Tombs of the Kings (Jerusalem)

The Tombs of the Kings (Hebrew: קברי המלכים‎‎) (Arabic: قبور السلاطين‎‎) are a collection of rock cut tombs in East Jerusalem believed to be the burial site of Queen Helene of Adiabene. The tombs are located 820 meters north of Jerusalem's Old City walls in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood (Hebrew: שכונת שייח ג'ראח‎‎) (Arabic: "حي الشيخ جرّاح"‎‎)

The grandeur of the site led to the mistaken belief that the tombs had once been the burial place of the kings of Judah, hence the name Tombs of the Kings; but the tombs are now associated with Queen Helena of Adiabene. According to this theory, Queen Helena chose the site to bury her son Isates and others of her dynasty.

The site is just east of the intersection of Nablus Road and Saladin Street. The gate of the property is marked "Tombeau des Rois", French for "Tomb of the Kings".

As of May 2016, the Tombs of the Kings cannot normally be visited. As property of the French State, they are used sporadically as a venue for special cultural events organised by the French Consulate, and these are the only opportunity to enter the site.

In 1847 the Ottoman governor of Jerusalem started the excavation in the site. The excavation was then followed in 1863 by French archaeologists, was acquired by Pereire brothers, famous bankers of the Second Empire, who gave to France in 1886. The tombs are located underneath a piece of land that has a small stone house on top of it. The house was built and inhabited by Irhimeh (Arabic: ارحيمه‎‎), a Jerusalemite family. The remains recovered from the excavations are on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The tomb was described by the Greek geographer Pausanias as the second most beautiful tomb in the world (after the tomb of Mausolus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world).

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Wikipedia