Mohammedan saints and sanctuaries in Palestine

30 J ournal of the Palestine Oriental Society
All tomb s so far describ ed have been tomb s built of masonry.
But th ere are others made of an elongated heap of stones, surrounded
by a stone enclosure.! Such graves very much resemble the present
simple tombs of the peasan ts. We meet with tfiem especially among
the Bedouins (es-see Zugh beh,2 Jericho). In some cases th ere is no
surrounding enclosure, and this point s to the most primitive type of
tomb cult. The only example of this kind which I have seen is th at
of es-see H ues 3 of Biddu. No taqah is connec ted with it. 4 In others
we do not find a heap of stones, but only a perp endicular stone at the
head and another at th e foot to mark the position of the grave (qabr),
as in es-seg $abbal) at J ericho. This supposed tomb is surrounded
I by a ~!Uwe tah (enclosure).»
c) Tr ees
Trees constitute a very important element of most shrines. This is
not a new custom, for many of th e "high places" of the Old Testament
were associated with "green trees". I have no doubt th at with few
exceptions every Mohammedan sanctuary is, or was once, characterised
by one or mOJ;f trees. Welis of recent origin, however, are generally
treeless, like es-seg A M I;I:alawi. A large number of these trees were
cut down during the war, while many have died of old age or been
uprooted by storms (el-B utmeh in Bet $ afilfil). Th ese are doubtless
the main causes why so many shrines are at pr esent treeless. . I have
very often heard the following statement: "The weli has no tree at
present, but I remember very well th at during my childhood there
stood a large tree there." In man y cases, where the old tree was cut
down, th e inhabitants of the village, to whom that particular saint
belongs, have planted a new one of the same species, as was done,
for example, in es-Mg 'A nbar. The huge fig tree which once grew
there was cut down and burned by the soldiers, whose camp was in
th e neighbourhood. The people. of 'Esawiyeh have planted another
I Doutt e, Magic et Religion, p. 482.
2 Not Zu'beh, as given by Ka hle, PJ, 1911, P: 88.
. 3 I n 1922 the inhab itants of the village had heaped stones together to build
the tomb.
4 Kahle describes anot her example of th is category, namely es·seg Mohammed
Darlr el-Qadri (PJ, 1911, p. 87).
~ I n the vicinity there is a zaqqflm tr ee (a kind of myrobalm),