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500 Mils 1945, Palestine

in Krause book Number: 6d
Years of issue: 15.08.1945
Edition:
Signatures: Members of the Palestine Currency Board: Mr. Percy Ezechiel, Mr. Raymond Newton Kershaw, Mr. Sydney Caine, Mr. Christopher Gilbert Eastwood
Serie: 1927 Issue
Specimen of: 01.09.1927
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 127 х 76
Printer: TDLR (Thomas de la Rue & Company), London

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500 Mils 1945

Description

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500 Mils

Olive Sprigs.

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500 Mils 1945

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Rachel's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר רחל, Arabic: قبر راحيل) is the site revered as the burial place of the matriarch Rachel. The site is also referred to as the Bilal bin Rabah mosque (Arabic: مسجد بلال بن رباح). The tomb is held in esteem by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The tomb, located at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, is built in the style of a traditional maqam; Arabic for shrine. The burial place of the matriarch Rachel as mentioned in the Jewish Tanakh, the Christian Old Testament and in Muslim literature is contested between this site and several others to the north. Although this site is considered unlikely to be the actual site of the grave, it is by far the most recognized candidate

The earliest extra-biblical records describing this tomb as Rachel's burial place date to the first decades of the IV century CE. The structure in its current form dates from the Ottoman period, and is situated in a Christian and Muslim cemetery dating from at least the Mamluk period. When Sir Moses Montefiore renovated the site in 1841 and obtained the keys for the Jewish community, he also added an antechamber, including a mihrab for Muslim prayer, to ease Muslim fears. According to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the tomb was to be part of the internationally administered zone of Jerusalem, but the area was ruled by Jordan, which prohibited Jews from entering the area. Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, though not initially falling within Area C, the site has come under the control of the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Following Montefiore's purchase of the site it began to take special "cultic" significance amongst Jews in the area; in contemporary Israeli society it is now considered the third holiest site in Judaism and has become one of the cornerstones of Jewish-Israeli identity. According to Genesis 35:20, a mazzebah was erected at the site of Rachel's grave in ancient Israel, leading scholars to consider the site to have been a place of worship in ancient Israel. According to Martin Gilbert, Jews have made pilgrimage to the tomb since ancient times. According to Frederick Strickert, the first historically recorded pilgrimages to the site were by early Christians, and Christian witnesses wrote of the devotion shown to the shrine "by local Muslims and then later also by Jews"; throughout history, the site was rarely considered a shrine exclusive to one religion and is described as being "held in esteem equally by Jews, Muslims, and Christians".

Following a 1929 British memorandum, in 1949 the UN ruled that the Status Quo, an arrangement approved by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin concerning rights, privileges and practices in certain Holy Places, applies to the site. In 2005, following Israeli approval on 11 September 2002, the Israeli West Bank barrier was built around the tomb, effectively annexing it to Jerusalem; Checkpoint 300 – also known as Rachel's Tomb Checkpoint – was built adjacent to the site. A 2005 report from OHCHR Special Rapporteur John Dugard noted that: "Although Rachel's Tomb is a site holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, it has effectively been closed to Muslims and Christians." On October 21, 2015, UNESCO adopted a resolution reaffirming a 2010 statement that Rachel's Tomb was: "an integral part of Palestine." On 22 October 2015, the tomb was separated from Bethlehem with a series of concrete barriers. (sheqel)

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The Tower of David (Hebrew: מגדל דוד, romanized: Migdál Davíd), also known as the Citadel (Arabic: القلعة, romanized: al-Qala'a), is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of a series of earlier ancient fortifications of the Hasmonean, Herodian, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by their Muslim enemies. It contains important archaeological finds dating back over 2,500 years including a quarry dated to the First Temple period, and is a popular venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and sound-and-light performances.

Dan Bahat, the Israeli archeologist, writes that the original three Hasmonean towers standing in this area of the city were altered by Herod, and that "The northeastern tower was replaced by a much larger, more massive tower, dubbed the "Tower of David" beginning in the V century C.E." The name "Tower of David" migrated in the 19th century from the Herodian tower in the northeast of the citadel, to the XVII-century minaret at the opposite side of the citadel, and after 1967 has been officially adopted for the entire citadel.

Since the II century BC, several fortified structures have stood intermittently on the same spot. The citadel was rebuilt between 1537 and 1541 by the Ottomans, who designed an impressive entrance, behind which stood a cannon emplacement. For 400 years, the citadel served as a garrison for Turkish troops. The Ottomans also installed a mosque at the site and added the minaret in 1635, which still stands today and gives the citadel its impressive look. The complex was named Tower of David (Migdal David in Hebrew, and Burj Da'oud in Arabic) during that period too, because of its proximity to Mount Zion, the place where King David is believed to be buried. (sheqel)

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