GHASTLY VOICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 226, 24 September 1929, Page 7

GHASTLY VOICES.

Arabs Residing At Hebron

Terrified.

CAVE OP MACHPELAH,

(Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) JERUSALEM, September 23.

The Arabs residing at Hebron and in that neighbourhood have been abjectly terrified by ghostly voices emanating from the cave of Machpelah, where according to tradition Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried.

Before sunset, it is declared, a low moaning and wailing is maintained until dark. Then come cries of: "Why were my children slaughtered? Sons of Ishmael why have ye dishonoured your Father's name?"

Also heard from beneath the ground, it is said, are women's voices crying: "Why have ye shed innocent blood? Why have ye fio pity?"

The Arabs are trying to discover means of calming the troubled spirits of the Patriarchs.

Within the walls of a sanctuary at Hebron, believed to have been the work of Herod the Great or one of his immediate successors, are a memorial church and a courtyard. These are. built over a rock-cut cave which early tradition identifies with the cave of Machpelah, purchased by Abraham from the sons of Heth. The cave is believed to contain the tombs of Abraham, Sarah his wife, Isaac and Jacob, Rebecca and Leah. Six cenotaphs stand in the enclosure, believed to mark the site of the tombs beneath. The cave is never entered, but its interior can be seen through a hole in the roof.