garden of Uzza
garden of Uzza is a structure mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Jerusalem. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
The Garden of Uzza was a royal burial garden in or near Jerusalem, mentioned in connection with the burials of two Judean kings. According to 2 Kings 21:18, King Manasseh, one of Judah's most notorious monarchs, whose long reign was marked by idolatry and the shedding of innocent blood, was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza, rather than in the traditional royal tombs of David's city. His son Amon, who continued his father's wicked ways and was assassinated by his own servants after only two years on the throne, was likewise buried in the garden of Uzza according to 2 Kings 21:26. The garden's name likely reflects its association with an individual named Uzza, possibly a former owner or custodian of the property. Its precise location within Jerusalem remains unknown. These royal burials outside the traditional Davidic tomb precinct may reflect political or ritual irregularities associated with these kings' departures from covenant faithfulness.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The Garden of Uzza has not been archaeologically identified with certainty. It was located somewhere in or adjacent to Jerusalem, likely in the area of the City of David or its immediate environs given its association with the royal palace precinct. Jerusalem's complex stratigraphy and continuous occupation have made identifying specific garden or burial sites from the monarchic period extremely difficult. Iron Age tomb complexes have been discovered in various parts of Jerusalem's surroundings, including the Silwan necropolis across the Kidron Valley, which contained rock-cut burial chambers from the period of the Judean monarchy. Whether any of these can be connected to Manasseh or Amon remains speculative.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]