Tomb of Zechariah son of Jehoiada…

Walking in the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem we come across the monumental rock carved Tomb of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the High Priest.

Tomb of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the High Priest who served in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem

Zechariah murdered:
Zechariah the priest, who lived in Jerusalem at the end of the 9th century BC, dared admonish Joash, king of Judah, for being unfaithful to YHWH and allowing Baal worship to be reintroduced into the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Actually, Joash in the early part of his 40 year reign instituted a wide religious reform, ridding the Temple of Baal worship, but later on lapsed into idolatry. Zechariah the priest spoke out against this and was subsequently murdered by stoning in the courtyard of the Temple of Solomon. We read about it in 2 Chronicles 24:21ff:

Here’s what the Bible’s got  to say:
“Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you. But they plotted against him, and by order of the king [Joash] they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.” 

Joash had been saved as an infant by Zechariah’s father Jehoiada:
King Joash apparently did not remember, or did not want to remember, the kindness Zechariah’s father – Jehoiada the High Priest – had shown him when he was an infant: Jehoiada saved Joash from his evil  grandmother, Athaliah, daughter of of Ahab and Jezebel: After her son Ahaziah, king of Judea, was killed at Megiddo, she began killing her dead son’s children to assure her position as ruler over Judea! When Joash turned seven, Jehoiada the High Priest brought him out of hiding as the legitimate heir to the throne, descendant of the House of David, and anointed him king over Judea (see II Chronicles 22:11 & II Chronicles 24:21).

Egyptian influence
The the monumental rock carved tomb is from the 2nd century BC and has a pyramid shape, showing Egyptian influence.