Israel: Tomb raiders lead officials to 'lost grave of prophet'

THE hunt for a gang of tomb raiders has led to the discovery of an ancient church outside Jerusalem thought to be the last resting place of the prophet Zechariah.

Destroyed by an earthquake 1,300 years ago, the hilltop church lay partly buried until detectives from Israel's Antiquities Authority, in pursuit of a gang of antiquity thieves, noticed an elaborate doorpost poking from the ground.

The gang got away only to be caught a few months later at another site. But archaeologists, after weeks of digging, uncovered the rest of the church, which is about the size of a tennis court and has fallen marble pillars and a mosaic floor.

Beneath the altar is a burial chamber that officials said may be the tomb of Zechariah, said to be the author of the eponymous book in the Bible written around 520BC. The claim, which a number of experts have based on Christian sources and an ancient diagram known as the Madaba Map, is yet to be proved.

"It's been years since we've made a find like this," said Amir Ganor, head of the Antiquities Robbery Prevention unit.

Mr Ganor and his team are armed, spending much of their time lying in ambush or setting up stings to trap the tomb raiders. Though the thieves often destroy sites before the authorities get to them, in this case they may have uncovered an archaeological prize, just 25 miles south of Jerusalem.