The archaeology of the Cave of Salome

FUNERARY ARCHAEOLOGY: Christian pilgrim chapel and Saint Salome inscriptions found in Judean cave. Study details fifth- to ninth-century conversion of a Second Temple tomb into a worship site, complete with apse, altar and multilingual graffiti (Jerusalem Post Staff).

A new article in ‘Atiqot 117 by Nir-Shimshon Paran and Vladik Lifshits follows decades of exploration at the Cave of Salome near Amaẓya and sets out the evidence for its use as a Christian pilgrimage destination from the Byzantine through Abbasid eras . The authors record how a previously Jewish burial estate, hewn in the late first century BCE, was structurally and liturgically re-oriented between the fifth and ninth centuries CE.

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The underlying ‘Atiqot is once again from the current "Archaeology of Death" volume:

Paran, Nir-Shimshon and Lifshits, Vladik (2025) "The Cave of Salome: A Second Temple Period Royal Burial Estate in the Judean Shephelah," 'Atiqot: Vol. 117, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.2254
Available at: https://publications.iaa.org.il/atiqot/vol117/iss1/6

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of previous and recent archaeological work conducted at the burial estate known as the Cave of Salome in the Judean Lowlands (Shephelah). Following the new excavation at the site, and findings at nearby sites, it is suggested that the grandeur burial estate—one of the most elaborate burial complexes of the Second Temple period—belonged to a member of the royal family, whose name, “Salome,” was preserved in the later, Christian use of the site in the Byzantine period. This article considers the geographic and historic background of the region, as well as the architectural features of the burial estate compared to other contemporary enclosures, offering a new possible identification of the burial estate’s owner.

In short, the argument is that this is the tomb of Salome, the sister of Herod the Great. But later Christian tradition took it to be the tomb of Salome the disciple of Jesus (Mark 15:40–41, 16:1-2).

Neither is to be confused with Salome, daughter of Herodias, who is inferred to have danced before Herod and then asked for the head of John the Baptist. Also not to be confused with Salome the daughter of Herod or the probably legendary Salome the midwife in the Protevangelion of James. Etc. There were lots of Salomes in and around the biblical tradition.

For more on the Cave of Salome, see here and here.

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