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Ezra's Tomb
Ezra’s
tomb is located on the west bank of the Tigris River at Al Azair (Al Uzayr), some 60 miles
north of Basra, in what was the northeastern corner of the Central Marsh. It has long been
a revered site, having been visited as long ago as the twelfth century by Benjamin of Tudela, Pethahiah
of Regensburg and the poet, Yehuda Al-Harizi. It was described by Pethahiah as a tomb with
a synagogue on one side and a mosque on the other.
According to Al-Harizi, a local shepherd
had a dream that a holy person was buried nearby. After the dream
recurred several times, he told his friends about it. To prove the veracity of his account, he showed them he could
see again with an eye that had been blinded. On digging at the place in the dream, an iron coffin
was found with unknown characters inscribed on it. There were interpreted by a Hebrew scribe to read, “Ezra, the Priest.” So they ferried the remains across the river and re-interred
them at Al Azair where, ever since according to Al-Harizi, a
light has shined over them at night.
Ezra, a lineal descendant of Aaron, was a Hebrew high priest of the fifth
century BCE. He was also a scribe and a scholar and is sometimes credited with writing the
Biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah as well as a part of Chronicles. Tradition has it that he collected and edited
the Old Testament canon, putting it into modern form.
Like King Josiah (639-608 BCE), Ezra was deeply involved in reforming
Judaism. He was a leader of the second group of Jews who returned from Babylonian exile in 459 BCE.
When they reached Jerusalem, Ezra was appalled at what he saw and set about reconstituting the religion.
With the Age of Prophecy drawing to a close, he established the supremacy
of Torah and in particular the Oral Law to make Judaism a religion in which the law was central.
He also adopted the square Assyrian script which is still in use today. With some justice, Ezra has been called the father of Judaism since his efforts did much to give Jewish religion a lasting form.
Not
much is known of the life of Ezra. The Bible records that, in 445 BCE, he appeared at the dedication
of the reconstructed walls of Jerusalem and read the law aloud to the people. There’s no record
after that. Josephus wrote that he was buried in Jerusalem but both the time and place of his death are unknown.
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