Sepulchres

THE SEPULCHRES OF DAVID

15 And Shallun, the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it, and covered it, and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shiloah in the king's garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the city of David.

16 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-Zur, to a place opposite the sepulchers of David, as far as the man made pool, and as far as the house of the warriors. Nehemiah 3

In the years 1913 and 1914, the great French Archaeologist Raymond Weill took Nehemiah's account suggesting the location of the Sepulchres of King David in the South of the City of David and began a series of excavations. He used one other theory that had gained some credibility at the time. The tunnel that Hezekiah built makes a very peculiar sharp turn in this area and it was suggested that the builders did that to avoid interfering with the tomb of the King. Weill therefore did his work just north of that turn and found some indications of rock cuttings that he described as tombs. Not many agreed with him. In the years 1923 and 1924 he returned to the area and explored south of Hezekiah's tunnel and found another structure designated T-9 for the ninth structure found. T1-T8 were discovered in the earlier exploration.

After all his work, the Sepulchres of David, described in Nehemiah were never found. Some have said that this was due to the fact that Kings would not have been buried within the City walls and that the description in Nehemiah referred to a Sepulchre on the opposite side of the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives. Those critics of course did not read our quote from Ezekiel that we published last week. Of course, neither did Weill because had he done so, he would have been able to locate the Sepulchres exactly as I have done.

There was also a degree of scorn from those who believed that Weill had become a mere treasure hunter. After all it was legend that the sepulchre contained the largest treasure in antiquity. A new book on the potential vastness of that hoard by Gary Arvidson is due for publication before the end of the year.

Here is the map of the area, I have presented all the clues, please find the spot and email it in. The one closest to the actual spot will receive both our videos as a prize.

"Temple" Series of lectures

Michael S. Sanders

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Irvine California