The Tomb of Zechariah is an ancient stone monument in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

that is considered in Jewish tradition to be the tomb of

Zechariah ben Jehoiada Zechariah ben Jehoiada ''Zəḵaryā ben-Yǝhōyāḏāʿ''; ar, زكريّا بن يهوياداع ''Zakariya bin Yehuyada'') is a figure in the Hebrew Bible described as a priest who was stoned to death by Jehoash of Judah and may possibly h ...

. It is 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 traditionall ...

and adjacent to the

Tomb of Benei Hezir 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, adjacent to the Tomb of Zechariah and a few meters from the Tomb o ...

Architectural description

The monument is a

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...

—it is completely carved out of the solid rock The lowest part of the monument is a

crepidoma Crepidoma is an architectural term for part of the structure of ancient Greek buildings. The crepidoma is the multilevel platform on which the superstructure of the building is erected. The crepidoma usually has three levels. Each level typica ...

, a base made of three steps. Above it there is a

stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate ( el, στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a level ...

, upon which there is a decoration of two

ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

s between two half ionic columns and at the corners there are two

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The capitals are of the Ionic order and are decorated with the

egg-and-dart Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...

decoration. The upper part of the monument is an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

-style

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

upon which sits a pyramid. The fine masonry and decoration that is visible on the western side, the facade, is only the western side. On the other sides of the tomb, the work is extremely rough and unfinished; it seems as if the work was stopped before the artists could finish the job.Rachel Hachlili, ''Jewish funerary customs, practices and rites in the Second Temple period'' (2005), page 132

Identification

Traditional identification

According to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

tradition, which is first suggested by the 1215 AD writings of Menahem haHebroni, this is the tomb of the priest

Zechariah Ben Jehoiada Zechariah ben Jehoiada ''Zəḵaryā ben-Yǝhōyāḏāʿ''; ar, زكريّا بن يهوياداع ''Zakariya bin Yehuyada'') is a figure in the Hebrew Bible described as a priest who was stoned to death by Jehoash of Judah and may possibly h ...

, a figure that the

Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...

records to have been stoned: :''And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord''

Scientific identification and dating

The style of the construction, which includes

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

details such as

Ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

, is similar to that of the

, and several authors think that they are near-contemporary with one another; scholars specialising in

funerary A funeral is a ceremony connected with the Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture ...

practices and monuments have ascribed a first-century AD date to the tomb. It has been proposed that the ''Tomb of Zechariah'' is actually the ''nefesh'' (a Jewish funerary monument similar to the Greek ''

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

'') for the Tomb of Benei Hezir,Samuel Rocca, ''Herod's Judaea'', (2008), page 365 which is accessed from a rock-cut passage adjacent to the monument, and which states that it has an adjacent ''magnificent structure'', an item not otherwise identified.

References

{{Coord, 31, 46, 34.45, N, 35, 14, 20.83, E, display=title Archaeological sites in Jerusalem Jewish mausoleums Z Mount of Olives Rock-cut tombs Tombs in Israel

Architectural description

Identification

Traditional identification

Scientific identification and dating

See also

References