he was lost, now he’s found

I’m talking about Herod, whose tomb has been found by an Israeli archaelogical team, whose chief has been conducting the search for 35 years.

The tomb is here

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Inconveniently, it’s in the West Bank, near Bethlehem.

Maybe that’s why there are scare quotes in a lot of the headlines. Here are a few headlines on Google News:

Team says it’s found Herod’s tomb
Chicago Tribune, IL - 53 minutes ago

King Herod’s 2000-year-old tomb ‘uncovered’
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 1 hour ago

Israeli archaeologist says he found King Herod’s tomb
International Herald Tribune, France - 7 hours ago

King Herod’s tomb may have been found
MLive.com, MI - 8 hours ago

King Herod’s ancient tomb ‘found’ BBC Bulgaria, Bulgaria - 9 hours ago

Archaeologist says Herod’s tomb found
Times of India, India - 9 hours ago

King Herod’s tomb unearthed, Israeli university claims
SI.com - 12 hours ago

And the granddaddy of them all, al Jazeera, tells it like it is

Herod’s tomb ‘found’ in West Bank
Aljazeera.net, Qatar - 5 hours ago

Al Jazeera also notes, sourly, the ramifications of this discovery:

The Herodium find is likely to spark political fallout in a region where archaeological finds inevitably become linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Any claims that appear to strengthen one side’s connection to the land are viewed suspiciously by the other.

Shaul Goldstein, an official from the Gush Etzion Jewish settlement near the Herodium site, told Israeli army radio that the find “constitutes new proof of a connection between Gush Etzion and the Jewish people and Jerusalem.”

He called on the government to name Herodium “a national and religious site.”

Khulud Dwaibess, the Palestinian tourism minister who oversees archaeological sites, said a team of Palestinian archaeologists was due to inspect the site and that her ministry would not comment until seeing their report.

We’ll all be waiting.