Sunday, January 12, 2014

Is Eve buried in Jeddah?

I was reading an English Arab newspaper online and came across a reference to Eve (of Adam and Eve fame) being buried in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Jeddah is just a 3 hour drive from where I live. 

I found this interesting and tried to do a little research online.  Many of the articles that I found stated that many historians agree that Eve was buried in Jeddah.  One writer, Abdel-moniem El Shorbagy, says that the three holy books (Torah, Bible and Koran)  state "that Adam and Eve were the first humans created by God to dwell on earth".  So Eve is important to these three major religions.

He says that many historians believe that Adam descended in India and Eve descended in Jeddah and that they met in Arafat, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, where they lived for a long time.  Historians and archeologists have searched for centuries to locate where they were buried.  He states that they do not know the location of Adam's grave, but Eve's is thought to be in Jeddah.

Jeddah means "grandmother" in the Arabic language and some believe that the city derived its name from Eve, "mother of all humanity".  There is an old cemetery in the Alamariyah district of old Jeddah called Hawa (Eve) where according to Eastern folklore the mother Eve was buried.

El Shorbagy says that historians from the 12th and 13th centuries mentioned that this site contained an extraordinary tomb, 150 meters (492 ft) long by 3 meters (9 ft) wide and 1 meter (3 ft) in height.  Others described it as a dome covering Eve's grave.  The grave remained controversial until King Abdullah ordered its demolition to prevent superstition about the site.  The site is now surrounded by high walls and used as a cemetery for residents of Jeddah.
A picture from 1894:
A picture from 1903:

A picture from 1913:
 
People would come from around the world to the grave even though there is no solid evidence that confirms the identity of the person in the grave. 
 
I found this interesting.  My father in law used to talk about the discovery of Noah's ark.  And now, I may be living relatively near to Eve's tomb.  :)
 
 

1 comment:

  1. You have done a great job. I will definitely dig it and personally recommend to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this site.
    jeddah 

    ReplyDelete