 | Yad Avshalom: Encyclopedia - Yad Avshalom
Yad Avshalom
The tomb known today as Yad Avshalom (Avshalom's Monument - יד אבשלום) is located in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, situated between the Temple Mount and Mount of Olives. Archaeologists have dated the tomb to the first century CE. The moument is popular, as Jesus would have seen it. It is believed to be the tomb of Absalom.
A Muslim tradition connects it to the Pharaohs - hence the Arabic name "Pharaoh's Hat".
The Jewish tradition connects it to Absalom son of King David. According to Samuel 2:18, "Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the Monument after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's Monument.
The people of Jerusalem, for centuries, used to come to this monument with their children and stone it - to show children what happens to sons who disobey their parents.
According to a local legend, Napoleon fired a mortar at the tomb and removed the shape of a hand that topped the conical roof. The legend continues that he was angry at Absalom for rebelling against his father, David. There is, however, no basis for this story since Napoleon never reached Jerusalem during his campaign in the Holy Land.
Category: Jerusalem
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Yad Avshalom", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
