arqueologia

Em Abnormal Interests, Duane Smith chama a atenção para o artigo de Walter Reich, King Herod’s return, no Los Angeles Times de hoje.

Walter Reich é Professor de Assuntos Internacionais, Ética e Comportamento Humano na Universidade George Washington, Washington, DC, e escreve aqui sobre o uso político da arqueologia no Oriente Médio, tomando como ponto de partida o caso da descoberta da Tumba de Herodes.

Em determinado ponto ele diz:
For Israelis, such finds are seen as an emblem of the Jews’ ancient and unbroken connection with the land, going back 3,500 years, that justifies the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. For Palestinians, they’re seen as a way of legitimizing Israel — the creation of which turned many of them or their forebears into refugees — and are therefore often dismissed as myth or fantasy.

E termina assim seu artigo:
Only when each side recognizes the historical right of the other to live in the region will it be possible to begin to talk about peace and a fair reckoning on Jerusalem. And only then will it be possible to put Herod’s vengeful ghost back into his haunted archeological tomb.

 

King Herod’s return

By Walter Reich – May 30, 2007

WALTER REICH is a professor of international affairs, ethics and human behavior at George Washington University, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

AFTER 2,000 YEARS of indignity and ignominy, Herod the Great has finally gotten his revenge.

During their revolt against Roman rule over Judea between AD 66 and 72, Jews who remembered King Herod as a Roman puppet smashed his sarcophagus, which had been interred with royal pomp about 70 years before. Christians have identified him as a baby killer who forced Jesus’ family to flee Bethlehem. And Herod’s habit of having his rivals and relatives killed has hardly burnished his image.

True, he built monumental projects — not only Masada and Caesarea but the grand expansion of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the best-known remnant of which is the Western Wall. In the main, though, he’s been a forgotten and derided historical figure.

But now Herod is back, at least in spirit. Israeli archeologists announced earlier this month that they’ve found his tomb, eight miles south of Jerusalem. And that tomb has become yet another impediment on the already impassable road to Israeli-Palestinian peace.

In the land of Israel — or Palestine, as Palestinians and others call it — anything that demonstrates the area’s Jewish past, whether above ground or below, makes a big impression.

For Israelis, such finds are seen as an emblem of the Jews’ ancient and unbroken connection with the land, going back 3,500 years, that justifies the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. For Palestinians, they’re seen as a way of legitimizing Israel — the creation of which turned many of them or their forebears into refugees — and are therefore often dismissed as myth or fantasy.

In 1983, I saw how the unearthing of evidence of the Jewish past gives heart to some Israelis. While researching a book on the West Bank, I visited the Jewish settlement of Shiloh, in the northern West Bank. Archeologists were digging at the nearby site of ancient Shiloh, which in biblical times was the first capital of Israel. It was in Shiloh that, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Ark of the Covenant rested. Every evening the archeologists would display their finds. When they showed artifacts from the Israelite period, the settlers cheered; for them this was proof that they were now living in the ancient heart of the land of Israel.

Small wonder that archeological finds like these provoke many Palestinians to deny that such discoveries, and any other evidence of Jewish history in either Israel or the West Bank, have anything to do with Jews. After the recent announcement that Herod’s tomb had been found, the Palestinian response was quick and sharp. A Palestinian official said the finding lacked scientific credibility and was driven by ideological motivations.

But this episode of archeological denial pales in comparison with the decades of denial in the case of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, which is known to Arabs as Haram al Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.

In 1930, when Britain administered the area, the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem noted that the Temple Mount’s “identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute.” But at the Camp David summit in 2000, Yasser Arafat insisted that a Jewish temple had existed not on the Temple Mount but in Nablus. And an Arafat aide, Saeb Erekat, said, to President Clinton’s amazement, “I don’t believe there was a temple on top of the Haram, I really don’t.” Mahmoud Abbas, the current Palestinian Authority president, later agreed with Erekat, as did the mufti of Jerusalem. Arafat later went further and denied the temple existed anywhere in Israel, the West Bank or Gaza, including Nablus.

Today, denial of the temple’s existence has become a mainstay of Palestinian rhetoric. “They say that the temple was here,” a Palestinian historian scoffed. “What temple …? What archeological remains?” And temple denial has turned into temple removal. During the last few years, Palestinians have discarded remains of the first and second temples.

This absurd Palestinian denial of Jewish roots in the land has been matched on the part of Israelis who deny that there was a large and long-indigenous population of Arabs in Palestine when the Zionist movement vastly expanded the number of Jews in the area more than 100 years ago. Fortunately, the denial of Palestinian history has been utterly discredited among nearly all Israelis.

Only when each side recognizes the historical right of the other to live in the region will it be possible to begin to talk about peace and a fair reckoning on Jerusalem. And only then will it be possible to put Herod’s vengeful ghost back into his haunted archeological tomb.

Andei falando sobre isso em:
O tom político da arqueologia em Jerusalém
Tumba de Herodes e conflito no Oriente Médio
Tumba de Herodes em território palestino ocupado

Breaking News: New tomb discovered at Deir el-Bersha

A team from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) directed by professor Harco Willems has discovered a completely intact tomb dating to about 2050 BC at the site of Dayr al-Barsha in Middle Egypt. The burial was located in a rock cut shaft in the tomb of Uky in a vast necropolis on the southern hill of Dayr al-Barsha. This area has been under investigation since 2005 by Marleen De Meyer, who carried out the excavation of the tomb.

The tomb of Uky consists of two consecutive rooms,of which the shafts in the entrance chamber had already been excavated in 2005-2006. This year the two shafts in the rear chamber were the object of research. The fill of one of these shafts, a square one in the rear of the chamber, soon turned out to be entirely different than that of robbed shafts. It consisted of almost sterile limestone debris that formed the original backfill of a shaft after a burial had taken place in ancient times. Already on the second day a small hole emerged in the north wall of the shaft, and through it an entirely intact burial chamber could be seen. Even though the burial took place over four thousand years ago, the colours on the painted objects were very fresh, and no dust even covered them.

Fonte: Egyptology News – May 21, 2007

 

Belgians find tomb of ancient Egypt courtier

Belgian archaeologists have discovered the intact tomb of an Egyptian courtier who lived about 4,000 years ago, Egypt’s culture ministry said on Sunday.

The team from Leuven Catholic University accidentally found the tomb, one of the best preserved of its time, while excavating a later burial site at the Deir al-Barsha necropolis near the Nile Valley town of Minya, south of Cairo.

The tomb belonged to Henu, an estate manager and high-ranking official during the first intermediate period, which lasted from 2181 to 2050 BC and was a time of political chaos in ancient Egypt.

The archaeologists found Henu’s mummy wrapped in linen in a large wooden coffin and a sarcophagus decorated with hieroglyphic texts addressed to the gods Anubis and Osiris.

The tomb contained well-preserved painted wooden statuettes of workers making bricks, women making beer and pounding cereal, and a model of a boat with rowers, a ministry statement said.

“The statuettes (are of) the best quality of their time. They are characterized by realistic touches and unusual details such as the dirty hands and feet of the brick makers,” the statement said, quoting Belgian team leader Harco Willems.

Minya is 225 km (140 miles) south of Cairo.

Fonte: Reuters – May 20, 2007

Por causa da Tumba de Herodes, o debate sobre a chamada “arqueologia bíblica” voltou a ferver…

Até que apareceu pouco nos biblioblogs, mas na lista Biblical Studies a coisa pegou fogo!

Por isso recomendo a visita a um post de 23 de abril de 2006 e aos links ali presentes.

Andei relendo as resenhas, publicadas na RBL – e indicadas no mencionado post – de um livro que defende a “arqueologia bíblica”. É um tema sempre atual. Demais.

Várias opções nas imagens do Google.

Um interessante texto publicado pelo jornal israelense Haaretz sobre as implicações políticas desta descoberta arqueológica feita em território palestino ocupado por Israel. Assinado por Benny Ziffer.

In the enlightened world it’s called robbery

Um trecho:

… um detalhe importante foi esquecido, ou quase esquecido: que a escavação desta tumba de Herodes foi realizada em território ocupado, onde Israel não tem o direito moral de escavar e certamente não de remover artefatos arqueológicos. No mundo civilizado, o que Israel está fazendo é chamado de roubo. De acordo com a lei israelense, é claro, o roubo é organizado e apoiado por funcionários do Estado com o título de oficiais subalternos de arqueologia. Abaixo deles ou ao lado deles na hierarquia existem outros, como o diretor da Escola de Campo Gush Etzion. Todos esses idealistas expressaram naquele dia, diante das câmeras de televisão, sua alegria pela emocionante descoberta do Herodium, pois é mais um ponto ganho pelo eterno povo judeu em sua terra eterna no 40º aniversário da libertação da terra, etc. etc.

…one important detail was forgotten, or almost forgotten: that the excavation of this tomb of Herod was carried out in occupied territory, where Israel has no moral right to dig and certainly not to remove archaeological artifacts. In the enlightened world, what Israel is doing is called robbery. According to Israeli law, of course, the robbery is organized and supported by state officials bearing the title of junior staff officer for archaeology. Below them or alongside them in the hierarchy there are others, such as director of the Gush Etzion Field School. All these idealists expressed their happiness that day, in front of the television cameras, at the exciting discovery at Herodium, because it is another nail in the hold of the eternal Jewish people on its eternal land on the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the land, etc. etc.

In Israel and Palestine, archaeology is never simply archaeology… Em Israel e na Palestina, arqueologia nunca é apenas arqueologia…

Nada do que acontece naquela terra disputada por palestinos e israelenses fica sem consequências políticas. O que já foi dito para Jerusalém, vale, em semelhante proporção, para o resto do território: Here history, religion and politics meet. Nothing in Jerusalem can be understood without all three, ou: “Aqui, história, religião e política se encontram. Nada em Jerusalém pode ser entendido sem estes três [elementos]”.

E em Herodium? Vale a mesma regra? Pois a a tumba de Herodes, descoberta por um arqueólogo israelense, Ehud Netzer, está em território palestino ocupado por Israel. E isto pode ser um problema.

Na versão digital da Rádio Nederland, emissora internacional da Holanda, há uma versão diferente da descoberta da tumba de Herodes.

Em Herod’s tomb found near Bethlehem se lê que Wael Hamamreh, diretor da Autoridade Palestina de Antiguidades para o distrito de Jericó, argumenta que a tumba talvez não seja de Herodes, mas do arquiteto do lugar: “It seems that they don’t have enough evidence,” said Wael Hamamreh, the Palestinian Authority’s director of antiquities for the Jericho district. “There is no inscription on the sarcophagus or any other solid evidence for that matter. It could have been even the tomb of the architect of the place.” Isto foi dito ao Washington Post.

O que parece uma reação absurda tem sua razão de ser: diz o texto que já na terça-feira, ao ser divulgada a descoberta, Shaul Goldstein, um leader de Gush Etzion, conjunto de assentamentos israelenses da região, situados em território ocupado, reivindicou que Herodium e a tumba de Herodes sejam declarados por Israel como sítio religioso e nacional.

A coisa toda tem precedentes? Tem. Desde Jerusalém Oriental, passando por Hebron… Os palestinos sabem que não é incomum Israel anexar, ou tentar anexar, permanentemente, territórios nos quais são feitas descobertas arqueológicas que parecem legitimar sua posse da terra…

Veja uma interessante monografia de Terje Østigård sobre as implicações políticas da arqueologia na região da Palestina: Political Archaeology and Holy Nationalism (2007). Livro gratuito e disponível para download.

Herod’s Grave Uncovered

A Hebrew University professor, fulfilling a career-long quest to solve this national-historic mystery, has found King Herod’s grave at the Herodion

Prof. Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University, fulfilling a career-long goal of solving this national-historic mystery, has uncovered the grave of King Herod – at the Herodium (Herodion), east of Efrat in Gush Etzion.

Prof. Netzer announced his discovery at a Tuesday morning press conference at the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He explained that a combination of the location, type of work at the tomb, the decorations, and pieces of the coffin led to the definite conclusion that this was Herod the Great’s burial site.

Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 BCE. He was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, and the Herodium complex, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem. The Herodium, Herod’s final resting place, is among the most outstanding of his building projects. Prof. Netzer has led archaeological digs there since 1972, and the “exposure of the king’s tomb here becomes the climax of this site’s research,” Netzer said.

The coffin was found broken into pieces, and Prof. Netzer explained that it was likely broken some 70 years after the unpopular king’s death, during the Jewish rebellion. Herod had also been known for his cruelty, killing his wife and children, among other perceived opponents.

The Herodium is famous for its mountain-top structure comprising a palace, a fortress and a monument. The excavations on the slope of that mountain, where the tomb was found, began 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 Ro’i Porat.

The approach to the burial site was via a monumental flight of stairs 6.5 meters wide, leading to the hillside; the stairs were especially constructed for the funeral procession. Herod died in Jericho, but left instructions to be buried in the area known as the Herodium.

The mausoleum itself was almost totally dismantled in ancient times, but part of its well-built podium remains. Spread among the ruins are pieces of a large, unique coffin, nearly 2.5 meters (over 8 feet) made of a Jerusalemite reddish limestone, decorated by rosettes. The sarcophagus (coffin) had a triangular cover, which was decorated on its sides. Only very few similar sarcophagi are known in the country, and can be found only in elaborate tombs such as the famous one at the King’s Tomb on Salah a-Din Street in eastern Jerusalem. Although no inscriptions have been found yet at Herodium, archaeologists are hopeful that some might yet be found.

Wild Goose Chase
The search for Herod’s tomb, which began actively 30 years ago, focused until last year on Lower Herodium, which includes an area built especially for the king’s funeral and burial. However, atop the Herod-era ruins was a large complex of Byzantine structures that took many years to dig out first.

Finally, Herod’s Tomb Estate was dug. Though two monumental buildings and a large ritual bath (mikveh) were found, as well as a large route (350 meters long and 30 meters wide) that had been prepared for the funeral, no sign of the burial place itself was found.

The expedition then started to search for it on the slope of the hill, where it was finally found. Prof. Netzer emphasizes that there seems to be no doubt that the king’s initial intention was to be buried in the estate. Herod later changed his mind, however, asking to be buried within the artificial cone which gave the hill of Herodium its current volcano-shape.

Josephus Leaves Out Detail
The main historical source of the Second Temple’s days, the historian Josephus Flavius, described the site of Herodium in detail, as well as the funeral – but left out the detail of the burial having taken place on the hillside instead of in the Tomb Estate.

A complex of tunnels from the days of Bar-Kokhba within the Herodium mount was opened to the public in the 1980’s. The archaeological excavations at the site, which stopped in 1987, were renewed 10 years later and continued until 2000, and after a second break, were renewed at the end of 2005.

Modern-Day Implications
Residents of Gush Etzion anticipate that the find will strengthen eastern Gush Etzion. The Herodium is located along the not-yet opened Zaatra bypass road between the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa and the two Gush Etzion communities of Tekoa and Nokdim.

Fonte: Hillel Fendel – Arutz Sheva: 08/05/2007

Tomb of King Herod discovered at Herodium by Hebrew University archaeologist

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.

Among the many high quality architectural elements, mostly well decorated, which were spread among the ruins, is a group of decorated urns (made in the form of special jars that were used to store body ashes). Similar ones are to be found on the top of burial monuments in the Nabatean world. The urns had a triangular cover and were decorated on the sides.

Spread among the ruins are pieces of a large, unique sarcophagus (close to 2.5 meters long), made of a Jerusalemite reddish limestone, which was decorated by rosettes. The sarcophagus had a triangular cover, which was decorated on its sides. This is assumed with certainty to be the sarcophagus of Herod. Only very few similar sarcophagi are known in the country and can be found only in elaborate tombs such as the famous one at the King’s Tomb on Selah a-Din Street in East Jerusalem. Although no inscriptions have been found yet at Herodium, neither on the sarcophagus nor in the building remains, these still might be found during the continuation of the dig.

Worthy of note is the fact that the sarcophagus was broken into hundreds of pieces, no doubt deliberately. This activity, including the destruction of the monument, apparently took place in the years 66-72 C.E. during the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, while Jewish rebels took hold of the site, according to Josephus and the archaeological evidence. The rebels were known for their hatred of Herod and all that he stood for, as a “puppet ruler” for the Romans.

The search for Herod’s tomb, which actively began 30 years ago, focused until the middle of 2006 at Lower Herodium, in an area which was, no doubt, especially built for the funeral and burial of the king – the “Tomb Estate.” In order to reveal there the remains from Herod’s days, the expedition was “forced” to first expose a large complex of Byzantine structures (including a church), an effort that demanded many years of digging.

The Tomb Estate included two monumental buildings and a large ritual bath (mikveh) as well as the large route (350 meters long and 30 meters wide) which was prepared for the funeral. When no sign of the burial place itself was found within the Tomb Estate, the expedition started to search for it on the slope of the hill, although there seems to be no doubt that the initial intention of the king was to be buried in the estate and that only in a later stage of his life – apparently when he grew old – did he change his mind and asked to be buried within the artificial cone which gave the hill of Herodium its current volcano-shape.

The main historical source of the Second Temple’s days, the historian Josephus Flavius, has described the site of Herodium in detail, as well as the funeral in the year 4 BCE, but not the tomb proper. He wrote as follows:

“The king’s funeral next occupied his attention. Archelaus, omitting nothing that could contribute to its magnificence, brought forth all the royal ornaments to accompany the procession in honor of the deceased. The bier was of solid gold, studded with precious stones, and had a covering of purple, embroidered with various colors; on this lay the body enveloped in purple robe, a diadem encircling the head and surmounted by a crown of gold, the scepter beside his right hand.

Around the bier were Herod’s sons and a large group of his relations; these were followed by the guards, the Thracian contingent, Germans and Gauls, all equipped as for war. The reminder of the troops marched in front, armed and in orderly array, led by their commanders and subordinate officers; behind these came five hundred of Herod’s servants and freedmen, carrying spices. The body was thus conveyed for a distance of two hundred furlongs to Herodium, where, in accordance with the directions of the deceased, it was interred. So ended Herod’s reign.”
Jewish Wars, 1,23,9

Prof. Netzer started his archaeological activity at Herodium in 1972, at first on a small scale. The scope of his work widened with the decision to turn Herodium (the mount together with Lower Herodium) into a national park, which was due to occupy 125 acres. (Until that stage only the mount was proclaimed as a national park and was operated by the Nature and Parks Authority.)

The enlargement of the park started in 1980; unfortunately the activity at the site stopped as a result of the first Intifada, but not before the complex of tunnels from the days of Bar-Kokhba, within the mount, were opened to the public. The archaeological excavations at the site, which also stopped in 1987, were renewed 10 years later and continued until 2000, and after a second break, were renewed at the end of 2005.

Prof. Netzer gained his first “intimate” acknowledgement of Herodian architecture while joining Prof. Yigael Yadin (in 1963-66), in his expedition at Masada. Netzer’s Ph.D. dissertation in archaeology, guided by Prof. Yadin, brought him to initiate excavations both at Lower Herodium and at Jericho – at the complex of Hasmonean and Herodian Winter Palaces. (The site at Jericho, following Netzer’s excavations, includes three palaces of Herod and a hitherto unknown large complex of Hasmonean winter palaces). Additional Herodian structures in other parts of the country were also uncovered by him. He has written various books and articles on the topic of Herodian architecture.

Yaakov Kalman, archaeologist and farmer, participated in many excavations throughout the country and took an active part in Netzer’s excavations at Masada, Jericho and Herodium. Roi Porath took an active part in the survey of the Judean Desert caves and has many significant finds in his record.

The current excavations benefited from donations of private individuals, and the assistance of the Israel Exploration Society and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

Fonte: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Media Relations: 08 May, 2007

 

Todd Bolen, do blog BiblePlaces, escreveu sobre dez coisas que “você” não sabia sobre o rei Herodes: King Herod: Ten Things You Didn’t Know.

Em minha História de Israel falo um pouco de Herodes.

A descoberta da tumba de Herodes, divulgada hoje, é, do ponto de vista arqueológico e histórico, da maior importância. E a notícia vai se espalhando rapidamente. Embora os detalhes só venham amanhã.

E nem falo dos jornais… mas fiz uma busca pela palavra Herod no Google News, em inglês, e cheguei agora, 21h50, horário de Brasília, a uma centena de resultados!

Veja, porém, os biblioblogs. Aqui os títulos estão em ordem alfabética, mas a dica foi dada por Aren Maeir e espalhada por Jim West.

• Amazing archeological find – Chrisendom, by Chris Tilling
• Descoberto o sepulcro de Herodes Magno – Observatório Bíblico, by airtonjo
• Herod’s Tomb – Mark Goodacre’s NT Blog, by Mark Goodacre
• Hold on to your seats! Fascinating new discovery to be published! – The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations, by Aren Maeir

Mais:

• Herod’s Tomb and Grave Found at Herodium – Dr. Claude Mariottini, by Dr. Claude Mariottini
• Herod’s tomb and grave site discovered – Bible and History, by Gary Greenberg
• Herod’s Tomb Coverage – Targuman, by Chris Brady
• Herod’s Tomb: Full Report Released – BiblePlaces Blog, by Todd Bolen
• Herod’s Tomb – Initial Report – BiblePlaces Blog, by Todd Bolen
• Herod’s Tomb: Press Conference – BiblePlaces Blog, by Todd Bolen
• Herod the Great’s Tomb Discovered – Ben Witherington, by Ben Witherington
• King Herod: Ten Things You Didn’t Know – BiblePlaces Blog, by Todd Bolen
• The Tomb of Herod: Coordinates – OpenBible.info Blog, by openbible
• Tumba de Herodes: comunicado da Universidade Hebraica – Observatório Bíblico, by airtonjo

Researcher: We Have Found Herod’s Tomb

Herod’s tomb has been discovered near Jerusalem, Hebrew University’s Ehud Netzer will announce today. The discovery of the grave at Herodium solves one of the great mysteries of archaeology in the Land of Israel. Professor Netzer, considered one of the most senior researchers on Herod, has been excavating at the site south of Jerusalem since 1972 in efforts to identify the burial site of the King of the Jews. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem will release the details regarding the grave and its exact location at a press conference this morning.

Herod, also known as Herod the Great, expanded the Second Temple and built Caesaria, Masada and other monumental works. Born in 74 B.C.E., he died in 4 B.C.E. in Jericho after a long illness. Most researchers believed Herod was buried at Herodium based on the writings of historian Josephus Flavius, however the grave had not been found in the excavations. Netzer’s current dig focused on a different area that had not been excavated: halfway between the upper and lower palaces. Until now, the search had focused on the lower palace.

Herod chose to build his tomb at Herodium because of the two dramatic events that took place there during his lifetime. In 43 B.C.E., while Herod was still governor of Galilee, he was forced to flee Jerusalem with his family after his enemies, the Parthians, besieged the city. Near the site of Herodium, his mother’s carriage overturned and Herod panicked, until her realized she was only slightly injured. Shortly thereafter, the Partheans caught up with Herod an his entourage, but Herod turned the battle around and emerged victorious.

At Herodium, Herod built one of the largest royal sites in the Roman-Hellenist world which served as a residential palace, shelter and administrative center, as well as mausoleum. Herod first raised the level of the hill artificially, making it visible from Jerusalem and then built the fortified palace on top, surrounded by guard towers for use in times of war. At the foot of the hill, he built a second palace, the size of a small town, known as the “Lower Herodium,” which included many buildings, luxurious gardens, pools, stables and warehouses.

Herod spared no resources in efforts to make Herodium ostentatious. He built aqueducts from Solomon’s Pools and imported soil for the gardens to the heart of the desert. After Herod’s death, his son and heir Archelaus continued to reside at Herodium. After Judea became a Roman republic, Herodium served as the seat of the Roman governors. With the outbreak of the great revolt against the Romans, Herodium fell to the rebels, but they returned it without a fight after Jerusalem fell in 70 C.E.

Fifty years later, the Herodium served the Bar Kochba uprising but was later abandoned. At about 150 C.E., Byzantine monks settled the place which later served as a leper colony until its abandonment in the 7th century.

The first excavations of the site were conducted in 1956-1962 by a Franciscan monk, who uncovered most of the remains known today. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the area was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli excavations at the site began in 1972.

Fonte: Amiram Barkat – Haaretz: 08.05.2007

 

Sobre Herodes Magno, que governou a Palestina de 37 a 4 a.C., leia algumas informações, em português, aqui.