Yesterday we noted the relation between the Sorek Valley and other cities associated with Samson, Zorah and Eshtaol. This photo shows Tel Zorah which is now surrounded by a nice forest.
Aerial view of Tel Zorah near the Sorek Valley. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
To the left of the tel you will see the Sorek Valley in the haze. In a clearing on the tel you will see something blue. This is a “tomb” dedicated to Samson. In the photo below we have a better view of the “tomb.”
Aerial view of the "tomb of Samson" at Tel Zorah. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
I have no idea when this “tomb” was erected, but I suspect it is fairly recent. The Bible recounts the death of Samson in one of the Philistine cities and his subsequent burial between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father.
Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, took him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. Thus he had judged Israel twenty years. (Judges 16:31 NAU)
How did the tomb come to existence, who discover it? What evidence indicate that this is the true tomb of Samson in the Bible?