Tag: Bible Lands Museum

Report from Jerusalem #55, 14th November 2013

James Ossuary and Yehoash Tablet to be Returned

Last year we saw the trial of Oded Golan and others on the charge that they had forged the inscription on the James “brother of Jesus” ossuary and a tablet that purported to be a text of King Yehoash repairing the Temple. The charge was brought by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and was finally dismissed by the court. However the IAA claimed that the IAA should be allowed to retain the items, but it has now been decided by the Supreme Court, on appeal, that both the Yehoash Tablet and the Ossuary shall be returned to their original owner, Oded Golan, who claims that he will now put both items on public display. Although the court found in favour of Golan, the provenance of the items is still in doubt, and the whole case is an ignominious defeat for the IAA and a blow against those that are trying to stop the illegal trade in archaeological artifacts.

Desecration of Graves in the Syrian Conflict

It has been reported by an Iranian news agency that ancient Jewish mausolea have been destroyed in the historical city of Tedef-al-Yahud, some 30 km. east of Aleppo, by terrorists belonging to the al-Nusra Front, backed by al-Qaida. There is supposed to be a tomb ascribed to Ezra Hasopher (the scribe) in the town but there is no mention as to whether that has been affected.

Serious Dig for School Kids

The University of Haifa is organising a professional excavation at Tel Esur, the site of an ancient fortress south of Haifa on the coast, with the help of 150 local children and 20 staff members. The children come from four different schools, Arab as well as Jewish, and spend three weeks on site, supervised by Shay Bar, an archaeologist of the Iron and Bronze Age periods, based on an initial survey conducted by Adam Zertal, the Haifa professor of archaeology. Shay Bar says that children “open like a flower, they are flourishing” and some of them are making significant finds, including a tiny Egyptian scarab of the 13th century BCE, depicting the god Amun with two other figures, uncovered by a 13-year old Arab girl. For the archaeologists the progress on site is painfully slow, as they show the kids how to work and record their findings but, they say, “it’s a project of the community and for the community, and for the education of the children of the community”, which makes it all worthwhile.

Ancient Tablet of Vengeance Found in Jerusalem

In a structure of the third century CE, destroyed by an earthquake in the fourth, was found a small rolled-up lead tablet containing the curse, originally in Greek, “I strike down and nail down the tongue, the eyes, the wrath, the anger, the procrastination, the opposition of Iennys”  made by a certain Kyrilla, presumably against her legal opponent, according to Dr. Robert Daniel of University of Cologne, who deciphered it. He thinks she might have used the declaration while striking an image of her opponent in a kind of magical ritual, and that it was probably written by a hired sorcerer.

The excavators, Dr. Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, working on behalf of the IAA, found the tablet inside the building on the old Givati car park opposite the City of David site in Jerusalem, and conjecture that it was hidden there before the earthquake by Kyrilla to work its potent magic on her opponent.

The ‘Book of Books’ Exhibition

This exhibition of Bibles has recently opened at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. It is an amazing collection of dozens of valuable Bible texts, ranging from the Dead Sea Scrolls to 19th century translations into Chinese and Japanese. The range is enormous and includes, amongst many others, the King James Bible of 1611, the Manuel of Discipline and the Habakuk Pesher (in facsimile) from Qumran and fragments of the 3rd century BCE Septuagint. There are early coins of Biblical subjects and a complete model of the 15th century Gutenberg press, with a young man in attendance who will demonstrate how Gutenberg produced a lead plate, inked it and then printed it onto fine paper with a strong pull on the timber press. Gutenberg printed his work in columns of 42 lines, in accordance with the Sifrei Torah that he examined, and whose format he was loath to change. The exhibition will be in Jerusalem until May 24th 2014 and will then go to the Vatican before being moved permanently to Washington DC.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem #43, 28th June 2012

Boundary Stone at Gezer

Another boundary stone has recently been found at Tel Gezer, 30 km. west of Jerusalem. So far 13 such markers have been found with the words “Tehum Gezer” inscribed in Hebrew, but this latest one has a line across the middle with Tehum Gezer on one side of the line and the name Archelaus, in Greek, on the other side. Presumably this was the name of the adjoining owner. The stone is dated to the Seleucid- Maccabean period of the late second century BCE and was uncovered during the survey of greater Gezer carried out by the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of the U.S.A. under the direction of Eric Mitchell. The water system is being excavated by a joint Israel Parks Authority (Tsvika Tsuk) and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (Dan Warner, Jim Parker, Dennis Cole) team. Their work will include clearing the underground tunnel to the water source that was located by the original excavation under R.A.S. Macalister in 1902-1909. It is planned to open it to visitors when access to the source has been made secure.

Gold and Silver Hoard at Kiryat-Gath

A cache of 140 coins and jewellery, wrapped in a disintegrating cloth, has been found  in a pit within a villa courtyard in Kiryat-Gath, 50 km. south-west of Jerusalem, during an emergency rescue dig before proposed building extensions. The work exposed a small village of the Second Temple period and later Byzantine ruins.  Emil Aladjem, director of the dig for the IAA, thinks the treasure may have been hidden by a wealthy woman fleeing from the Romans during the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132-135 CE. Besides the coins there was an earring in the form of a bunch of grapes, a ring with a precious stone inscribed with the seal of a goddess, and two silver sticks for applying cosmetics. The rare gold coins are connected to the reigns of the emperors Nero, Nerva and Trajan and datable to between 54 and 117 CE. The hoard has been sent to the laboratories of the IAA for cleaning and preservation before being shown to the public.

Exhibition of Gold Artefacts at the Bible Lands Museum

In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem is showing a comprehensive display of ancient gold items from its own collection and those of one or two other collectors. The pieces are carefully presented in more than 50 glass showcases and are arranged in groups stemming from Egypt, the Levant, Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia and Iran, Etruria, the Black Sea region and also China and the Far East. Most of the items are fibulae, rings and earrings but there are also one or two small inscriptions on gold plate and a fine gold lion-headed rhyton. At its opening in 1992, the Bible Lands Museum was ostracized by scholars and archaeologists as nearly all the exhibits come from the market, having been bought by the founder Dr. Elie Borowski, and are of doubtful provenance.

However the collection is so important and comprehensive that the Museum has become recognized as a valuable resource, and the collection is now acknowledged by scholars and researchers. It hosts tours and workshops for school children who can appreciate its excellent models of ancient Jerusalem, the Egyptian pyramids at Giza, the city of Babylon and individual buildings like the Persian Apadana audience hall at Susa and the ziggurat of Ur. There is also a good section on the development of the alphabet. The exhibition entitled “Pure Gold” remains open until April 2013.

Headquarters of the IAA on Museum Boulevard, Jerusalem

On a site next to the Bible Lands Museum and opposite the Israel Museum, work has now started on the superstructure of an ambitious new headquarters for the IAA, whose departments are at present scattered among many different locations. The new building will house the IAA library, one of the best archaeological ones in the world, all of the IAA offices, workshops, stores and laboratories, spaces for the Dead Sea manuscripts and fragments, a major exhibition gallery and of course a coffee shop. Work on the deep foundations is already complete and the superstructure will house all the facilities under one enormous suspended roof, designed by architect Moshe Safdie. Funding has come from many different donors, the chief among them being the Schottenstein Foundation. When completed in several years time, many of the departments will move from their present location in the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem, and it is hoped that this splendid building of the British Mandate period, will then be carefully renovated (including its beautiful central courtyard with plaques by Eric Gill), and that its exhibits will be upgraded to a more user-friendly format.

Ancient Arabic Manuscripts to be made Available Online

The Euromed Heritage-4 Organisation is planning to put on line thousands of Arabic documents, manuscripts and books from five major Arabic libraries, the Khalidi, the Budeiri, the Al-Aksa, the Al-Ansari and the Waqf Restoration Centre libraries, all of Jerusalem. Recently ceremonies were held in Jerusalem and Ramallah to inaugurate the Arabic Manuscripts Digital Library of Jerusalem, with the aim of promoting the written heritage of East Jerusalem and to make it accessible to all via an internet connection. The project is scheduled to take three years and has a budget of $2 million funded by Euromed Heritage. Some of the books and documents have already been digitized and will be available shortly. The service will be presented in a multi-lingual format and will be free of charge to viewers.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg

W.F.Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem, #23, June 2010

Medieval aqueduct in Jerusalem

An aqueduct from the Ottoman period was uncovered at the north end of the Sultan’s Pool just west of the Old City walls. It can be dated to 1320 CE and was carried on nine arches, two of which have been found, across the valley. This was part of a much earlier system that brought water from Solomon’s Pool at Bethlehem to inner Jerusalem. The Ottoman rulers reused and rebuilt part of the ancient aqueduct and later converted it to a metal pipeline. The archaeologists knew of its existence from 19th century photographs but the arches did not come to light until repairs were made recently to the present water supply. The early photograph showed an inscription dating to 1320, dedicated to Sultan Nassar al-Din Muhammad Ibn Qalawun, according to Yehiel Zelinger, who led the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The findings will be preserved in the redevelopment of the Sultan’s Pool area, south-west of the Jaffa Gate.

Graves in Ashkelon

We have mentioned previously that work to the Barzilai Hospital emergency underground shelter facility was held up due to the location of graves on the site. After a lengthy period of Government indecision, the work is now going ahead, and the IAA have been authorized to excavate the bones, which are considered to be of pagan origin, although this is disputed by some orthodox protesters. The bones will be carefully collected and handed over to the Religious Ministry for safekeeping. During his work on the site, Dr. Yigal Israel, of the IAA, uncovered a drum-shaped base with carved garlands that is considered to have been a Roman altar, which further underlines the pagan nature of the cemetery, that would have served Hellenistic Ashkelon.

Middle Bronze Age cultic artifacts found in Yoqne’am

In an emergency dig by the IAA before the laying of a natural gas pipeline in the north, a cache of over 100 artifacts was uncovered in a rock hollow along the route. According to director Edwin van den Brink of the IAA, some of the small vessels, containing liquids and dated to 3,500 years ago, came from Cyprus and Mycene (Greece). The items were probably buried after going out of use, indicating that they had served a cultic function associated with a nearby shrine, and were not just to be destroyed but had to be buried. The site lies at the foot of the Tel at Yoqne’am, in the Yezri’el Valley, and the IAA has agreed to exhibit the artifacts later in the year.

MBA Tombs in Nazareth

After considerable work on a site in central Nazareth, due to be developed as an hotel and shopping mall, bones were uncovered and a halt was called to the work, for fear of demonstrations by religious groups. However the work was reorganized to be completed in just one long day, as was done recently, under the direction of Yardenna Alexandre (nee Rosenberg) of the IAA. The excavation went to a depth of 10 metres and exposed four MBA shaft tombs, one of a warrior buried with his weapons, and one that had been reused in the Iron Age. Full details are not yet available.

18th Anniversary of the Bible Lands Museum

This Museum, which stands opposite the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, has been celebrating its 18 years of existence with anniversary lectures and a special exhibition named Angels and Demons. The exhibition is devoted to Jewish magic through the ages and the catalogue contains learned articles, including one by Prof. Mark Geller of University College, London. The opening Ceremony was addressed by Sir John Boardman, of Oxford, who lectured on ‘Greeks going East’. From this one can see that the Museum, which was founded by the late Dr. Elie Borowski in 1992, and is directed by his widow Batya, has now become a respectable centre of learning and excellence and we have come to appreciate the wonderful range of artifacts and the scholarship that has accompanied their display. There are some excellent models and it is a great resource for teaching schoolchildren.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem