An ornate ossuary from the burial cave of Abbah, son of the priest (Kahana) Eleazar, and of Mattathias son of Judah, whom some scholars identified as Mattathias Antigonus, the last of the Hasmonean kings. The ossuary is considered the most elaborate of all those discovered in the burial caves of Jerusalem. A nearly identical ossuary was found later in northeast Jerusalem and is now in the Golan collection.

No inscription was found on the ossuary itself to reveal the identity of the deceased. The ossuary contained the bones of two individuals. According to osteologist Prof. Nicu Haas, the remains were of two men, one about 25 years old and the other about 65, alongside additional bones of a child. According to Patricia Smith, who published the official report, the remains belonged to a young, strong man and a person with delicate bones, possibly an old woman; the skull with signs of decapitation was attributed to the latter. Iron nails were attached to fragments of the young man’s bones, and lumps of salt, apparently used for body preservation, were also found. Later claims suggested that the young man’s bones, which bore signs of blows, severed limbs, and decapitation, might be those of Mattathias Antigonus, based on an inscription found in the cave.

In the inner chamber of the burial cave, an Aramaic inscription (65 × 85 cm) was found on the wall, reading:

“I, Abba son of the priest Eleazar son of Aaron the Great, I Abba, the persecuted one, born in Jerusalem and exiled to Babylonia, brought up Mattathias son of Judah and buried him in the cave that I purchased by deed.”

The script of this inscription does not match the usual Hebrew or Aramaic inscriptions from the Early Roman period. The letter forms resemble Samaritan script, leading several scholars to suggest that Abba was a Samaritan priest who had converted. On this basis, Prof. Joseph Naveh, Prof. Eliezer Rosenthal, and Prof. Saul Lieberman all concluded that the ossuary could not be that of Antigonus.

Several further problems hinder identification with Mattathias Antigonus: he was not a “son of Judah” but rather Antigonus son of Aristobulus, his father being King Aristobulus II. Neither rabbinic literature nor Josephus refers to him by the name “Mattathias son of Judah.” There is also no reliable historical evidence that Antigonus was ever exiled to Babylonia; according to all accounts, he was sent directly to Antioch, where he was executed by the sword. The inscription itself contains no title such as “king” or “high priest.” The name “Mattathias son of Judah” was common in the Second Temple period.

Most scholars therefore conclude that there is no basis for identifying the “Mattathias son of Judah” mentioned in the inscription with Antigonus. It was most likely a private individual, otherwise unknown, bearing this common name.

From a burial cave at Giv‘at Ha-Mivtar, north Jerusalem. Early Roman period.
Catalog number 350 in Y. L. Rahmani, Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel