Herod's Tomb Discovered



(image via sciencedaily)


The Tomb of Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed Jewish King from 37 to 44 AD has been discovered by archaeologists near the Judean Desert, 9 miles south of Jerusalem. He is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew as the political force behind the "Slaughter of the Innocents," an episode in which all boys under the age of two were to be killed in an effort at killing the Jewish messiah. Herod was educated with the Princes of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and was close with both the mad Emperor Caligula and Claudius. From Time:

"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 74 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."

(Time)