The Tomb of Benei Hezir ( he, קבר בני חזיר), previously known as the Tomb of Saint James, is the oldest of four monumental rock-cut tombs that stand in the

Kidron Valley The Kidron Valley ( classical transliteration, ''Cedron'', from he, נחל קדרון, ''Naḥal Qidron'', literally Qidron River; also Qidron Valley) is the valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separat ...

, adjacent to the

Tomb of Zechariah The Tomb of Zechariah is an ancient stone monument in Jerusalem that is considered in Jewish tradition to be the tomb of Zechariah ben Jehoiada. It is a few meters from the Tomb of Absalom and adjacent to the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Architectural ...

and a few meters from the

Tomb of Absalom The Tomb of Absalom (), 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 traditional ...

. It dates to the period of the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

. It is a complex of burial caves. The tomb was originally accessed from a single rock-cut stairwell which descends to the tomb from the north. At a later period an additional entrance was created by quarrying a tunnel from the courtyard of the monument known as "the Tomb of Zechariah". This is also the contemporary entrance to the burial complex.

Architecture

The facade of the tomb is a classical

distyle in antis In classical architecture, distyle in antis denotes a temple with the side walls extending to the front of the porch and terminating with two antae, the pediment being supported by two pilasters or sometimes caryatids. This is the earliest type of ...

with two pillars between two pilasters above which there is undecorated architrave containing an engraved a Hebrew inscription. Above the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

is a Doric frieze and a cornice. The tomb's architectural style is influenced by

ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...

(two pillars with

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

capitals) as well as Nabataean influence in architecture and decorative elements (Nabataeanising was fashionable among some Judaean families), without ancient Egyptian architectural influences.

History

The tomb dates to the second century BCE, the Hellenistic period and the time of the Hasmonean monarchy in

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

. Architecturally the so-called Tomb of Zechariah postdates the complex, and the Tomb of Absalom is considered to have been erected even later. The tomb is effectively a burial cave dug into the cliff. It contains a Hebrew inscription, which makes it clear that this was the burial site of a priestly family called Benei Hezir, lit. "sons escendantsof Hezir". The inscription reads:

זה הקבר והנפש שלאלעזר חניה יועזר יהודה שמעון יוחנן בני יוסף בן עובד יוסף ואלעזר בני חניה כהנים מבני חזיר — This is the grave and the ''Nefesh'' (burial monument) of Eliezer Hania Yoazar Yehuda Shimon Yochanan Benei (sons of) Yosef Ben (son of) Oved Yosef and Elazar Benei (sons of) Hania, Kohanim of the Hezir family.

Name

The name Hezir appears twice in the Bible (see below). The inscription on the monument mentions the "sons of Hezir", meaning: the descendants of Hezir. The Hebrew term is ''bnei Hezir'', usually written in English as Benei Hazir. The common misspelling ''Hazir'' is clearly wrong, since that means ''pig'' in Hebrew. In the 19th century Westerners still identified the monument with the tomb of St. James the Apostle.

Benei Hezir family

The tomb's inscription reveals that the cave was used by several generations of the Benei Hezir family. As well, it indicates that this was a wealthy family, able to afford a burial cave in the Kidron Valley. In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

there are two mentions of men with the name of Hezir. One was the founder of the 17th priestly division (); the other one was among the leaders who set their seal to the covenant with

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...

(). It is not known if there is a relation between the family buried here and the biblical Hezirs.

Nefesh

The inscription mentions a ''nefesh'' (נפש : literally meaning ''soul''), which is also a designation for a magnificent structure built on or alongside the tomb. It has been proposed that the Tomb of Zechariah, a solid rock-hewn object which stands by the entrance, and is thought to date from a similar period to the inscription, is actually this ''nefesh''.Samuel Rocca, ''Herod's Judaea'', (2008), page 365 Another option is that the additional facade to the north of the Doric ''dystilos-in-antis'' was the original ''nefesh''. Although it did not survive it is possible to reconstruct the upper part of the above-mentioned facade as a Nabataean tower with a decorative door and window, similar monuments can be seen in

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

References