by A cave in Israel is said to be the burial place of Salome. JesusThe midwife has revealed many of its secrets, according to archaeologists who have unearthed inscriptions and valuable artifacts at this place, which was once revered as a place of pilgrimage by the early Christians.
Discoveries at Salome Cave, near the ancient city of Lachish and about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, include hundreds of clay oil lamps and wall-carved inscriptions that pilgrims bought or rented before entering the cave. worshipers, some written in Arabic.
Although looters discovered the cave 40 years ago and archaeologists excavated the site in 1984, the new excavation is the first to examine the cave’s forecourt, an ornate space covering 3,767 square feet (350 square meters) with mosaic floors and surrounded by stone walls. . Next to the courtyard, the entrance to the cave is heavily decorated with symbolic carvings of rosettes, pomegranates and acanthus vases – a type of vase covered with ornamental leaves of the acanthus plant; A statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority (opens in new tab) (IAA). They visited the cave during Christian pilgrims. Byzantium from the fifth century AD; however, IAA researchers say evidence shows that a wealthy Jewish family used the cave to bury it about 2,000 years ago.
“The family tomb proves that its owners were a high-status family in Judea. chief [lowlands] During the Second Temple period, which lasted from 516 to 70 AD, the name Salome may have been mentioned in one of the bone tombs in antiquity. [stone boxes] The tradition developed in the tomb and identifying the site with the midwife Salome.”
midwife of jesus
The story of Midwife Salome is told in the Gospel of Jacob, which is considered fabricated by Christians – that is, doubtful of its authenticity – and is not mentioned in the New Testament.
Salome is largely unknown to Western Christians today; however, he was revered by early Christians and is depicted as the midwife at the birth of Jesus on many Eastern Orthodox icons.
The story in the Gospel of James tells that Salome was a friend of another anonymous midwife at the birth of Jesus; but his hand dried up when he refused to believe that Jesus’ mother was a virgin, and it was healed only after touching the baby’s cradle.
Salome cave itself consists of several chambers carved into multiple rocks. kokhim (grave niches) and chambers of broken bones attesting to the original Jewish burial tradition. But it was a surprise archaeologists that the site became an early Christian chapel and pilgrimage centre.
“Salome is a mysterious figure,” the researchers said in the statement. “The cult of Salome consecrated in Christianity belongs to a broader phenomenon in which Christian pilgrims of the fifth century C.E. encountered and sanctified Jewish places.”
pilgrimage place
Christian pilgrimages to Salome’s cave continued during the region’s Islamic period until at least the ninth century AD. Archaeologists noted that most of the clay lamps unearthed in the new excavation belong to the eighth and ninth centuries. The team also uncovered a series of shop stalls in the cave’s forecourt, perhaps selling or renting lamps to pilgrims so they could enter the dark interior.
“Lamps may have been used to illuminate the cave or as part of religious ceremonies, similar to the candles distributed today in the tombs of the righteous and in churches,” said IAA’s excavation directors Nir Shimshon-Paran and Zvi Firer. It was stated in the statement that it was the southern region.
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Although the cave has been closed to the public since its discovery, Salome’s cave will open its doors when the current excavations are completed, so to speak. The cave will be part of the Judean Kings Trail, a 60-mile (100-km) trail in the southern part of Israel that features dozens of important archaeological sites.
