The tomb of Absalom – a monument carved into the rock, rises in the Eastern side of the Kidron valley, at the foot of the mount of olives. This area is a huge cemetery with thousands of graves, of which is surrounded by legends, the tomb of Absalom – the biggest and famous.

The title refers to the tragic old Testament history of the relationship of king David and his son Absalom. The second book of kings says: "in all Israel there was men as beautiful as Absalom, and as much praise as he; from the sole of feet to top of his head there was no blemish in him. When he polled his head, and he clipped her every year because she burdened him – that hair of his head weighed two hundred shekels by the weight of the Tsar" (2 Sam 14:25-26). This spectacular and beloved by the people of the man killed his own brother (though the disgrace of their sister and decided to take the throne from his father. The day of the great battle that gripped the entire country, sitting astride a mule, Absalom was under a big oak tree and tangled his luxurious hair in its branches. The mule ran away, and the rebel was killed by the Tsar's commander Joab and his henchmen. A father's love overcame the bitterness of FILIAL betrayal, David in despair, wept for her child: "my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! Oh, I had to die instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son! "(2 Sam 18:33).

According to legend, the tomb in the Kidron valley – monument Absalom, as the Bible says, was erected by himself during his lifetime. In Jerusalem it is called "Yad Avshalom" – "Memory of Absalom". For centuries it was thought that the rebellious son of king David, first buried there, where he died, was later reburied here, and so pious Jews threw the grave stones as a sign of disgust for the man who rebelled against his own father. However, recent archaeological research has shown that the tomb was built in the first century, and therefore, Absalom, who lived a thousand years before, had nothing to do with it. Besides graffiti say that here buried or John the Baptist's father Zechariah, or Holy man Simeon (presumably the same one, which was written by the Evangelist Luke, the elder who recognized Jesus as the Messiah).

To see the grave is: powerful and elegant at the same time the building is impressive. Monument to a height of about 20 meters carved into the rock and decorated with Doric frieze and ionic columns. The tomb has a square base and top is a round drum with a cone, surmounted by a stone Lotus flower. Locals-the Arabs call this cone hat Pharaoh. It is associated with another legend: it is said, from the hollow of a Lotus flower was once stuck stone hand that was broken by a shot from a cannon by order of Napoleon – he knew that Absalom was buried here, and commanded to destroy the hand that rose to the father. This beautiful bike is not worth believing: Napoleon did not reach Jerusalem.