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The cave was a place of Christian worship during the Byzantine times until about the ninth century. It is now part of the Judean Kings path through Central Israel. | Credit: Upi / Alamy Stock Photo
Cave in Israel once considered to be related to Jesus Actually can be the funeral of another man of his time: Salome, the sister of the Jewish king Herod GreatHe finds a new study.
The idea is based on the ornaments and architecture of the site that archaeologists say shows that a member of the Herodic Royal Family may be buried there in the first century BC; Jewish At that time it was a customer kingdom of Roman EmpireS
But the authors of the study say that it is possible for a different person named Salome to be buried there.
“Not that I think it should be the tomb of Herod’s sister,” Vladik LifshitsAn archaeologist from the Israeli antique organ (IAA), told Live Science. “I guess this is one of the options.”
Lifshits is a co -author with the IAA archaeologist Nir-Shimshon Paran of the study in the latest issue of Journal Journal ‘Atiqot This suggests that the “Salome Cave” may have been the funeral of a Jewish king.
The cave, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, was known by Byzantine times as a place of Christian worship because a woman named Salome (a common name at that time) was He said he was Jesus’ midwife.
Related: 1 900 years of papyrus of the best documented lawsuit from Judea, except the trial against Jesus of Jesus
Monumental architecture
Identifying the tomb with someone called Salome seems to have come from the discovery there on an ark – bone casket – marked by that name. Jerusalem was conquered by the Byzantines of the Islamic Caliphate in the seventh century, but Christian worshipers seem to have visited the cave until the ninth century. However, exactly who is buried in the tomb is unknown.
The citys rediscovered the cave about 40 years ago and it was excavated by archaeologists in 1984; IAA has already included it in the Judean Kings path, a 60 miles (100 km) route connecting several archeological sites in Central Israel.
Israeli government archaeologists believe that the tomb was originally built for a rich Jew named Salome, for which it was confused by an early Christian name Salome. | Credit: Nir Alon / Alamy Stock Photo
The artifacts excavated from the cave include hundreds of eighth and ninth -century clay lamps, which archaeologists believe they have been sold to Christian worshipers so that they have light while exploring the dark cave.
Many of the original ornaments have already been taken away, but Lifshits noted that monumental architecture – including a large courtyard at the entrance – pointed out that a member of the royal family may have been buried there. The authors also discovered the remains of several luxury villas nearby, indicating that the site once belonged to a very rich family.
Herodic piano
Herod I, also known as Herod the Great, is a native of the Southern Iduman region of the Holy Land, which rises to power through the influence of its family with the Romans and ruled Judea from about 37 to about 4 BC.
He appears in the Christian Bible as the jealous king who ordered the execution of all male babies in Bethlehem – an act known as the “slaughter of the innocent” from which the Jesus family fled (but most historians Don’t think that happened).
Nevertheless of Herod WildHe was considered a relatively good king as a whole.
For example, he was a fruitful builder who restored the second temple of the fury of the temple, and Massive rock walls He had built, still standing today as Crying wall in JerusalemS
One of the members of the Irodi royal family named Salome was Herod’s sister, a key figure in his court; and Reports of time Say she has agreed with him in the executions of other family members.
But Herod’s granddaughter was also named Salome; According to the Christian Bible, she ordered the execution of John the Baptist, a Jewish preacher and an associate of Jesus, and asked for his head to be brought to her on a plate.
Hundreds of oil lamps were discovered from the tomb. Archaeologists believe they were sold to Christian worshipers in the eight and ninth centuries. | Credit: Upi / Alamy Stock Photo
The older Salome died about 10 states AD 10; Historians consider
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Archeologist Boaz Zisu The Israeli University of Bar-Ilan, who did not participate in the study, said that the idea that the man buried in Salome’s cave may be Herod’s sister is interesting, but not categorical.
“The authors correctly identify the original phase as a monumental tomb belonging to the local elites of the Herodian period,” he told Live Science in an email. But the establishment that the tomb is for the Herodia Salome will ask for “more evidential support,” he said.