of
the opening of the tombs at Hebron in 1119, as given in a
presumably contemporaneous MS. found by Count Riant. Fifteen
earthenware vessels filled with bones, perhaps those
referred to by Benjamin, were found. It is doubtful whether
the actual tombs of the Patriarchs were disturbed, but it is
stated that the Abbot of St. Gallen paid in 1180 ten marks
of gold (equal to about L5,240 sterling) for relics taken
from the altar of the church at Hebron. The MS. of Count
Riant further mentions that before the occupation of Hebron
by the Arabs, the Greeks had blocked up and concealed the
entrance to the caves. The Jews subsequently disclosed the
place of the entrance to the Moslems, receiving as
recompense permission to build a synagogue close by. This
was no doubt the Jewish place of worship referred to by
Benjamin. Shortly after Benjamin's visit in 1167 the
Crusaders established a bishopric and erected a church in
the southern part of the Haram. See also Conder's account of
the visit of His Majesty the King, when Prince of Wales, to
the Haram at Hebron. (_Palestine Exploration Fund's
Quarterly Statement_, 1882.)]

[Footnote 87: Beit Jibrin was fortified by King Fulk in
1134. See Baedeker's _Palestine and Syria_, p. 309;
Rapoport's _Erech Milin_, p. 54; also a preliminary notice
on the Necropolis of Maresha in _P.E.F.Q.S._, Oct., 1902, p.
393. The text has [Hebrew:], but it should be [Hebrew:].
Inscriptions on tombs near Beit Jibrin show that the town,
to which those buried belonged, was called Mariseh. The
passage in A and all printed editions as to Shunem and Toron
de Los Caballeros is corrupt. Shunem was a small place in
Galilee, and is not likely to have had 300 Jews at the time
of the Crusaders, still less so Toron the present Latrun.]

[Footnote 88: Shiloh, at the time of the Crusaders, was
considered to occupy the site of Mizpeh, the highest
mountain near Jerusalem, where the national assemblies were
held at the time of the Judges. The present mosque is
dilapidated, but the substructure, which dates from the
Frank period, is beautifully jointed. The apse is raised.
The reputed tomb of Samuel is on the western side of the
church. It is still called Nebi Samwil, venerated alike by
Jew and Moslem.]

[Footnote 89: