| 1843 Breton print ABSALOM'S TOMB, JERUSALEM, PALESTINE, #70 |
Nice print titled Tombeau d'Absalon pres Jerusalem, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. page size is 26 x 17 cm, approx. image size is 16 x 11 cm. From: Ernest Breton, Monuments de tous les peuples, Paris.
Absalom's Tomb
The 'tomb' known today as Yad Avshalom (Avshalom's Monument) 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. It is believed to be the 'tomb' of Absalom. It may contradict 2 Samuel 18:17 which says Absalom's body was covered over with stones in a pit in the forest of Ephraim.
The Jewish tradition connects it to Absalom son of King David. According to 2 Samuel 18:18, "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. It is known however that Napoleon never reached Jerusalem during his campaign in the Holy Land.
A Muslim tradition connects it to the Pharaohs - hence the Arabic name "Pharaoh's Hat".
Absalom
(fl. c. 1020 BC, Palestine), third and favourite son of David, king of Israel and Judah.
The picture of Absalom that is presented in 2 Samuel 13-19 suggests that he was the Alcibiades of the Old Testament, alike in his personal attractiveness, his lawless insolence, and his tragic fate. He is first mentioned as murdering his half brother Amnon, David's eldest son, in revenge for the rape of his full sister Tamar. For this he was driven into banishment, but he was eventually restored to favour through the good offices of his cousin Joab. Later, when some uncertainty seems to have arisen as to the succession, Absalom organized a revolt. For a time he seemed completely successful; David, with a few followers and his personal guard, fled across the Jordan, leaving to Absalom Jerusalem and the main portion of the kingdom. The usurper pursued the fugitives with his forces but was completely defeated in "the forest of Ephraim" (apparently west of Jordan) and killed by Joab, who found him caught by the hair in an oak tree. To the affectionate, chivalrous heart of David, the loss of his son, worthless and treacherous as he was, brought grief that more than outweighed his own safety and restoration.