Tomb of the Martyred Mother and Seven Children
by Esther Newman-Cohen
Title
Tomb of the Martyred Mother and Seven Children
Artist
Esther Newman-Cohen
Medium
Photograph - Photograph - Unaltered Photograph
Description
This is an original unaltered photograph by noted Israeli artist ESTHER NEWMAN-COHEN. This photo was taken at the ancient cemetery, Safed, Israel.
Background: Shortly before the revolt of Judas Maccabeus (2 Maccabees 8), Antiochus IV Epiphanes arrested a mother and her seven sons, and tried to force them to eat pork. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one. The narrator mentions that the mother "was the most remarkable of all, and deserves to be remembered with special honour. She watched her seven sons die in the space of a single day, yet she bore it bravely because she put her trust in the Lord." Each of the sons makes a speech as he dies, and the last one says that his brothers are "dead under God's covenant of everlasting life". The narrator ends by saying that the mother died, without saying whether she was executed, or died in some other way.
The Talmud tells a similar story, but with refusal to worship an idol replacing refusal to eat pork. Tractate Gittin 57b cites Rabbi Judah saying that "this refers to the woman and her seven sons" and the unnamed king is referred to as the "Emperor" and "Caesar". The woman commits suicide in this rendition of the story: she "also went up on to a roof and threw herself down and was killed". A tomb believed to be that of the woman with her seven sons is located in the Jewish cemetery of Safed pictured here.
Uploaded
October 1st, 2013
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