The danger in doing archaeology

.

Faintly, in the twilight, on the far horizon, the Herodion is just visible.
.
National Geographic describes it like this:
.
"Eight miles south of Jerusalem, where the last stunted olive trees and stony cornfields fade into the naked badlands of the Judaean desert, a hill rises abruptly, a steep cone sliced off at the top like a small volcano. This is Herodium, one of the grand architectural creations of Herod the Great, King of Judaea, who raised a low knoll into a towering memorial of snowy stonework and surrounded it with pleasure palaces, splashing pools, and terraced gardens."
.
Chief excavator of the site for decades and recent discoverer of Herod's tomb, Prof. Ehud Netzer left his beloved Herodion on Monday for the last time, in an ambulance.
A wooden railing on which he was leaning broke and he fell ten feet downward, hit, rolled, and fell another ten feet, breaking his skull and neck.
.
Netzer, in his mid-70s, died yesterday and was buried this morning.
Israel suddenly lost an outstanding archaeologist.
.
My sympathy to his shocked wife and family. We will all miss Ehud.
May he rest in peace after a life well lived, a country well served, and work well done.
.
Latest news of the accident and burial: Jerusalem Post and Haaretz.
.
National Geographic's story of King Herod and Ehud Netzer (note, however, that the first photo is Masada and not Herodion)
.
If you are in the USA you can see National Geographic's "King Herod's Lost Tomb" on streaming Netflix.
.
Photos of Herod's just recently exposed royal theater box
.
Prof. Netzer's biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehud_Netzer
.