Image Details

A scalloped shell, today fragmentary, embellished the large central doorway, now destroyed, leading to the most elaborate Akeldama tomb; to the right of the tomb entrance are two apses. The lower portion of this drawing shows how those features were likely incorporated into the tomb’s facade. Masonry blocks found above the triple entrance indicate the former presence of a now-destroyed superstructure. The upper portion of the drawing shows a conjectured reconstruction of that structure as a magnificent monument, visible from afar, appropriate for the burial place of a high priest and his family. The two apses at right in the drawing may have provided a resting place for visitors or may have been used by the tomb’s guards.