A Lavish, Roman-Period Burial Cave in Tiberias

This article presents a lavish, Roman-period burial cave discovered in the northern necropolis of Tiberias. It consisted of three skillfully hewn rooms comprising a vestibule with wall paintings and two burial chambers with loculi. Two ossuaries were discovered in the cave, one bearing a Greek inscription. Another Greek inscription, originally placed above one of the loculi, apparently mentioned one of the family patriarchs. Pottery vessels and oil lamps found in the cave date its use to the late first and mainly to the second century CE. The cave's opulence, and the attestation of a population that was literate in Greek, indicate that it belonged to one of the elite Jewish families of Tiberias.