rachel during her lifetime but she is not buried at his side, as she was laid to rest near Bethlehem.
Click HERE to see more photos from Leah’s burial site.
Jacob wanted to marry Rachel initially but Leah’s father, Laban, tricked Jacob into marrying Leah first. The name “Leah” means “one who is weary”.
Genesis 29:31 states: “When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive.”
Leah became the mother of six of the twelve sons of Jacob. One of her sons was Judah, from whom King David and Jesus Christ descended.
Rachel’s Tomb
This is a painting of Rachel’s tomb, created in the 1880s. The ancient historian Josephus confirms the Biblical account that the tomb is on the road to Bethlehem (Ant 1 343). The New Testament also references that location (Matt. 2: 18) with Ramah being about 5 miles from Bethlehem.
Even though Rachel bore just two of Jacob’s sons, Jeremiah describes her mourning for all of the children of Israel when they were exiled:
15“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
“Your children will return to their land.
(Jeremiah 31:15-17)
Rachel’s love of Jacob, her longing for children, and her death in childbirth made Rachel both a tragic and heroic figure. Her tomb is a popular pilgrimage destination for barren women and those seeking a match.
Caring for the Tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Spanish explorer, Ali Bey, one of the few foreigners to gain access to the cave, reported in 1807 that, “all the sepulchers of the patriarchs are covered with rich carpets of green silk, magnificently embroidered with gold; those of the wives are red, embroidered in like manner. The sultans of Constantinople furnish these carpets, which are renewed from time to time.”
Ali Bey counted nine embroidered carpets, one on top of the other, on top of the sepulcher of Abraham.
Learn More
Click HERE to view a video about the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Click HERE to learn more in a BillionGraves blog post titled Understanding Jewish Gravestones.
Volunteer to Take Photos of Gravestones
We need volunteers to take gravestone photos! When you take photos in your own local cemeteries and I take them in mine, we will all help each other to find our ancestor’s final resting places.
Click HERE to get started. You are welcome to do this at your own convenience, no permission from us is needed. If you still have questions after you have clicked on the link to get started, you can email us at: Volunteer@BillionGraves.com.
Happy Cemetery Hopping!
Cathy Wallace
