Plate 39 The Tomb of Joseph at Shechem - After David Roberts
Roberts drew this composition on the 17th April 1839. 'Near Nablus, in a village called Askar, is a tomb in which tradition holds that Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, heads of the two tribes of Israel that bore their names, were buried. The special holiness of this place, which has never waned over the centuries, is due to the undying reverence paid to the figure of Joseph. A man who was more pious and just than any other, Joseph died in the land of Egypt in the certain belief that Palestine was the land promised to his people. When, during the Exodus, the Jews brought the body of Joseph with them, Jacob purchased, for one hundred pieces of silver, the land in which to bury him, quite close to the ancient town of Shechem, now known as Nablus. This event supposedly sanctioned in formal terms the right of the Jewish people to the land of Canaan.
In this illustration by Roberts, who came here shortly after visiting Jacob's Well , Joseph's Tomb appears as a massive block that has been plastered over: low and squat. On one side, a shallow niche has been carved, where a number of small lamps burn, probably brought as marks of devotion by one of the faithful. The two blocks of roughly squared stone that stand on either side of the tomb are traditionally considered to be the headstones of Ephraim and Manasseh.' [1]
The drawings and watercolours from this tour by David Roberts of the Holy Land and Egypt were collated together into folios and released over a seven-year period by the publisher F.G. Moon from 20 Threadneedle Street London. This lithograph was published on September 2nd 1844.
Medium: Original First Edition Lithograph, with later hand-colouring on thick woven paper.
Half Plate 39.
Inscribed l.r. 'David Roberts R.A. 1839' and l.l. 'Tomb of Joseph at Shechem', 25.7 x 35.2cm (lithograph size), mounted (42.6 x 51.4cm).
The original title is visible through a cut out on the mount 'The Tomb of Joseph at Shechem' and the original text from the publication in 1844 is included attached to the back of the mount.
References:
[1] Fabio Bourbon (ed). Yesterday and Today: The Holy Land. Swan Hill Press: London, 1996, p.203. Translated by A.B.A. Milano.
Condition report: very good for its age. A few small markings, please see photos. Recently put into a new acid free mount, there is tiny mark at the top of the mount.