Nadav Na’aman, «Death Formulae and the Burial Place of the Kings of the House of David», Vol. 85 (2004) 245-254
The article re-examines the death formulae of the kings of Judah, in particular those of the kings from Hezekiah onward. It is suggested the kings of Judah in the tenth-eighth centuries BCE were buried in the palace, and that Hezekiah transferred the burial place of the kings of Judah to a new site (the garden of Uzza) outside the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah’s decision to transfer the burial place might have been influenced by the admonitions and possible pressure of the temple priests, who felt that the burial in the palace defiled the adjacent temple (see Ezek 43,7-9). The change in the closing formulae of the late kings of Judah should be explained on the basis of the reality of the late monarchical period and the objectives of the authors of the Book of Kings, and in no way indicates an early edition of the Book of Kings as some scholars suggest.
Death Formulae and the Burial Place 247
the opening and closing formulae of the kings of Judah should be explained
on the basis of the written sources available to the authors and their
acquaintance with the realities of the late monarchical period, and in no way
indicate an early edition of the Book of Kings (8).
This leaves us still with the problem of the omission of the burial place of
Hezekiah — a problem which, as suggested below, might be resolved by
taking into account the objectives of the author of the Book of Kings.
2. The Burial Place of the Kings of Judah
The site of the tombs of the kings of Judah is controversial. Some
scholars suggested that it was located in the southeastern side of the City of
David, where Weill discovered some installations hewn out of the rock,
which were severely destroyed by Roman quarrying operations (9). Krauss
suggested that some Judahite kings were buried beneath the temple (10);
Yeivin searched the tombs within the city walls, east of the spring of
Gihon (11); Kloner suggested that some late Judahite kings were buried at St.
Etienne, north of the City of David (12); other scholars were reluctant to
suggest an exact location (13). I agree with the opinion that the unimpressive
(8) For the hypothesis of three successive editions of the Book of Kings, see H.
WEIPPERT, “Die ‘deuteronomistischen’ Beurteilungen der Könige von Israel und Juda und
das Problem der Redaktion der Königsbücherâ€, Biblica 53 (1972) 301-339; A LEMAIRE,
“Vers l’histoire de la rédaction des Livres des Roisâ€, ZAW 98 (1986) 221-236; HALPERN –
VANDERHOOFT, “Editions of Kingsâ€, 179-244; EYNIKEL, Reform of King Josiah; ID., “The
Portrait of Manasseh and the Deuteronomistic Historyâ€, Deuteronomy and Deute-
ronomistic Literature. Festschrift C.H.W. Brekelmans (eds. M. VERVENNE – J. LUST)
(BETL 133; Leuven 1997) 233-261. For an assumed early edition of the time of Hezekiah
and a second exilic edition, see H.N. RÖSEL, Von Josua bis Jojachin. Untersuchungen zu
den deuteronomistischen Geschichtsbüchern des Alten Testaments (SVT 75; Leiden 1999).
(9) R. WEILL, La cité de David. Compte rendu du fouilles executées à Jérusalem, sur la
site de la ville primitive, campagne de 1913-1914 (Paris 1920) 35-44, 157-173; L.-H.
VINCENT, “Mélanges. II: La cité de David d’après les fouilles de 1913-1914â€, RB 30 (1921)
411-423; L.-H. VINCENT – A.-M. STEVE, Jérusalem de l’Ancien Testament. Recherches
d’archéologie et d’histoire (Paris 1954) I, 312-323; K. GALLING, “Die Nekropole von
Jerusalemâ€, PJ 32 (1936) 95; ID., “Grabâ€, Biblische Reallexikon (Tübingen 1937) 244-247;
J.J. SIMONS, Jerusalem in the Old Testament (Leiden 1952) 198-221; J. JEREMIAS,
Heiligengräber in Jesu Umwelt (Mt. 23,29; Lk. 11,47). Eine Untersuchung zur Volks-
religion der Zeit Jesu (Göttingen 1958) 56-60. Some scholars suggested identifying the
tomb of Hezekiah, which according to the Book of Chronicles (32,33) was buried ‘in the
ascent of the tombs of the sons of David’, with a tomb discovered by Weill in the 1923/24
season and located south of the other installations. See R. WEILL, “La ‘Pointe sud’ de la
Cité de David et les fouilles de 1923-1924â€, REJ 82 (1926) 110-113; VINCENT – STEVE,
Jérusalem, 322; JEREMIAS, Heiligengräber, 60-61.
(10) S. KRAUSS, “Moriah-Ariel. 5. The Sepulchres of the Davidic Dynastyâ€, PEQ 79
(1947) 102-111;
(11) S. YEIVIN, “The Sepulchres of the Kings of the House of Davidâ€, JNES 7 (1948)
30-45.
(12) A. KLONER, “The ‘Third Wall’ in Jerusalem and the ‘Cave of the Kings’ (Josephus
War V 147)â€, Levant 18 (1986) 121-129.
(13) K.M. KENYON, Digging up Jerusalem (London 1974) 31-32, 47, 156-157; G.
BARKAY, “On the Location of the Tombs of the later Kings of the House of Davidâ€,
Between Hermon and Sinai: Memorial to Amnon. Studies in History, Archaeology and
Geography of Eretz Israel (ed. M. BROSHI) (Jerusalem 1977) 75-92 (Hebrew); ID., “The
Necropolis of Jerusalem in the First Temple Periodâ€, The History of Jerusalem. The
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