page_title: Tumulus
section_title: Israel
hierarchical_section_title: Tumulus / Sites / Αegean and Near East / Israel
caption_attribution_description: English: Jerusalem Tumulus #2; Jan-29-2005 Funhistory 04:28, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC) A friend of mine who visits Israel regularly (and prefers to remain anonymous for security reasons) took this photo at my request for our mutual research, and to bring additional attention to this fascinating landmark near Jerusalem. There is no copyright on the photo. It did not come from the Internet. The original file size is 2048x1536, which I still have a copy of. I reduced it to 640x480 for Wikipedia since that is sufficient for the Tumulus article. We also have photos of the other tumuli in the vicinity, but we felt this one would be suitable to represent the group on Wikipedia.--Funhistory (talk) 06:33, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
context_page_description: A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
  Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape. In this respect, a long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several burials, such as passage graves. A round barrow is a round tumulus, also commonly constructed on top of burials. The internal structure and architecture of both long and round barrows has a broad range; the categorization only refers to the external apparent shape.
  The method of inhumation may involve a dolmen, a cist, a mortuary enclosure, a mortuary house, or a chamber tomb. Examples of barrows include Duggleby Howe and Maeshowe.
  The word tumulus is Latin for 'mound' or 'small hill', which is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teuh₂- with extended zero grade *tum-, 'to bulge, swell' also found in tomb, tumor, tumescent, thumb, thigh, and thousand.
context_section_description: A tumulus forms the center of the ancient megalithic structure of Rujm el-Hiri in the Golan Heights. Rujm in Arabic can mean tumulus, cairn or stone heap. Near the western city limits of modern Jerusalem, 19 tumuli have been documented (Amiran, 1958). Though first noticed in the 1870s by early surveyors, the first one to be formally documented was Tumulus #2 in 1923 by William Foxwell Albright, and the most recent one (Tumulus #4) was excavated by Gabriel Barkay in 1983.  The association of these tumuli with the Judean kings who ruled Jerusalem does not substantiate Biblical history since it is mere speculation. No inscriptions naming any specific Judean king have been excavated from a tumulus.
  More than half of these ancient Israeli structures have now been threatened or obliterated by modern construction projects, including Tumulus #4, which was excavated hastily in a salvage operation. The most noteworthy finds from this dig were two LMLK seal impressions and two other handles with associated Concentric Circle incisions, all of which suggests this tumulus belonged to either King Hezekiah (Barkay, 2003, p. 68) or his son Manasseh (Grena, 2004, p. 326).
  When comparing the number of these tumuli to the total number of Israelite kings (northern and southern), note that Saul never ruled in Jerusalem, and Athaliah was never crowned. She took the throne by force (2Kings 11:1–3), and would certainly not have been honored with a tumulus ceremony following her brutal assassination.
  The northern kings did not reign over the southern kingdom, and they would certainly not have been honored with a tumulus ceremony in Jerusalem; if any ceremonies were held for them, they would have transpired in the north (near Bethel, Tirzah, or Samaria).
caption: Jerusalem tumulus #2 in 2004
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