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SCIENCEWednesday 23 September

Israeli archaeologists may have found fabled Maccabees tomb

DANIEL ESTRIN Jews.” Archaeologists today say Israeli archaeologists and volun- to an account by ancient historian
Associated Press these cannot be the graves of the teers cleared away rubble and Josephus Flavius. Both describe the
BEN SHEMEN FOREST, Israel (AP) Maccabees, but Israeli road signs exposed the simple mosaic cross Tomb of the Maccabees as a tall
— Israeli archaeologists may be still label them as such and Hanuk- for the first time in more than 100 structure that could be seen from
one step closer to solving a riddle kah ceremonies are held there to years. the Mediterranean Sea, featuring
that has vexed explorers for more honor the ancient rebels. Reem said the cross is a clue. It ap- columns and seven pyramids.
than a century: the location of the Another 19th-century explorer pears on the floor of a burial niche Reem says four thick column bases
fabled tomb of the biblical Mac- was drawn to a nearby Arab at the site. It is the only Byzantine- found at the site may be indica-
cabees. tomb, where he announced that era site where a cross decorates tions that the structure was once
Israel’s government Antiquities he found the remains of Mattath- the floor of a burial vault, he said, 5 meters (over 15 feet) tall, and
Authority said Monday that an ias. Archaeologists say the small indicating that it may have marked large rock slabs Clermont-Gan-
ancient structure it began exca- domed structure has no connec- the spot of an important figure. He neau said he found — which have
vating this month on the side of tion to the elder Maccabee, but thinks it is likely that the Byzantines since gone missing from the site
a highway appears to match an-
cient descriptions of the tomb of A worker for the Israel Antiquities Authority shows a cross designed on a mosaic floor at an archaeological site at Ben
Jewish rebels who wrested control
of Judea from Seleucid rule and Shemen Forest near the Israeli city of Modiin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. Associated Press
established a Jewish kingdom in
the 2nd century B.C. a modern tombstone engraved in — early Christians — identified this — could have been the bases of
Scholars in Israel’s quarrelsome ar- Hebrew marks it as his burial site. site as the Maccabees’ tomb. pyramid decorations. Before a for-
chaeological community tend to Today, candles and Jewish prayer “What other important figures est was planted in the area, it had
agree that the site, in an Israeli for- pamphlets are strewn about. would be here?” Reem said, a direct line of sight to the sea.
est west of Jerusalem and a short “It was more wishful thinking than standing in the deep pit of the ar- Reem said he cannot yet date the
walk from the West Bank, is a sig- hardcore archaeological evi- chaeological site. site to earlier than the 5th century
nificant burial site but reserve judg- dence,” Reem said about the Eu- Oren Tal, an archaeologist at Tel A.D. He wants to excavate more,
ment about its connection to the ropean explorers’ discoveries. Aviv University who was not in- to look for an inscription or archi-
Maccabees. Now the Antiquities It is a third spot, just a few paces volved with the dig, said the mo- tectural elements that could asso-
Authority, which sometimes relies away from the domed structure, saic cross is not necessarily a signifi- ciate the structure with the time of
on private funding to help finance that captures Israeli archaeolo- cant clue. He said the burial niche the Maccabees.
digs, is soliciting donations so it can gists’ imaginations. French scholar may have been converted into a For the past decade, he said, find-
keep searching for evidence. Charles Clermont-Ganneau first Byzantine chapel, where a cross ing the tomb has been his person-
“We still don’t have the smoking excavated it in the late 1800s and would have been standard. al holy grail.
gun,” said Amit Reem, a govern- found a mosaic floor featuring a But he agreed with Reem about “It (is) crucial for everybody ... to
ment archaeologist who helped Byzantine Christian cross. The site other characteristics that corre- solve once and for all this riddle,”
lead the dig. was then abandoned. This month, spond to the biblical account and he said.q
The Maccabees are consid-
ered heroes in both Judaism and
Christianity. The Jewish holiday of
Hanukkah commemorates Mat-
tathias and his five sons who re-
volted against Hellenic rulers who
banned Jewish practices, and re-
dedicated the Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem. The biblical Books of
the Maccabees, which include
a tale of Jewish martyrs dying for
their faith, are a source of inspira-
tion in some Christian traditions.
In the late 1880s, a succession of
European explorers went search-
ing for the tomb. They were drawn
to a barren area near the West
Bank village of Midya, a name
that resembles Modiin, the ancient
town where the biblical account
says the Maccabee family was
buried.
Arab villagers pointed one Europe-
an explorer toward a hilltop dot-
ted with rock-hewn graves known
by locals as “the graves of the