REPORT FROM JERUSALEM No. 19 - DECEMBER 2009
At the end of November a special course was started at the International Conservation Centre in Acre called "Saving the Stones". The course will run for five months and is aimed at young people who wish to learn all the current techniques of preservation of ancient buildings, and the city of Acre itself serves as their classroom. The youngsters come from all over the world and participate in actual restoration projects, learning all the processes of documentation, survey, planning the treatment and the practical work itself. This is the first time that the course is being held, and it is planned to run twice a year. The director, Shirley Anne Peleg said it was an opportunity for the students to learn their techniques within the context of a living community in an ancient city like Acre, which is an UNESCO Heritage Site. The course is a joint enterprise between the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Old Acre Development Authority and the Acre Municipality.
In time for the Hanukkah holiday, the IAA announced that recent work in the Negev had demonstrated that the Hasmonean kings had extended their rule deep into the Negev. Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini, of the IAA, explained that Josephus had indicated that their rule had only extended to just south of the Gaza strip, which was conquered by Alexander Yannai in 99 BCE, and archaeologists had found nothing to indicate that their rule extended further. Now, at the fortress of Horvat Ma'agura, two miles west of the Sde Boker region, it was found that it was the Hasmoneans who built the fortress (and not the Romans as previously thought) to stop the Nabateans using this route to bring spices from Petra to Gaza. Hasmonean coins of Alexander Yannai were found here as well as at Nessana, a desert town, about 25 miles west of Horvat Ma'agura. It appears that the Hasmoneans employed mercenary as well as Jewish troops to fight the Nabateans, judging by the evidence of imported vessels and wine, the remains of whose dregs were found by Dr. Erikson-Gini.
Some time ago Prof. Shimon Gibson, with colleagues Dr. Boaz Zissu and Prof. James Tabor, located a sealed tomb at the Akeldama Cemetery in the Ben Hinnom valley of Jerusalem, to the south-west of the Old City. It became known as the Tomb of the Shroud because the male body was wrapped in a simple white shroud and was unusual in that the body's bones had not been removed to an ossuary after a year, as was the normal practice at the time. The tomb doorway was found sealed and the skeleton was dated by C14 radio-carbon method to the first half of the first century CE. The remains were sent for medical analysis and the results, by Israeli, American and British scientists, have just been published. The results show that this is the first known case of a human shown to have been suffering from leprosy, a form of the skin disease psoriasis.
However the DNA analysis showed that the poor man suffering from leprosy, actually died of tuberculosis. The shroud in which he was contained was of a much simpler weave than the famous Turin Shroud, which was claimed to have wrapped the body of Jesus, and the experts have therefore suggested that this known shroud, of the time of Jesus, shows that the complex Turin one was of much later manufacture.
Just in time for Christmas, the IAA announced the find of a house of the time of Jesus in Nazareth. The excavation, led by Yardenna Alexandre (née Rosenberg) was an IAA rescue operation in the courtyard of what is planned to be a small museum being built next to the Church of the Annunciation. The dig revealed a large wall of the Mameluke period built over five or six walls of a modest dwelling with pottery of the first century CE (the early Roman period). These are the remains of the first house of this period found in Nazareth, which the NT says was the location of Jesus's childhood. This work, together with the location of nearby tombs, suggests that Nazareth was at that time a small Jewish village of about fifty houses. The house contained a water cistern and an underground storage chamber, with a concealed entrance, that acted as a storage silo and may have also been used to hide persons from the eyes of the Romans during the Great Revolt of 66 CE. The pottery found was of a simple nature but included some chalk stone vessels which indicate that the inhabitants were concerned about ritual purity matters, as the stone, in contrast to clay, would not be subject to ritual impurity. The excavation has still to be completed and will then be left exposed in the courtyard to be attached to a small museum, being developed by the Chemin Neuf Franciscan organization, who sponsored the IAA excavation.
Stephen G. Rosenberg
Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 18 - NOVEMBER 2009
Since the vandalism of the Nabatean site at Avdat, which I mentioned in the last Report, two Bedouins have been arrested. One of them was the sole guard on the site and both of the men have denied responsibility. The State has great difficulty in dealing with the Bedouins, who are often of no fixed abode and live by a culture different from that of the majority of the population. Many of them serve in the army and perform valuable services, particularly as guides and trackers in the Negev. However the damage to the archaeological site was criminal and comprehensive and will no doubt be punished accordingly.
The remarkable 1,700 year old mosaic of Lod, which was also mentioned in a previous Report, has been moved to the Israel Museum for essential preservation work. When the plaster base was uncovered, the restoration team looked for the original guide lines that outlined the placing of the tesserae. To their surprise they also found the imprint of several feet and sandals of the original artists. Jacques Neguer of the IAA Conservation Department, described them as having been made by sizes 34, 37, 42 and 44 sandals. The mosaic will be fully restored and the footprints will be removed and exhibited separately at the new Mosaic Archaeological Centre in Lod.
A new exhibition at the Davidson Centre by the Temple Mount in Jerusalem opened on November 11th. It is organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and will show the latest finds from the area, including the sarcophagus lid inscribed with the words "Ben Hacohen Hagadol" and many coins of the Roman and Jewish mints of the Great Revolt period of 66-70 CE. There will also be a model of the city during Second Temple times. Many of the exhibits come from very recent digs, by Prof. Ronnie Reich and others, but some go back to the excavations headed by Prof. Benjamin Mazar in the 1970s.
Although we do no want to get involved in the political scene, you will know that arguments about the Jewish presence (or non-presence) on the Haram al-Sharif or Temple Mount continue to rage. It was therefore very heartening that a new volume on the subject was recently launched at the Ecole Biblique in East Jerusalem, called "WHERE HEAVEN AND EARTH MEET: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade". It gives a detail outline of the site's history and is the result of three years' work and discussion by 22 scholars from the Moslem, Christian and Jewish academies and faiths, and it is a remarkable demonstration of the respect that exists between their separate worlds and literatures.
In a rescue dig last month in Acre, just north of the City wall, a hoard of broken marble items was uncovered. They date to the 13th century Crusader period and were found in a sealed cellar that contained 350 pieces, including a stone cross and broken tombstones. Dr. Edna Stern, who conducted the dig on behalf of the IAA, said this was a unique find for the period and demonstrated the high quality of the work being undertaken by the Crusaders in their local capital. Crusader Acre fell to the Mameluks in 1291, presumably before the hoarder of these precious fragments, some of which may have been imported, was able to use them in local building work.
Also at Acre, experts from 16 countries met this month for the second UNESCO World Heritage workshop on "Disaster Risk Reduction to Cultural Heritage Sites". The first such meeting had been held in Olympia, Greece, in 2008. Areas of collaboration were identified, particularly between Israel and Jordan, and especially in the field of dangers from earthquakes, where the work being done by Israel at Masada can be applied to similar sites at Petra in Jordan, both being subject to such dangers in the Rift Valley around the Jordan basin. The focus of the papers was to identify the dangers and take preventative measures before disaster struck, and to pressurize governments into finding the necessary funds. An International Conservation Centre is being set up by Israel in the Old City of Acre to establish training in the conservation of these valuable Heritage sites all around the world.
Stephen Rosenberg, Jerusalem.
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 17 - OCTOBER 2009
The hot news is that Turkish archaeologists have, in September, uncovered the remains of an ancient synagogue at the former port of Myra, today the village of Demre, near Antalya in southern Turkey. It indicates that there was an active Jewish population at the port and that by the third century CE (the estimated date of the synagogue) they were established enough to build their own prayer house The remains include a marble tablet with a menorah, shofar (ram's horn) and trumpet on one side and a palm and citrus tree on the other. The prayer hall was about 7m. by 5m. and had two entrances, to the west and to the north. No evidence has yet been found of the place for the ark.
According to the excavators, led by Dr. Nevzat Cevik of Akdeniz University, Jews were allowed to become Roman citizens in the province of Lycia by a law of 212 CE and that led to permission to build a synagogue, though the date of the structure may well be later than the third century. The inscriptions found have not yet been fully deciphered but the words "Amen" and "Israel" are evident, as well as the names of two donors, Procles and Romanus.
Shuki Dorfman, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), recently gave the sensational testimony that two highly respected epigraphers were suspected of having been involved in recent forgeries. This came out in the ongoing trial of Oded Golan and others (the James's Ossuary and the Yehoash Tablet trial) when Dorfman stated that Professor Andre Lemaire, of the Sorbonne, and Ada Yardeni of the Hebrew University had been suspected by the IAA of having been involved in the so-called forgeries. On the other hand Dorfman also claimed that the chief prosecution witness, Shlomo Moussaieff had not been telling the truth in his testimony at the start of the trial. The proceedings, which started in 2005, drag on in the Jerusalem District Court.
An important public archaeological site has recently been shockingly vandalized. It is the UNESCO World heritage site of Avdat, the Nabatean town in the Negev, on the ancient trade route from Elath to the port of Gaza. On the morning of October 5th local tour guides were shocked to find that many walls and pillars had been demolished and parts of the structures, including the churches, had been daubed in black paint and oil. The chief suspects are local Bedouin villagers, some of whose illegal structures had been removed by the authorities in the previous days. Local farms had also been attacked and crops uprooted, probably in revenge. This is the first time that a public archaeological site has been vandalized and the police have vowed to bring the suspects to justice. The archaeologists estimate that it will take at least six months to repair the damage.
In September, the IAA made the surprise find of a very early synagogue, this time at Migdal, on the shores of Lake Kinneret. The surprise is that it dates from the time when the Second Temple still stood, and so joins a small band of four or five synagogues from that period. Work is in progress and the finds include a stone inscribed with a seven-branched menorah. The dig's director, Dina Avshalom-Gornic, believes that the sculptor may well have been to Jerusalem and "seen the Temple menorah with his own eyes".
A large hoard of coins has been found in a deep cave in the Jerusalem area, dating to the time of the Bar-Kochba revolt of 132 CE. 120 coins of gold, silver and copper were found in good condition in the cave which is 20m. deep and contained metal weapons, storage jars, oil lamps, an earring and a glass bottle. The site, whose location has not been revealed, is being investigated by Boaz Zissu and Hanan Eshel of Bar Ilan University and Amos Frumkin and Boaz Langford of Hebrew University. Based on the rich findings and the location of the cave near to Betar (where Bar-Kochba made his last stand), the team speculate that the cave was the last hiding place of an important nucleus of rebels.
One of the largest miqvaoth (ritual baths) ever found in Jerusalem has been discovered within the chambers of the Western Wall tunnels, within what looks like a large mansion of the Second Temple period, and not 20m. from the western wall of the Temple complex. The miqveh is lined with ashlars of the highest quality, similar to stonework by Herod on the Temple Mount itself. This suggests that it belonged to a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Court, which met in the "Room of Hewn Stones" within the Temple complex. Alternatively, judging by the large size, it has been suggested by the site's excavator, Alexander On, that it may have catered for VIP's among the pilgrims coming to the Temple during the three seasonal festivals.
Stephen Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem.
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 16 - SEPTEMBER 2009
Although it is now the end of the summer dig season, not much has yet been announced about recent finds but there has been plenty of other news.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has begun to compile a register of private collections of antiquities. There are estimated to be 100,000 collectors who hold more than 15 significant artefacts and, since February of this year, they have been required by law to register with the IAA. So far few have come forward as it seems owners are worried that their items may be impounded and are also concerned about security. The IAA says there is no intention to requisition any item, only to register it and see if private collectors are holding items that may help to further identify or explain artefacts held by the State. The IAA will issue certificates to approved collectors and will also help with photographs and historical analysis.
Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba is designing a programme to investigate documents where one ancient text has been overwritten by another. These are called palimpsests and the university scientists are finding methods of highlighting the original text, which may have been partly scratched off to make way for the later one. In several cases an original Hebrew text has been deciphered under a later Arabic one. The texts in question are mainly medieval and come from such sources as the Cairo Geniza, the Al-Aksa MS Library in Jerusalem and Al-Azar MS Library in Cairo. The method of investigation is being developed by the computer science and humanities departments of the university and, when fully operational, the scientists hope to be able to examine further documents now in the British Museum, the Louvre and other national libraries.
>p>The large site opposite the City of David Visitors Centre, which used to be the useful Givati car park, is throwing up more and more evidence of intensive use. The latest finds indicate that it housed a luxurious Roman mansion, of which 1000 sq. m have already been uncovered by Dr. Doron Ben-Ami of the IAA. This was the area where the ornate gold ear-ring was found recently and the small sealing stamp in the shape of a boxer's head. The mansion was built in two storeys around a central courtyard and had a tiled roof. It seems to have been destroyed in the earthquake of 363 CE which devastated many buildings around the Jordan Valley, both in Israel and Transjordan.About six months ago a small stone doorway was uncovered to an underground tomb in Tzippori (Sepphoris) in the Galilee. The landowner was preparing to build a chalet on his garden plot and discovered this underground opening, of which the lintel bears the name of the 3rd-century Rabbi Joshua ben Levi. The Tiberias magistrates court and the owner have now reached agreement for the IAA to conduct an excavation of the site, which will begin shortly. There is considerable speculation and doubt about the inscription, as this Rabbi Joshua is mainly known to have lived in Lod, much further south. There is also some concern that extreme Jewish religious elements, who oppose any disturbance of buried remains, will oppose the dig.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the offices of the PEF during his visit to London caused some excitement in the Hebrew press and the PM mentioned his pleasure at the visit at his press conference. The Jerusalem Post said he was 'thrilled' and it gave a brief history of the Fund. It must have been an exciting day at the offices and I wonder how the small premises managed to contain all the security and the press. Congratulations to the PEF for arranging it.
It was announced by the IAA that sections of a Canaanite wall of the MBA II period were recently uncovered by Prof. Ronnie Reich and Dr. Eli Shukron in the area of the Jerusalem National Park around the City of David. It is built of massive boulders and stands 8 m high in places. The size of the wall and its location confirms, according to Reich, that Jerusalem was at that period an urban entity with a ruler who was able to organise such an impressive set of defences. The wall is known to have run for at least 24 m and will have continued further west as well. We await further details of this impressive find.
The dig at Sussita, on the east side of Lake Kinneret, directed by Prof. Arthur Segal and Dr. Michael Eisenberg of Haifa University, has come up with the find of a cache of three figurines of Aphrodite, dating back about 1500 years. The figures are 30 cm (12 in) tall and stand with the nude goddess covering her private parts, known in the trade as 'the modest Venus'. They are of clay, made from a mould and would have been cast in large numbers to aid women in childbirth and young ladies seeking love, according to Segal.
Another important find this season at Sussita was a small semi-circular, theatre-like structure. It was originally roofed and would have seated about 600 people. Such a structure is unusual in Israel where the known theatres housed an audience of several thousand and were not roofed. A small structure like this may have been used for poetry and musical events and would be a small public hall, called an Odeon, or even a Bouleterion, a conference chamber for meetings of the town council.
Stephen Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem.
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 15 - AUGUST 2009
Another stone quarry used for the Temple Mount works by Herod the Great has been uncovered in an inner suburb of Jerusalem recently. This is the third quarry of that period uncovered in recent months. It is situated in Shmuel Hanavi Street and was excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in a rescue dig directed by Dr Ofer Sion, before the building of residential flats on the quarter-acre site. The size and colour of the remaining white limestone blocks indicate that they were being prepared for the massive retaining walls built by Herod's engineers to support the Temple platform. The excavation revealed datable coins and shaped metal plates that were used to wrench the blocks from their base. The site lies approx 2 km from the Temple Mount, which is quite close, but the multi-tonne blocks still had to be transported over hill and dale; exactly how they managed this has not yet been completely understood by the experts but, whatever the explanation, it is clear that Herod worked his men hard. However, they were happy to be involved in the rebuilding of the Temple at a time of high unemployment in Jerusalem.
As you can imagine, the Israel Defence Forces often run across and over ancient remains during their exercises in remote desert, and deserted, areas. At a recent joint conference held with the IAA, the army has now agreed to co-operate with the IAA, who prepare site maps of the areas the army are going to train over and make them aware of any possible antiquities they may encounter. The army on their part have agreed to notify the IAA immediately they come across remains that may be of archaeological interest. The IAA has started to initiate training courses to make the soldiers aware of possible antiquities and is training them to be on the lookout for sites of possible interest to the archaeologists. These joint efforts are particularly important in the Negev, where the majority of archaeological sites remain uncovered, and where the army have their primary training grounds.
Ashdod has started to expand its Corinne Maman Archaeological Museum to be perhaps the foremost museum of the Philistines in the world, with an associated research centre, interactive display of statues and burial remains, and an 'Ashdod Album' of the city's history.
Our own Prof. Shimon Gibson is joint director at the Mount Zion Gate excavations which have been running for several weeks this month and have turned up remains from the First Temple period to the Islamic era. They have recently uncovered a rare ten-line inscription, probably in Aramaic, on a stone cup of the type used by priests and others in the first century CE to avoid ritual impurity contamination. The discovery was only announced in the last few days. The script is clear but cryptic and will take specialists some weeks to decipher, says Shimon. We await the results with interest.
Stephen Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem.
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 14 - JUNE 2009
On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho stands the site of the ancient Inn of the Good Samaritan where, in a parable which Jesus told, a Samaritan helped a robbed and wounded wayfarer and took him to the inn on this road at the time of Jesus. After extensive archaeological work, uncovering remains from the Second Temple period, a new indoor and outdoor Museum has been opened on the site in a building that was a guard house in the Ottoman period. The museum houses a wonderful collection of mosaics from Jewish and Samaritan synagogues and early churches from the West Bank and Gaza. The inspiration for the mix of exhibits comes from the parable of the Samaritan. The museum is open free of charge every day except Saturday.
On the subject of mosaics, 13 years ago a large and colourful mosaic was discovered in Lod, 25 km west of Jerusalem. It was one of the finest early Byzantine mosaics in the country, showing a mass of land and sea animals, and had been left covered up to protect it. It is now being reopened and will be exhibited by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the new Lod Museum Archaeological Centre, thanks to funds donated by the Leon Levy and Shelby White Foundation.
In the Levant it has been assumed that the use of pottery does not go back to before about 6000 BCE. For instance, the early levels of the city of Jericho, which date back to about 8000 BCE, have no pottery vessels. But recently one bowl-like artifact from China, that dates back to about 16000 BCE, has been identified as a pottery product by Chinese, American and Israeli archaeologists working in a small cave in the Hunan province of China. Israeli scholars Elisabetta Boaretto and Steve Weiner led the scientific work and the claim is that the hunter-gatherers of the period also produced pottery. The matter of the early dating is complex and not yet agreed by all scholars but it would make sense that China produced the earliest pottery!
At the ancient cemetery of Sepphoris, in the Galilee, a recent find has been a tomb lintel with the inscription in Aramaic, 'This is the tomb of Rabbi Tanhuma and Rabbi Shimeon the Priest, Huna, Shalom'. It dates to the 3rd or 4th century CE according to Dr Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College in the Galilee.
The Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem is now a venue for outdoor pop concerts but originally was one of the main water reservoirs for the city. Part of the lower aqueduct supplying it has recently been found in a rescue dig directed by Dr Ron Beeri for the IAA, before the building of a new Montefiore Museum at the site. The section uncovered is from the Ottoman period. It is 3 m high and incorporates a small tower and ceramic pipework that fed into the pool and also into a fountain for use by pilgrims. The remains will be incorporated into the museum.
Prof. Adam Zertal does it again! You may recall that he had uncovered several outdoor ritual enclosures in the course of his extensive (in time and place) survey of the tribal area of Manasseh. He has now disclosed that he has discovered the largest known underground cave in the region, some 4 km north of Jericho. It extends over 4 acres and lies 10 m below the desert surface. It was used as a vast quarry in the Roman period and, after that, possibly as a Byzantine monastery and a hiding place for many years. The roof is supported by 20 integral pillars on which are many carvings, including crosses and a wheel-like diagram that Zertal thinks may have been a representation of the 12-month zodiac.
The northern city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee is now becoming of great interest to archaeologists. The city dates to the early Roman period when it was built by Herod Antipas as a tribute to the Emperor Tiberius. Extensive excavations south of the present town have revealed the southern gate, the market place and a whole urban complex and harbour of great sophistication. Much of the exploratory work was directed by the late Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld of the Hebrew University, who died recently at the early age of 56 and did not live to see the completion of his work.
At present under excavation is a large theatre that may have seated 5000-7000 spectators. It is by the hillside but built at right angles to it, so as to avoid the spectators having the sun in their eyes. The fine stonework of the proscenium and stage have been uncovered and work is continuing on the auditorium, under the direction of Dr Walid Atrash of the IAA, who estimates that it will be at least another year before the whole theatre is uncovered. When that is complete, the town will be as interesting to visit as Bet Shean is today.
Stephen G. Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 13 - MAY 2009
The excavators of Beth Shemesh (25 km west of Jerusalem) claim that the Canaanite city may have been ruled by a female monarch and that they may have found a depiction of her. Some of the El-Amarna letters of the 14th century BCE speak of a 'Mistress of the Lionesses' appealing to Egypt for help against bandits and invaders. The title implies a female ruler but neither her name nor that of the city is mentioned in the tablets. Prof. Nadav Na'aman, of Tel Aviv University, thinks the city in question is Beth Shemesh and the excavators, Prof. Shlomo Bunomovitz and Dr Zvi Lederman, have uncovered a ceramic plaque that they think might represent the lady ruler. It shows an Egyptian-type figure, purportedly male, but with both arms bent and holding lotus plants, which are considered to be female characteristics. The headdress and skirt appear to be female but some scholars consider them to be applicable to male as well as female figures. If this is really a female figure, then Bunomovitz and Lederman may have found a representation of the 'Mistress of the Lionesses' and they will be looking for more clues in the coming season.
The Speaker of the Knesset, Rueven Rivlin, has recently opened an archaeological garden adjoining the Parliament building in Jerusalem. It bears the name 'Tranquillity within thy Palaces' (Psalms 122:7) and shows original artifacts from the Second Temple period up to Ottoman times, mainly from Jerusalem sites. It includes an olive press, mosaics and ancient inscriptions. It was organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and is open to the public.
On a less happy note, the police have recently arrested two Palestinians who were trying to sell a papyrus document that is nearly 2000 years old. It is (surprisingly) written in Paleo-Hebrew script and dated to the fourth year of the 'Destruction of Israel' which implies the year 74 CE, four years after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, or it could be 139 CE, four years after the end of the Bar Kokhba war. The document was a roll with 15 lines of text, some of it missing, and relates to a widow, 'Miriam barat Ya'akov' and the possessions that she is transferring to her late husband's brother, according to Amir Ganor of the IAA anti-theft department. It is an important, so-far unpublished social document and it is not yet clear where it was originally found.
During the construction of a girls' school in Ras al-Amud, East Jerusalem, a jar handle with the name Menahem, was found at a rescue dig directed by Dr.Ron Beeri of the IAA, who said that this is the first time that this name has been found on a handle in Jerusalem, although the name is common on seals found in Israel and elsewhere. The script is in clear Paleo-Hebrew of the 8th century BCE, the time of king Menahem ben Gadi (749-738 BCE) one of the last rulers of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Finally, another ancient synagogue is being excavated in the Galilee, home to dozens of synagogues of the Roman and Byzantine periods. This one is at Wadi Hammam, a Jewish village near Migdal, a few km northwest of Tiberias. The excavations are now in their third season and are directed by Dr Uzi Leibner of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. The synagogue is in three phases and went out of use in the later 4th century CE, as dated by coins found within the structure. The middle phase, of the early 4th century, had a mosaic and an inscription that were plastered over in the last phase. The first phase has not yet been uncovered.
The synagogue plan resembles the standard configuration with a central hall or nave separated by columns from two side aisles, with an ark niche in the south wall facing Jerusalem and a store room on the west side. Entry was from the north, though it is not yet clear whether there was one doorway or the more normal three. The stonework is in white limestone as well as the standard black basalt. The synagogue was an integral part of the village, with houses and an olive press adjacent to it. Further excavations are in progress.
Stephen G. Rosenberg,
The Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 12 - APRIL 2009
The Ancient Canaanite gate at Tel Dan has been extensively restored by the National Parks Authority of Israel. It was reopened to the public at the end of March and presented as 'Abraham's Gate', a name that was chosen against the advice of the archaeologists.
The 7 m high gate was first uncovered in 1979 as part of the excavations at Tel Dan directed by the late Avraham Biran, so in that sense it is Avraham's Gate, but the publicists are trying to link it to the biblical patriarch, who rode as far as Dan to rescue his nephew Lot (Gen. 14:14). Be that as it may, the gate consists of a triple mud-brick arch, the earliest known arch in Israel, and is dated to about 1750 BCE, though some claim that the parabolic entry arch at Ashkelon, also of mud-brick, may be earlier.
The view of the gate and the steps leading up to it is most impressive and the whole complex is covered by a huge, fan-shaped structure of steel and transparent sheeting, very necessary to give protection from the weather but which rather overshadows the object it has been built to protect, which is a pity.
Preceding work on the new railway line from Ashkelon to Netivot, in southern Israel, a massive (20 x 20 m) Byzantine bath-house was uncovered in a rescue dig by the IAA, directed by Gregory Serai, at Kibbutz Gevim, near to Sderot, the town that was under fire from Gaza for some years. The bathing complex consisted of six rooms, including a frigidarium and caldarium, with changing rooms, heated by an underground hypocaust system on the Roman model. It served an ancient village on the road from Beersheba to Gaza, which was a busy trade route in the Roman and Byzantine period. It seems that the bath-house suffered from subsidence, fell out of use and became an easy target for stone robbers. The excavation started in January and is still ongoing.
The 'Jesus Ossuary Forgery Trial', which started in the Jerusalem District Court in September 2005, has recommenced after a recess of several months. The IAA and police case has been presented and is now being refuted by the chief defendants, Robert Deutsch and Oded Golan, against charges of forging, among other items, the inscriptions on the James-brother-of-Jesus Ossuary and the Jehoash Tablet. The prosecution has alleged that some of the forgeries were perpetrated by an expert Egyptian craftsman, but he has refused to come to Israel to attend the court and the prosecution are having difficulty proving their case to the judge, who presides over the court on one day a week.
Stephen Rosenburg
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 11 - MARCH 2009
The Israel Antiquities Authority have been busy again with several important rescue digs, which precede both large and small building development, laying of pipelines, road works and suchlike, all over the country . They employ a staff of several hundred, many of them qualified archaeologists with doctorates in their subject, and other experts in ancient writing, identification of bones, coins, and so on. Most of the work is run-of-the-mill but on many occasions important finds are uncovered and outside experts are consulted.
At the end of February the IAA announced spectacular finds at Umm Tuba, an Arab neighbourhood south-east of Jerusalem, in a rescue dig directed by Zubair Adawi.. Two seal impressions in paleo-Hebrew were found with the names of two senior officials, possibly of the government of Hezekiah (726-696 BCE). One of the seals was stamped on a wine jar handle next to a 'lemelekh' stamp, indicating that this official was approving the contents of the jar as to purpose, content or tax compliance. The seal names were Aximelekh ben Amadyahu and Yehoxail ben Shaxar (I am using X for a Het, to save confusion with a He). In addition an inscribed pottery fragment of the Hellenistic (Maccabean) period of 2nd century BCE was also uncovered. The lettering looks like the first ten letters of the alphabet as written by an apprentice scribe.
These finds were made within a large building of the First and Second Temple period, a building of many rooms around a courtyard containing a pottery kiln of the Iron Age. It was partly destroyed by the Babylonians and then reused in the Hellenistic period until it was ruined again by the Romans, when Jerusalem was sacked. However it was re-used again in Byzantine times, probably by pilgrims travelling between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It may be that the building was originally a kind of government storage depot, or local distribution centre. Three years ago fragments of a monastery building found by the site carried the name 'Metupha', which relates to the present Arab town name of Umm Tuba or Tupha, which is also related to the Biblical place name of Netupha, the recorded birthplace of two of King David's warriors ("Hanetuphati", 2 Samuel 23:28-29).
The Moshav of Ness-Harim, 20 km west of Jerusalem, near to Bet Shemesh, had to allow the IAA to excavate their site at Horvat a-Diri, surrounded by oaks and terraces, before they could extend their buildings onto it. The rescue dig, directed by Daniel Ein-Mor, uncovered the beautiful mosaic floor of a Byzantine-period church with a sacred inscription in early Greek, which was deciphered by Dr Leah de Signi of the Hebrew University to read
'Holy Lord of St Theodorus, guard over the noble Antonius and Theodosia, and Theophylactus and the priest Johannes, remember the donors Maria and Johannes, in the sixth year of indiktus (?), have mercy on Stephanos.'
The first season in November 2008 uncovered the narthex of the church, which seemed to be the centre of a larger complex extending over nearly 4 acres. It included an impressive wine press, with two tiers of presses and vats, indicating the production of wine that was typical of a church complex of 6th and 7th centuries CE. This building was clearly one of a string of similar Byzantine churches found at Emmaus, Bet-Guvrin and Jerusalem. It appears that the building was re-used for some kind of industrial purpose in the later Islamic period.
A most unusual, though not really ancient, find was made in a rescue dig directed by Dr Rina Avner for the IAA in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was a broken piece of a blue-coloured jar of the medieval period, 12th or 13th century CE. The design was in a naturalistic Turkish style and hailed from Iran with an inscription in Persian painted in black on the neck of the jar. It was identified by Rivka Cohen-Amir as part of a love poem or quatrain by Amar-Xiyam, one of the most famous of the Persian poets of 11th and 12th centuries, who was also an astronomer and mathematician. The text was translated by Dr. Julia Rabinowicz of the Hebrew University to read
'..(his) hand was on the neck of his beloved…'
This is a unique find in Jerusalem and one wonders how it came to be here. Perhaps the jar was a gift to a beloved one in Jerusalem. Who knows?
Stephen Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 10 - FEBRUARY 2009
The large, former car-park site in Jerusalem opposite the City of David visitors' centre, continues to throw up interesting finds. The latest is a small red marble figurine of a male head and neck, only 5 cm high, that may have been a weight used by a merchant. It has a flat base and is not broken off from a larger statue. It is of a man with a curly beard and little, if no, hair, and is thought to be of an athlete or boxer, it certainly has a broken nose. It was found at the IAA dig directed by Doron Ben-Ami and dates from the Roman period, about 200 CE. The IAA claims nothing similar has yet been found in Israel
Two years ago the Israel Museum exhibited a large stone inscription, on loan from the Steinhardt family of New York, called the Heliodorus Stele. It was a Greek text announcing that the Emperor Seleucus IV (son of Antiochus III) had appointed his minister, Heliodorus, to oversee the temples of his empire, and it seemed to confirm the story in Second Maccabees 3 of chief minister Heliodorus being instructed by the Emperor to go and rob the Jerusalem Temple of its treasures. In that he was not successful, being attacked by a divine golden figure on a golden horse and the High Priest, Honia (Onias), had to pray for his recovery. These details are not recorded on the stele (!) but it does look as if the two Heliodoruses were the same man.
The stele was deciphered by Profs. Hannah Cotton-Paltiel and Michael Woerrle some time ago and dated to 178 BCE. H.Shanks wrote an article on it in BAR (Nov/Dec 2008).
The English text of the stele is available on the internet if you type in Heliodorus.
One problem is that the stele was damaged and the lower section is missing. Also, having been acquired on the market, in the present-day climate of suspicion, the provenance was suspect. Now, very recently, lo and behold, three missing sections of the stele have been found in a dig at Maresha, in the national park of Bet Guvrin.
The IAA have just announced that in a dig supervised by Dr Ian Stern of the IAA and Barny Alpert, three broken fragments were found in an underground storage vessel. Dr.Dov Gera (a specialist in the Hellenistic period) saw that they looked like the base of the Steinhardt piece and, indeed, they fitted it perfectly, though one further piece of the base is still missing. The new pieces have not yet been deciphered but they clearly continue the edict of Seleucus IV appointing Heliodorus, who, in his turn, appointed further officials to carry out the necessary inspections. The stele is written in truly diplomatic language, implying that it was in the locals' interest to have their temples inspected whereas, if Maccabees is to be believed - and there is no reason to doubt it - its purpose was to provide the Emperor with the necessary plunder and cash to keep the empire going.
The fact that three missing pieces were found in the 'Dig for a Day' project indicates the authenticity of the stele and shows that this edict was erected in the Hellenistic city of Maresha. Presumably further copies were erected at other centres to indicate that the inspections being carried out by Heliodorus and his men were carried out on the orders of the Emperor himself.
We do not know the sequel of the story and exactly why Heliodorus was prevented from robbing the Jerusalem Temple. Perhaps he was not too diligent in his work for the Emperor, because it is known that three years later in 175 BCE he murdered the Emperor in the hope of putting himself on the throne. His plan was, however, frustrated by the ambitious Antiochus IV, brother of Seleucus IV, who rushed back from exile in Rome and seized the vacant throne. We can surmise that Heliodorus was not punished for the murder, which suited the new incumbent, Antiochus Epiphanes. And, though not exactly as the story of Hanukkah that they keep telling us, the rest is history.
Stephen Rosenberg,
W. F. Albright Institute, Jerusalem
REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 9 - JANUARY 2009
Just in time for the Hanukkah holiday (at the end of December last year), when it is traditional for children to receive gifts of 'Hanukkah gelt', a young British volunteer, Nadine Ross of Birmingham, unearthed a cache of 264 gold coins at the dig on the car-park site opposite the City of David Visitors Centre, Jerusalem, which is being directed by Doron Ben-Ami for the IAA. This is the site where the Roman golden earring was found, as reported previously. The coins were minted at the time of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641 CE) and are in good condition. It looks as if the coins were hidden in a chink in one of the walls at the time of the Moslem conquest of Jerusalem; the owner obviously hoped to recover them at a later date.
Another case of a coin find by a young volunteer was made in the debris from the Waqf underground work on the Temple Mount. In the sifting of this material, which is being directed by Gaby Barkay, two coins were recovered recently (out of over 3000 found to date). One is a half-shekel, minted in Jerusalem at the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE), which depicts a branch of three pomegranates and the inscription 'Sacred Jerusalem'. This is a relatively common coin; the second one, however, is much rarer. It is a Seleucid one depicting Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BCE) who looted the Temple and aroused the enmity of the Maccabees.
In Egypt, two more tombs have been found in the necropolis of Saqqara, 12 miles south of Cairo. The tombs are rock cut and date to about 2300 BCE, the time of the Sixth Dynasty, and housed the remains of two senior officials, a man and a woman, according to the excavator Saleh Suleiman. The tombs are to the south-west of the known burial plots and indicate that the cemetery was much larger than previously thought.
In mid December UNESCO and the Egyptian Government announced that the world's first underwater archaeological museum was being planned at the Bay of Alexandria, which contains many underwater remains of the Roman period and earlier. The museum will be built half underwater and half above water, presenting plenty of challenges to the designers and much that will be of interest and novelty to future visitors.
In what has become an urgent debate, the new underground facilities of the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon have been held up for many months due to the presence of graves and skeletons of the Byzantine period. Work on the facility, to provide an underground emergency room and operating theatre, started a year ago but was halted when the preliminary excavations revealed the presence of human bones. The hospital, which has catered for Israeli and Palestinian wounded, needs the facility urgently. Hopefully things can now proceed as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Metzger, has pronounced that the graves can be moved if the work is done with the necessary reverence.
At the Israel Museum, the archaeological section, as well as many others, is closed for extensive renovations and therefore a new service has been introduced which is proving popular with visitors. Every Monday and Wednesday (at 11 am) the museum is running tours to the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in East Jerusalem, with free guided tours of its extensive collections, most of them acquired at the time of the British Mandate. The Rockefeller itself is worth a visit, as it is an iconic building with one of the finest courtyards in Jerusalem. It is a haven of tranquillity with a lovely pool and a set of fine sculptured panels by Eric Gill. The tour is well worth taking for lovers of archaeology and architecture.
Finally, the newspaper Ha'aretz has just illustrated two remarkable finds made by Ronnie Reich and Eli Shukron in the debris fill of the hewn cistern by the Gihon Spring in Jerusalem. One is of a tiny (2 cm high) red ivory pomegranate figure surmounted by a sitting dove, the other a clay bulla (seal impression) of a ship being navigated by sailors using three oars. These finds were made together with dozens of fish bones and more than 170 bullae, all from the hewn cistern, and dating to the 9th century BCE, which shows, according to Reich and Shukron, that the City of David was then an important administrative centre. We await further details.
Stephen Rosenberg,
Albright Institute, Jerusalem