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Monolith of Silwan

Ancient sites in JerusalemBuildings and structures completed in the 1st millennium BCBuildings and structures in JerusalemMonolithsRock-cut tombs
Tombs in Israel
Tomb of Pharao's Daughter
Tomb of Pharao's Daughter

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).

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

Monolith of Silwan
Batn Al-Hawa, Jerusalem Ras al-Amud

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Wikipedia: Monolith of SilwanContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 31.77415 ° E 35.23811 °
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Address

קבר בת פרעה

Batn Al-Hawa
9355223 Jerusalem, Ras al-Amud
Jerusalem District, Israel
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Tomb of Pharao's Daughter
Tomb of Pharao's Daughter
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Nearby Places

Gihon Spring
Gihon Spring

Gihon Spring (Hebrew: מעיין הגיחון) or Fountain of the Virgin, also known as Saint Mary's Pool, is a spring in the Kidron Valley. It was the main source of water for the Pool of Siloam in Jebus and the later City of David, the original site of Jerusalem. One of the world's major intermittent springs – and a reliable water source that made human settlement possible in ancient Jerusalem – the spring was not only used for drinking water, but also initially for irrigation of gardens in the adjacent Kidron Valley, which provided a food source for the ancient settlement. The spring rises in a cave 20 feet by 7, and is located 586 yards (535 m) northwards of the Pool of Siloam. Being intermittent, it required the excavation of the Pool of Siloam, which stored the large amount of water needed for the town when the spring was not flowing. Before the sinking of the water table due to overpumping in modern times, the spring used to flow three to five times daily in winter, twice daily in summer, and only once daily in autumn. This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposition that the outlet from the reservoir is by a passage in the form of a siphon. It has the largest output of water in the area - 600,000 cubic meters of water a year (compared to 125,000 cubic meters for the Lifta spring in West Jerusalem.The spring is under the control of the Israeli settler organization Ir David Foundation ("El'ad"); it is sometimes used by Jewish men as a sort of ritual bath (mikvah).