The city is located 32 kilometres south of Jerusalem and is built on several hills and wadis, most of which run north-to-south. It is believed that the tombs of several biblical prophets, such as Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, are located there.
Hebron is the West Bank‘s second most populous town, and its core is the area around the Haram, the Ibrahimi mosque or Tomb of the Patriarchs of the Abrahamic faiths.
Its history dates back more than 4,000 years. According to Chapter 23 of the Book of Genesis, Abraham buries his wife, Sarah, in a cave he buys in Hebron 1800 BC. The Bible says he and other Old Testament patriarchs and matriarchs are later buried there as well,
The name "Hebron" traces back to the same root as Haver, or "friend" in both Hebrew and Arabic. In Arabic, "Ibrahim al-Khalil" "means "Ibrahim the friend", signifying that, according to Islamic teaching, Allah (God) chose Ibrahim (i.e., Abraham) as his friend.
King David (c. 10th century BC) made Hebron as his capital for seven and a half years until the taking of Jerusalem.
In 701 B.C. – Judah falls to the Assyrians; Hebron eventually changes hands from the Babylonians to Persians and Romans. In 636 it was taken by the Arabs and made an important place of pilgrimage, later to be seized (1099) by the Crusaders and renamed St. Abraham, and retaken (1187) by Saladin.
Hebron was administered as part of the British mandate of Palestine (1920–48); after the first of the Arab-Israel wars in 1948–49, it was in the territory annexed by Jordan (1950). By 1967, Hebron comes under Israeli occupation as Israel captures the West Bank from Jordan in Six-Day War.
An agreement was reached in January 1997, part of Hebron came under the administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA), while part of the city remained under Israeli control.
Hebron - one of the oldest cities in the Levant
