Mazor Mausoleum

Mazor Mausoleum

Location within Israel
Coordinates	32°2′47.58″N 34°56′46.05″E / 32.0465500°N 34.9461250°E
Location	Mazor, Israel
Type	Mausoleum
Completion date	3rd century AD

The Mazor Mausoleum (Hebrew: מאוזוליאום מזור‎‎) is one of the most impressive and best preserved Roman buildings in Israel, located in El'ad. The Mausoleum, which is the only Roman era building in Israel to still stand from its foundations to its roof, was built for an important Roman man and his wife in the 3rd century AD. Their identities remain a mystery but one can still see the remnants of two sarcophagi in the mausoleum.

Muslim Period

In the Late Antiquity, Muslims added a prayer niche in the southern wall, indicating the direction of Mecca, and the building became an Islamic holy place called Maqam en Neby Yahyah (Shrine of the Prophet John).^[1] Due to its sacredness, the building was preserved through the ages.^[2] It functioned as a mosque until the depopulation of the Palestinian village Al-Muzayri'a in 1948.

In July 1949, Israel decided to raze the mausoleum, after the Israeli army had used the building for target practice. However an antiquities inspector managed to stop the destruction.^[3]

References

1. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. 365-367
2. "The Mazor Mausoleum". Ministry of Tourism - The State of Israel. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
3. History Erased, by Meron Rapoport, Haaretz, 05.07.07

Bibliography

• Conder, Claude Reignier; Kitchener, H. H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.