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Jason's Tomb

A Hasmonean family tomb in Rehavia with a Doric porch, ship graffiti and a lament for Jason

Return, Persia & the Maccabees · ossuary / tomb, inscription · Accepted by scholars · found 1956

Stone tomb facade with one column and a pyramid roof
Photo: Danny Gershoni · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons — Jason's Tomb in Rehavia with its single Doric column and reconstructed pyramid.

Found 1956 — Found during building work in Rehavia; excavated by Levi Yitzhak Rahmani (Israel Department of Antiquities), published 1967

Where Alfasi Street, Rehavia, west Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)

Dates from Built c. 100 BCE; sealed c. 30 CE · Hellenistic (Hasmonean) to Early Roman · Rule of Alexander Jannaeus through the lifetime of Yeshua (Jesus)

Now at In situ, Rehavia, Jerusalem (public site)

How Jason's Tomb was found

Construction on Alfasi Street exposed the tomb; Rahmani cleared it in 1956 and the state expropriated the plot to preserve it. Coins inside run down to the first third of the 1st century CE, after which the tomb was closed.

What it is

A courtyard tomb with a porch fronted by a single Doric column and topped by a reconstructed pyramid, leading to a burial chamber with eight loculi and a charnel room. On the porch walls are charcoal drawings of warships and a menorah, and inscriptions in Aramaic and Greek, one lamenting 'Jason my brother' and one recalling that Jason 'sailed to the coast of Egypt'.

Why it matters for the Bible

It is the best-preserved Hasmonean tomb in Yerushalayim and shows a wealthy Jewish family, perhaps priestly, with Greek names, Greek architecture and links to seagoing trade in the generation before Yeshua. The pyramid-topped nefesh is the kind of monument Yeshua described when He spoke of those who 'build the tombs of the prophets'. Its use ended about 30 CE, so the last burials here were made by people who lived in the Yerushalayim of the Gospels.

The Hebrew word: NEH-fesh

נֶפֶשׁ

נֶפֶשׁ is pronounced NEH-fesh and means soul; in tomb inscriptions, a funerary monument (Strong's H5315).

Places

Events

Hasmonean rule in Judea · Jewish burial customs in the time of Yeshua

Jason's Tomb in Scripture

Matthew 23:29 'You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous'; Jason's Tomb is an ornate monument of exactly that age.

Matthew 27:60 Yosef of Arimathea's new rock-cut tomb; Jason's Tomb shows how a rich family's rock-cut tomb was arranged.

Isaiah 22:16 The rebuke of one who hews a tomb 'on high' with a monument; Jason's pyramid-topped tomb continues that tradition.

Questions people ask

What is Jason's Tomb?
A courtyard tomb with a porch fronted by a single Doric column and topped by a reconstructed pyramid, leading to a burial chamber with eight loculi and a charnel room. On the porch walls are charcoal drawings of warships and a menorah, and inscriptions in Aramaic and Greek, one lamenting 'Jason my brother' and one recalling that Jason 'sailed to the coast of Egypt'.

When was Jason's Tomb discovered?
It was found in 1956 by Found during building work in Rehavia; excavated by Levi Yitzhak Rahmani (Israel Department of Antiquities), published 1967, at Alfasi Street, Rehavia, west Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).

Where is Jason's Tomb today?
In situ, Rehavia, Jerusalem (public site).

Which Bible verses does Jason's Tomb relate to?
Matthew 23:29, Matthew 27:60, Isaiah 22:16.

Related discoveries

Sources

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