[ 30 ] Sharing and Exclusion: The Case of Rachel’s Tomb Sharing and Exclusion: The Case of Rachel’s Tomb 1 Glenn Bowman In the opening decades of the last century, in the latter days of Ottoman rule over Greater Syria as well as in the early days of the British Mandate for Palestine, inter-communal sharing of shrines was still a relatively common phenomenon. In the summer of 1903, Lewis Paton accompanied Professors Samuel Curtiss and Stuart Crawford on “an extended trip … through the rural districts of Syria and Palestine” 2 during which they encountered multiple sites at which combinations of the dominant religions of the region (for the most part “Christians, Mohammadans and Druses,” 3 but also on occasion “Metāwilehs” 4 – Shi‘a) shared reverence of the same sites. Thus at Bāniyās, in the Galilee, there is an ancient holy oak sacred to Sheikh Ibrāhīm. It is covered with bits of cloth hung upon it by pilgrims as calling cards to remind the saint of their requests. It is visited by members Image from glass negative of Rachel’s Tomb. Note antechamber to the fore of the photograph. Source: Property of the author, date and photographer unknown.