Who was buried in Salome’s cave: A disciple of Jesus, a midwife or a Jewish queen?

An imposing burial cave from the Second Temple period, venerated for centuries as a Christian pilgrimage site believed to be the grave of a woman named Salome who was associated with Jesus, was more likely the final resting place of a member of King Herod’s family, new research suggests.

Thanks to excavations conducted in 2022–2023, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have discovered that the site known as the “Cave of Salome” in the Judean Foothills (Shephelah in Hebrew) near the village of Eliav was far more elaborate than previously understood.

In a paper published in the 2025 issue of the IAA journal ‘Atiqot, Nir-Shimshon Paran and Vladik Lifshits suggest that the Christian tradition identifying the grave with one of the Salomes associated with Jesus may instead have preserved the memory of a different Salome altogether — Herod the Great’s powerful sister.

“The structure consists of a courtyard, an entrance, and the cave itself, which presents several burial niches and other installations for burial practices,” Paran told The Times of Israel in a telephone interview. “The site is one of the largest, if not the largest, burial estates from the period found in Israel, nicely built and richly decorated.”

According to Paran, the burial estate was built between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE, when both King Herod and Jesus lived, then fell into disuse until it was revived as a Christian pilgrimage site for roughly 400 years, starting in the 6th century CE.

At the time, the name Salome, or Shlomit in Hebrew, was quite common.

Herod was a Jewish client king who ruled over Israel on behalf of the Roman Empire. His sister Salome was highly involved in the court’s affairs and intrigues, and when Herod died, he willed her several cities, over which she then ruled.

According to Mark’s Gospel, a disciple of Jesus named Salome was one of the women who witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion. The Gospel of James mentions still another Salome, a companion of the midwife who assisted Mary during childbirth (later in the Middle Ages, the name became associated with the midwife herself).

A luxurious burial estate

The cave was first excavated in the 1980s after looters discovered and plundered it.

The digs uncovered dozens of inscriptions dating back to the Christian use of the cave in Greek, Arabic, and Syriac.

Among the inscriptions in Greek, two indicate Salome as the saint to whom the site was dedicated.

The cave features a 225-square-meter (roughly 2,422-square-foot) courtyard, as well as exquisite ashlar masonry and other architectural decorations.

According to Paran, the monumental structure of the tomb has few parallels in Israel.

“There are similarities between this cave and some luxurious burial estates in Jerusalem, but this is larger and more elaborate than most of them,” he said.

Two grandiose Roman villas have also been discovered in the area – one located about a kilometer (0.6 miles) from the burial estate, the other roughly five kilometers (3 miles) away.

According to the researchers, the burial site was likely constructed by the same individuals who owned the nearby luxurious residences.

The connection to Queen Salome may help explain why such grand estates were built in this remote area, far from Jerusalem’s political and administrative heart.

“We know that Salome lived in Ashkelon, where Herod built her a palace, but she also owned lands in the Jordan Valley, north of Jericho,” Paran said, noting that the cave stands on the way between the two cities. “In addition, this area in the Second Temple period was known as Idumea, where Herod’s family came from.”

“While we have no definite evidence to prove our theory, we believe it is a very plausible explanation since everything connects,” he added.

Biblical ties — old and new

Paran said that during the Byzantine period, identifying sites associated with the origins of Christianity was a widespread phenomenon.

“During the Byzantine period, the first Christian era in the Land of Israel, believers actively sought out holy sites and relics connected to their faith,” Paran said. “Every place that they could somehow tie to the Old or the New Testament was turned into a pilgrimage site.”

Paran explained that the Cave of Salome was visited by tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people over the centuries, as testified by the number of inscriptions and other artifacts unearthed in the cave, including dozens of oil lamps featuring intricate decorations.

According to the archaeologist, it is possible that a reference to the original Salome existed in the cave, which could have contributed to the development of the tradition.

“During the Second Temple period, it was not common to leave inscriptions on walls, but sometimes the name of the deceased was written on ossuaries,” Paran noted. “It is possible that the cave contained an ossuary carrying the name of Salome, even though we did not find it. It might have been looted.”

Though the true identity of the person buried in the cave may never be known, modern Christian pilgrims have sporadically begun to return to the site, leaving behind icons and candles tucked into its ancient niches.

The cave was briefly made accessible for visits in 2022, but it is not currently open to the public, a spokesperson for the IAA told The Times of Israel.