Tombs of the Sanhedrin

Tombs of the Sanhedrin

Burial niches in the main chamber
Details
Established	1st century A.D.
Location	Sanhedria, Jerusalem
Country	Israel
Type	Rock-cut tombs
No. of graves	63

Tombs of the Sanhedrin (Hebrew: קברי הסנהדרין‎‎, Kivrei HaSanhedrin), also called Tombs of the Judges, is an underground complex of 63 rock-cut tombs located in a public park in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sanhedria. Constructed in the 1st century A.D., the tombs are noted for their elaborate design and symmetry. They have been a site for Jewish pilgrimage since the medieval period.

The Tombs of the Sanhedrin have been known by different names among Jews and Christians. In 1235 Rabbi Jacob the Emissary called them the "Tombs of the Righteous", writing that the tombs housed the remains of "many wise men". They were first called the Tombs of the Sanhedrin by Rabbi Joseph Halevi in 1450, and have been known by that name among Jews ever since.

In Christian literature, Joannes Cotovicus mentioned the tombs, without naming them, in 1598. In 1611 English traveler George Sandys called them the "Tombs of the Prophets". They were named "Tombs of the Judges" – referring to the "judges" of the Great Sanhedrin – by Franciscus Quaresmius in the early 1600s. This is the name they are known by among non-Jews.

In the absence of identifying plaques or other indications as to the ownership of the tomb, historians speculate that the name "Tombs of the Sanhedrin" was applied because the tombs contain nearly as many burial niches as the number of members (71 to 73) of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court in the era of the Second Temple. However, many archeologists refute this correlation. In Durchs Heilige Land (Basel, 1878), a journal of travel in the Holy Land, Swiss theologian Hans Konrad von Orelli said he believed that the Tombs of the Sanhedrin and the Tombs of the Kings (Kivrei HaMelakhim) were not necessarily connected to the names people associated with them. Instead, this could have been a burial cave for a wealthy Jewish family.

The Tombs of the Sanhedrin have been a site for Jewish pilgrimage and prayer since the thirteenth century. Since medieval times, Jews considered the tombs holy and would not pass by them without stopping to pray there. In the mid-1800s, the tombs were demarcated by a huge boulder that guided pilgrims to the site.