Talpiot Tomb

The rock-cut tomb includes ten burial chambers with six horizontal slots and two arched recesses where bones were stored in limestone boxes. The openings lead from a central room into each chamber, with the ceiling carved directly from the bedrock.

Construction workers uncovered the site in March 1980 while laying foundations for apartment blocks, and archaeologists led by Amos Kloner examined it immediately. The structure itself dates to the first century and follows burial customs of that era.

Inscriptions on the limestone boxes use a mix of Hebrew and Aramaic letters typical of Jewish Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Such labels helped families identify the bones of their dead after the body had decayed.

The entrance sits beneath a residential courtyard on Dov Gruner Street and is reached by stairs at the Olei Hagardom junction. Because the site lies within a lived-in neighborhood, visitors should respect the privacy of residents nearby.

Six of the nine remaining limestone boxes carry engraved names, including scripts read as Yeshua bar Yosef and Mariamene. These combinations sparked debates among scholars, though such names were common in the region at the time.

Location: East Talpiot

GPS coordinates: 31.75140,35.23520

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:23