Mount of Olives cemetery a most sought after resting place

By Patrizia Schlosser Oct 11, 2011, 3:07 GMT

Jerusalem - The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is home to the largest and most important Jewish cemetery in the world.

The mount, a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years, is comprised of 150,000 graves. Biblical tradition holds that the resurrection will take place at the site.

The zone comprises numerous locations mentioned in the Bible, such as the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was betrayed by his disciple Judas.

Tourists make their way up a steep, narrow path alongside a low wall, behind which sit white gravestones of the Jewish cemetery.

Most of the thousands of gravestones dotting the barren hillside lie flat so as not to obstruct views of the Old City.

Jews have sought burial plots on the mount for thousands of years, in the site's chalky, soft soil.

The earliest tombs are located at the foot of the mount, and include those traditionally associated with prophet and First Temple priest Zechariah, and David's rebellious son Absalom.

Unlike Christian burials, where the dead are laid out and buried in a coffin, Orthodox Jews bury their dead as quickly as possible in a shroud. Stones are placed atop graves instead of flowers.

'A person visiting a grave puts a stone on it as a sign that they were there,' explains tour guide and Jerusalem native Ruth Eisenstein.

The tradition dates back to when the Jews were a desert people and marked graves in this way to protect them from being eaten by wild animals.

Not surprisingly, graves on the Mount of Olives are much sought after.

For example, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin asked to be buried on the mount rather than at Mount Herzl, while Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the linguist who restored the Hebrew language, is also buried here.

'Every Jew wants to be buried here,' says Eisenstein, because they believe that this is where the resurrection will begin.

On top of the hill is the hotel Seven Arches, from where tourists snap photos of the Old City bathed in late-evening sunlight.

Directly opposite to Seven Arches is the Golden Gate and the Muslim cemetery in front of it.

Considered the most important and impressive gate in Jerusalem, it was walled up in the 9th century. This gate is relevant because the Bible says that the messiah will enter through it.

Ruth Eisenstein noted that the site is holy to all religions.

'It has been holy for Jews and Muslims for centuries. They all want to be buried as close to the Old City - The Holy City - as possible.'