Professor Ehud Netzer, who led the archeological team, told reporters Herod's tomb had been discovered at Herodium, a hilltop palace compound built by the ancient king some eight miles southeast of Jerusalem.
Netzer said a broken limestone sarcophagus found in the tomb bears no inscriptions and there are no bones inside, but the archeologists are almost certain it belonged to Herod, not least because it fits the tomb description left by the first-century historian Josephus Flavius. Yet, further research needs to be carried out for full verification, the scholar said.
During his reign, Herod undertook many ambitious construction projects, including an expansion of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, and the surrounding Western Wall, much of which has survived to this day.
