Editing Cave of the Patriarchs (section)

===First and Second Temple period===
In 2020, Israeli archaeologists led by David Ben-Shlomo ([[Ariel University]]) dated pottery from the caves (recovered surreptitiously by local residents in 1981) to the 8th century BCE.<ref name="Arnon" /> The different origins of the shards, from various areas around Hebron and Jerusalem, suggest the site may have been a pilgrimage site as early as this date, according to the study authors.<ref name="Arnon" />

The time from which the Israelites regarded the site as sacred is unknown, though some scholars consider that the biblical story of Abraham's burial there probably dates from the 6th century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last=Niesiolowski-Spano |first=Lukasz |date=2014 |title=The Origin Myths and Holy Places in the Old Testament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WMLsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT174 |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |page=120 |isbn=978-1-84553-334-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Nadav |last=Na'aman |title=Canaan in the Second Millennium B.C.E. |chapter=The 'Conquest of Canaan' in the Book of Joshua and in History |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2005 |page=374 |quote=The story reflects a time when Hebron was settled by non-Israelites, following the exile or desertion after 587/586 BCE. One may safely assume that it was composed to justify the rights of the post-Exilic community to the burial site in the former Judahite city of Hebron.}}</ref>

Between 31 and 4 BCE, [[Herod the Great]] built a large, rectangular enclosure over the cave to commemorate the site for his subjects.<ref name="BAR">{{cite web |url=https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/11/3/1 |title=Patriarchal Burial Site Explored for First Time in 700 Years |author=Nancy Miller |date=May–June 1985 |publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310071640/https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/11/3/1 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is the only fully surviving Herodian structure from the period of [[Hellenistic Judaism]]. Herod's building, with {{Convert|6|ft|m|-thick|adj=mid}} stone walls made from stones that were at least {{convert|3|ft|m}} tall and sometimes reach a length of {{convert|24|ft|m}}, did not have a roof. Archaeologists are not certain where the original entrance to the enclosure was located, or even if there was one.<ref name=BAR /> The Herodian building stands on an earlier structure possibly built during the [[Hasmonean dynasty]] ({{circa}} 2nd century BCE).<ref name="Arnon" />