Israeli university claims King Herod's tomb unearthed

Asiaprod

An interesting bit of news from CNN on line

King Herod's tomb unearthed, Israeli university claims
JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Hebrew University said late Monday.

The tomb is at a site called Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert, clearly visible from southern Jerusalem. Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there, the university said.

The university had hoped to keep the find a secret until Tuesday, when it planned a news conference to disclose the find in detail, but the Haaretz newspaper found out about the discovery and published an article on its Web site.

Herod became the ruler of the Holy Land under the Romans around 37 B.C. The wall he built around the Old City of Jerusalem still stands, and he also ordered big construction projects in Caesaria, Jericho, the hilltop fortress of Massada and other sites.

It has long been assumed Herod was buried at Herodium, but decades of excavations had failed to turn up the site. The 1st century historian Josephus Flavius described the tomb and Herod's funeral procession.

Haaretz said the tomb was found by archaeologist Ehud Netzer, a Hebrew University professor who has been working at Herodium since 1972. The paper said the tomb was in a previously unexplored area between the two palaces Herod built on the site.

Herod died in 4 B.C. in Jericho.

Herodium was one of the last strong points held by Jewish rebels fighting against the Romans, and it was conquered and destroyed by Roman troops in A.D. 71, a year after they destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

lostexpectation

Asiaprod wrote:

An interesting bit of news from CNN on line

King Herod's tomb unearthed, Israeli university claims
JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Hebrew University said late Monday.

The tomb is at a site called Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert, clearly visible from southern Jerusalem. Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there, the university said.

that would have been a bit of clue wouldn't it :P

philologos

I personally find that to be a good thing. It's always an exciting prospect to see more locations, tombs, etc being found in Israel from the Bible's history. Infact what excites me even more is the prospect that there could be more documents to find if there are more tormbs etc out there.

Asiaprod

Jakkass wrote:

Infact what excites me even more is the prospect that there could be more documents to find if there are more tormbs etc out there.

Indeed, I live in hope that this will be the case and that more documents will be discovered which can shed light on the whole subject.

bonkey

I'm right in saying this isn't the Herod of New Testament 'fame', but rather his father?

magicbastarder

i recall hearing that the publically accepted date for the birth of jesus was incorrect, as herod of the new testament died in 4BC; so that would imply that this is the chap.

Zombrex

Is James Cameron involved at all....????

philologos

hopefully not

Zombrex

bonkey wrote:

I'm right in saying this isn't the Herod of New Testament 'fame', but rather his father?

Depends on what you mean. There are a few of the Herods in the New Testament.

This is Herod The Great, the one that killed the innocents because Jesus was born.

Later his son, Herod Antipas kills John the Baptist

bonkey

Yeah...thats where my confusion was.

Ta.

Zombrex

bonkey wrote:

Yeah...thats where my confusion was.

Ta.

Of course the dates are all wrong, but we will leave that for another thread

Fanny Cradock

I can't wait :rolleyes:

Anyway, unlike Camerons claim's, I think this would be a welcomed find for Christianity and belivers. However, I don't think that it would make any difference to you hedonistic baby-eating atheists out there

humanji

Thought Protestants were the baby eaters?

Has anyone found any photos of the dig at all? Google isn't working for some reason and I can't seem to find any