14 DAY TRIAL // The tomb of King Herod the Great, who ruled Israel when Jesus was born, the legendary builder of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, has just been discovered by an Israeli archaeologist. The Hebrew University announced this late Monday.
The tomb is located in a site named Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Negev Desert and it can be seen from the southern part of Jerusalem.
"Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there," the university said.
The researchers wanted to announce the discovery on Tuesday, when a news conference was planned to display the details, but the Haaretz newspaper found out and broadcast the discovery on its Web site.
Herod was crowned king of Judaea under the Romans around 40 B.C. He died in 4 B.C. in Jericho. He is the king that ordered the Massacre of the Innocents: by his order all young male children in the village of Bethlehem were executed, in order to avoid the loss of his throne in favor of a newborn "King of the Jews" (Jesus), whose birth had been related to him by the Magi.
He built around the Old City of Jerusalem a wall that withstood the fall of time and also built fortresses in Caesaria, Jericho, the famous hilltop fortress of Jewish resistance against Romans, Massada and others.
It was known that Herod's resting place is at Herodium, as the 1st century historian Josephus Flavius described the tomb and his funeral procession, but till now digging came out with no results.
"The tomb was found by archaeologist Ehud Netzer, a Hebrew University professor who has been working at Herodium since 1972." wrote Haaretz.
The tomb was spotted in a previously unexplored zone located between the two palaces built by Herod.
Herodium was amongst the last Jewish strongholds during their uprising against the Romans, being conquered and destroyed by Roman troops in A.D. 71. One year later, the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.