Mausoleum of Abu Hurayra

Mausoleum of Abu Huraira / Rabban Gamaliel's Tomb
Mausoleum of Abu Huraira / Rabban Gamaliel's Tomb
	The portico facade in 2010
Religion
Affiliation	Islam, Judaism
Region	Middle East
Location
Location	Yavne, Israel
	Shown within Israel
Geographic coordinates	31°52′03″N 34°44′36″E / 31.8675°N 34.7432°E

The mausoleum of Abu Hurayra, or Rabban Gamaliel's Tomb, is a maqam turned synagogue in HaSanhedrin Park in Yavne, Israel, formerly belonging to the depopulated Palestinian village of Yibna. It has been described as "one of the finest domed mausoleums in Palestine."^[1]

The mausoleum is located on a cemetery, northwest of Tel Yavne, that has been used by residents of Yamnia/Yavneh for burial since at least the Roman period.^[2] Since the early 13th century, Muslims identified it as one of the purported burial places of Abu Hurairah, a companion (sahaba) of Muhammad, although most Arabic sources give Medina as his resting place. The date of the inner tomb chamber is uncertain, with contemporary sources allowing the assumption that a tomb chamber existed at the site and was associated with Abu Hurairah already before Sultan Baybars's additions.^[3] In 1274, Baybars ordered the construction of the riwaq featuring a tripartite portal and six tiny domes together with a dedicatory inscription,^[4] with the site expanded further in 1292 by Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil.^[5]

The tomb is known to Jews as the Tomb of Rabban Gamaliel of Yavne, the first Nasi of the Sanhedrin after the fall of the Second Temple.^[6] A Hebrew travel guide dated to between 1266 and 1291 attributes the tomb to Gamaliel and describes it as being occupied by a Muslim prayer house.^[7] The site was frequently visited by Jewish medieval pilgrims.^[8] Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the mausoleum was officially designated as a shrine for Jews by the Israeli government.^[4]^[6]

In all likelihood neither Rabban Gamaliel of Yavne nor Abu Hurairah are buried in the tomb.^[9]

^ Petersen, 2001, p. 313
^ Cite error: The named reference FischerTaxel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Taragan (2002), p. 121
^ ^a ^b Taragan, 2002, p.31
^ M. Fischer, M.,I. Taxel,'Ancient Yavneh: Its History and Archaeology,' Tel Aviv 2007, vol. 34 pp.204-284:'The most famous construction project financed by Baybars in Yavneh was the magnificent addition to Maqām Abu Hureira (the "Raban Gamaliel tomb"), which consisted of double stoai with domes (riwāq). The construction activity was carried out in 1274 by the governor of Ramla, Khalīl Ibn Sawīr. The tomb itself existed at least since the beginning of the 13th century, as shown by Alī al-Harawī (1215 CE) and the geographer Yāqūt (1225 CE).'(p.249)
^ ^a ^b Mayer et al., (1950:22) Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 313
^ Cite error: The named reference HT2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Bar, 2008, p.9, "Following the War, this Muslim tomb with its typical cupola was converted into a Jewish sacred place, gradually drawing more and more Jewish worshippers. The change in Yavneh had a lot to do with the new local Jewish settlers, immigrants who came primarily from Arab countries to settle in the nearby vacated Arab village of Yubna. These settlers adopted the adjacent tomb and reused it as the tomb of Raban Gamaliel. As in many similar cases throughout the State of Israel, the tradition that connected Jews to Yavneh was not unfounded, and was based mainly on the literature of medieval Jewish pilgrims, who frequently mentioned visits to that place. Jewish claim of ownership over this tomb was based on the argument that it, as well as many other Muslim sacred tombs, were originally Jewish sacred burial places that were Islamized during the later history of the region. During the decades prior to 1948 no visible active or large-scale Jewish pilgrimage to Yavneh was recorded, as was true for most of the sacred places that formed the Jewish sacred space later, during the 1950."
^ Taragan, 2000, p.117

[Petersen313-1] Petersen, 2001, p. 313

[FischerTaxel-2] Cite error: The named reference FischerTaxel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[HT121-3] Taragan (2002), p. 121

[HT31-4] Taragan, 2002, p.31

[5] M. Fischer, M.,I. Taxel,'Ancient Yavneh: Its History and Archaeology,' Tel Aviv 2007, vol. 34 pp.204-284:'The most famous construction project financed by Baybars in Yavneh was the magnificent addition to Maqām Abu Hureira (the "Raban Gamaliel tomb"), which consisted of double stoai with domes (riwāq). The construction activity was carried out in 1274 by the governor of Ramla, Khalīl Ibn Sawīr. The tomb itself existed at least since the beginning of the 13th century, as shown by Alī al-Harawī (1215 CE) and the geographer Yāqūt (1225 CE).'(p.249)

[Mayer22-6] Mayer et al., (1950:22) Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 313

[HT2000-7] Cite error: The named reference HT2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[bar-8] Bar, 2008, p.9, "Following the War, this Muslim tomb with its typical cupola was converted into a Jewish sacred place, gradually drawing more and more Jewish worshippers. The change in Yavneh had a lot to do with the new local Jewish settlers, immigrants who came primarily from Arab countries to settle in the nearby vacated Arab village of Yubna. These settlers adopted the adjacent tomb and reused it as the tomb of Raban Gamaliel. As in many similar cases throughout the State of Israel, the tradition that connected Jews to Yavneh was not unfounded, and was based mainly on the literature of medieval Jewish pilgrims, who frequently mentioned visits to that place. Jewish claim of ownership over this tomb was based on the argument that it, as well as many other Muslim sacred tombs, were originally Jewish sacred burial places that were Islamized during the later history of the region. During the decades prior to 1948 no visible active or large-scale Jewish pilgrimage to Yavneh was recorded, as was true for most of the sacred places that formed the Jewish sacred space later, during the 1950."

[9] Taragan, 2000, p.117

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