Absalom is elsewhere mentioned only in 2 Sam. xx, 6; 1 Kings ii, 7, 28; xv, 2, 10 ; 2 Chron. xi, 20, 21 ;
ABSALOM
36
ABSOLUTION"
from the last two of which passages he appears to have left only a daughter (having lost three sons, 2 Sam. xiv, 27 ; comp. xviii, 18), who was the grand- mother of Abijah (q. v.). See, generally, Niemeyer, Charakt. iv, 319 sq.; Kitto, Dai/// Bible Must, in loc. ; Debaeza, Com. Allegor. p. 5; Evans, Script. Biog. p. 1; Lindsay, Led. ii ; Dietric, Antiq. p. 353; Laurie, Led. p. 63; Harris, Works, p. 209; Spencer, Ser- mons, p. 273; Simeon, Works, iii, 281, 294; Dibdin, Sermons, iii, 410 ; Williams, Sermons, ii, 190. See David ; Joab.
Absalom's Tomb. A remarkable monument bear- ing this name makes a conspicuous figure in the Val- ley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem ; and it has been noticed and described by almost all travellers. It is close by the lower bridge over the Kedron, and is a square isolated block hewn out from the rocky ledge so as to leave an area or nich3 around it. The body of this monument is about 24 feet square, and is ornamented on each side with two columns and two half columns of the Ionic order, with pilasters at the corners. The architrave exhibits triglyphs and Doric ornaments. The elevation is about 18 or 20 feet to the top of the architrave, and thus far it is wholly cut from the rock. But the adjacent rock is here not so high as in the adjoining tomb of Zecharias (so called), and therefore the upper part of the tomb has been car- ried up with mason-work of large stones. This con- sists, tirst, of two square layers, of which the upper one is smaller than the lower ; and then a small dome or cupola runs up into a low spire, which appears to have spread out a little at the top, like an opening flame. This mason-work is perhaps 20 feet high, giv- ing to the whole an elevation of about 40 feet. There is a small excavated chamber in the body of the tomb, into which a hole had been broken through one of the sides several centuries ago. Its present Mohamme- dan name is Tantur Faraon (Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 34). The old travellers who refer to this tomb, as well as Calmet after them, are satisfied that they find the history of it in 2 Sam. xviii, 18, which states that Ab- salom, having no son, built a monument to keep his name in remembrance, and that this monument was called "Absalom's Place" (Di?'32X *P, Absalom's Hand, as in the margin ; Sept. Xtlp A/3f(7<TcrXw/i,Vulg. Maims Absalom), that is, index, memorial, or monu- ment. See Hand. Later writers, however, dispute such a connection between this history and any of the existing monuments on this spot. "The style of architecture and embellishment," writes Dr. Rob- inson (Bib. lies, i, 519 sq."), " shows that they are of a later period than most of the other countless sepul- chres round about the city, which, with few excep-
tions, are destitute of architectural ornament. But the foreign ecclesiastics, who crowded to Jerusalem in the fourth century, found these monuments here ; and, of course, it became an object to refer them to persons mentioned in the Scriptures. Yet, from that day to this, tradition seems never to have become fully settled as to the individuals whose names they should bear. The Itin. Hieros. in A.D. 333 speaks of the two monolithic monuments as the tombs of Isaiah and Hezekiah. Adamnus, about A.D. G97, mentions only one of these, and calls it the tomb of Jehoshaphat. . . . The historians of the Crusades ap- pear not to have noticed these tombs. The first men- tion of a tomb of Absalom is by Benjamin of Tudela, who gives to the other the name of king Uzziah ; and from that time to the present day the accounts of travellers have been varying and inconsistent." Yet so eminent an architect as Prof. Cockerell speaks of this tomb of Absalom as a monument of antiquity, perfectly corresponding with the ancient notices (Ath- enaeum, Jan. 28, 1843). Notwithstanding the above objections, therefore, we are inclined to identify the site of this monument with that of Scripture. Jose- phus (Ant. vii, 10, 3) says that it was "a marble pil- lar in the king's dale [the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which led to " the king's gardens"], two furlongs dis- tant from Jerusalem," as if it were extant in his day. The simple monolith pillar may naturally have been replaced in after times by a more substantial monu- ment. See Pillar. It is Avorthy of remark that tlio tradition which connects it with Absalom is not a monkish one merely ; the Jewish residents likewise, who would not be likely to borrow from Christiin legends, have been in the habit from time immemo- rial of casting a stone at it and spitting, as they p.iss by it, in order to show their horror at the rebellious conduct of this unnatural son. (See Williams, Holy City, ii, 451 ; Olin's Travels, ii, 145 ; Pococke, East, ii, 34; Richter, Wall/, p. 33; Rosenmiiller's Ansich- ten von Paliistina, ii, plate 14; Wilson, Lands of Bible, i, 488 ; Thomson's Land and Book, ii, 482 ; Crit. Sac. Thes. Nov. i, 676 ; Frith, Palest, -photographed, pt. 21).