List of burial places of biblical figures

The following is a list of burial places attributed to biblical figures according to various religious and local traditions. The locations listed are not based on factual evidence, but rather locations mentioned in the text of the Bible or oral traditions of indigenous peoples. Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Jordan and Iran have put monuments on the grave locations in an attempt to preserve them as holy sites. Many sites have been transmitted from generation to generation and there are historical accounts from travellers which state their existence.

Figures mentioned in the Torah

Biblical figure	Place name and location	Image	Notes
Adam	Judaism: Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron, West Bank, Christianity: Chapel of Adam, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sunni Islam: disputed Shia Islam: Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq
Eve	Judaism: Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron, West Bank, Islam: Tomb of Eve, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Abel	Nabi Habeel Mosque, Zabadani Valley, Syria
Seth	In Judaism: Tiberias, Israel In Islam: Al-Nabi Shayth, Lebanon, Bashshit, Palestine
Noah	There are several sites that are claimed to be the Tomb of Noah: Tomb of Noah (Islam), Nakhichevan, exclave of Azerbaijan. Damavand, Iran[1] Imam Ali Mosque (Shia Islam), Najaf, Iraq Jordan Karak Nuh, Lebanon Cizre, Turkey
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Esau and Leah	Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron, West Bank		According to Jewish tradition, only Esau's head is buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs. According to legends, Ishmael was buried here as well.
Ishmael and Hagar	Islam: Hajr Ismail, Mecca, Saudi Arabia[2]
Lot	Islam: Bani Na'im, near Hebron, West Bank	Seen here.
Rachel	Rachel's Tomb, outside Bethlehem, West Bank
Zilpah, Bilhah Jochebed, Zipporah, and Elisheva	Tomb of the Matriarchs, Tiberias, Israel
Reuben	Nabi Rubin, Palmachim, Israel		During the Ottoman period Arabs would gather each year at the Mamluk-era structure. Nowadays, infrequent Jewish visitors come to pray at the site.
Judah	Yehud, Israel[3]
Simeon	Kibbutz Eyal, Israel.
Asher and Naphtali	Tel Kedesh near Malkia, Israel	Seen here.
Gad	Nevei Ganda, in Rehovot, Israel, or Ain Al-Jadur, west of Salt, Jordan (pictured)	Seen here
Dan	Beit Shemesh, Israel[4]	Seen here
Qedar	Zanjan, Iran
Zebulun	Tomb of Zebulun, Sidon, Lebanon	Seen here.	In the past, towards the end of Iyyar, Jews from the most distant parts of Palestine and the Jews who lived in Lebanon would make a pilgrimage to this tomb.[5]
Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh	Judaism: Joseph's Tomb, Nablus (Shechem), West Bank; Islam: Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron, West Bank,		Some others consider Joseph to have been buried next to the Cave of the Patriarchs, where a mediaeval structure known as the kalah (castle) is now located. Some archaeologists believe that the site in Nablus is a few centuries old and could contain the remains of a Muslim sheikh named Yusef Al-Dwaik.
Benjamin	Kfar Saba, Israel		Two structures 30 m away from each other (both pictured) are each claimed by Jews and Muslims as the authentic tomb. This site is questionable, however, because it is not located in the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin.
Serah	Pir-i Bakran, near Esfahan, Iran[6]
Moses	Mount Nebo (Jordan) Islam: Nabi Musa, West Bank,		According to the Bible, the exact place of Moses' grave remains unknown, in order to impede idolatry.
Aaron	Tomb of Aaron: Mount Harun near Petra, Jordan.		At 1350 meters above sea-level, it is the highest peak in the area; it is believed to be the place where Aaron died and was buried. A 14th-century mosque stands here with its white dome visible from most areas in and around Petra.
Eleazar and Ithamar	Awarta, West Bank[7]		Due to the uncertain security situation, the Israel Defense Forces limits visits by Jews to one annual night close to the 5th of Shevat on the Hebrew calendar (around January–February).
Jethro	Nabi Shu'ayb, Hittin		Each year on April 25, the Druze gather at the site to discuss community affairs.[8]
Aholiab	Sujod, Southern Lebanon[9]		Located at 33.4428°N 35.5381°E

Figures mentioned in the Nevi'im (Prophets)

Biblical figure	Place name and location	Image	Notes
Nun	Timnath-heres, attributed to Kifl Hares, Salfit Governorate, West Bank
Joshua	Timnath-heres, attributed to Kifl Hares, Salfit Governorate, West Bank, also Historical cemetery of Takht e Foolad in Esfahan, Iran		Thousands make the pilgrimage to his tomb on the annual commemoration of his death, 26th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.
Joshua	An-Nabi Yusha’ bin Noon aka Prophet Joshua's Shrine, near As-Salt, Jordan.[10]		A Sunni shrine east of the Jordan Valley.
Caleb	Timnath-heres, attributed to Kifl Hares, Salfit Governorate, West Bank
Othniel Ben Kenaz	Hebron, West Bank[11]	Seen here
Shamgar	Tebnine, Lebanon[12]		No pictures of the tomb currently exist. The tomb itself can be found at 33°11'53.9"N 35°25'18.1"E
Deborah, Barak and Yael	Tel Kaddesh, Israel[13]
Samson	Beit Shemesh, Israel[14]
Elkanah	Kedita, Upper Galilee, Israel[15]	See here
Hannah and Samuel	Tomb of Samuel, West Bank.[16] Other sources claim Samuel's tomb is located 30 km outside Saveh City, Iran.		Both Jewish and Muslim prayers are held at the tomb. Many religious Jews visit the tomb on the 28th of Iyar, the anniversary of Samuel the Prophet's death.
Eli	Shiloh, Samaria		According to Jewish tradition the Yahrzeit of Eli the Cohen is on י' באייר — the tenth day of Iyar.
Nathan and Gad	Halhul, Hebron Governorate, West Bank		The graves of Nathan and Gad are entombed in a mosque that Muslims believe houses the grave of Jonah.
David	David's Tomb, Mount Zion, Jerusalem		1 Kings 2:10 says that King David was buried in his own city; the City of David is on the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, Mount Zion is its western hill. The "tomb" is a Crusader-era cenotaph (symbolical, empty sarcophagus). The building dates to the 2nd century CE the earliest, and the tradition of David being buried here was created by Byzantine Christians well over a millennium after his supposed death.[17] The authentic tomb of David is probably a cave noted as 'T1' in a former Roman-era quarry outside of the modern city walls.[18][19]
Absalom	Yad Avshalom, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem		Archaeologists have dated the tomb to the first century CE. Its association with Absalom only dates from the 12th century.[20] Currently it is not considered by any religious group to be the tomb of Absalom, due to its age (1000 years too recent) and the Bible (2 Samuel 18:17, which says Absalom's body was covered over with stones in a pit in the forest of Ephraim).
Abner ben Ner	Hebron, West Bank[21]		Rabbi Moses Basola visited the tomb in 1522.[22] Sefer Yihus ha-Tzaddiqim (Book of Genealogy of the Righteous), a collection of travel writings first published in 1561, mentions the tomb.[23]
Isaiah	Isaiah mausoleum, Esfahan, Iran[24] or Nahal Dishon, (Israel)
Hushai	Yirka, Israel
Iddo	Golan Heights,[25]
Jehoshaphat	Mount of Olives, Jerusalem [26]	Seen here.
Elisha	Elisha's Tomb. Disputed between: near Mt. Carmel, West Bank or Kfar Yassif near Acre, Israel and Eğil, Turkey.[27]	Seen here
Huldah	Mount of Olives, Jerusalem	Seen here
Zedekiah	Cave of Zedekiah, Old City of Jerusalem [28]
Ezekiel	Ezekiel's Tomb, Al Kifl, Iraq		Up till the mid-20th century, up to 5,000 Jews used to come to the tomb during Passover.[29] Muslims believe this tomb to be that of an unspecified personality named Dhul-Kifl. (For an image of the tomb, see:[30]) This site was protected under the control of Saddam Hussein.
Baruch ben Neriah	Al Kifl, Iraq		Exact location unknown. According to tradition Baruch's tomb is located about 1-mile (1.6 km) away from Ezekiel's Tomb near a town called "Mashhad Ali" which there is no record of ever existing. Another claim postulated by the source of some legends regarding the location of the tomb places the structure four parasangs away from the Tomb of Ezra while still maintaining its location a mile from the Tomb of Ezekiel, despite the tombs of Ezra and Ezekiel being close to 51 parasangs apart.
Hosea	Ancient Jewish cemetery of Safed, Israel[31]
Amittai	Beit Ummar, near Hebron, West Bank	Seen here	Mosque of Nabi Matta: The main mosque in Beit Ummar housing the tomb of Nabi Matta or Amittai, father of Jonah. Mujir ad-Din writes that Matta was "a holy man from the people of the house of the prophecy." Nearby Halhul houses the tomb of Jonah with the inscription reading "Yunus ibn Matta" or "Jonah son of Amittai", confirming that Matta is indeed the Arabic name for Amittai and the Beit Ummar tomb is dedicated to Amittai. In 1226, the Ayyubid sultan al-Mu'azzam built a mosque with a minaret under the supervision of Jerusalem governor Rashid ad-Din al-Mu'azzami. The Mamluks constructed some additions to the mosque and engraved several inscriptions on its surface.
Jonah	Judaism: Mashhad, Israel. Islam: Halhul, near Beit Ummar, Hebron. (pictured)		Masshad tomb can be seen here.
Micah	Kabul, Israel[32]
Nahum	Al Qush, south of Dahuk, Iraq. There are however two other sites mentioned in historical accounts: Elkesi, near Ramah in the Galilee and Elcesei in the West Bank[33]
Habakkuk	Some locate it at Huqoq, others at Kadarim, Israel.[34][35] Others at Toyserkan, Iran.[36]
Zephaniah	En-Nabi Safi, Southern Lebanon[37]		No pictures of the tomb currently exist. The tomb itself can be found at 33°28'34.0"N 35°31'58.1"E
Haggai, Malachi, and Zechariah	Tomb of the Prophets, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem [38]

Figures mentioned in the Ketuvim (Writings)

Biblical figure	Place name and location	Image	Notes
Job	In Druzism: Chouf District, Lebanon (pictured). Yaqut al-Hamawi recorded that it was located in Al-Shaykh Saad, while another tradition locates it at Salalah, Oman
Jesse and Ruth	Hebron, West Bank
Mordecai and Esther	Tomb of Esther and Mordechai, Hamedan, Iran		Persian Jews still make annual pilgrimage in honor of the Purim festival.
Daniel	Tomb of Daniel, Susa, Iran (pictured). There are however six other traditional sites including Kirkuk in Iraq and Samarkand in Uzbekistan		At the site in Kirkuk, the locals claim that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azaria are buried alongside Daniel.
Ezra	Ezra's Tomb, Al-'Uzayr, near Basra, Iraq		Preserved by Jewish caretakers until the middle of the 20th century. From that point, a local Muslim Iraqi took the responsibility of preserving the location. The area surrounding the tomb is used today as a place of Muslim worship although Hebrew inscriptions are still present in the room. Located where Tigris and Euphrates meet.
Lamech	Islam: Tomb of Lamech, Mihtarlam, Afghanistan	Seen here
Zechariah ben Jehoiada	Tomb of Zechariah, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

Figures mentioned in the New Testament

• The Mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Augustus
• The so-called Tomb of Caiaphas was discovered by accident in 1990 and subsequently excavated by archaeologists.[39][40]
• Tomb of Herod the Great (discovered in 2007 by archaeologist Ehud Netzer after 35 years of searching)
• James, son of Zebedee in the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
• Tomb of Jesus
• John the Baptist in the Umayyad Mosque
• Basilica of St. John
• Luke the Evangelist in Thebes, Greece
• Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)
• Tomb of the Virgin Mary
• Matthew the Apostle in the Salerno Cathedral
• Saint Peter's tomb

Figure mentioned exclusively in the Quran

• Muhammad's tomb under the Green Dome in the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi ("Mosque of the Prophet") in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia

See also

• Burial places of founders of world religions
• List of artifacts in biblical archaeology
• List of Islamic prophets buried in Iran
• List of mausolea
• Lives of the Prophets
• Ohel (grave)

References

1. "Mount Damāvand | mountain, Iran". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
2. Corbin, Henry (2009). "The configuration of the Temple of the Ka´bah.". Temple and Contemplation. London: Roudledge. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-710-30129-1. This is the hijr of Ishmael, or the house of Ishmael (Bayt Ismail), where he buried his mother Hagar and where he himself is buried.
3. האבות, האמהות, הבנים והנביאים
4. דן בן יעקב
5. Pilgrimage in Palestine
6. Goldman, Shalom (1995). "The Women of the Joseph Story". The Wiles of Women, The Wiles of Men. New York: SUNY Press. p. 115. ISBN 0-7914-2683-1.
7. https://archive.is/20130108023424/http://www.syt.co.il/showKever.asp?id=337 אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן
8. "Druze Revered Sites in Palestine: Jethro's Tomb". Archived from the original on 2006-05-10. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
9. נחלת אשר Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
10. Prophet Joshua's Shrine, Tripadvisor, accessed June 2020
11. "Otniel ben Knaz". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
12. Yeshiva.org.il - המשך ענין לבנון
13. מקומות קדושים | קברי צדיקים - הגליל העליון ואצבע הגליל - גבול לבנון - ברק בן אבינעם - SYT
14. שמשון הגיבור
15. אלקנה
16. מקומות קדושים | קברי צדיקים - ירושלים - צפון ירושלים - שמואל הנביא - SYT
17. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford Archaeological Guides. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
18. Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1995, p. 64.
19. Kathleen Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land (1985), p. 333.
20. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford Archaeological Guides. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
21. "Tomb of Avner ben Ner (Abner) in Hebron". Archived from the original on 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
22. Avraham, David (1999). In Zion and Jerusalem: The Itinerary of Rabbi Moses Basola 1512-1523. Jerusalem: C G Gundation. ISBN 978-9652229267.
23. "URI (ORI) BEN SIMEON - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
24. Freedman, Warren. (1984) World Guide for the Jewish Traveler. NY: E.P. Dutton Inc
25. עידו הנביא Archived 2008-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
26. יהושפט
27. AA, Daily Sabah with (2018-12-20). "Drop in dam water reveals submerged village, Elisha's tomb in SE Turkey's Diyarbakır". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
28. מקומות קדושים | קברי צדיקים - ירושלים - העיר העתיקה - מערת צדקיהו - SYT
29. Passover pilgrimage to Ezekiel's tomb in Iraq
30. http://www.johnberger.com/indexdead2.htm
31. "הושע הנביא". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
32. מיכה הנביא
33. Renovation- Al Qush Synagogue and the Tomb of Nahum Archived 2012-02-11 at the Wayback Machine.
34. חבקוק הנביא Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
35. Hukkok
36. آلبوم عکسهای تویسرکان
37. המשך ענין לבנון
38. חגי הנביא
39. Caiaphas’ Family Tomb Found, Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1992, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-08-14/news/9203130273_1_caiaphas-ossuaries-burial-cave.
40. The Tomb of Caiaphas’ Unearthed?, The New York Times, August 16, 1992, Author Michael Specter https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/16/weekinreview/august-9-15-the-tomb-of-caiaphas-unearthed.html.