A new archaeological study is shaking long-held assumptions about the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Researchers say that Herod did not design the site only as a religious complex, but as a grand burial monument, a "heiron," intended for himself. They describe it as the most perfect structure Herod ever built and larger than any comparable burial building in the ancient world.
The findings were presented on Sunday on "The Morning Edition" with Dana Varon by Haim Shakulnik, Judea District manager in the Archaeology Unit, and Dr. Gershon Bar-Kochva of Efrat College. The research focused on an unknown underground system inside the complex, where the team says it identified an architectural element showing Herod wanted to become part of the Patriarchs' Compound and possibly be buried there.
The work began after the researchers obtained old photographs of the underground system, which had been scientifically examined only once, in 1981. Shakulnik said they found images that had not been known until now and understood they were part of the same system Herod planned and executed. Bar-Kochva said they located a small, isolated burial chamber within the larger structure and compared it with Lycian monuments, concluding it was a "heiron temnos," a burial complex for a hero or dynasty founder.
The researchers say they have strong proof: three carbon-14 samples taken from the foundation were analyzed independently at the Weizmann Institute, Oxford, and Miami, and all dated the base to Herod's period. Bar-Kochva said, "We can say today with certainty, Herod built it." They estimate the complex covers 2,000 square meters, making it 1,400 square meters larger than the next-largest known heiron in Miletus. They argue the site, praised over the years by scholars including Charles Wilson and Doron Chen, reflects Herod's desire for eternal burial, even though he was ultimately buried at Herodium.
