Herod’s Tomb FoundIntroduction Talkback Add Your Comment
Thirty-five years after he first began excavating the site of Herodium, archaeologist Ehud Netzer, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has finally found what he’s been looking for—the tomb of Herod the Great, the murderous king who ruled Judea on behalf of Rome from 37 to 4 B.C. The tomb turned out to be on the northeast slope of the manmade, volcano-shaped mountain of Herodium, about 8 miles south of Jerusalem. The builder of many grand projects throughout his kingdom—Caesarea, Masada, the expanded Temple Mount in Jerusalem—Herod constructed Herodium on a vast scale, with complexes inside the mountain and also a small city at the base, called Lower Herodium. Herod seems to have originally intended his tomb to be inside a mausoleum in Lower Herodium but changed his mind later life and decided to be interred inside the mountain itself. At the top of the mountain Herod had built a fortress, a mountain and a monument; the tomb itself was approached by a monumental staircase about 21-feet wide. Herod’s ornate sarcophagus, however, had been smashed in ancient times, likely by participants of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (67-70 A.D.)—a reflection of how widely hated Herod was by his subjects, who saw him as a cruel puppet of Rome. BAR published an extensive overview of Herodium by Netzer himself; click here to read it. To see Hebrew University’s announcement of the discovery, click here. A press report from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz can be read at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/856808.html.
Ehud Netzer will be missedEhud Netzer died at age 76 after a fall at Herodium on october 28, 2010. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement in memory of Netzer,"Netzer's tragic death is a loss for his family, for research into the heritage of Israel and for archaeology." • • • • • • • Payback timeThe first century historian Josephus says that Herod "opened the sepulchre by night, and went into it, and ... found... furniture of gold, and those precious goods that were laid up there; all which he took away. However, he had a great desire to make a more diligent search, and to go further in, even as far as the very bodies of David and Solomon". As Herod desecrated the Tomb of David, so also have grave robbers destroyed Herod's tomb. • • • • • • • |
BRAND NEWIron Age Fortress Unearthed at Ashdod February 07, 2012 Slowly, Iraqi Antiquities Begin to Return February 06, 2012 Royal Garden from Israelite Palace Reveals Its Secrets February 02, 2012 Get to Know Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavator Aren Maeir February 01, 2012 Effort to Recreate Herod’s Tomb Criticized January 31, 2012 ![]() MOST POPULARBiblical Views: The Many Faces of the Good Samaritan—Most Wrong Understanding the Good Samaritan Parable ![]() FREE BIBLE AND ARCHAEOLOGY ARTICLESFIRST PERSON: In Praise of Published Excavation Reports BIBLICAL VIEWS: The Many Faces of the Good Samaritan—Most Wrong ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIEWS: Digging a Hole and Telling a Tale THE BIBLE IN THE NEWS: Hope and Help for Today’s Dry Bones ![]() SCHOLAR’S STUDYAllan J. Pantuck: Response to Tselikas Handwriting Analysis August 19, 2011 Agamemnon Tselikas: Response to Allan J. Pantuck August 19, 2011 Oded Golan’s Commentary on the Expert Witnesses of the Case March 2011 ![]() ![]() FREE Downloadable E-BooksTen Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries ![]() |
INFORMATION |
PUBLICATIONS |
BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY NETWORK LINKS |