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Tomb of Absalom

AbsalomArchaeological sites in JerusalemBuildings and structures in JerusalemHistoric sites in JerusalemJewish mausoleums
Mount of OlivesRock-cut tombsTombs in IsraelTombs of biblical people
Yad Avshalom Panorama 7 (6979564688)
Yad Avshalom Panorama 7 (6979564688)

The Tomb of Absalom (Hebrew: יד אבשלום, romanized: Yad Avshalom, lit. 'Absalom's Memorial'), also called Absalom's Pillar, is an ancient monumental rock-cut tomb with a conical roof located in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, a few metres from the Tomb of Zechariah and the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Although traditionally ascribed to Absalom, the rebellious son of King David of Israel (circa 1000 BC), recent scholarship has dated it to the 1st century AD. The tomb is not only a burial structure in its own right, with its upper part serving as a nefesh (funeral monument) for the tomb in its lower part, but it was probably also meant as a nefesh for the adjacent burial cave system known as the Cave or Tomb of Jehoshaphat, with which it forms one entity, built at the same time and following a single plan.The freestanding monument contains a burial chamber with three burial sites. The chamber is carved out of the solid lower section of the monument, but can only be accessed from the upper section via a built entrance and a staircase. It has been compared to Petra, given the rock-cut nature of the bottom segment and the style of the finial.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tomb of Absalom (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Tomb of Absalom
ליד אבשלום, Jerusalem Ras al-Amud

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 31.776958333333 ° E 35.238958333333 °
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Address

קבר רבי חיים בן עטר

ליד אבשלום
9114001 Jerusalem, Ras al-Amud
Jerusalem District, Israel
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Yad Avshalom Panorama 7 (6979564688)
Yad Avshalom Panorama 7 (6979564688)
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Monolith of Silwan
Monolith of Silwan

The Monolith of Silwan, also known as the Tomb of Pharaoh's Daughter, is a cuboid rock-cut tomb located in Silwan, Jerusalem dating from the period of the Kingdom of Judah; the latter name refers to a 19th-century hypothesis that the tomb was built by Solomon for his wife, the Pharaoh's daughter. The structure, a typical Israelite rock-cut tomb, was previously capped by a pyramid structure like the Tomb of Zechariah. It is one of the more complete and distinctive First Temple-period structures. The pyramidal rock cap was cut into pieces and removed for quarry during the Roman era, leaving a flat roof. The tomb contains a single stone bench, indicating that it was designed for only one burial. Recent research indicates that the bench was the base of a sarcophagus hewn into the original building.The Pharaoh's daughter tradition was first suggested by Louis Félicien de Saulcy, who noted that the bible claims that Solomon built a temple for his Egyptian wife; de Saulcy, excavating the site in the 19th century, suggested that this might be the same building. However, subsequent archaeological investigation has dated the site to the 9th-7th century BC, making the connection to Solomon impossible. Two letters of a single-line Phoenician or Hebrew inscription survive on the building, the remainder of the inscription having been mutilated beyond recognition, by a hermit in the Byzantine era; Byzantine monks increased the height of the low entrance by removing rock which contained the inscription in order to ease access to the tomb, in which they resided. The tomb was cleaned following the 1967 Six-Day War. Neglected since Ussishkin's survey, trash disposal has resulted in an unkempt, unattractive appearance (as of 2013).