For centuries, the Cave of Salome has been revered by Christians as the resting place of the woman who helped deliver Jesus Christ.
Constructed around 2,000 years ago, the historic cave southwest of Jerusalem has long been linked with ‘Salome’, midwife from the Book of James.
From the 8th or 9th centuries, Christians flocked to the cave to light oil lamps in a prayer for Salome, similar to how churchgoers today light candles.
But now, a controversial study contests this long-held Christian interpretation.
In fact, Jesus’ midwife Salome may not have been laid to rest there at all, the scientists behind the study claim.
Undoubtedly, the name ‘Salome’ is inscribed in the cave in rock, interpreted as a dedication like an etching on a gravestone.
But experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) say it might’ve referred to another woman of the era – a princess of the same name.
‘Following the new excavation at the site, and findings at nearby sites, it is suggested that the grandeur burial estate belonged to a member of the royal family,’ they say.
For centuries, the Cave of Salome has been revered by Christians as the resting place of the woman who helped deliver Jesus Christ
Salome (right) and the midwife ‘Emea’ (left), bathing the infant Jesus, is a common figure in Orthodox icons of the Nativity of Jesus; here in a 12th-century fresco from Cappadocia
The researchers describe the Cave of Salome as ‘one of the largest and most magnificent burial estates ever discovered in Israel’.
About 30 miles (48km) southwest of Jerusalem, it comprises several chambers with rock-hewn burial niches and broken ossuaries (stone boxes), attesting to the Jewish burial custom.
Two Greek inscriptions mention the name ‘Salome’ as the saint to whom the cave was dedicated – widely interpreted as Mary’s midwife, as mentioned in the Bible, since the 8th century.
According to the scripture, the midwife could not believe that she was asked to deliver a virgin’s baby, and her hand became dry and was healed only when she held the baby’s cradle.
The Bible reads: ‘And the midwife went forth of the cave and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, a new sight have I to tell thee.’
Old broken lamps also provide evidence that in later years the site was converted into a Christian chapel dedicated to the midwife where people lit lamps in tribute.
But the researchers now contest this centuries-long interpretation of Cave of Salome, which was excavated almost entirely in the mid-1980s.
While they acknowledge the interpretation of ‘Salome’ as the midwife, the experts point out ‘several [other] possibilities for identifying Salome’.
Inscriptions left by pilgrims are seen on the wall of the 2000-year-old burial cave southwest of Jerusalem
Clay lamps recovered from the burial cave. According to the archaeologists, hundreds of complete and broken lamps were found in the forecourt, ‘proving’ that the cave was a place of worship for woman who delivered Jesus
The researchers think the burial site was fit for ‘a member of the royal family’ before it was eventually transformed into a Christian pilgrimage site.
They point to the ‘exceptional opulence’ of the burial estate, described as ‘one of the most elaborate burial complexes of the Second Temple period’, which includes a a large courtyard at the entrance.
‘Given its scale and grandeur, we propose that it belonged to the royal family or, at the very least, to the highest elite of Second Temple period society,’ they say.
Their leading theory is that it belonged to Princess Salome, the sister of the Judaean king Herod the Great, the cruel ruler who had young children massacred.
Also known as Salome I, she was close to her brother but spent her life plotting against a myriad of people, including her sister-in-law Mariamme.
Another possibility is that the cave was dedicated to Herod’s granddaughter, also called Salome, who demanded the execution of John the Baptist.
The researchers seem sure of the Herod connection, because Herod’s family possessed ‘the necessary economic resources to construct such an estate’.
They add: ‘Herod is also known to have built several grand structures in other remote locations, such as Herodium and Masada.’
The cave consists of several chambers with multiple rock-hewn burial niches and broken ossuaries that were used to hold the bones of the deceased
Previously, excavations in the courtyard uncovered a row of shop stalls that, according to the excavators, sold or rented clay lamps
Yet another interpretation is Salome was one of Jesus’ female disciples, who may have been Mary’s younger sister, as referenced in Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the name Salome (or in Hebrew: Shalom or Shlomit) was a common Jewish name in the Second Temple period of Jewish history, spanning roughly 516 BC to AD 70.
The study, published in the IAA journal ‘Atiqot, present several more possibilities ‘for identifying Salome in the Christian realm’.
The team conclude: ‘The finely hewn ashlars, the monumental stone paving and the decorations on the vestibule’s facade and around the cave’s entrance testify to the grandeur and high socioeconomic status of the burial estate’s owners, raising a question regarding who built this magnificent estate.’
However, another archaeologist who was not involved in the study said the alternative arguments are ‘interesting but not conclusive’.
Boaz Zissu at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University told Live Science that the claims demand ‘more rigorous evidential support’.
King Herod: The Bible’s bloodiest tyrant
Herod the Great ruled the ancient kingdom of Judea from 37BC and was monarch at the time of the birth of Jesus.
He has been painted as a monster throughout the Christian world because of his depiction in the Bible, which tells how he ordered the Slaughter of the Innocents.
According to the gospel of St Matthew, Herod was determined to hold on to power at any cost.
After being told by soothsayers that the birth of a new King of the Jews was imminent, he ordered the massacre of all newborns in Bethlehem to kill off the threat to his authority.
King Herod on his throne. Historians remember him as a brutal, unpredictable, paranoid and cruel leader. During his 36-year bloody reign as king of ancient Judea, Herod the Great ordered the executions of one wife and three sons
Other records, however, do not mention the massacre.
And many historians say Herod was a hugely successful ruler who built lavish palaces, sea ports, aqueducts and temples, including the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the sea port complex and racing track at Caesaria.
The massive stones of the outer wall of Herod’s Temple Mount still stand today in the Old City of Jerusalem, where they are known as the Western Wall.
He also constructed an elegant winter palace on the slope of Masada, a mountain overlooking the Dead Sea where Jewish forces held out for a year against three Roman legions.
