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The long search for Herod the Great’s tomb has ended with the exposure of the remains of his grave, sarcophagus and mausoleum on Mount Herodium’s northeastern slope, Prof. Ehud Netzer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute of Archaeology announced today. Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 BCE, who was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, as well as the complex at Herodium, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem. . Herodium is the most outstanding among King Herod’s building projects. This is the only site that carries his name and the site where he chose to be buried and to memorialize himself -- all of this with the integration of a huge, unique palace at the fringe of the desert, said Prof. Netzer. Therefore, he said, the exposure of his tomb becomes the climax of this site’s research. The approach to the burial site - which has been described by the archaeologists involved as one of the most striking finds in Israel in recent years - was via a monumental flight of stairs (6.5 meters wide) leading to the hillside that were especially constructed for the funeral procession. The excavations on the slope of the mountain, at whose top is the famed structure comprised of a palace, a fortress and a monument, commenced in August 2006. The expedition, on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was conducted by Prof. Netzer, together with Yaakov Kalman and Roi Porath and with the participation of local Bedouins. The location and unique nature of the findings, as well as the historical record, leave no doubt that this was Herod’s burial site, said Prof. Netzer. The mausoleum itself was almost totally dismantled in ancient times. In its place remained only part of its well built podium, or base, built of large white ashlars (dressed stone) in a manner and size not previously revealed at Herodium. Continue …….. http://archive.is/oyAa Tomb of King Herod discovered at Herodium by Hebrew University archaeologist
http://www.huji.ac.il/cgi-bin/dovrut/dovrut_search_eng.pl?mesge117861762132688760 Did King Herod really died in 4BC?
What about the death of Herod as it relates to all this? After all, many scholars have said that king Herod died in 4 BC or 5 BC? Dr. Ernest L. Martin in his book, laboriously goes through each possibility for the death of king Herod and with a number of other scholars, proves that Herod died a couple of weeks after the total lunar eclipse of January 10, 1 BC. He pinpoints the date of death of Herod to about January 29, 1 BC plus or minus a couple of days.
Flavius Josephus wrote many details surrounding the death and burial of king Herod in his Jewish Antiquities. He writes that king Herod died shortly after a lunar eclipse. The lunar eclipses for that period of time in Israel were:
7 BC -- no lunar eclipse
6 BC -- no lunar eclipse 5 BC -- total lunar eclipse on March 23, time between eclipse and Passover was 29 days 5 BC -- total lunar eclipse on September 15, time between eclipse and Passover was 7 months 4 BC -- partial lunar eclipse on March 13, time between eclipse and Passover was 29 days 3 BC -- no lunar eclipse 2 BC -- no lunar eclipse 1 BC -- total lunar eclipse on January 10, time between eclipse and Passover was 12.5 weeks.
Dr. Martin and a number of other scholars have shown that given the details by Josephus and other historians of that time, that king Herod had to have died almost 3 weeks after the lunar eclipse. Then there were preparations for a royal burial and a 30-day period for the procession and burial. After that was over, the new king, Archelaus took care of many royal duties before Passover. Given all this, the two springtime lunar eclipses in 5 and 4 BC could not possibly be the lunar eclipse preceding king Herod's death. You'll have to read Dr. Martin's book to get all the details and other supporting information.
Astronomy and the Death of King Herod
In the face of the historical evidence against it, the majority of theologians have up to now placed the birth of Jesus before the spring of 4 B.C.E. They have insisted on this early date because of a reference in Josephus that King Herod died not long after an eclipse of the Moon and before a springtime Passover of the Jews. This eclipse has become an important chronological benchmark in reckoning the year of Herod’s death.
Eclipses are powerful astronomical indicators to show the precise times when events happened in history. Even those that happened 2000 years ago can be calculated to within a few minutes of their occurrence, and if one can pick the proper lunar eclipse that Josephus referred to, then further historical inquiry is considered unnecessary because “astronomy” has settled the chronological issue. Cont. here http://www.askelm.com/star/star010.htm
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Herod the Great
Herod the Great was the son of Antipater, governor of Idumea. Herod married Marianne, granddaughter of Hyrcanus thus linking himself with the Jews. In reality he can be considered the one of the last descendants of Esau, brother and rival of Jacob.After Augustus confirmed Herod as king, Herod began a frenzy of construction. He built whole cities, temples, gymnasiums, and palaces. The money came from all kinds of taxes imposed upon the people. Josephus says in The Jewish Wars,
The people of Judea, who at the beginning of his rule were in a good economic condition, were humbled to the ground and turned into miserable paupers. he had the leaders killed, in order to confiscate their property.Herod's Jerusalem main palace the seat of his government is what is now the Citadel at the Jaffa Gate. North of the Temple Mount he enlarged a fortress built by Hyrcanus, renaming it the Fortress Antonia in honor of his Roman benefactor.
He built a palace at Masada, another at Jericho, and the Herodium at Bethlehem. The large coastal city, Caesarea, popular with tourists today, was another of his works, dedicated to Augustus Caesar (Octavian) who was invited to its dedication. Herod built a great building over the cave of Abraham at Hebron. To this day many Herodian ruins are extant in Israel.
Nearly all of Herod's grandiose building programs were intended to impress foreigners in and around Israel. His ambitious building program on the Temple Mount was the one exception to the rule. Nearly 600 years after Second Temple had been dedicated, Herod determined to impart the splendor of Solomon's Temple to the existing edifice--to his own honor and glory of course. The Talmud (Bava Basra 3b-4a) tells how this came about:
Herod learned that the Torah requires that a Jewish king may be only a person "from among your brethren" (Deut. 17:15), which implies that a non-Jewish slave like Herod could not become king of Israel. Not surprisingly, Herod became furious at this interpretation that disqualified him from the monarchy. "Who taught this?" he demanded. When he heard that it was the Sages, he ordered that they be killed. Hardly a sage was left by the time his rage had stilled...Josephus reports (Josephus, Antiq. 15:38-425; Wars,5:184-247) that many Jews who heard of Herod's plans were shocked; they feared he would destroy the old building and not build a new one. Herod was sincere, however. He prepared all the building materials in advance before beginning the work in 19 or 20 B.C.E. (see John 2:20). Some 10,000 (to 18,000) workmen were employed, plus 1000 priests, since only priests were allowed to work on the sanctuary proper. The major work occurred in the first three years although the workers continued improvements there for many years, well beyond Herod's death in 4 B.C.E. to 64 C.E., just four years before it was to be destroyed by Titus. Herod's work more than doubled the size of the Temple building and the Temple Mount itself was greatly expanded to a plaza area measuring about 2,575 by 985 feet, with eight gates. Most of the enlargement was to the South by means of fill and underground vaults and supports. Josephus has much to say about Herod and his building program. When finished the new temple itself had a portal 65 feet high and a terraced roof 165 feet above the ground. Golden needles were emplaced around the edges of the roof to ward off birds and their droppings, and a vine of gold was placed in front of the now-imposing edifice.
When the Temple had been enlarged and decorated Herod offended the people by mounting a Roman golden eagle over the gate. When Herod lay dying some years later two fearless sages and their followers tore down the eagle. The men were dragged to Herod's deathbed where the tyrant gave orders for them to be burned alive. (The records of the long reign of cruelty and violence of King Herod are enough to fill several books).
Herod's Tomb
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/5.14.html
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