Tomb of Daniel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tradition has named two places as the site of the 'Tomb of Daniel. In the Martyrologium Romanum, for instance, which consecrates July 21 to Saint Daniel, the place of his death is given as Babylon, and it was claimed that he was buried in the royal vault there. Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Holy Land about 1160, gives much more accurate information in his account of Susa. In the façade of one of its many synagogues he was shown the tomb assigned by tradition to Daniel. Susa is the modern Shuster, and this synagogue is still standing. There are some good representations of it, as, for example, in Flandin and Coste, "Voyage en Perse Moderne" (plate 100), and in Loftus, "Chaldæa and Susiana"[1]
Benjamin declares, however, that the tomb does not hold Daniel's remains, which were said to have been discovered at Susa about 640 CE. The remains were supposed to bring good fortune: and bitter quarrels arose because of them between the inhabitants of the two banks of the Choaspes River. All those living on the side on which Daniel's grave was situated were rich and happy, while those on the opposite side were poor and in want; the latter, therefore, wished the bier of Daniel transferred to their side of the river. They finally agreed that the bier should rest alternately one year on each side. This agreement was carried out for many years, until the Persian shah Sanjar, on visiting the city, stopped the practise, holding that the continual removal of the bier was disrespectful to the prophet. He ordered the bier to be fastened with chains to the bridge, directly in the middle of the structure; and he erected a chapel on the spot for both Jews and non-Jews. The king also forbade fishing in the river within a mile of Daniel's bier.[2] According to Benjamin, the place is a dangerous one for navigation, since godless persons perish immediately on passing it; and the water under the bier is distinguished by the presence of goldfish.
Muslim traditions agree in stating that Daniel was buried at Susa, and a similar tradition was current among the Syriac writers.[3] Al-Baladhuri (ninth century) says that when the conqueror Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came to Susa in 638, he found the coffin of Daniel, which had been brought thither from Babylon in order to bring down rain during a period of draught.[4] Abu Musa referred the matter to the calif Umar, who ordered the coffin to be buried, which was done by sinking it to the bottom of one of the streams nearby.[5] A similar account is given by ibn Hauqal[6] and al-Istakhri,[7] who add that the Jews were accustomed to make a circuit around Daniel's tomb and to draw water in its neighborhood.[8] Al-Muqaddasi[9] refers to the contention between the people of Susa and those of Tustar. A slightly divergent tradition reported by ibn Taimiyyah says that the body was found in Tustar; that at night thirteen graves were dug, and it was put in one of these—a sign that the early Moslems were opposed to the worship of the tombs of holy men.[10]
[edit] Notes
- ^ pp. 317 et seq.
- ^ Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela [Hebr.], ed. Asher, i. 74-76, ii. 152-154; cf. Petachiah of Regensburg, p. 77, below, Jerusalem, 1872.
- ^ Budge, "Book of the Bee," p. 73.
- ^ compare Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, i. 2567.
- ^ Futuḥ al-Buldan, p. 378.
- ^ ed. Michael Jan de Goeje, p. 174.
- ^ ed. De Goeje, p. 92
- ^ see also Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Buldan, iii. 189.
- ^ ed. De Goeje, p. 417
- ^ Z. D. M. G. iii. 58).
[edit] References
- Gottheil, Richard and Edward Konig. "Tomb of Daniel." Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906, citing:
-
- Jane Dieulafoy, At Susa, p. 131, New York, 1890;
- Driver, The Book of Daniel, p. xxi.
This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
