Joseph's Tomb -- What a Difference a Century Makes - Israel Daily Picture,

Joseph's Tomb -- What a Difference a Century Makes

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 



The Tomb of Joseph in the valley between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal outside of Shechem (Nablus) Picture taken from Mt. Ebal (circa 1900).  (Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside)

According to the Book of Joshua (24:32), “The bones of Joseph which the Children of Israel brought up from Egypt were buried in Shechem [Nablus] in the portion of the field that had been purchased by Jacob.” 

Joseph's Tomb today is in the middle of Nablus, controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Jews' access to the shrine is  severely limited, and the tomb has been attacked and vandalized on several occasions. (Google Earth)

The very first posting in Israel Daily Picture in June 2011 featured century-old pictures of Joseph's Tomb that we found in the Library of Congress archives. Virtually every 19th and early 20th century collection we've viewed contains pictures of the tomb.  The online Keystone-Mast collection at the University of California - Riverside archives adds many more photos of Joseph's Tomb for the public's view.

Joseph's Tomb and Mt. Gerizim behind it.  (Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography at UCR ARTSblock,  University of California, Riverside, circa 1900)

Joseph's Tomb (circa 1900) Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography  at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside)

Joseph's Tomb, alone in the valley. Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography  at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside)

Turkish guard inside the tomb. The Library of Congress archives dates this picture as 1900. Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography  at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside)

Hand-colored photographic slide of Joseph's Tomb,  dated between 1880-1900. (Chatham University) Source: Israel Daily Picture

Another Photographic Treasure Trove Discovered: 120-Year-Old Colored Slides from Chatham University, Part 1

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Another Photographic Treasure Trove Discovered: 120-Year-Old Colored Slides from Chatham University, Part 1 Posted: 19 Nov 2013 02:21 PM PST The Western Wall in Jerusalem (hand-colored, Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) The photo's caption reads "Jesus' Waiting Place." A case of bad handwriting? Other photographers of the time captioned their pictures, "Jews' Wailing Place." In the need for library and archival preservation, modern technology is certainly a friend of antiquity.  Vintage photographs, some stored for over a century in old libraries, are now being digitized and often posted Online.  Such is the case with this treasure of "Holy Land Lantern Slides" we found in Chatham University's archives. Chatham University, a 150-year-old women's undergraduate school in Pittsburgh, digitized their slides in 2009.  According to Rachel M. Grove Rohrbaugh, the school's archivist and public service librarian, "most of the slides roughly date to circa 1880-1900.  We don’t have specific information on the photographer(s) or how they were used here at Chatham, but they were likely used for instruction in world history or cultural studies." View of Hinom Valley in Jerusalem (Chatham University Archives, circa 1880). The photo, probably taken from near the Jaffa Gate, shows the Montefiore windmill, built in 1858, and the Mishkenot Sha'anaim homes beneath it. Are the blades of the windmill blurry because they were moving? That could provide a date for the photo: The mill stopped turning in 1876. Kerosene lanterns designed to  project slides  (YouTube) We thank Chatham University Library for permission to publish these well-preserved hand-painted lantern slides.   In the 1880s, before movies or electricity, pictures such as these were projected in front of classes or audiences using a kerosene-lit lamp fitted with special lenses. The slides were produced by optical manufacturers who sold the lanterns. The makers of the Chatham slides were identified by Chatham's archivist as T.H McAllister Co. and Williams, Brown, and Earle, of New York and Philadelphia respectively.  Joseph's Tomb in Nablus (Shechem) (Chatham University Archives, circa 1880) Inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. The moat on the right of the picture indicates the picture was taken prior to the 1898 arrival of the German emperor. when the moat was filled in. What does the large sign at the end of the road read? (Chatham University Archives) An enlargement of the picture shows a sign, "Mission to the Jews," inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. German, Anglican, and Scottish Protestant church missionaries were very active in the Holy Land in the late 19th century.  At the time, this intersection of the Old City was probably one of the busiest ones in Jerusalem. Click on the pictures to enlarge. Click on the captions to view the originals. Next: Part 2 of the Chatham Collection

Fifth Minor Trembler Shakes Northern Israel

CBNNews.com Tuesday, October 22, 2013

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A minor 3.3-magnitude earthquake rumbled near the Sea of Galilee Tuesday morning, the fifth in less than a week. Though tremors were felt, there were no injuries or damage. Israeli seismologists say they're fairly common.

Tuesday's trembler followed four minor quakes in northern Israel over the past five days, two on Sunday, another early Saturday and another last Thursday evening.

The string of quakes prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene a meeting Monday morning on earthquake preparedness. The Home Front Command and emergency response personnel met separately to discuss preparedness for a major quake.

Last month, a 3.5-magnitude quake could be felt in Jerusalem and the northern Dead Sea. A week ago Sunday, a 6.4-magnitude quake off the coast of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea caused tremors in Athens and could also be felt in parts of Israel and Egypt.

The last major quake in Israel occurred in 1927, killing 500, injuring 700 and inflicting heavy damage in Nablus (biblical Shechem) -- as well as destroying the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.

Nearly a century earlier, the "Safed earthquake" struck on January 1, 1837, killing some 5,000 people and destroying most of Safed and several Arab villages in the vicinity.

The Site of the Tabernacle When the Israelites Arrived in the Holy Land

Before There Was Jerusalem, There Was Shiloh
-- The Site of the Tabernacle When the Israelites Arrived in the Holy Land


Interior of old Temple at Shiloh (1908, Library of Congress).

The building is now closed. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tabernacle there, and the land was subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1)

When Joshua brought the children of Israel across the Jordan River he was really leading a new nation, born in Egypt and Sinai but forged for 40 years in the furnace of the desert.

Their journey had started hundreds of years earlier when Jacob's sons, grazing their flocks near Shechem (Nablus), sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Their descendants returned to the same area in Samaria bearing Joseph's body for burial in Shechem. They chose the nearby village of Shiloh as the resting place for the Tabernacle which housed altars, the menorah, the ark of the Covenant and more.



Ruins of Shiloh (circa 1910, Library of Congress)

There the Tabernacle would remain for almost 400 years, the place for pilgrimages and sacrifices. In Shiloh, Joshua drew lots to divide up the land among the Israelite tribes. Eli the High Priest officiated.

A woman named Hannah came to Shiloh to pray for a son and promised he would serve the Lord if he was born. Samuel was born to Hannah. He served in the Tabernacle and was the prophet who anointed Saul and then David as kings. David shifted his capital first to Hebron and then to Jerusalem.

Archaeologists today have little doubt that the area known as Sailun was the location of biblical Shiloh. Evidence



Tourists/pilgrims at Shiloh (1891, with permission of the

  New Boston Fine and Rare Books) of early

  synagogues, churches and mosques can be found there.

In the Talmudic period and the Middle Ages Shiloh was a destination for pilgrims.

We recently discovered online an antique book, "A Month in Palestine and Syria, April 1891," posted by the New Boston Fine and Rare Books. The book includes a travelogue and several dozen photographs of tourists and pilgrims. They also visited Shiloh.

Unfortunately, the antique book shop does not know the name of the photographer or author. We would welcome suggestions from our readers.

Today, religious pilgrims are usually found in the south, in a place called Jerusalem.


Group from the American Colony visiting the
"sacred circle" in Shiloh (1937, Library of Congress)


Ancient Shiloh today (photo courtesy of Yisrael Medad)

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Click on caption to view the original picture.

New Pictures Added to Shiloh Feature,
Snapped 135 Years Apart



Ruins of ancient Shiloh (circa 1870, Palestine Exploration Fund, 

taken by British Sgt. Henry Phillips)



Shiloh today (picture by David Rabkin, 2006)

'Disgusting Defacement' by Arabs of Tomb of Yosef

'Disgusting Defacement' by Arabs of Tomb of Yosef

Visitors to the Tomb of Yosef in Shechem were shocked to discover yet another instance of major Arab vandalism to the holy site

 

 By David Lev

First Publish: 1/24/2013

Israel National News

 

Prayers at Joseph's Tomb (archive)

Flash 90

 

Visitors to the Tomb of Yosef in Shechem were shocked to discover Wednesday night yet another instance of major Arab vandalism to the holy site. Arabs trashed furniture, destroyed books, and defaced the site with anti-Semitic graffiti, and there was evidence that they had tried to burn the structure down.

In addition, human and animal waste was found all over the floor of the site.

Mesika joined with more than 2,500 other people Wednesday night who visited the site.

The visit was organized by the Samaria Regional Council and the Shechem Echad organization, and the visitors were accompanied by IDF soldiers and police. Accompanying Mesika to the site was the Admor m'Rachlov.

Samaria Council Chairman Gershon Mesika called IDF officials to express his shock at the damage. “Only barbarians are capable of doing terrible things like this, destroying a holy place,” said Mesika.

The State of Israel must reclaim the Tomb of Yosef, as described in the Oslo Accords. We must return with strength and faith and reestablish our presence, and that yeshiva, at the Tomb,” he said.

Deputy Council Director Yossi Dagan pointed a finger of blame at the PA police who are supposed to be guarding the site. “The Palestinian terrorist police are responsible for the site when IDF soldiers are not present. They have proven a long time ago that they have lost all semblance of humanity. These are the terrorists in uniforms who murdered Yosef Ben Livnat h”yd, and now they dump their waste and try to burn down the Tomb.”

The large crowd of Jews that had arrived to worship were forced to wait outside for long minutes as soldiers and police cleaned up the site.

Speaking at the event, the Admor m'Rachlov spoke to the crowd, saying that those who merited praying at the site should merit “to serve G-d fully, with all our beings, and to be a merit for the success of those who are ensuring the safety of this site.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164526