Oak of Mamre

The Oak of Mamre (also called the Oak of Sibta), at Hirbet es-Sibte, two kilometres southwest of Mamre in the West Bank, Israel. also called The Oak of Abraham is an ancient tree which, in tradition, is said to mark the place where Abraham entertained the three angels or where Abraham pitched his tent. It is estimated that this oak is approximately 5,000 years old. The tree was worshipped by Jews and Christians for hundreds of years, until Constantine in the fourth century stopped the practice by building a church there.

The site of the oak was acquired in 1868 by Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) for the Church of Russia, and the Monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded nearby. The site has since been a major attraction for Russian pilgrims before the revolution, and is the only functioning Christian shrine in the Hebron region. After the Russian Revolution, the property came under the control of the ROCOR.

A long-standing tradition is that the Oak of Abraham will die before the appearance of the Antichrist. The main oak trunk has been dead since 1996. In 1998 appeared a root sprout.