Endnote 6 – Is T1 David’s Tomb?

David Ussishkin, a leading authority on First Temple tombs in Jerusalem (David Ussishkin, The Village of Silwan: The Necropolis from the Period of the Judean Kingdom [Jerusalem, 1993]) has also concluded that Weill’s T1 andT2 are most likely tombs. Strangely, however, he refuses to take the next step—that they are likely the Davidic tombs referred to in the Bible: “In my view these caves may well have been tombs ruined by the later quarries, but I doubt if they were royal tombs.” (David Ussishkin, On Biblical Jerusalem, Megiddo, Jezreel and Lachish [Hong Kong, 2011], p. 31) As we have seen, the major objection to the conclusion that T1 and T2 are the royal necropolis is that T1 and T2 are not tombs. But if they are tombs, almost all the objections to the conclusion that they are the royal necropolis fade. What else could they be? The entire City of David is but 12 acres. The Bible itself indicates that this area is just where the royal necropolis was located. So if they are tombs, as Ussishkin recognizes, they should be the royal necropolis.