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''This article describes the cave in Jerusalem. For the series of novels by Jack Chalker see Well World.'' The Well of Souls ((アラビア語:"بئر الأرواح"''Bir el- Arweh'', ''Bir el- Arwah'' or ''Bir al- Arwah'')) — sometimes translated Pit of Souls, Cave of Spirits, or Well of Spirits — is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.〔Ritmeyer, Leen (1998), "The Ark of the Covenant: Where It Stood in Solomon's Temple"; In: Ritmeyer, Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer, ''Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount'', Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, pp 91-110.〕 The name derives from a medieval Islamic legend that at this place the spirits of the dead can be heard awaiting Judgment Day〔Prang, Kay (2002), ''Israel & the Palestinian Territories'' (Series: Blue Guides); London: A&C Black, pg 125.〕 (The name "Well of Souls" has also been applied more narrowly to a depression in the floor of this cave and to a hypothetical chamber that may exist beneath the floor.) The site has never been subject to an archeological investigation and political and diplomatic sensitivities preclude this for the foreseeable future. ==History and context== The Dome of the Rock — called ''Qubbat as-Sakhrah'' in Arabic and ''Kipat Hasela'' in Hebrew — is an early medieval Muslim shrine on Temple Mount, known as ''Har haBáyith'' ("temple mount") in Hebrew and as the ''Haram Ash-Sharif'' ("noble sanctuary") in Arabic. The exposed bedrock directly under the dome — known as the Foundation Stone — is the spot upon which Jewish tradition says Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac and from which Islamic tradition also indicates Muhammad ascended to heaven. (According to a medieval Islamic tradition, the Stone tried to follow Muhammad as he ascended, leaving his footprint here while pulling up and hollowing out the cave below. The impression of the hand of the Archangel Gabriel, made as he restrained the Stone from rising, is nearby.〔Prang, ''Op. cit.''〕) The Stone — known as ''Even haShetiya'' in Hebrew and ''es-Sakhrah'' in Arabic — is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. Both Jewish and Muslim traditions relate to what may lie beneath the Foundation Stone, the earliest of them found in the Talmud in the former and understood to date to the 12th and 13th centuries in the latter.〔Prang, ''Op. cit.'', pg 125.〕 The Talmud indicates that the Stone marks the center of the world and serves as a cover for the Abyss (''Abzu'') containing the raging waters of the Flood. The cave was venerated as early as 902 according to Ibn al-Faqih.〔Goldhill, Simon (2008), (''Jerusalem: City of Longing'' ), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pg 118.〕 Muslim tradition likewise places it at the center of the world and over a bottomless pit with the flowing waters of Paradise underneath. A palm tree is said to grow out of the River of Paradise here to support the Stone. Noah is said to have landed here after the Flood. The souls of the dead are said to be audible here as they await the Last Judgment. The Foundation Stone and its cave entered fully into the Christian tradition after the Crusaders recaptured Jerusalem in 1099. These Europeans converted the Dome of the Rock into a church, calling it the Templum Domini (Latin, "Temple of the Lord"). They made many radical physical changes to the site at this time, including cutting away much of the rock to make staircases and paving the Stone over with marble slabs. They certainly enlarged the main entrance of the cave and probably are also responsible for creating the shaft ascending from the center of the chamber. The Crusaders called the cave the "Holy of Holies" and venerated it as the site of the announcement of John the Baptist's birth. (Modern scholarship indicates that the Temple Holy of Holies was probably on top of the Foundation Stone, not inside it.〔Ritmeyer, ''Op. cit.'', pp 101-103.〕) In 1871, Jerusalem was visited by the explorer and Arabist Sir Richard Francis Burton. Lady Burton later described their exploration of the Well of Souls as tourists: A flight of fifteen steps takes us into the cave under this Rock. This feature has been immensely written about. I shall content myself with saying that Captain Burton holds it to be the original granary of the corn threshed, or rather trodden out, upon the plain on either side, and winnowed from the Rock. If the latter prove to be the great Altar of Sacrifice, the cave will be the cistern for the blood which ran off by the Bir el Arwáh (Well of Souls) into the Valley of Hinnom. My husband did his best to procure the opening of the hollow-sounding slab in the centre, but the time has not yet come. The more ignorant Moslems believe that the Sakhrah is suspended in the air, and its only support is a palm tree, held by the mothers of the two greatest prophets, Mohammed and Abraham. The most projecting point is called “the Tongue,” because, when Omar thought he had discovered the stone which was Jacob’s pillar in his vision at Bethel, he exclaimed, “Es Salámo Alaykúm” (“Peace be unto thee”), and the stone replied, “Alaykúm us Salám, wa Rahmat-Ullahi” (“Peace be to thee, and the mercy of God”). The Shaykhs of the Mosque explained everything to us, even the minutest trifle, and showed us the places where Solomon prayed, and also David, and where Abraham and Elijah and Mohammed met on the occasion of his night flight upon El Borák. They also made an echo for us, and told us that there was a hollow place beneath the Bir el Arwáh before mentioned, where every Friday the departed souls come to adore Allah.〔Burton, Lady Isabel (1884, 3rd edition), (''The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine, and the Holy Land: From My Private Journal'' ); London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, pp 376-377.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Well of Souls」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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