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Rachel's Tomb
As the Jerusalem road approaches the northern edge of Bethlehem, it passes the traditional burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel, the wife of Jacob. The structure was originally built by the Crusaders, but in subsequent years was altered many times. The simple building housing the tomb was erected by the Ottoman Turks in 1620. The dome was built by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1841. The place is revered by Jews, Moslems, and Christians. From 1948 to the early 1980s, the tomb was the property of the Department of Islamic affairs (Waqf) and was open to worshippers of all faiths.
Today, the tomb is under full Israeli control and is totally segregated. Israeli soldiers are heavily present at the site, and a huge wall has just been erected right in the middle of the road to further isolate the place. During construction work near Rachel's Tomb in 1904, a Roman aqueduct was uncovered. Inscriptions on the stones date the structure to AD 195. Nearby is an even older aqueduct attributed to the time of Pilate. The cemetery in the grounds of the tomb belongs to the Bedouin Taamreh tribe.