oseph's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר יוסף‎, Kever Yosef, Arabic: قبر يوسف‎, Qabr Yūsuf) is located at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, some 230 metres (750 ft) north of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus in the Palestinian Authority, near the site of biblical Shechem.[1]

This location is allegedly the tomb of Joseph (son of Jacob). Traditions regarding this location date to the beginning of the 4th-century AD.[2]

In 1869 Mark Twain wrote of the site: "Few tombs on earth command the veneration of so many races and men of diverse creeds as this of Joseph. Samaritan and Jew, Muslim and Christian alike, revere it, and honour it with their visits".[3] It is one of the holiest sites in Judaism[4] as many Jews believe the site to be the final resting place of the biblical patriarch Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The Samaritans have held the site sacred since the 11th-century for the same reason.[5] Historically, Muslims also associated the tomb with that of the biblical figure. In recent years however, they claim that an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yussuf (Joseph) Dawiqat, was buried there two centuries ago.[6] According to Islamic tradition, the biblical Joseph is buried in Hebron, next to the Cave of the Patriarchs where a medieval structure known as Yussuf-Kalah, the "Castle of Joseph", is located.[7]

In the years after Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, Jews consolidated their hold on the site. Since 1995, when Nablus was handed over to the Palestinian National Authority, the tomb became a target for violent protests by Arabs against the Israeli government.[citation needed] Several Israeli soldiers were killed at the site[citation needed] and in 2000 the complex was ransacked by an Arab mob.[citation needed] Subsequently, Israel prohibited Jewish visits to the site and the site gradually fell into disrepair. Pressure from Jewish groups led to infrequent visits allowed under IDF protection. Attempts to renovate the site are currently underway

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