Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Retrieval of looted sculpture associated with Herod

LOOTING THWARTED: Three Palestinians arrested smuggling statue of King Herod's lover to Israel. The 12-centimeter high statue confiscated by the PA is a sculpture of King Herod's lover valued at nearly a million dollars (MAAYAN GROISMAN, Jerusalem Post).
The 12-centimeter high statue confiscated by the PA is a sculpture of King Herod's lover valued at nearly a million dollars.

Born in 74 BCE in Idumea, south of Judea, King Herod reigned in Judea for 33 years, during which he reconstructed the Second Temple. He had ten wives, but his true love was Mariamne, the last princess of the Hasmoneans, who were Herod's biggest enemy.
Although her being his true love did not stop Herod from having her and (later) her sons executed.

The article doesn't quite come out and say that the statue of "Herod's lover" was a statue of Mariamne. Unless it was labeled with a name, I'm not sure how one could be sure who it was, but I await clarification.