KEY POINTS:
JERUSALEM - An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod after a 35-year search.
It is in the ruins of Herod's fortified palace on a hilltop outside Jerusalem.
The discovery was made in Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the desert east of Jerusalem, by Professor Ehud
Netzer, one of the world's leading experts on Herod, who began concentrating his search on the palace in Herodium in 1972. But although most historians and archaeologists remained convinced that Herod was buried there, until now no substantial evidence had been found.
Netzer had been working for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who had wanted to keep the discovery secret until yesterday, when they planned to make the announcement in a press conference.
But the university released its preliminary details of the find on its website a day earlier than planned after the news was broken by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In a brief statement, the university confirmed that the discovery was made in Herodium, about 11km from the city. Further details of the discovery are expected to be revealed today.
The discovery solves one of the region's greatest archaeological mysteries. The assumption that Herod, appointed King of Judea by the Romans in about 37BC, had been buried at the site was based on the writings of the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
Historians believe Herod, who died in 4BC, had decided to construct his tomb at the site because of the strong attachment he developed with his fortress, which eventually became one of the largest palaces in the Roman Empire.
The first recorded archaeological dig at the site was conducted in 1956 by a Franciscan monk. He searched for six years for the tomb of Herod, who earned the title Herod the Great because of his expansion of the Judea empire from Palestine to parts of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, constructing fortresses, aqueducts and amphitheatres during his reign.
But although he made various findings that cast a window into how Herod used Herodium as a residential palace, a power base, a sanctuary and a mausoleum, the tomb remained an enigma.
Israel began its excavations of the site shortly after occupying the territory in 1972.
But since then multiple excavations at the site failed to locate either the tomb or grave.
Haaretz reported that Netzer had been successful because he focused on a different part of Herodium than in previous excavations, between the upper part of Herodium and the site's two palaces.
- INDEPENDENT