It has been called a “once-in-a-generation” find: the tomb of the Herod the Great – the monarch whose rage cast a pall over the nativity story after he murdered the innocents of Bethlehem, and who left his mark in stone throughout the Holy Land – has been unearthed.
For Professor Ehud Netzer, who announced the discovery in early May, it is the culmination of decades of study of the palace-fortress of Herodium, which Herod built on an artificial mound rising 2,460 feet above sea level southeast of Bethlehem to commemorate an early victory of his reign. Here, the historian Josephus tells us, this king of the Jews also commanded his funeral, in all its excessive opulence, be held. After the Israel Parks Authority opened Herodium in the 1970s, many visitors stood atop the same battlements Herod once did, looking east to the wilderness and west toward Bethlehem. Christians know this was a city that “disturbed” Herod (Matt. 2:3), because of Micah’s prophecy: “from you will come one who will rule Israel for me...” (5:2).
Netzer thoroughly excavated the palace and what Josephus called the “pleasure grounds” below. But where was the tomb? It is now emerging, half-way up the mound, including fragments of an enormous sarcophagus (stone coffin) fit for a king, and a huge podium. Netzer says the sarcophagus had been smashed to bits, probably by people with a grudge against Herod – a large group indeed. Excavations will continue to fully unearth the tomb of this monarch who in the end, went the way of all men.