Jason’s Tomb (“Kever Yason” in Hebrew) is a rock-cut tomb dating to the first century BCE in the Hasmonean period, discovered in the Rehavia neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. It has been identified as the burial site of a certain Jason, possibly a naval commander, based on the charcoal drawing of two warships discovered in the cave.
The tomb is located in the heart of the Rehavia neighborhood, casually sitting between the houses, in an impressive complex that is somewhat reminiscent of the tomb of Zechariah in the Kidron Valley.
Jason’s Tomb is a magnificent pyramid tomb hewn in the rock, dating to the days of the Second Temple. The tomb is located in a small garden in the heart of the Rehavia neighborhood and was discovered by chance during the construction of the houses in the neighborhood in the 1950s.
In 1956, during the expansion of the Rehavia neighborhood on Alfasi Street in the heart of Jerusalem and following a controlled explosion in the area, the remains of a magnificent tomb were discovered by chance, dating according to its appearance, style, and finds to the Hasmonean period (2nd and 1st centuries BC).
The presence of a tomb in this place from the Second Temple period makes the most sense: Rehavia sits on part of the Jerusalem necropolis (city of the dead), which was used by its inhabitants at that time. It seems that the reason for the burial in this area was due to its distance from the city, and due to its proximity to the main road to Gaza (today – Gaza Street).
To our delight, the structure of the tomb has been exceptionally preserved, probably thanks to the sand that protected it for about 2,000 years from weather damages. The upper part of the tomb structure was built in the shape of a pyramid, restored in the early 1960s, according to discovered stones scattered on the floor of the courtyard of the tomb complex and in accordance with other tombs, typical of the period, discovered in the area.
Jason’s Tomb
The impressive tomb system is entirely hewn in the rock, as are Yad Avshalom and the other tombs of Nahal Kidron, and it includes two inner rooms, a foyer, an inner courtyard, and an outer courtyard. The yard is quite simple but impressive. The entrance to it was through an arched openingת visible to this day, which probably also included a heavy door that is apparent according to existing signs on the floor. The beautiful pyramid at the top of the building seems to have been an accepted motif in the late Hasmonean period in the city. The entrance to the foyer from the courtyard passes through two square openings, separated from each other by a classic generational pillar.
The western inner chamber beyond the metal fence was used for initial burial and includes 10 burial niches. The northern inner chamber, which is a little difficult to spot, was used for collecting the bones for a second burial, in ossuaries. An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary (“os” is “bone” in Latin). The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary means that it is possible to store the remains of many more people in a single tomb than in coffins.
Paintings inside the Tomb
Paintings of several ships, lamps, and a goblet were engraved on the walls of the foyer, including the Aramaic inscription: ‘Jason’, which probably refers to one of the buried. This is the only name discovered at the site, and it was he who gave the burial cave its name.
The main painting discovered on the foyer wall shows 3 ships, floating side by side in the open sea. Some claim that it is a maritime trade, with the aim of teaching about the profession of one who is buried in a cave, that is, a seafarer, but some go so far as to consider it a scene of a pirate ship chasing a merchant ship.
The pirate/merchant ship is large and has many rowers, waving oars. The front of the ship is decorated with a kind of large “mouth”, which threatens to swallow the small ships, and behind it is a figure of a man who looks like an archer. On the large sail stood a man, whom it is customary to identify as the captain of the ship. The “spicy” interpretation of this scene is that Jason, in whose honor the glorious burial cave was erected, was a pirate. The claim makes even more sense once we realize that the tomb is located near the road to Gaza, which in those years served as an important port city. If so, it is possible that Jason was moving a lot on this route, so he prepare a burial cave for himself in the area in advance.
During the archaeological excavation carried out in the tomb by archaeologist Levi Yitzhak Rahmani on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, various coins from the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom were discovered during the evacuation and removal of the avalanche from the site; Coins from the time of Alexander Jannaeus and John Hyrcanus, as well as from the time of Herod, dating to the first century BCE, and coins from the reign of the Roman commissioners, from the first century BCE.
It is interesting to note that during excavations from 1995 on nearby Diskin Street, another typical burial cave was discovered with ossuaries (coffins) one of which was engraved in Hebrew and Greek with the name Jason. It is possible that this is the same person or perhaps a relative of the person buried on Alfasi Street.
The Jason Tomb complex is open all day and is located in the heart of a nice public garden at 10 Alfasi Street in Rehavia. The cave itself is closed but the complex is well worth a visit.