Well of Souls
This article describes the cave in Jerusalem. For the series of novels by Jack Chalker see Well World.
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The Well of Souls (Arabic: Bir el- Arweh) is a natural cave located immediately beneath the Foundation Stone, under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In addition to a small well-shaped hole in the stone that looks into the cave, there is an entrance on the southern side by stairs which pass through a gap between the Stone and the surrounding bedrock. The cave takes the form of a moderately sized room (similar in floor space to the stone), the ceiling curving to the ground gently, the floor having been flattened and carpeted. The southern end of the cave, through which the stairs enter, has manmade walls to provide structural support to the roof of the cave above the stairs.
Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra attested to the existence of a cave found under the Dome of the Rock and known as the "Well of Souls".[1]
[edit] Popular culture
In popular fiction, the Well's legends appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark, though its location was changed from Jerusalem to Tanis, Egypt.[citation needed] The "Mountain of Malefor", the final level in the video game The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, is also known as the Well of Souls, despite not having anything to do with the real Well of Souls. In the video game Darksiders, the Destroyer draws his power from the well of souls which Azrael unwittingly helped him do.
[edit] References
- ^ Radbaz, Sheeloth Ve-Teshuboth cited in Zev Vilnay, Legends of Jerusalem (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1973), 26f.
