Thursday, April 18, 2013

No reconstructing Herod's tomb

WELL, THAT WAS AN AMBITIOUS IDEA:
Israeli plan to rebuild Herod’s tomb scrapped due to experts' criticism
The reconstruction of the West Bank monument, which would have set a precedent as the world's first archaeological structure to be fully restored, was championed by a local politician but slammed by archaeologists and academics as ostentatious and populist.
(Nir Hasson, Haaretz)

[...]

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority said in a statement, “Following the public hearing organized by the authority, new insights were received that will enrich and improve the proposal [to restore the tomb]. The Israel Museum exhibition will close in eight months, and after that the findings will be returned to Herodion and be integrated into the restoration.”
I'm not particularly keen on the idea of full on-site reconstructions of important ancient ruins. Let's stick to scale models that can be updated and corrected as our understanding improves. And in this case, as the article points out, we're not even entirely certain that this is Herod the Great's tomb.

Background on the Israel Museum's Herod exhibition and on the site is here and keep following the links back.