Acheological dating of grave headstones

Somehow, the cemetery survived World War II and is maintained by the the Jewish Congregation of Mainz.Today, Heiliger Sand is a pilgrimage destination for Jewish visitors from around the world.Some graves may contain as many as 12 bodies stacked on one another.Although the earliest tombstone are simple and plain, starting around the 16Wikimedia Commons The Jewish Cemetery in Worms, Germany, which is also called Heiliger Sand (Holy Sand), is the oldest existing Jewish cemetery in Europe.Since Kobo Daishi’s burial, Okunoin has become a popular pilgrimage site and many many people, including prominent monks and feudal lords, have been buried here to be close to Kobo Daishi and also await Miroku.The main area of worship in the cemetery is called Torodo Hall, which contains 10,000 lanterns.

Reportedly, two of the lanterns have been burning since 1088 CE.

Between 1439 – 1787, it was the only burial place for Prague’s Jewish community, as they were not allowed to buried outside their designated ghetto.

There are over 12,000 tombstones in the cemetery, but it is believed that there are about 100,000 individuals buried beneath them.

Some of the most important graves belong to rabbis such as Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, Alexander ben Salomon Wimpfen, Rabbi Nathan ben Issak, and Rabbi Jakob ben Moses halevi, called Ma Ha Ril.

The last burial at the cemetery took place in 1940, in the middle of the Holocaust.