Tomb of Absalom in Jerusalem, 1831, Paper

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Original antique print of the Tomb of Absalom or Absalom’s Pillar and entrance to the Cave of Jehosopha. This print … Read more Original antique print of the Tomb of Absalom or Absalom’s Pillar and entrance to the Cave of Jehosopha. This print originates from 'Costume Antico e Moderno: Palestine, China, India, Oceania' by Ferrario. Published 1831. Tomb of Absalom (Hebrew: יד אבשלום‎, Transl. Yad Avshalom; literally Absalom's Memorial), 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 traditionally ascribed to Absalom, the rebellious son of King David of Israël (circa 1000 BC), recent scholarship has dated it to the 1st century AD. The tomb is not only a burial structure in its own right, with its upper part serving as a nefesh or funeral monument for the tomb in its lower part, but it was probably also meant as a nefesh for the adjacent burial cave system known as the Cave or Tomb of Jehoshaphat, with which it forms one entity, built at the same time and following a single plan. The freestanding monument contains a burial chamber with three burial sites. The chamber is carved out of the solid lower section of the monument, but can only be accessed from the upper section via a built entrance and a staircase. It has been compared to Petra, given the rock-cut nature of the bottom segment and the style of the finial. See less