The story pf Salome and her role as midwife at Christ's birth is in the Gospel of St James, a text that is a source for Christian and Muslim doctrine regarding Mary but not included in the New Testament of the Bible and is instead considered Apocrypha.
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Greek inscription as evidence for the Tomb of Salome. credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority
The experts believe that the use of masonry rather than being carved into rock means the tomb belonged to a wealthy Jewish family. The scholars say the large colonnaded forecourt mean Salome was a revered figure and the inscriptions in multiple languages, including Arabic, even hundreds of years after its capture mean for a time pilgramages were allowed for all. It also had a row of shop stalls that likely rented clay lamps for pilgrims who wanted to enter.
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