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{{Short description|1st-century burial site in East Jerusalem}}
[[File:Tombs of the kings, Jerusalem, Holy Land-LCCN2002725016.jpg|thumb|300px|Tombs of the Kings]]▼
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Tombs of the Kings
| native_name =
▲
| caption = Tombs of the Kings
| coordinates = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
| location = [[East Jerusalem]]
| type = Catacombs
| built =
| management =
|image_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=11
|mapframe-marker=monument
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
}}
[[File:Sacred geography, and antiquities (1872) (14769639754).jpg|thumb|250px|Plan of the Tomb of the Kings 1872]]
The '''Tombs of the Kings''' ({{Lang-he|קברי המלכים}} ''Keveri HaMlakhim''; {{Lang-ar|قبور السلاطين}}; {{Lang-fr|Tombeau des Rois}}) are a [[Catacombs|rock-cut funerary complex]] in [[East Jerusalem]] believed to be the burial site of [[Queen Helene of Adiabene]] (died c.
The grandeur of the site led to the belief that the tombs had once been the burial place of the kings of Judah, hence the name Tombs of the Kings; but the tombs are now associated with Queen Helena of [[Adiabene]].<ref name=Rahmani3>"Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Three, L. Y. Rahmani, The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Winter, 1982), pp.
The site is located east of the intersection of [[Nablus Road]] and Saladin Street. The gate of the property is marked "''Tombeau des Rois''", French for "Tomb of the Kings."
==Public access==
[[File:Jérusalem Tombeau des Rois décembre 2019.jpg|thumb|250px|Tomb of the Kings gate]]
On 15 May
On June 27, 2019, the French consulate in Jerusalem reopened the site to visitors purchasing tickets in advance.<ref name=Haaretz19/> The site was closed after protests at the site by ultra-Orthodox Jews who wanted to pray there, because they said it is the burial place of important historical individuals, among them the father-in-law of Rabbi Akiva.<ref name=ArutzSheva/>. As of May 2024, the site was under renovation.
==General layout==
From street level a hewn staircase, measuring {{convert|9|m|ft|}} in width and having a length of {{convert|30|m|ft|}}, descends into a carved courtyard.<ref name="Ilan1980">{{cite book |last=Ilan|first=Zvi|editor=Chaim Rubenstein |author-link=:he:צבי אילן |contribution=Tombs of the Kings |title=Israel Guide
The inner tomb is made-up of a complex labyrinth consisting of eight chambers, with a total of 48 burial niches, some of which formerly contained decorated [[sarcophagi]].<ref name="Ilan1980"/> The chambers of the royal tomb are made with both ''[[kokhim]]'' (burial niches) in the old Jewish style, and ''[[arcosolia]]'' in the Roman fashion.<ref>{{cite book|last=Conder|first=C.R.|author-link=Claude R. Conder|title=Syrian Stone-lore; or, The Monumental History of Palestine |publisher=Alexander P. Watt |year=1889|location=London|language=en|url=https://archive.org/details/syrianstoneloreo00conduoft/page/ii/mode/2up |page=[https://archive.org/details/syrianstoneloreo00conduoft/page/220/mode/1up 220] |oclc=751757461}}</ref>
==History==
[[File:Detail from A Plan of Jerusalem and the Adjacent Country - Pococke Richard - 1745 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Detail from [[Richard Pococke]]'s 1745 ''A Plan of Jerusalem and the Adjacent Country'', showing both names for the site]]
===Queen Helena of Adiabene===
The tomb is mentioned by the Roman-Jewish historian [[Josephus]] in the first century
===Discovery and exploration===
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In 1847, the Turkish governor ordered a search for treasures in the tomb but none were found.
In 1863, the French archaeologist [[:fr:Félicien de Saulcy|Félicien
The German architect [[Conrad Schick]] drew up a map of the site. De Saulcy found sarcophagi, one of which was bearing the Hebrew inscription "Queen Tzaddah". He believed this was the sarcophagus of the wife of [[Zedekiah]], the last king of Judah.<ref name=Ynet/>
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===Purchase and property===
In 1864, the French-Jewish banker [[Isaac Péreire]] attempted to purchase the site but without success. In the 1870s, a French-Jewish woman, Amalya Bertrand, paid 30,000 francs for it. It was registered as French property under the trusteeship of the French consul. Bertrand declared: "I am of the firm opinion that this property, the field and the burial cave of the kings, will become the land in perpetuity of the Jewish community, to be preserved from desecration and abomination, and will never again be damaged by foreigners.<ref name=Ynet/> She had a wall and guard post built around the site. In 1886, Bertrand's heirs donated it to the French government<ref name=Ynet/> "to preserve it for science and the worship of the faithful [[Jewish people|children of Israel]]".<ref>[https://oeuvre-orient.fr/actualites/laction-de-la-france-en-faveur-du-patrimoine-chretien-en-terre-sainte/ Terre Sainte : l'action de la France en faveur du patrimoine chrétien], M. Yves Teyssier d'Orfeuil for a round table discussion on the "Cultural heritage of Oriental Christians" at the [[Arab World Institute]], Paris, February 2014. Posted by l'Œuvre d'Orient, accessed 15 May 2020.</ref>. It's a part of the ''[[:fr:Domaine national français en Terre sainte|Domaine national français]]''.
==Traditions==
The Tomb of the Kings
A small stone house was built on top of the tomb by Irhimeh clan ({{Lang-ar| ارحيمه}}), a Jerusalemite family.<ref>{{cite book|last=Michelson|first=Menachem|others=Milner, Moshe; Salomon, Yehuda|script-title=he:מקומות קדושים וקברי צדיקים בארץ ישראל|trans-title=The Jewish Holy Places in the Land of Israel|year=1996|publisher=[[Israel Ministry of Defense]]|location=[[Israel]]|isbn=965-05-0836-8|page=59|language=Hebrew|quote=בלובר שבפריס מוצגים ארונות קבורה, ממצאים ושרידים שנמצאו בקברי המלכים – מערת הקברים הידועה בירושלים המזרחית.}}</ref>▼
▲A small stone house was built on top of the tomb by Irhimeh ({{Lang-ar| ارحيمه}}), a Jerusalemite family.<ref>{{cite book|last=Michelson|first=Menachem|others=Milner, Moshe; Salomon, Yehuda|script-title=he:מקומות קדושים וקברי צדיקים בארץ ישראל|trans-title=The Jewish Holy Places in the Land of Israel|year=1996|publisher=[[Israel Ministry of Defense]]|location=[[Israel]]|isbn=965-05-0836-8|page=59|language=Hebrew|quote=בלובר שבפריס מוצגים ארונות קבורה, ממצאים ושרידים שנמצאו בקברי המלכים – מערת הקברים הידועה בירושלים המזרחית.}}</ref>
==Archaeological findings==
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[[File:Façade of the Tomb of the Kings.jpg|thumb|Tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem (click to enlarge)]]
From the house there is a 9 meter wide staircase (23 steps) that was originally paved and leads to a forecourt. The rain water is collected in baths, which are carved in the steps, and carried via a channel system to the water wells. At the bottom of the stairs there
The entrance to the tombs is via this courtyard. The tombs are entered via a rock-cut arch (facade) in the western side. The 28-meter facade was originally crowned with three pyramids, which no longer exist,<ref>cf. [[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews|Antiquities]]'' 20.4.3., where it is written: "But [[Monobazus II bar Monobazus|Monobazus]] sent her bones, as well as those of Izates, his brother, to Jerusalem, and gave order that they should be buried at the pyramids ({{lang-gr|Πυραμίσιν}}) which their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant no more than three ''[[Stadion (unit)|stadia]]'' from the city Jerusalem."</ref> and decorated with reliefs of grapes, plexus leaves, acorns and fruit, reflecting the Greek architectural style. The architrave was originally supported by two pillars, fragments of which were found in the excavations.
The tombs are arranged on two levels around a central chamber, with four rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs. The central chamber itself is entered from the courtyard via an antechamber that goes down into a dimly lit maze of chambers. The access from the antechamber to the exterior courtyard could be sealed closed by rolling a round stone across it, and the stone still remains ''in-situ''. In the first century
The two most common types of tombs in the first century CE are found in this tomb complex. [[Shaft tomb]]s were long narrow shafts in which the deceased were placed and closed with a stone slab which probably had the name of the occupant inscribed on it. Channels in the center of the shafts were probably carved to drain the water that seeped through the rock.
The tombs are now empty, but previously housed a number of [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]]; they were excavated by a French archaeological mission headed by [[Louis Felicien de Saulcy]], who took them back to France. They are exhibited at the Louvre.
Although no kings are known to have been buried here, one of the [[sarcophagi]] bears two [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] inscriptions and is thought to be that of ''Queen Helena of [[Adiabene]]''; the one inscription which reads, ''Ṣaddan Malkata'' ([[Palmyrene alphabet|Palmyrene]]: '''צדן מלכתא'''), and the other, ''Ṣaddah Malkatah'' ([[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]: '''צדה מלכתה'''), interpreted by scholars to mean: "Our mistress, the Queen."<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum]]'', Volume 2, plate 156, p. [https://archive.org/details/CorpusInscriptionumSemiticarumII1/page/n197 179]; cf. ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'' 2:12</ref> The sarcophagus is now at the [[Louvre Museum]] in Paris. The decorative architecture of the tomb complex is [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]], which would fit with this identification.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:A. Salzmann - Fragments d'un sarcophage, Tombeau du Rois de Juda - Jerusalem.jpg|Sarcophagus of [[Helena of Adiabene]]
File:A. Salzmann - Fragments d'un sarcophage, Tombeau du Rois de Juda 2 - Jerusalem.jpg|Sarcophagus from the Tombs of the Kings
File:Sarcophagus Louvre AO5029 n01.jpg
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel]]
* [[Aboud|Mokata 'Abud]]
* [[Umm al Amad, Jerusalem]]
* [[Khirbet Kurkush]]
* [[Deir ed Darb|Deir ed-Derb]]
* [[Jason's Tomb]]
* [[Tomb of Absalom]]
* [[Tomb of Benei Hezir]]
==External links==
* [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-france-orthodox-jews-archaeologists-battle-over-e-j-lem-s-tomb-of-the-kings-1.6766370 Tomb of the Kings Battle Brews Between French and ultra-Orthodox Over Jerusalem Archaeology Site], Nir Hasson for Haaretz, 21 December 2018
==References==
{{
{{Commons category|Tomb of the Kings}}
{{Cemeteries in Jerusalem}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombs Of The Kings (Jerusalem)}}
[[Category:50s establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century]]
[[Category:1847 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Jerusalem]]
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[[Category:Overseas France]]
[[Category:Sheikh Jarrah]]
[[Category:Tombs in the State of Palestine]]
[[Category:Herod Agrippa]]
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