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In Search of Herod’s Tomb

By Ehud Netzer

Josephus tells us that the site of Herodium was the final resting place of the skilled builder and hated king Herod the Great, but Josephus failed to identify the exact location of the tomb. For 35 years, Herod’s tomb eluded archaeologist Ehud Netzer. Finally in 2007 a ruined mausoleum and a smashed sarcophagus were uncovered, providing the long-sought answer. But excavations at Herod’s magnificent eponymous desert retreat have now revealed much more, including a royal theater box with colorful paintings.

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Footnotes

1.

See Nikos Kokkinos, “Herod’s Horrid Death,” BAR 28:02.

2.

See Ehud Netzer, “Searching for Herod’s Tomb,” BAR 09:03.

3.

See Andrea M. Berlin and Geoffrey B. Waywell, “Monumental Tombs from Maussollos to the Maccabees,” BAR 33:03.

4.

Secco is an artistic technique in which paint is applied to dry plaster, whereas fresco is painted on wet plaster.

Endnotes

1.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14.352–360.

2.

Josephus, Antiquities 17.174–175 and The Jewish War 1.659.

3.

David Jacobson, “Has Herod’s Place of Burial Been Found?” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 139, no. 3 (2007), pp. 147–148.

4.

Josephus, Antiquities 16.13.