Free Republic

Jewish Yad Avshalom revealed as a Christian shrine from Byzantine era By Amiram Barkat The historic Yad Avshalom monument in Jerusalem's Kidron Valley, revered for centuries as a Jewish shrine, was also a Christian holy place in the fourth century, new evidence has revealed. A fourth-century inscription on one of the walls near the monument, recently uncovered by chance, marks the site as the burial place of the Temple priest Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist who baptized Jesus. Scholars believe the monument was built in the first century, making it possible that figures holy to Christians could be...