Tomb of Simeon the Just
sepulcher in East Jerusalem
The Tomb of Simeon the Just or Simeon the Righteous (Hebrew: קבר שמעון הצדיק, romanized: Kever Shimon haTzadik) is an ancient tomb in Jerusalem. According to scholarly consensus, based on an in situ inscription, it is the 2nd-century CE burial site of a Roman matron named Julia Sabina. However, according to a medieval Jewish tradition, is believed to be the burial place of Simeon the Just and his students. It is located adjacent to the Cave of the Minor Sanhedrin in the Shimon HaTzadik settlement within the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Identification
Galilee location
In the 12th century, Benjamin of Tudela wrote that the tomb of Simeon was at "Tymin or Timnathah", between Tiberias and Meiron.
Jerusalem location
Rabbi Jacob, the messenger of Jehiel of Paris, wrote in 1238–1244 that "the cave of Simeon the Just and his disciples is near Jerusalem". Obadiah da Bertinoro wrote around 1490 that "The sepulchre of the seventy Elders, which lies about 2,000 cubits from Jerusalem, is splendid, especially that of Simon the Just."
History
During the Ottoman period, Wasif Jawhariyyeh mentions the site as the location of communal festivities known as the Yehudia, attended by Jewish, Christian, and Muslims in honour of Shimon the Just.
While Jewish people flock to the tomb of Shimon bar Yochai on Lag Ba'omer to perform the Upsherin ceremony, the Tomb of Simeon the Just is used by many as an alternative location. A 19th century traveller, John Wilson, describes this practice in his book The Lands of the Bible Visited and Described, published in 1847.
The celebrations grew more popular in the 19th century.
The public source identifies “Tomb of Simeon the Just” as sepulcher in East Jerusalem. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tomb, Simeon and Just.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12071211. Authority coordinates are 31.791, 35.231. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1238, 1244, 1490 and 1847.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tomb of Simeon the Just” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.