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For
July-September 2003
Volume 6 Number 3 (continued)
King David's Lost Tomb and Treasure
Josephus claimed that King David's tomb contained a huge quantity of treasure�silver, gold, and precious objects. Does this famous sepulcher and its riches remain in�tact today? The prima fascia case has been made.
Part I The World's Richest King
PART II The Tomb
The famous first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote to his Roman readers that the ancient Israelites buried their King David with great and immense wealth. Why would this celebrated king be entombed with such vast riches? It could not have been his intent to take riches into the next world as David held to a very different view of immortality than the Egyptian pharaohs.F1 So why bury them?
The simplest answer, and the working hypothesis of the King David's Tomb Project, is that:
King David set aside significant wealth in the form of silver and gold bullion for the use of future generations within a hidden subterranean structure, lying beneath and accessible from the ancient city of David, consisting of a massive multi-room complex wherein also lie his and other tombs of his dynasty.
The phrase "David's Tomb," in this context, refers to the national archive of the ancient Davidic monarchy including rooms set aside for the tombs of the kings. Without a doubt, a facility of this nature required a significantly different architectural design�presumably with a vertical shaft leading to the caverns below
�than a simple standalone royal tomb. The subterranean structure required secure sections for the archive and treasury and fitting burial chambers for the royal family.This depiction is the precise description Josephus provides. Consider his words:
He was buried by his son Solomon, in Jerusalem, with great magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomp which kings use to be buried with; moreover, he had great and immense wealth buried with him, the vastness of which may be easily conjectured at by what I shall now say; for a thousand and three hundred years afterward Hyrcanus the high priest, when he was besieged by Antiochus, that was called the Pious, the son of Demetrius, and was desirous of giving him money to get him to raise the siege and draw off his army, and having no other method of compassing the money, opened one room of David's sepulcher, and took out three thousand talents, and gave part of that sum to Antiochus; and by this means caused the siege to be raised, as we have informed the reader elsewhere. Nay, after him, and that many years, Herod the king opened another room, and took away a great deal of money, and yet neither of them came at the coffins of the kings themselves, for their bodies were buried under the earth so artfully, that they did not appear to even those that entered into their monuments. But so much shall suffice us to have said concerning these matters. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 7.15.3; Whiston 1957:237.)
There is no evidence to falsify Josephus' claim! Evidence is absent in the scholarly literature. Rather, one encounters scholarly disbelief and rejection of such claims of Davidic and Solomonic wealth as fictional or gross exaggerations. Some hold that the biblical descriptions of the royal wealth is just so much fanciful rhetoric and loyalist puffing. In spite of the disbelief and incongruity of post-Christian minds, biblical Maximalists, and secular humanists the Hebrew Scriptures and the writings of Josephus attest to their veracity.
Consider the enormity of the riches accumulated by King David implicit in his statement to his son Solomon:
"Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weight, for they are in great quantity; also timber and stone I have prepared, and you may add to them. (I Chronicles 22:14.)
I Kings 10 records that:
And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold, using three minas of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. And twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. (I Kings 10:16-21.)
Moreover, as to the Temple:
And the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar. So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inner and outer sanctuaries. And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inner and outer sanctuaries. And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel and five-sided doorposts. So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two leaves of the other door turned on pivots. And he carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work. (I Kings 6:20-35.)
The amount of gold reported in these and other biblical texts is so large that some scholars dismiss these accounts as obviously corrupted for to their minds the data reported are simply unbelievable. However, Alan R. Millard, writing in the Biblical Archaeological Review, demonstrated that the biblical description of the Solomonic royal wealth and furniture was consistent with the culture of that day. He held that:
...the biblical narrative is wholly in keeping with the practices of the ancient world, so far as we can ascertain them, not only in the use of gold but also in its records of quantities. While this does not demonstrate that the account in the Bible is accurate, it does show that it is feasible. (Millard 1989:34.)
Nevertheless, the likelihood of this hypothesized massive multi-room, multi-level, hidden substructure has been further demonstrated by two significant recent discoveries. The unearthing of �underground villages� in the Negev,F2 and the �underground metropolis� of MareshaF3 show that people living over 3000 years ago had the technology and engineering skills to build massive inhabitable subterranean structures. These underground facilities provided their builders with means for ensuring their personal protection, preserving their culture, and securing their precious belongings.
The implication should be clear. The working hypothesis of the King David's Tomb Project, as stated above, is consistent with the context of the Hebrew Scriptures, the writings of Josephus, the culture of the day, and with the findings of biblical archaeology.
Historical Sources
Only five original sources of information about David�s tomb are extant. So far, the Dead Sea Scrolls are silent. The existing historical evidence, in summary form, is set forth in the chart below.
HISTORICAL SOURCES |
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1. The Hebrew Scriptures |
The texts are few and scattered. References are about David and his descendants�not location. The primary text is: �So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David� (I Kings 2:10 [cf. I Kings 1:21, I Chronicles 29:28]). But other potential interconnection with texts in the Hebrew Scriptures is possible with I Samuel 25:29, Nehemiah 3:16, 12:37, Isaiah 22:22 (cf. Isaiah 22:9, 22:11, 22:16). Overall, some question exists about ritual impurity and its effects on future Temple worship in Ezekiel 43:7-12 (notice how those texts discuss the critical area of the structure's foundation). |
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2. The New Testament |
For the NT there are Acts 2:29, Revelation 3:7 (cf. 1:18 [cf. Matthew 16:19, Luke 11:52]).The text of the apostle Peter's sermon (Acts 2:29) verifies that David�s tomb was intact at the time he spoke at Pentecost (c. 30 CE). The very wording of his speech indicates an �unviolated� condition. Herod�s men were chased out of the tomb by a [miraculous?] �flame� that appeared. It put �the fear of God in them,� and �frightened them.� Josephus indicates that Herod �locked it down.� He was made to act in a manner which could result in forming the following conclusion�that the tomb has been �closed and sealed ever since� (re: Revelation 3:7). This act was fear-driven�and accomplished God�s purpose. This assumes that supernatural power prevailed in protection of this tomb from the time of the incident described above in Shebna�s day and Herod�s day�until now. Hence, at this moment, we must ask: �Is now the right time?� But more than that: �Are we the right people?� �Do we have the right motives?� �Will we apply the right methods?� If not, then we will not be able to open the tomb. |
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3. Josephus |
This is the main source of data about King David�s tomb outside the Bible itself. It is the largest body of information, and with multiple clues (see: Ant. 7.15.3, Whiston 1955:237; Ant. 13.8.4, Whiston 1955:394; Ant. 16.7.1, Whiston 1955:487-488; 16.7.5, Whiston 1955:489-490). |
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4. Rabbi Akiba |
Rabbi Akiba (c. 15−135 CE) held that David�s tomb remained intact many years after the apostle Peter spoke. Akiba provides a vital clue about the �flue,� an apparent part of the Gihon Spring karstic system, joining the various hollows and caves in the area. This �flue� may help to determine the exact location of chambers within David�s tomb. (Tosefta, Baba Bathra 1:11-12). |
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5. Dio Cassius |
Dio Cassius (ca. 150-235 CE) wrote that because of the First Jewish War �...nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate, a result of which the people had had forewarning before the war. For the tomb of Solomon, which the Jews regard as an object of veneration, fell to pieces of itself and collapsed, and many wolves and hyenas rushed howling into their cities� (Dio Cassius, Annals 5.69.14.2). This forewarning apparently refers to the preaching of Jesus and the apostles (Matthew 24) as foreseeing this catastrophe and punishment. Exactly which structure Dio believed was Solomon's tomb is unknown. Jerusalem had been so destroyed between CE 70-74 that one would never have known there was a city there. Eusebius suggests, that even as late as CE 311, Colonia Capitolina Aelia (Jerusalem) was not more than a rural town devoted to agriculture and the quarrying of limestone (Eusebius, Proof of the Gospel 6.13, 8.3). The monuments of Herodian Jerusalem had been removed over a century before Dio wrote. Moreover, Jews were not permitted in the region under penalty of death from 135 until the fourth century. There is no evidence suggesting that Dio, in 200 CE, knew the real location of the hidden royal tomb complex. At best, the remains of some collapsed elaborate tomb had become falsely identified with Solomon's tomb. It was a pseudo-tomb not the real one. For the Romans to believe the tomb was in ruin worked to exclude the topic from the Roman imagination and it was forgotten. This preserved the hidden location of the royal tombs to this day. Dio may have confused the monument Herod built heralding King David's tomb, a public monument, with that of Solomon. The Herodian monument known as David's tomb was not the actual tomb. |
Approximately 1900 years have transpired without any additional credible evidence surfacing about the detection of David�s tomb. There is no evidence that anyone since Herod entered David�s tomb. The implication is that the tomb does not lie plundered and destroyed but rather in tact with David�s body �lying in state� today as it has for nearly 3,000 years.
The Scholars Say
The important element now is to recognize what the leading historical and archaeological reference works report. What conclusions do the scholarly specialists in archaeology, history, and biblical studies draw from the sparse records cited above? Several are listed below.
SCHOLARLY OPINION |
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1. Josephus: The Jewish War by Gaalya Cornfeld |
Cornfeld writes "This tomb was attributed to David by tradition, but not verified archaeologically. The presence of a treasure of this magnitude suggests a sacred treasury annexed to some underground stores of the sanctuary, or close to it� (Cornfeld 1982:24). |
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2. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics |
�In ancient times each family, like that of the patriarchs, had its own burying-place. Such burying-places would naturally be on the family estate. We read of Manasseh being buried in the garden of his own house, and Amon in the garden of Uzza (2 K 2118. 26). But usually the kings of Judah were buried in a royal burying-place in the city of David: e.g. Joash (2 K 1221), apparently near the Temple (Ezk 437-9), the Temple being in ancient times an adjunct of the royal palace� (Bennett 1924:498) and �...Herod buried ornaments with the body of Aristobulus (Jos. Ant. XV. iii. 4); treasures were said to have been buried with David (XVI. vii. 1)� (Bennett 1924:498). |
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3. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |
This �David died...and �was buried in the city of David� (cf. Neh 3:16). Peter on the day of Pentecost alludes to his sepulcher as �with us unto this day� (Ac 2:29). Josephus states that Solomon buried vast treasure in it, and that one of its chambers was broken open by Hyrcanus, and another by Herod the Great (Ant. 7.15.3; 13.8.4; 16.7.1). Today archaeologists are seeking to discover it� (Vol.2, 1962:797A). |
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4. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land |
Nahman Avigad wrote: �All excavators of the remains of the First Temple period in Jerusalem were eager to find the tombs of the kings of Judah which, according to the Bible, were located in the City of David. In his excavations on the Ophel, R. Weill discovered three rock-cut tombs, which are of special interest because of their size and form....Weill ascribed these tombs to the kings of Judah, and at the time his opinion was shared by other scholars. Today, however, it is no longer accepted, especially since no other evidence has been found to confirm that they belong to the Israelite period� (Avigad 1993:712). |
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5. The Anchor Bible Dictionary |
�...Weill...thus identified two narrow, rock-cut galleries as the royal tombs...scholarly consensus has rejected it on the grounds that no chronological evidence has been found linking these rock cuttings to the Iron Age...� (Tarler and Cahill 1992:64? 67?). |
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6. The Mountain of the Lord by Benjamin Mazar |
�We find allusions to the royal tombs in later sources. The most interesting are Josephus� accounts of the treasures "discovered" by John Hyrcanus and after him, by Herod, in David's Tombs (Antiquities VII:392−394 et al); and the Talmudic traditions and relating to the removal of the tombs from the city itself, with the exception of the tombs of the House of David which remained in place. How authentic the traditions are, and what their basis in historical fact may be, is uncertain� (Mazar 1975:185). |
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7. The Treasures of the House of the Lord by Lambert Dolphin |
Dolphin writes: �This is an enormous quantity of gold and silver by any standard: 100,000 talents of gold = 3750 tons, value today = $45 billion; 1,000,000 talents of silver = 37,500 tons, value today = $10.8 billion. In round numbers, the wealth of the first temple was about $56 billion� (Dolphin 1992). Note: It is critical to clarify at this point that the total hoard of riches was not used in building, furnishing, and decorating the small Hebrew Temple. This required only a fraction. So then, how much gold did it take to build a small Hebrew Temple with all its furnishings? |
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8. 26 Tons of Gold and 65 Tons of Silver by James E. Harper |
Harper states: �The first-century Greek historian Diodorus Siculus records that in 347 B.C. the treasury at Delphi contained the equivalent of 127 tons of gold. If this figure is accurate, the temple at Delphi was far richer than the Temple at Jerusalem� (Harper 1993:45). |
Other sources of opinion exist, however the above list should suffice to illustrate the current state of knowledge about David's tomb. Now then, is it worth initiating a new and fresh search for King David�s tomb? In short, do we, or do we not, now know enough about its existence and location to warrant the effort? Do the royal tombs yet remain undiscovered lying deep underground below the city of David?
The working hypothesis of the King David's Tomb Project, is not only consistent with available evidence�literary, historical, and archeological�but the prima fascia case is made. The question is: where do we go from here and when?
Part III, the
conclusion of this
series, will appear in the
October-December issue of Perspectives
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F1The writer of Hebrews includes King David in his summary of those who died in faith awaiting a better resurrection. See Hebrews 11.
F2These underground villages were built about 1200-1500 years before David. See Levy 1996.
F3This underground city housed up to 10,000 people. See Kloner 1997.
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