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Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs

Monumental Second Temple tombs Yeshua would have seen from the Mount of Olives

Herod, Yeshua & Jerusalem's Fall · ossuary / tomb, inscription · Accepted by scholars · found 1924

Found 1924 — Always visible; studied by Nahman Avigad (1954 monograph). A 4th-century Greek inscription calling it the tomb of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, was read by Joe Zias and Émile Puech in 2003

Where Kidron Valley, between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem (Israel)

Dates from 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Late Hellenistic–Early Roman · Second Temple Jerusalem; Yeshua's rebuke of tomb-builders

Now at In place; Kidron Valley, Jerusalem

How Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs was found

The monuments stand in the Kidron Valley below the Temple Mount. Avigad's architectural study dated them to the 1st century CE by their mixed Greek, Egyptian and local styles. The adjacent 'Tomb of the Sons of Hezir' carries a Hebrew inscription naming a priestly family known from 1 Chronicles 24:15.

What it is

Four rock-cut monuments: 'Absalom's Pillar', a 20-meter monolith with Ionic columns and a conical roof over a burial chamber; the Tomb of the Sons of Hezir, a Doric-fronted priestly family tomb with a Hebrew inscription; the 'Tomb of Zechariah', a pyramid-topped monolith; and the Tomb of Jehoshaphat behind Absalom's Pillar. None has anything to do with Absalom, Zechariah or Jehoshaphat; the names are medieval.

Why it matters for the Bible

These are the showy tombs Yeshua had in view when he condemned those who 'build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous' — they stood in plain sight from the Temple and the Mount of Olives. The Hezir tomb ties a real priestly course to the landscape, and the group shows how Jerusalem's elite spent on death in the decades before 70 CE.

The Hebrew word: YAD

יָד

יָד is pronounced YAD and means hand; also 'monument, memorial' — the word used of Absalom's pillar in 2 Samuel 18:18 (yad Avshalom) (Strong's H3027).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Yeshua's woe on those who decorate the prophets' tombs · Yeshua crosses the Kidron to Gethsemane (John 18:1)

Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs in Scripture

1 Chronicles 24:15 One of only 2 verses that name Hezir.

Matthew 23:29 'You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous' — said within sight of these monuments.

John 18:1 Yeshua crosses the Kidron Valley to the garden — passing these tombs on the night of his arrest.

Questions people ask

What is Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs?
Four rock-cut monuments: 'Absalom's Pillar', a 20-meter monolith with Ionic columns and a conical roof over a burial chamber; the Tomb of the Sons of Hezir, a Doric-fronted priestly family tomb with a Hebrew inscription; the 'Tomb of Zechariah', a pyramid-topped monolith; and the Tomb of Jehoshaphat behind Absalom's Pillar. None has anything to do with Absalom, Zechariah or Jehoshaphat; the names are medieval.

When was Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs discovered?
It was found in 1924 by Always visible; studied by Nahman Avigad (1954 monograph). A 4th-century Greek inscription calling it the tomb of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, was read by Joe Zias and Émile Puech in 2003, at Kidron Valley, between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.

Where is Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs today?
In place; Kidron Valley, Jerusalem.

Which Bible verses does Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs relate to?
1 Chronicles 24:15, Matthew 23:29, John 18:1.

Related discoveries

Sources

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