Tomb of the Prophets

The Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Arabic: قبور الأنبياء, romanized: Qubūr al-ʾAnbiyyāʾ} lit. 'Graves (of) the Prophets'; Hebrew: מערת הנביאים "Cave of the Prophets") is an ancient burial site located on the upper western slope of the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. According to a medieval Jewish tradition also adopted by Christians, the catacomb is believed to be the burial place of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the last three Hebrew Bible prophets who are believed to have lived during the 6th–5th centuries BC. Archaeologists have dated the three earliest burial chambers to the first century BC, thus contradicting the tradition.[1]

For the site in Hebron, see Cave of the Patriarchs.

Tomb of the Prophets
Arabic: قبور الأنبياء, romanized: Qubūr al-ʾAnbiyyāʾ
Plan of the tomb
LocationMount of Olives, Jerusalem
Coordinates31.776444°N 35.243106°E / 31.776444; 35.243106
Typeburial chamber
History
Founded1st century
Site notes
Excavation dates1870–1874
ArchaeologistsCharles Simon Clermont-Ganneau
OwnershipRussian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Public accessScheduled access (on-site caretaker)

Burial chamber

The chamber forms two concentric passages containing 38 burial niches.[2] The entrance to the large rock-cut burial cave is on the western side, where a staircase descends, flanked on both sides by a stone balustrade.[3] It leads into a large circular central vault measuring 24 ft (7.3 m) in diameter. From it, two parallel tunnels, 5 ft (1.5 m) wide and 10 ft (3.0 m) high, stretch some 20 yd (18 m) through the rock. A third tunnel runs in another direction. They are all connected by cross galleries, the outer one of which measures 40 yd (37 m) in length.[4]

Research shows that the complex actually dates from the 1st century BCE, when this style of tombs came into use for Jewish burial. Some Greek inscriptions discovered at the site suggest the cave was re-used to bury foreign Christians during the 4th and 5th centuries CE.[5] On one of the side walls of the vault, a Greek inscription translates:

Put thy faith in God, Dometila: No human creature is immortal![6]

Holy site
Entrance to the Tomb of the Prophets.

The site has been venerated by the Jews since the Middle Ages, and they often visited the site.[3][7][8] In 1882, Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin acquired the location for the Russian Orthodox Church.[9] He planned to build a church at the site, which aroused strong protests by the Jews who visited and worshipped at the cave.[10] The Ottoman courts ruled in 1890 that the transaction was binding but the Russians agreed not to display Christian symbols or icons at the site which was to remain accessible for people of all faiths.

References
  1. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700, 2008 (5th edition)
  2. Gaalyahu Cornfeld (1973). I Love Jerusalem. Kinneret. p. 138. GGKEY:75S35PKF07B.
  3. Amos Kloner; Boaz Zissu (2007). The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period. Peeters. p. 207. ISBN 978-90-429-1792-7. The place is known as the "Tombs of the Prophets" due to a medieval Jewish tradition that Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi were buried here.
  4. Josias Leslie Porter (1866). The giant cities of Bashan and Syria's Holy places. T. Nelson and Sons. pp. 150–151. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  5. Dave Winter (1999). Israel handbook: with the Palestinian Authority areas. Footprint Travel Guides. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-900949-48-4.
  6. Louis Félicien Joseph Caignart de Saulcy; Edouard de Warren (1854). Narrative of a journey round the Dead Sea, and in the Bible lands, in 1850 and 1851. Parry and M'Millan. p. 166. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  7. Nagel Publishers (1954). Israel. Nagel. p. 264. This catacomb is venerated by the Jews as the tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
  8. Israel Joseph Benjamin (1859). Eight years in Asia and Africa from 1846-1855. The author. p. 21. Retrieved 22 November 2010. Further down, towards the town, mid way up the mountain, is another cave, consisting of several divisions, containing the tombs of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, which are frequently visited by the Jews.
  9. 19th Annual Conference of Judea and Samaria Studies Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ariel.ac.il (Hebrew)
  10. The Churchman. Churchman Co. 1883. p. 614. On the ascent of the Mount of Olives is a burial place, which from immemorial time has been regarded as containing the remains of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. A Russian priest has been endeavoring to purchase it to build a church upon, but the Turkish government has, at the request of the Jews, deferred the completion of the sale.
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