Ehud Netzer (Hebrew: אהוד נצר; 13 May 1934 – 28 October 2010[1]) was an Israeli architect, archaeologist and educator, known for his extensive excavations at Herodium, where in 2007 he found the tomb of Herod the Great;[2] and the discovery of a structure defined by Netzer as a synagogue, which if true would be the oldest one ever found (the "Wadi Qelt Synagogue").

At Herodium, in the desert near Bethlehem and south of Jerusalem, for more than three decades, Netzer oversaw extensive excavations focusing on remains at the foot and on the sides of the artificial mountain.

[5] While working as a co-architect in excavations in Masada, Netzer met his future wife, Devorah Dove, an archeology student.

[12] The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus Flavius, had written that Herod's tomb was located at his fortified palace of Herodium.

[11] From 1972-78, Netzer completed his Ph.D. dissertation at the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology on the subject of Herod's palaces at Herodium and Jericho.

Herodium is an enormous, cone-shaped, partially man-made mountain holding a fortress palace built by Herod just outside Bethlehem.

[11] Enclosed within the artificial hill was a fortress palace, which had previously been the focus of excavations led in 1962-67 by Virgilio Canio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem.

Along its path were discovered a theater and a monumental staircase, which led past a platform and remains which, in May 2007, Netzer identified as the probable tomb of King Herod.

[12] Netzer found the sarcophagus "shattered into hundreds of pieces", as described by Josephus, who wrote that it was done "by Jewish dissidents during the first revolt against the Romans between AD 66 and 72.