1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Salome

SALOME, in Jewish history the name borne by several women of the Herod dynasty.

1. Sister of Herod the Great, who became the wife successively of Joseph, Herod's uncle, Costobar, governor of Idumaea, and a certain Alexas.
2. Daughter of Herod by Elpis, his eighth wife.
3. Daughter of Herodias by her first husband Herod Philip. She was the wife successively of Philip the Tetrarch and Aristobulus, son of Herod of Chalcis. This Salome is the only one of the three who is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. xiv. 3 sqq.; Mark vi. 17 sqq.) and only in connexion with the execution of John the Baptist. Herod Antipas, pleased by her dancing, offered her a reward “unto the half of my kingdom”; instructed by Herodias, she asked for John the Baptist's “head in a charger”^[1] (see Herod II. Antipas).

Salome is also the name of one of the women who are mentioned as present at the Crucifixion (Mark xv. 40), and afterwards in the Sepulchre (xvi. 1). Comparison with Matt. xxvii. 56 suggests that she was also the wife of Zebedee (cf. Matt. xx. 20–23). It is further conjectured that she was a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, in which case James and John would be cousins of Jesus. In the absence of specific evidence any such identification must be regarded with suspicion.

1. Charger, a large flat plate (see Charge).