Latest news with #CaveOfSalome
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scientists make surprising discovery inside ancient cave burial of 'Jesus' midwife'
For centuries, the Cave of Salome has been revered by Christians as the resting place of the woman who helped deliver Jesus Christ. Constructed around 2,000 years ago, the historic cave southwest of Jerusalem has long been linked with 'Salome', midwife from the Book of James. From the 8th or 9th centuries, Christians flocked to the cave to light oil lamps in a prayer for Salome, similar to how churchgoers today light candles. But now, a controversial study contests this long-held Christian interpretation. In fact, Jesus' midwife Salome may not have been laid to rest there at all, the scientists behind the study claim. Undoubtedly, the name 'Salome' is inscribed in the cave in rock, interpreted as a dedication like an etching on a gravestone. But experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) say it might've referred to another woman of the era – a princess of the same name. 'Following the new excavation at the site, and findings at nearby sites, it is suggested that the grandeur burial estate belonged to a member of the royal family,' they say. The researchers describe the Cave of Salome as 'one of the largest and most magnificent burial estates ever discovered in Israel'. About 30 miles (48km) southwest of Jerusalem, it comprises several chambers with rock-hewn burial niches and broken ossuaries (stone boxes), attesting to the Jewish burial custom. Two Greek inscriptions mention the name 'Salome' as the saint to whom the cave was dedicated – widely interpreted as Mary's midwife, as mentioned in the Bible, since the 8th century. According to the scripture, the midwife could not believe that she was asked to deliver a virgin's baby, and her hand became dry and was healed only when she held the baby's cradle. The Bible reads: 'And the midwife went forth of the cave and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, a new sight have I to tell thee.' Old broken lamps also provide evidence that in later years the site was converted into a Christian chapel dedicated to the midwife where people lit lamps in tribute. But the researchers now contest this centuries-long interpretation of Cave of Salome, which was excavated almost entirely in the mid-1980s. While they acknowledge the interpretation of 'Salome' as the midwife, the experts point out 'several [other] possibilities for identifying Salome'. Clay lamps recovered from the burial cave. According to the archaeologists, hundreds of complete and broken lamps were found in the forecourt, 'proving' that the cave was a place of worship for woman who delivered Jesus What is the Cave of Salome? Constructed around 2,000 years ago, the cave of Salome is an extensive Jewish burial cave, one of the most impressive ever discovered in Israel. Over time, the cave became associated with Salome, a character from the apocryphal Book of James who witnesses the birth of Jesus. A later 8th-century Latin tradition held that Salome was Mary's midwife and helped deliver the baby Jesus - but a new study offers other interpretations. Source: Biblical Archaeology The researchers think the burial site was fit for 'a member of the royal family' before it was eventually transformed into a Christian pilgrimage site. They point to the 'exceptional opulence' of the burial estate, described as 'one of the most elaborate burial complexes of the Second Temple period', which includes a a large courtyard at the entrance. 'Given its scale and grandeur, we propose that it belonged to the royal family or, at the very least, to the highest elite of Second Temple period society,' they say. Their leading theory is that it belonged to Princess Salome, the sister of the Judaean king Herod the Great, the cruel ruler who had young children massacred. Also known as Salome I, she was close to her brother but spent her life plotting against a myriad of people, including her sister-in-law Mariamme. Another possibility is that the cave was dedicated to Herod's granddaughter, also called Salome, who demanded the execution of John the Baptist. The researchers seem sure of the Herod connection, because Herod's family possessed 'the necessary economic resources to construct such an estate'. They add: 'Herod is also known to have built several grand structures in other remote locations, such as Herodium and Masada.' Yet another interpretation is Salome was one of Jesus' female disciples, who may have been Mary's younger sister, as referenced in Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40. It's also worth bearing in mind that the name Salome (or in Hebrew: Shalom or Shlomit) was a common Jewish name in the Second Temple period of Jewish history, spanning roughly 516 BC to AD 70. The study, published in the IAA journal 'Atiqot, present several more possibilities 'for identifying Salome in the Christian realm'. The team conclude: 'The finely hewn ashlars, the monumental stone paving and the decorations on the vestibule's facade and around the cave's entrance testify to the grandeur and high socioeconomic status of the burial estate's owners, raising a question regarding who built this magnificent estate.' However, another archaeologist who was not involved in the study said the alternative arguments are 'interesting but not conclusive'. Boaz Zissu at Israel's Bar-Ilan University told Live Science that the claims demand 'more rigorous evidential support'. Herod the Great ruled the ancient kingdom of Judea from 37BC and was monarch at the time of the birth of Jesus. He has been painted as a monster throughout the Christian world because of his depiction in the Bible, which tells how he ordered the Slaughter of the Innocents. According to the gospel of St Matthew, Herod was determined to hold on to power at any cost. After being told by soothsayers that the birth of a new King of the Jews was imminent, he ordered the massacre of all newborns in Bethlehem to kill off the threat to his authority. Other records, however, do not mention the massacre. And many historians say Herod was a hugely successful ruler who built lavish palaces, sea ports, aqueducts and temples, including the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the sea port complex and racing track at Caesaria. The massive stones of the outer wall of Herod's Temple Mount still stand today in the Old City of Jerusalem, where they are known as the Western Wall. He also constructed an elegant winter palace on the slope of Masada, a mountain overlooking the Dead Sea where Jewish forces held out for a year against three Roman legions.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ancient cave burial of 'Jesus' midwife' may actually hold a princess
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A cave in Israel once thought to be linked to Jesus may in fact be the burial place of another person from his time: Salome, the sister of the Judaean king Herod the Great, a new study finds. The idea is based on the ornaments and architecture of the site, which archaeologists say indicate that a member of the Herodian royal family may have been buried there in the first century B.C.; Judaea at that time was a client kingdom of the Roman Empire. But the study's authors say it is possible that a different person named Salome may be buried there. "It's not that I think it must be the tomb of Salome the sister of Herod," Vladik Lifshits, an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), told Live Science. "I'm suggesting that this is one of the possibilities." Lifshits is a co-author with IAA archaeologist Nir-Shimshon Paran of the study in the latest issue of the IAA journal 'Atiqot that suggests the "Cave of Salome" may have been the burial place of a Judaean royal. The cave, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, was famous in Byzantine times as a site of Christian pilgrimage, because a woman named Salome (a common name at the time) was said to have been a "midwife of Jesus." Related: 1,900-year-old papyrus 'best-documented Roman court case from Judaea apart from the trial of Jesus' The identification of the tomb with someone called Salome seems to have come from the discovery there of an ossuary — a casket for bones — labeled with that name. Jerusalem was conquered from the Byzantines by the Islamic Caliphate in the seventh century, but Christian pilgrims seem to have visited the cave until the ninth century. Exactly who is buried in the tomb is not known, however. Looters rediscovered the cave about 40 years ago, and it was excavated by archaeologists in 1984; the IAA has now included it on the Judean Kings Trail, a 60-mile-long (100 km) route linking several archaeological sites in central Israel. Artifacts excavated from the cave include hundreds of clay oil lamps from the eighth and ninth centuries, which archaeologists think were sold to Christian pilgrims so they would have light while exploring the dark cave. Many of the original ornaments have now been stripped away, but Lifshits noted the monumental architecture — including a large courtyard at the entrance — indicated that a member of the royal family may have been buried there. The authors also discovered the remains of several luxurious villas nearby, which indicates the site once belonged to a very wealthy family. Herod I, also known as Herod the Great, was a native of the Holy Land's southern Idumean region who rose to power through his family's influence with the Romans and ruled Judaea from about 37 to about 4 B.C. He appears in the Christian Bible as the jealous king who ordered the execution of all male infants in Bethlehem — an act known as the "Slaughter of the Innocents," which Jesus' family escaped (but most historians don't think this happened). Despite Herod's savage reputation, he was considered a relatively good king in general. For example, he was a prolific builder who restored the decrepit Second Temple on the Temple Mount, and the massive rock walls he had built are still standing today as the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. One member of the Herodian royal family named Salome was Herod's sister, a key figure in his court; and reports from the time say she colluded with him in the executions of other family members. But Herod's granddaughter was also named Salome; according to the Christian Bible, she ordered the execution of John the Baptist, a Jewish preacher and associate of Jesus, and demanded that his head be brought to her on a platter. The elder Salome died in about A.D. 10; historians think the younger Salome died in the 50s or 60s A.D. RELATED STORIES —Dance floor where John the Baptist was condemned to death discovered, archaeologist says —3 Christmas traditions that may have pagan roots, and 4 that (probably) don't —When was Jesus born? Archaeologist Boaz Zissu of Israel's Bar-Ilan University who was not involved in the study, said the idea that the person buried in the Cave of Salome may have been Herod's sister was interesting but not conclusive. "The authors correctly identify the original phase as a monumental tomb belonging to local elites of the Herodian period," he told Live Science in an email. But establishing that the tomb was for the Herodian Salome would demand "more rigorous evidential support," he said.
