Herod's Hill and the Search for His Tomb

South of Jerusalem stands a hill that people raised higher by hand. Cone-shaped, and visible from the city, it dates to the first century BCE.

Scripture: But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,

This is Herodium, about twelve kilometres south of Jerusalem, and five kilometres southeast of Bethlehem. That second place matters, because Matthew says Herod had the male children of Bethlehem killed.

First, the background. Herod fled to Masada, and according to Josephus he fought off Parthian and Jewish attackers on the way, and won. According to Josephus, he later built a palace where he defeated the Jews, founded a city around it and called it Herodia.

Scripture: Josephus, the ancient historian, described the hill like this. He also noted that water, scarce there, was brought from a distance at great expense.

At the summit stood a palace with double walls, towers, banquet halls and a Roman-style bathhouse. At the base, gardens, courtyards, and a large pool fed by aqueducts, which are channels that carry water.

According to Josephus, Herod was buried at Herodium; his death is dated to 4 BCE. For a long time, though, his tomb was sought and not found.

In 2007, Professor Ehud Netzer, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, found and identified the tomb on the hill's northern slope. He had been excavating at Herodium on and off since 1972.

A sarcophagus, meaning a stone coffin, was discovered. It was claimed to be Herod's because it was more ornate than others found in the area. That is an inference from comparison, so it is fair to hold it with some care.

Netzer fell to his death at the site in 2010. Today Herodium lies in Area C of the West Bank, formally under the Israeli Civil Administration and in practice run jointly with Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, and Palestinian authorities dispute Israel's right to dig there or remove finds.

So the tomb Netzer identified is on the hill's northern slope at Herodium. Where the sarcophagus itself is held now is not something I can tell you from the material I have.

How does this relate to the verse we just heard? Matthew places Herod's death as the moment Joseph is told in a dream to leave Egypt. If Matthew's Herod is Herod the Great, the tomb fits the setting: a king who built, and died. It says nothing about Joseph, the dream, or the child.

Herod built a palace on a hand-raised hill that can be seen from Jerusalem. What was found on its slope was identified by Netzer as Herod's tomb. The Gospel tells of a family, and a dream. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. Follow along for the next find.