Tomb of King Herod's wife unearthed, Israeli archaeologist says
Ehud Netzer says two limestone sarcophagi found near Jerusalem had once held the remains of a wife and daughter-in-law of the Roman-era ruler. In 2007, he said he had found Herod's tomb.
Reporting from Beit Sahour, West Bank — An Israeli archaeologist said this week he had unearthed what he believed were the 2,000-year-old remains of two tombs which had held a wife and daughter-in-law of the biblical King Herod.
Other findings announced by Ehud Netzer of Jerusalem's Hebrew University on Wednesday provided new evidence of the lavish lifestyle of the Roman-era monarch also known as the "King of the Jews."
Herod, a Roman-anointed king who ruled Judea from 37 BC until his death in 4 BC, has a special place in biblical history. Herod rebuilt the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, making him a focus of study in the Jewish state.
The Gospel of Matthew says Herod ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents" -- the killing of male infants in Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem -- out of fear of losing his throne.
Netzer, an authority on Herodian excavations, showed reporters portions of two limestone sarcophagi he said had contained remains of one of Herod's wives, Malthace, and a daughter-in-law.
He said the findings supported his claims that another sarcophagus he found at the site in 2007 had been Herod's tomb. Some experts had said then the evidence seemed inconclusive.
Based on the additional sarcophagi he has found, and despite the absence of any inscriptions or documentation by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, Netzer said: "I would eat my hat if it were someone else's tomb."
At the dig site in Herodium, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Netzer showed reporters evidence of what he said was a mausoleum where the remains of the sarcophagi had been found.
Netzer said the remains of the monarch and his relatives likely disappeared when their tombs were smashed, possibly by Jews rebelling against the Romans from AD 66 to 72.
