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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| France reopens contested Jewish tomb in east Jerusalem |
| 2019-11-08 |
| JERUSALEM (AP) ‐ French authorities reopened one of Jerusalem’s most magnificent ancient tombs to the public for the first time in over a decade, despite a dispute over access to the archaeological-cum-holy site in the city’s volatile eastern half. After several aborted attempts, the French Consulate General reopened the Tomb of the Kings last month. But tensions between French authorities and Israeli nationalists and ultra-Orthodox Jews who seek open worship at the tomb and challenge France’s ownership continue to make day to day operations problematic at the site. France, which has managed the property since the late 19th century, closed the site for an extensive $1.1 million restoration in 2009. The French tricolor flutters over the site’s massive black gate marked with the words "Republique Francaise," which obscures the grand 2,000-year-old mausoleum and Jewish ritual baths from the street. The Tomb of the Kings is an underground burial complex dating to the first century BC and "definitely one of the most elaborately decorated tombs that we have from the early Roman period in Jerusalem," said Orit Peleg-Barkat, a Hebrew University archaeologist. Access to the interior burial chambers is prohibited. Wiki on Tomb of the Kings |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 Not to worry. France will treat this site like it did its centuries old protectorate over Lebanon. Here today, gone tomorrow. |
| Posted by: b 2019-11-08 08:29 |