Tomb of King Herod Discovered at Herodium

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Israeli scientists said Tuesday that they had discovered the tomb of Herod the Great - the notorious, Rome- appointed 'King of the Jews' who ruled over the Biblical kingdom of Judaea at the time of the birth of Jesus.

'We have discovered the tomb of Herod at the Herodium,' Professor Ehud Netzer from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who had searched for the ruler's grave for the past 35 years, told a news conference in Jerusalem as he pointed to an aerial picture of the desert fortress, with an arrow marking the exact spot of the tomb.

Herodium, named after the monarch, is one of the main palaces he built during his nearly four-decade rule over Judaea as a Roman client king in the first century BC.

Located around 12 kilometres south of Jerusalem, it is a double-walled structure filled on the outside with earth, creating an artificial hill.

Historians and archeologists led by Netzer had been searching for the tomb since 1972, but initially excavated in the wrong sections of the compound.

Netzer said he eventually managed to piece together the exact location of the tomb by reconstructing the king's funeral procession, leading from his winter palace in Jericho to the Herodium. Finally, about three weeks ago, he stumbled on the pieces of a sarcophagus, which he believes was the stone casket belonging to Herod.

Although the evidence was 'circumstantial,' he said he was 'certain' that this was the grave of king, because his son was buried elsewhere, so the casket could not have been his.

Herod the Great, who ruled over Judaea from about 37 to 4 BC, is perhaps best known for his cruelty as described in the New Testament, but also for the grand ancient buildings he constructed in what is now Israel.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, he ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn 'King of the Jews,' the baby Jesus.

The jealous and 'paranoid' leader who married 10 times also executed his second wife Mariamne after she bore him five of his children, as well as three of his sons accused of conspiring against him.

One of his other sons, Herod Antipas who inherited half of the kingdom after his father's death, is the one who ruled at the time of Jesus' death and is said to have executed John the Baptist.

But Herod the Great is also famed for his construction of the Second Jewish Biblical Temple, the Massada fortress and the ancient Roman town of Caesaria in what is now central Israel.

Much of his life is known through the 1st century AD Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

'The discovery is significant because first of all he is a well-known figure and also because of his proximity to the time of Jesus' birth,' said Netzer.

Describing his discovery, he said 'the big moment was finding a big podium at the base, which then led to the discovery of the sarcophagus.' After other archeological discoveries in that area, 'we just knew,' he said.

'The pieces (of the casket) looked like they were destroyed in a fit of anger and most likely they were destroyed by Jewish rebels during their revolt against the Romans,' he added, answering a Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa question.

Judaea was an independent Jewish kingdom until conquered by the Roman empire in the first century BC, after which it became a Roman client kingdom and then a Roman province.

While the neighbouring rival Kingdom of Israel covered what is now the northern West Bank and northern Israel, Judaea stretched out over what is now known as the southern West Bank and parts of southern Israel, including the eastern shore of the Dead Sea and such cities as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and Beersheba.

Herod the Great was a Edomite, a tribal people inhabiting that area, whose father Antipater was made virtual ruler over it by Julius Ceasar.

As an Edomite whose family had adopted the Hellenistic culture, he was never regarded as an authentic Jew and he expanded the Second Jewish Temple to appease his people.

Tuesday's find comes 10 weeks after two Canadian documentary makers said they found the tomb of Jesus in a cave in a West Jerusalem residential neighbourhood, saying that statistically, several stone caskets found side by side and bearing the names 'Jesus son of Joseph' and twice 'Mary,' were most likely those of Jesus Christ, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene.