Image Details

Photo by Palestine Exploration Society

ON THE COVER: A Cerberus, a three-headed guardian of the underworld, is just one of numerous animals that decorate the walls of an elaborate cave tomb at Marisa (Biblical Maresha), in the Judean foothills. The tomb and a second painted cave tomb nearby were discovered and photographed more than a century ago; unfortunately, the photos were soon forgotten and the original artworks damaged by time, so that our only knowledge of the paintings have been fanciful lithographs made in 1905. Happily, author David M. Jacobson has rediscovered these historic photos; in “Marisa Tomb Paintings,” he takes us on a tour of the cave tombs and shows that the photos contain long-lost details that reveal the wall paintings in their original glory.