Editing Hebron (section)

===Mamluk period===
In 1260, after [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] [[Sultan]] [[Baibars]] defeated the Mongol army, the [[minaret]]s were built onto the sanctuary. Six years later, while on pilgrimage to Hebron, Baibars promulgated an edict forbidding Christians and Jews from entering the sanctuary,<ref>{{harvnb|Micheau|2006|p=402}}</ref> and the climate became less tolerant of Jews and Christians than it had been under the prior [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] rule. The edict for the exclusion of Christians and Jews was not strictly enforced until the middle of the 14th-century and by 1490, not even Muslims were permitted to enter the caverns.<ref>{{harvnb|Murphy-O'Connor|1998|p=274}}.</ref> The mill at [[Artas, Bethlehem|Artas]] was built in 1307, and the profits from its income were dedicated to the hospital in Hebron.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharon|1997|pp=117–18}}.</ref> Between 1318 and 1320, the [[Na'ib]] of [[Gaza City|Gaza]] and much of coastal and interior Palestine ordered the construction of [[al-Jawali Mosque|Jawli Mosque]] to enlarge the prayer space for worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.<ref>Dandis, Wala. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/71913073/History-of-Hebron History of Hebron]. November 7, 2011. Retrieved on 2012-03-02.</ref>

Hebron was visited by important rabbis over the next two centuries, among them [[Nachmanides]] (1270) and [[Ishtori Haparchi|Ishtori HaParchi]] (1322) who noted the [[Old Jewish cemetery, Hebron|old Jewish cemetery]] there. [[Sunni]] [[imam]] [[Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya]] (1292–1350) was penalized by the religious authorities in Damascus for refusing to recognize Hebron as a Muslim pilgrimage site, a view also held by his teacher [[Ibn Taymiyyah]].<ref>{{harvnb|Meri|2004|pp=362–63}}.</ref> The Jewish-Italian traveler, [[Meshullam of Volterra]] (1481) found not more than twenty Jewish families living in Hebron.<ref>{{harvnb|Kosover|1966|p=5}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|David|2010|p=24}}.</ref> and recounted how the Jewish women of Hebron would disguise themselves with a veil in order to pass as Muslim women and enter the Cave of the Patriarchs without being recognized as Jews.<ref>{{harvnb|Lamdan|2000|p=102}}.</ref> Minute descriptions of Hebron were recorded in Stephen von Gumpenberg's Journal (1449), by [[Felix Fabri]] (1483) and by [[Mejr ed-Din]]<ref>{{harvnb|Robinson|Smith|1856|pp=440–42, n.1}}.</ref> It was in this period, also, that the [[Mamluk]] Sultan [[Qaitbay|Qa'it Bay]] revived the old custom of the Hebron "table of Abraham", and exported it as a model for his own ''[[madrasa]]'' in [[Medina]].<ref>{{harvnb|Singer|2002|p=148}}</ref> This became an immense charitable establishment near the [[Haram]], distributing daily some 1,200 loaves of bread to travelers of all faiths.<ref>{{harvnb|Robinson|Smith|1856|p=458}}.</ref> The Italian rabbi [[Obadiah ben Abraham Bartenura]] wrote around 1490:<blockquote>I was in the Cave of Machpelah, over which the mosque has been built; and the Arabs hold the place in high honour. All the Kings of the Arabs come here to repeat their prayers, but neither a Jew nor an Arab may enter the Cave itself, where the real graves of the Patriarchs are; the Arabs remain above, and let down burning torches into it through a window, for they keep a light always burning there. . Bread and lentil, or some other kind of pulse (seeds of peas or beans), is distributed (by the Muslims) to the poor every day without distinction of faith, and this is done in honour of Abraham.<ref>{{harvnb|Berger|2012|p=246.}}.</ref></blockquote>