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  • The tomb of the sons of Hezir and the tomb of Zacharia. Photo: Koby Harati. Courtesy of the City of David Archives.
    The tomb of the sons of Hezir and the tomb of Zacharia. Photo: Koby Harati. Courtesy of the City of David Archives.
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Return to Zion and the Second Temple Period

The Tomb of the Sons of Hezir: the Priests Buried Opposite the Temple Mount

“This is the grave and the nefesh (burial monument, literally, “soul”) of Elazar Honio Yoazar Yehuda Shimon Yochanan Benei Yosef Ben Oved Yosef and Elazar Benei Honio, Kohanim of the Hezir family” (inscription at the Tomb of the Sons of Hezir in the Kidron Valley).

In the picture: In the Kidron Valley opposite the City of David stands a magnificent tomb from Second Temple times. On the façade is an inscription that identifies it as the tomb of a known priestly family, the sons of Hezir, mentioned in the book of Chronicles as well as the book of Nehemiah.

Alongside the tomb another building was carved out of the rock, called a nefesh, which commemorates the spiritual side of the deceased. This tomb is Hellenistic in style and attests to the way Hellenistic culture permeated elite society at the time of the Second Temple.