More neat stuff from the world of archaeology.

An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Hebrew University said late Monday.

The tomb is at a site called Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert, clearly visible from southern Jerusalem. Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there, the university said.

The university had hoped to keep the find a secret until Tuesday, when it planned a news conference to disclose the find in detail, but the Haaretz newspaper found out about the discovery and published an article on its Web site.

Now this is an important discovery in terms of further confirming the historical claim of the Jews to Israel, as well as documenting the well-attested history of the Roman era.

I would, however, like to note the glaring historical error in the article.

Herod became the ruler of the Holy Land under the Romans around 74 B.C.

Looks to me like someone just went to Wikipedia and read the first, awkwardly phrased sentence, presuming that the year of his birth was the year he became king. Herod becomes governor of Judea in 47 BC, and king in 37 BC.

Posted by: Greg at 10:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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