Archaeologists find tomb of King Herod

HERODIUM, West Bank - What a name. . . oOo Wow, here's some new discovery [ UNcovery, since it was there all along ] to reveal more biblical history. Israeli archaeologists say a desert dig they are working is the tomb of King Herod, who ruled the Holy Land when Christ was born.

This was Herod who feared from the Wise Guys of the East that this baby Messiah would rise up to take over his power. Known as a bloodthirsty, paranoid megalomaniac, he slaughtered as many of the male children born around the time of Jesus' birth as he could ( babies under the age of 2 or so.) Fortunately for our sakes, he missed!

The biblical massacre figures in many famous paintings, such as Peter Paul Rubens' 17th-century "Massacre of the Innocents."oOo oOo

The find, which could provide insights into one of the Bible's most reviled yet influential figures, includes hundreds of pieces of an ornate sarcophagus, but no bones and no inscription that would seal the identification.

Eric Meyers of Duke University, who has excavated in the Holy Land, said initial descriptions of the tomb pointed to its authenticity as belonging to Herod.

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