A 2000-year-old family tomb—one of the most elaborate in Israel -as uncovered

A 2000-year-old Second Temple-Period burial cave designated the Salome Cave—one of the most impressive burial caves discovered in the Israel—was recently uncovered in the Lachish Forest. The excavation was carried out as part of the Judean Kings’ Trail Project led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage, and the Jewish National Fund. The burial cave continued in use in the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, becoming known as the Salome Cave, due to a popular tradition that identified it as the burial place of Salome, the midwife of Jesus. The excavation of the courtyard uncovered a row of shop stalls that, according to the excavators, sold or rented clay lamps. “In the shop, we found hundreds of complete and broken lamps dating from the 8th–9th centuries CE,” say Israel Antiquities Authority excavation directors Nir Shimshon - Paran and Zvi Firer. “The lamps may have served to light up the cave, or as part of the religious ceremonies, similarly to candles distributed