A few days before Christmas, archaeologists are currently re-excavating an ancient tomb that has long been thought to belong to Jesus' midwife in the hills southwest of Jerusalem, the antiquities department announced on Tuesday and reported first by AP.
The ornately painted Jewish burial cave complex is thought to have been constructed about the first century A.D., but local Christians later connected it to Salome, the woman who gave birth to Jesus and is mentioned in the Gospels.
(Photo : Israel Antiquities Authority via Facebook)
Center of Worship
The location saw the construction of a Byzantine chapel and remained a center of worship for many years afterward.
An Israeli archaeologist discovered and excavated the cave for the first time decades ago. Now, researchers are excavating the expansive forecourt of the cave as part of a regional project to build heritage trails.
The chapel was devoted to Salome, according to crosses and Arabic and Greek inscriptions carved into the cave walls during the Byzantine and Islamic eras.
The archaeologists also found a row of shops that may have sold or rented clay lamps in the courtyard.
According to Ziv Firer, the director of the excavation, pilgrims would rent oil lamps, visit the cave to pray, and then return the oil lamp. This means that the archaeological site was once treated as a sacred ground in the past.
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The Cave of Holy Salome
The Gospel of St. James describes Salome's assistance to the midwife at Christ's birth.
The second-century infancy story, known as the Gospel of James, is an ancient non-canonical work that describes the birth of Mary, her marriage to Joseph, their journey to Bethlehem, as well as Jesus' early years.
Salome is also identified as Mary's second midwife in the Bible. She was instructed by Mary not to tell anybody about Jesus until "he enters Jerusalem", according to the holy book.
The tomb was found by grave robbers in 1982, who also took the sarcophagus, but official excavations weren't started until two years later.
The cave is made up of several rooms that provide witness to the Jewish burial custom by way of several rock-hewn kokhim (burial niches) and broken ossuaries (stone boxes).
The archaeological record prominently highlights the Jewish practice of secondary burial in stone ossuaries, but what surprised archaeologists was how the cave was converted into a Christian chapel.
"Once the restoration and development works are completed, the forecourt and the cave will be opened to the public, as part of Judean Kings' Trail Project in cooperation with the Jewish National Fund and the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage," Saar Ganor, the Israel Antiquities Authority Director of the Judean Kings' Trail Project, said in a statement.
He adds that "this trail, that crosses the Judean Shefelah, is the backbone of the Jewish people's cultural heritage, and it encompasses dozens of sites from the time of the Bible, the Second Temple, the Mishnah and the Talmud. "
Salome's cave may soon become a tourist attraction once the excavations are finished.
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