The Mazor Mausoleum () is one of the best preserved

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

buildings in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, located in

El'ad El'ad () is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about east of Tel Aviv on Route 444 between R ...

. The

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

, which is the only

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

building in Israel to still stand from its foundations to its roof, was built for an important Roman man and his wife in the 3rd century AD. Their identities remain a mystery but one can still see the remnants of two

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

in the mausoleum.

History

In the Early Muslim period,

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

added a

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

(prayer niche) in the southern wall, indicating the direction of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, and the building became an Islamic holy place called ''

Maqam Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to: Musical structures * Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music ** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq * Persian maqam, a notion in Persian clas ...

en-Neby Yahyah'' ('Shrine of the Prophet John').Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp
365
367 Due to its sacredness, the building was preserved through the ages. It functioned as a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

until the depopulation of the Palestinian village

Al-Muzayri'a Al-Muzayri'a () was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict. It was depopulated in 1948. In 1998 the new Israeli city of El'ad was built over the ruins. Location Al-Muzayri'a was located north-northeast of al-Ramla, on limestone hil ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. In July 1949, Israel decided to raze the mausoleum, after the

Israeli Ground Forces The Israeli Ground Forces () are the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of General Staff. An order from Defe ...

had used the building for target practice. However, an antiquities inspector managed to stop the destruction.

Nowadays

The Mazor mausoleum has been declared a "national park" and is currently under the management of Israel's National Parks Authority.

References

Bibliography

* {{authority control 3rd-century establishments in the Roman Empire Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century Mausoleums in Israel Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire Buildings and structures in Central District (Israel) Islamic holy places National parks of Israel Protected areas of Central District (Israel) Roman sites in Israel