Silwan necropolis

The Silwan necropolis is the remains of a rock-cut cemetery assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in Jerusalem. Its tombs were cut between the 9th and 7th centuries BC. It is situated on the rocky eastern slope of the Kidron Valley, facing the oldest part of Jerusalem. Part of the predominantly Palestinian district of Silwan was later built atop the necropolis.

The existence of underlying tombs in the village of Silwan had been known since the 19th century. Charles Warren attempted to carry out a survey of the tombs in 1876—an effort Warren claimed was thwarted by "the hostile nature of the villagers" whom he described as "a lawless set."

According to archaeologist David Ussishkin, the tombs have long since been emptied and their contents removed. They have been subject to structural destruction by quarrying and their conversion into housing. Monks in the Byzantine period used them as dwellings and churches. In modern times, Arab villagers built homes over them or turned them into water cisterns and sewage dumps. No careful survey was performed until 1968.

The Silwan necropolis is an archaeological site of major significance. In the 19th century, it contained some forty rock-cut tombs of distinguished caliber, of which most were still preserved by the late 1960s. The inscriptions found on three of the tombs are in Hebrew.

The architecture of the tombs and the manner of burial is different "from anything known from contemporary Israel. Elements such as entrances located high above the surface, gabled ceilings, straight ceilings with a cornice, trough-shaped resting-places with pillows, above-ground tombs, and inscriptions engraved on the facade appear only here." The stone benches on which bodies were laid out and the small square entrance doors are similar to those found elsewhere in Judah. David Ussishkin believes that the architectural similarity to building styles of the Phoenician cities validates the Biblical description of Phoenician influence on the Israelite kingdoms.

If the ancient Israelite kingdoms followed the practice of other west-Semitic kingdoms, the kings themselves would have been buried within the city walls, underneath the royal palace. The scholarly consensus is that the royal palace stood on the opposite hill to the west.

There are three different types of tombs in the Silwan necropolis, each type concentrated in one specific area.

Seven of the tombs feature gabled ceilings and extremely fine stonework. Ussishkin described them as "among the most beautifully rock-cut tombs known in the Jerusalem area even when compared with tombs of later periods." In contrast with the extensive family tombs of later periods, these are for single or double burials, with only one of the seven having room for three bodies. Later destruction has effaced the original doorways.