The Tomb Of The Son’s Of Hezir In Jerusalem
The Tomb of The Son’s of Hezir, located in the Kidron Valley adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City, is actually historically correct (unlike the Tomb of Absalom and the Tomb of Zechariah that are neither tombs nor for those attributed!) and was teh burial cave for an important family of Kohanim, priests in the Holy Temple.
This hewn (meaning carved from the hill) burial cave is dated to the Hasmonean period (the second century BCE), and above the opening is an inscription identifying the deceased which says: “This is the tomb and the nefesh of Eliezer, Haniah, Joezer, Judah, Simeon, Johanan, sons of Joseph son of Obed. Joseph and Eliezer sons of Haniah;priest of Bnei Hezir”
The sons of Hezir are known from the Torah as one of the 24 priestly families in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 10:21;1 Chron 24:15) Wow! Lets have a closer look at this amazing historic site…….
The Tomb of Zechariah is located to the right.
The architectural style of the columns and stone heading is Greek.
The cemetery just above the Tomb is the Mount of Olives Jewish cemetery, also very old and historic, and huge. Unfortunately this cemetery has been vandalized, disrespected and neglected, and access to it has until recently been risky. So sad to learn that an Arab village used parts of the cemetery for their homes, Jordanians used tombstones to pave roads and graves were removed to make way for roads with very little respect for those buried in those graves. Big sigh. Such is the history of Jewish cemeteries around the world, but one might expect that in Jerusalem at least the cemetery would have been protected. No such luck.
Unfortunately most Jewish history is filled with such great injustices and sadness, and yet the Jewish people through it all have managed to survive and continue to have faith that the world can and will be a place filled with peace for all. Amen!
