King Herod's tomb discovered, Israeli university says

[Womble]

King Herod's tomb discovered, Israeli university says

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced on Monday the discovery of the grave and tomb of Herod the Great, the Roman empire's "King of the Jews" in ancient Judea.

The University said in a brief statement the discovery was made at Herodium, where Herod's hilltop fortress palace once stood some 7 miles from Jerusalem.

The university said it would give further details at a news conference on Tuesday.

The Roman Senate appointed Herod "King of the Jews" in approximately 40 BCE. He was also well-known for the magnificent structures built at his behest. In addition to the Herodium fortress, he was responsible for the building of Masada and the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

He also created new cities such as Caesaria and Herodion. According to the ancient Jewish historian Falavius Josephus, Herod died in 4 BCE.

Herod is mentioned in Christian tradition, as well as Jewish tradition: The Gospel of Matthew says heordered the "Massacre of the Innocents", the killing of all young male children in Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem out of fear he would lose his throne to a new "King of the Jews", whose birth had been related to him by the Magi.

According to Matthew, Joseph and Mary fled with baby Jesus to Egypt to escape the slaughter.

Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Katif council, where the Herodium is located, said that the discovery would turn the area into a site of global and religious importance.

"The discovery is another proof of Gush Etzion's direct link to the history of the Jewish people and Jerusalem and we must prepare for tens of thousands of visitors," he added.

[Mediocrates]

Did Hamas claim it as the 44th most holy site, yet? Or will they simply burn it?

[Mediocrates]

The WaPo of course worries about Evil Jews.

At Herod's Site, New Hopes and Fears
Claim of Finding Ancient King's Tomb Bolsters Israeli Settlers, Worries Palestinians

By Samuel Sockol

Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 9, 2007;


HERODIUM, West Bank, May 8 -- Israeli archaeologists revealed more details Tuesday about their discovery of what they believe is the tomb of King Herod, the Roman-appointed ruler of Judea known in the Bible for ordering the killing of children in Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Jesus.

"The long search for Herod the Great's tomb has ended with the exposure of the remains of his grave, sarcophagus and mausoleum on Mount Herodium's northeastern slope," Prof. Ehud Netzer, of the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced at a campus news conference.

The discovery dusted off the competing Israeli and Palestinian claims to the region between Bethlehem and the Judean desert. Israeli settler leaders said the reported find of the Jewish king's tomb supported their historic right to the area, while Palestinians expressed fears that it would be used as a pretext to increase Jewish settlement construction south of Jerusalem.

Herod, who ruled Judea from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C., is renowned for monumental building projects, including the expansion of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the construction of the fortress at Masada and of temples and palaces in Caesarea. At Herodium he built a complex that served as a palace, sanctuary, administrative center and mausoleum.

Netzer said Herodium stands out among Herod's building projects because it is "the only site that carries his name and is the place where he chose to be buried and to memorialize himself."

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape Herod's Massacre of the Innocents. Herod later died in Jericho.

The main historical source of the time, Josephus Flavius, wrote that Herod's body was taken in royal procession for burial at Herodium. Netzer said that about 70 years later, during the Jewish revolt against the Romans, the rebels smashed the tomb of the king, who was despised by many of his subjects.

"This was not just an act of looting, this was an act of revenge," Netzer said. "The sarcophagus was smashed with a hammer. This reflects the anger toward Herod after his death."

The limestone fragments of the sarcophagus, decorated with floral motifs, do not include any inscription or contain any bones. Some archaeologists said doubts remain over whether the tomb is Herod's.

"It seems that they don't have enough evidence," said Wael Hamamreh, the Palestinian Authority's director of antiquities for the Jericho district. "There is no inscription on the sarcophagus or any other solid evidence for that matter. It could have been even the tomb of the architect of the place."
The three-decade search for Herod's tomb focused until the middle of last year on an area at the foot of this dusty man-made mountain on the western fringe of the Judean desert.

In August the excavations moved farther up the slope, at whose summit sits a complex comprising a palace, a fortress and a monument.

Netzer, who led the team, was not at the site when the sarcophagus was found last month. His colleague, Yaakov Kalman, said the sarcophagus, which measured about two feet wide and more than eight feet long, sat on a raised platform.

Among the other fragments discovered were ornamental urns similar to those found in Petra, Jordan. But there were no inscriptions on those, either.

"The structure is so fancy I can't believe it is something other then the tomb of King Herod," Kalman said. "We also know it was built during the construction of the palace. But can we say we are 100 percent sure it is his? The answer is no."

Shaul Goldstein, a leader of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem, told the Ynetnews Web site that "the discovery is further proof of Gush Etzion's direct link to the history of the Jewish people and Jerusalem."

Nabil Khatib, the Palestinian Authority's director of the Bethlehem district, said international law prohibits Israel from removing artifacts found in the occupied territories. "This is robbery of Palestinian artifacts," he said.

[Arjunn]

This is great news! one should always strive to learn as much as possible about his/her own culture and heritage!

congrats!

[andak01]

I'm not sure to understand what's going on. If they discover a Roman camp in Northern Britain, does that mean the Italians have a claim to the UK? So, like everything that happened from 2000 years ago until today doesn't count? How does that work. Seems to me that, since the Persians ruled ruled Jerusalem before the Romans, the Iranians have a right to it. That's the same logic in play.

[Arjunn]

I'm not sure to understand what's going on. If they discover a Roman camp in Northern Britain, does that mean the Italians have a claim to the UK? So, like everything that happened from 2000 years ago until today doesn't count? How does that work. Seems to me that, since the Persians ruled ruled Jerusalem before the Romans, the Iranians have a right to it. That's the same logic in play.

yeah yeah............

For those who do not have an ancient culture/for those who go about invading and taking over other countries; discoveries such as this would be of no importance(or might even be taken as hostile events).

people who do not have millenias of History would not be able to apreciate an event such as this. as you so clearly demonstrated in your post.

yes yes..you can say that you did not "mean" it that way but its there...in black and white; for everyone to see.
just dont forget that not all people are without any history ancient heritage

[andak01]

yeah yeah............

For those who do not have an ancient culture/for those who go about invading and taking over other countries; discoveries such as this would be of no importance(or might even be taken as hostile events).

No. Simply that there isn't anything to it. It really isn't of anything other than historical significance. My family doesn't have the right to live where we live because of any historical claim. My ancestors slaughtered the Indians and put them on reservations. Thusfar and as far as I can see, the Indians are not able to reclaim that which was taken from them. That's why a white man of European descent like myself gets to live where I live, by force of arms and laws created by those with arms. The Persians don't have a right to Jerusalem because they were defeated. The Greeks don't have a right to Jerusalem because they were defeated. The French don't have a right to Jerusalem because they were defeated. The Jews only have had a right to rule Jerusalem during this new age when they have been able to defend it with the support of Britain and the United States. And they have a right to it for as long as they can defend it. I'm sure if you had asked a Persian or a Greek or a Roman or a Crusader or an Ottoman or for that matter a pre-Babylonian captivity Jew, they'd have all told you that their God gave them a right to that property and that it was forever.

people who do not have millenias of History would not be able to apreciate an event such as this. as you so clearly demonstrated in your post.

Newsflash. All of us have millenia of history because, whether you are a Creationist or an Evolutionist, we all come from the same source. You and I and my wife and the Emporor of Japan share a genetic map that binds us together.

yes yes..you can say that you did not "mean" it that way but its there...in black and white; for everyone to see.
just dont forget that not all people are without any history ancient heritage

Nobody is without ancient heritage. They may simply be ignorant of what it is.

[Womble]

I'm not sure to understand what's going on.

Judging by your reply- indeed you don't.

If they discover a Roman camp in Northern Britain, does that mean the Italians have a claim to the UK?

Nope. First, modern Italians aren't exactly the Romans, nor do they claim to be. Second, Britain wasn't the homeland of the Romans, but merely their temporary conquest, a province of no significance to their self-identification as Romans.

[andak01]

Judging by your reply- indeed you don't.


Nope. First, modern Italians aren't exactly the Romans, nor do they claim to be. Second, Britain wasn't the homeland of the Romans, but merely their temporary conquest, a province of no significance to their self-identification as Romans.

I've got it. So the Native Americans do have the right to America and I don't? They were here ten thousand years prior to the first European and a long time before the Tribes of Israel destroyed the Amalek and the Tribe of Ai.

[Mediocrates]

The Palestinians want it both ways. First they assert that it's implausible that there could be a Jewish king buried in the West Bank which would allow one to assert that any Jews were ever in the West Bank. Which is their official position. Then they turn around and forbid the Jews from working the site because they are Palestinian artifacts. So in short what the Palestinians are asserting is that the Roman history of Israel is Palestinian not Jewish.

[andak01]

The Palestinians want it both ways. First they assert that it's implausible that there could be a Jewish king buried in the West Bank which would allow one to assert that any Jews were ever in the West Bank. Which is their official position. Then they turn around and forbid the Jews from working the site because they are Palestinian artifacts. So in short what the Palestinians are asserting is that the Roman history of Israel is Palestinian not Jewish.

Let's look at the timeline:

Jebusites ~3000 - 1000BCE
Israelites ~1000 - 722
Assyrians 722 - 586
Babylonians 586 - 538
Persians 538 - 333
Greeks:Alexander,Ptolemy 332 - 198
Greeks:Seleucids 198 - 168
Maccabeans 168 - 140
Hasmonean Kingdom 140 - 63
Romans 63BCE - 132CE

WHEW! And that just takes us as far as the first century.

Bar Kokhba's revolt

According to Cassius Dio, 580,000 Jews were killed, 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed.[2] [3] The Romans suffered great losses as well

Can anyone here show me that more Jews in the history of the world were killed by Muslims than by Romans?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Kokhba%27s_revolt

Byzantines 135 - 638
Arabs 638 - 1099
Crusaders 1099 - 1187
Arabs 1187 - 1244
Turks 1244 - 1260
Mamelukes 1260- 1517
Ottomans 1517 - 1917
British 1917 - 1922
Mandate of Palestine 1922 - 1947
Israel 1947 - the Sun burns out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem

[Mediocrates]

This is why I don't care about any of this. None of it matters to the present day.

[Agnosthiest]

Can anyone here show me that more Jews in the history of the world were killed by Muslims than by Romans?

There is none, for there was no jewish community under islam that was as large as Israel under Roman rule. But when jews rebelled under Mohammad the result was pretty much the same: massacre, slavery & exile...arabia completely purged of Jews.

HINDUS...now there is the victim of muslims that number by the tens of millions!

And the forgotten number of pagans & polytheists who refused to convert to islam.

[bararallu]

"The Golden Age of equal rights was a myth" -Bernard Lewis

"In Morocco, which contained the largest Jewish community in the Islamic Diaspora, Jews were made to walk barefoot or wear shoes of straw when outside the ghetto. Even Muslim children participated in the degradation of Jews, by throwing stones at them or harassing them in other ways. The frequency of anti-Jewish violence increased, and many Jews were executed on charges of apostasy."

[andak01]

What's a myth is that Jews were always treated better by Christians than by Muslims. Even Christians are starting to buy into it. How nice to be able to forget the Spanish Inquisition, the Exiles from England and France, the Ghetto conditions, burning at the stake, Papal kidnappings, forced conversions etc. How nice to be able to whitewash every year of European history prior to 1948 and to focus only on what has happened in Arab countries since. But that's the advantage of a Western media.