Temple Mount Archives

Report from Jerusalem #74, 30th November 2015

Acra Citadel Found

In the second century BCE in the fight with the Maccabees, the Syrian Greek Emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes erected a citadel called the Acra in Jerusalem to control and watch over events on the Temple Mount, where the Maccabees had recaptured the Temple. As the Temple Mount was higher than the surrounding areas, the Acra would have had to have been a tower high enough to oversee the Mount, and its location has been sought for many years by archaeologists but without avail. However in the last few weeks, scholars from the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) working at the Givati parking lot just south of the Temple Mount have unearthed the massive foundations of what they consider to have been a high tower, perhaps twenty metres in height, and which they now think were the foundations of the Acra tower, which, if high enough, could have been used to supervise the activities on the Temple Mount. In addition to the tower foundations, the IAA found the base of an adjoining wall and the remains of a sloping rampart located to keep attackers away from the base of the wall and the tower. They also found evidence of the remains of a battle around the base of the tower in the form of lead sling shots, ballista stones and arrowheads, some of them in bronze, with the sign of a trident stamped on them, symbolizing the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. These would have been evidence of the battle conducted by the Maccabees in an attempt to storm the tower, which was hampering their activities on the Temple Mount.

Fine Mosaic in Lod

During excavations by the IAA at a large villa of the Roman period in th Neveh Yerek area of Lod, twenty kilometers south-east of Tel Aviv, a brilliant mosaic was uncovered in what had been the living room floor of the villa, which stood in a neighbourhood of wealthy dwellings. The mosaic depicts scenes of hunting, figures of animals, fish and birds, with vases and baskets of flowers, and the archaeologists said that the images indicated a highly developed artistic ability. The work was found as the ground was being prepared for a visitor’s centre, in the name of Shelby White and Leon Levy, to view another colourful mosaic, already found in the courtyard of the mansion, which had measured approximately twelve metres square. The mosaic will be lifted and shown in several museums at home and abroad and it will then be returned and the villa and the two mosaics will be displayed to the public.

Oldest Domesticated Seeds Found in Galilee

The world’s oldest domesticated Fava seeds have been found in the Galilee, in Israel. It is considered that the Fava bean (vicia faba), which bears large pods with edible seeds, dates back for more than ten thousand years, making them the world’s oldest domesticated seeds. They were found in storage pits after they had been husked, and the seeds were of a uniform size, indicating they were all cultivated and harvested at the same period of the year. At this time an agricultural revolution was taking place throughout the region, when animals and plants were being domesticated and it is clear from several finds that the Galilee was the main producer of legumes at this period.

Early Statuette Found by Young Boy

Itai Halperin, an eight year old boy on a day trip with is family around Bet Shemesh, picked up a round ceramic object and soon realized it was the ancient head of a small statue and turned it over to the IAA, who recognized it as the head of the sculpture of a naked fertility goddess. They considered it to be of the period between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE and its find area would indicate that this was a place controlled by the kingdom of Judah, of which Bet Shemesh was a prominent city. The find was important according to the IAA and Itai was awarded a special archaeological certificate to celebrate his find. He thanked them and said that he wanted one day to be like the celebrated Indiana Jones.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F Albright Institute of Archeological Research, Jerusalem

This report comes to members of AIAS from Stephen Rosenberg in Israel. It represents his personal assessment. The Society takes no responsibility for the content.

Report from Jerusalem #48, 18th February 2013

“Debris” Removed from Temple Mount

As mentioned last month, six lorry-loads of material were removed from the Temple Mount in early January, discovered by Zachi Dvira (Zweik) who works with Gabby Barkai on the sifting project. The Jerusalem Police declared this to be ordinary debris, but the archaeologists see it as valuable excavated material, that has been removed from the Temple Mount against the High Court order prohibiting removal of any material from the Mount. Archaeologists are trying to retrieve the material from the local refuse dump and bring it to the sifting site for proper examination.

Preservation of 300 Historical Sites

The 700 million shekel (about £120M) program is going ahead with one third dealing with Biblical and Second Temple sites, and the remaining with later periods. The earlier projects include funding for projects in the City of David, Tel Shilo, the Machpelah cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Herodian remains near Bethlehem. Although the news does not give full specifics, it is clear that the allocated money is being used for these purposes, and further funds will be made available in due course.

Israel Antiquities Authority Archives Digitized

The above-mentioned fund is also being used to support the publication of a database with the records of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The documents will become available to scholars and include 19^th century letters on excavations at the City of David, plans for the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after the earthquake of 1927, and the extensive archives of the Rockefeller Museum. The work will give scholars access to valuable documents and will also ensure preservation of the archives, many of whose documents are suffering from disintegration because of poor paper quality and poor storage facilities in the past. Most of the documents are in English (they will receive Hebrew annotation) and are available on line here but no date has yet been given for the completion of the work.

Restoration of Avdat National Park

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has now completed restoration of the UNESCO Heritage site of the Avdat National Park in the Negev that was vandalized in October 2009. The work was carried out at a cost of nearly nine million shekels (£1.5m) but the Authority has made it clear that some of the archaeological evidence of original stonework has been lost forever due to the damage done by the vandals.

Herod the Great Exhibition at the Israel Museum

This fine exhibition opened at the Israel Museum on 12^th February 2013 and will run for eight months. It is a tribute to Herod’s great building projects and also to the lifetime of investigation that Ehud Netzer devoted to their uncovering. In fact it appears that it was Netzer who started planning the exhibition after his location of Herod’s Tomb on Herodion, and before his tragic death at that site in October 2010. The exhibition mentions Herod’s tumultuous life, as a great fighter, lover and indeed murderer, but it is his tremendous building structures that are given pride of place, such as his many palaces, the port of Caesarea and Herodion itself. Herod’s tomb is shown with a reconstruction of the central tholos, using the actual carved stones from the site, and restorations of the three smashed sarcophagi that were found there. There are many clear wooden models, as were favoured by Netzer, of the tomb and other projects with ingenious films showing their locations in Masada, Jericho, Caesarea and elsewhere and how their construction took place in such difficult terrain. Netzer was of the opinion that Herod had played a personal role in the planning of these oversized projects. Without him no architects or engineers would have dared to produce such ambitious plans, he thought.

There are wonderful original oversized carved Ionic and Corinthian capitals as were used at the Temple porticos and at Herod’s many palaces, but pride of place is given to the work at Herodion. The original unique paintings of the royal box at the intimate hillside theatre at Herodion are displayed.

It appears that everything Herod did was on the grandest of scales and with the finest materials. As has been truly said, Emperors built for posterity but Herod built for eternity. This exhibition, coming more than two thousand years after his death, makes that clear; it is a great tribute to the better side of Herod’s genius and energy, and also to the indefatigable work undertaken by Ehud Netzer over nearly fifty years.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg

W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem #47, 30th December 2012

Hasmonean Farm in Jerusalem

Remains of a farm site were uncovered at Kiryat Yovel in western Jerusalem by a team from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) a month or so ago. The remains have been dated from the fourth century BCE to first century CE and include the outlines of a few scattered buildings and some artifacts like small incense jars and pottery tags that may have been used to label jar contents. The work is still in progress and the designation of the site as a farm may have to be revised as excavation proceeds, although it is known that farms as such did exist in the Hellenistic period.

Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library

The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library was launched on 18^th December, based on the between 15,000 and 30,000 fragments of the Scrolls, making up about 900 manuscripts, held by the IAA. The work of recording by high-resolution scanner is still in progress and is estimated to take another three years, at a cost of US$3.5 million. The archive can be accessed here. This project is distinct from the eight scrolls owned by the Israel Museum whose teams are also working with Google to digitize its manuscripts. Director of the work Pnina Shor states that each fragment is captured on six separate wavelengths that are then combined into one colour image that can be enlarged without loss of clarity. The fragments are also photographed by infra-red technology which produces a clear black-and-white image that is used to decipher faded text. Shor claims that the few hundred scholars who specialize in Dead Sea studies can now access the material in the comfort of their homes, equally available to the millions around the world who have shown intense interest but have not been able to visit Israel to see the originals for themselves.

The project is named after Leon Levy who died in 2003, and whose Trust made the original donation to start the project. The Cambridge Digital Library has also recently posted online thousands of its ancient religious documents, including the Nash Papyrus of the first or second century BCE (that contains two portions of the Hebrew Bible) and the Cairo Geniza Collection.

Temple Site in Sinai

Reports have surfaced that the Antiquities Authority in Egypt has announced the find of four temples in Sinai dating back to the time of Thutmosis II (1518-1504 BCE). The temples are situated at Qantara, 2 miles east of the Suez Canal, on the military road to Canaan. The temple walls are in mudbrick and the largest is some 80m by 70m with walls of 4m thickness, decorated with paintings that indicate the religious nature of the buildings. There are also three ritual basins and a number of separate chambers for different gods in this large temple.

Sifting Excavated Material from Temple Mount

There has been a recent vague report of four truck loads of material being removed from the Temple Mount and dumped at a local tip. No further details have emerged but the removal of such material is illegal and although forbidden by a High Court ruling, it is still happening. This leads me to describe a recent visit to the Sifting Site at the foot of the Mount of Olives that has been organized to deal with the massive amount of material that was removed from the Temple Mount after the unsupervised excavation of the tunnel entrance to the underground mosque located in the so-called Stables of Solomon area. This material was rescued from a dump in Kidron Valley by Prof. Gabriel Barkai and is being steadily sorted and sifted at the facility that he has set up on the hillside below the site of the Hebrew University. It is worth a visit by tourists, who are welcome to come and hear an interesting lecture on the history of the Temple Mount, through the Israelite, Crusader, Byzantine and Islamic periods, and then proceed to the sifting area. It is a well-organized operation with about twenty sifting benches, each supplied with a spray water tap and buckets of raw material for dividing into six categories, such as pottery, stonework, metal and mosaic tesserae. It is fascinating work for children as well as adults, and the supervision by experts is both helpful and encouraging. Many important finds of the First and Second Temple periods have been sifted out and although few and far between, there is a lot to be learnt, and honourably felt, just from handling the historic debris. At the end of each session one of the experts will lecture on the most significant finds that were made that day.

The site is accessible by car on a small turning to the north from the main road of Derekh Ai-Tur (Shmuel ben Adyahu) which lies beyond the Rockfeller Museum, going east. Prof. Barkai or his student Zarhi Zweik are usually in attendance and Gabby estimates that they still have sifting work for the next fifteen years.

Ancient Temple Found at Motza

In a rescue dig before the improvement of Highway 1 leading to Tel Aviv, archaeologists have uncovered a large structure with massive walls, an entrance facing east and a number of ritual objects believed to be a temple of Iron Age IIA. The find was made at Motza, on the western outskirts of Jerusalem, by a team directed by Anna Eirikh, Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz of the IAA. The inside of the building contains a smaller square construction, pottery vessels, chalices, and figures of humans and domestic animals, which are considered to have been used in cultic ceremonies. The temple is believed to be that of the town of Motza, on the borders of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Joshua 18:26). The important remains will be sealed and preserved and the highway extension built over them. The site will not be accessible in the future, but the internal remains will be removed and restored and exhibited in one of the Jerusalem museums.

Stephen Rosenberg,

Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem #37, 6th December 2011

Arabic Inscription of the Crusader Period

An inscription in Arabic bearing the name of the Crusader ruler Frederick II and dated 1229 was recently discovered on a grey marble slab on the wall of a building in Tel Aviv, probably fixed there many years ago. According to Prof. Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University who deciphered it, this was the only Crusader inscription ever found in Arabic and probably came from the citadel that Frederick built in Jaffa, and on which he describes himself as King of Jerusalem. He hailed from Sicily and was the leader of the Sixth Crusade of 1228-1229. It is known that he was fluent in Arabic, his court was attended by many Muslim scholars and ambassadors and for that he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX. He was friendly with the Egyptian Sultan and won from him an armistice that made him King of Jerusalem without a fight. The titles of the inscription are readable in the Arabic but the remaining text has not survived. It is not yet clear where and when the slab will be exhibited to the public.

Palestine Authority (PA) Recognised by UNESCO: Impact on Archaeology

As a result of the recognition of the PA as a member state by UNESCO on October 31^st, the PA is applying to UNESCO for grants to cover repair work to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and in particular for the sum of $12 million for essential repairs to the roof. The historic building of the Byzantine period is in urgent need of repairs which have not been carried out for many years by the three Christian denominations that administer it.

On another tack, the PA, now a member of UNESCO, has threatened to sue Israel for stealing and destroying Arab and Muslim antiquities. The renovation of the Mughrabi Bridge in Jerusalem is on hold until the PA’s intentions are clarified and (it is to be hoped), resolved.

Date Palm Grown from Seed Discovered at Masada

A seed uncovered in the 1960s at Masada, later planted in a secret location by scientists, has now sprouted and grown to an eight-foot high date palm. It has recently been replanted at Kibbutz Ketura in Arava, southern Israel. From a rare species it is hoped it will henceforth produce fruit for food and medicinal purposes.

When the sapling was 15 months old the original seed was shown by C.14 investigation at the University of Zurich to be from the period of the Roman siege of Masada in 73 CE. This species of palm was identified with Judaea and depicted on Roman coins as a symbol of the defeat of the Great Rebellion of 66-70 CE.

Coins Found Below Base of Outer Temple Wall

Further excavations by Eli Shukron of the IAA and Prof. Ronnie Reich of Haifa University inside the drainage channel at the foot of Robinson’s Arch have uncovered part of the base of the western Herodian retaining wall to the Jerusalem Temple and exposed coins that are dated to the Roman Governor Valerius Gratus of 15-16 CE. As this is some twenty years after the death of Herod the Great, it demonstrates that this part of the wall was built after his death, according to Prof. Reich.

The coins were found in a mikveh (ritual bath) that was part of a residential area that had been destroyed to make way for the massive retaining wall to be founded on bedrock. The coins indicate that this western part of the wall was probably built later than the one on the eastern and southern sides and was planned by Herod but only constructed by his grandson Herod Antipas.

This discovery caused a minor sensation among scholars in the press, but it has always been known that Herod, who started the Temple reconstruction in 22 BCE, never saw it completed at his death in 4 BCE. The work was not totally finished until about 60 CE and then, tragically, the completed Temple stood for only ten years before it was destroyed by the Romans.

The Gospel Trail North of Lake Kinneret

Last week the Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov officially opened the Gospel Trail along the north side of the Lake of Kinneret in the Galilee, which will run for 63 kms (39 miles) from north of Tiberias on the west side of the lake eventually to Kursi on the opposite east bank. The Trail will pass through most of the important Christian sites along the banks, such as Magdala, Tabgha, Capernaum and Bethsaida. Prepared by the Ministry of Tourism and the Jewish National Fund, the Trail consists of comfortable stone footpaths, sun and rain shelters and parking areas. The plan is to include hostels and hotels for the many Christian pilgrims that are expected to visit the area, which is sacred to the memory of Jesus, who spent much time in the fishing villages along the lake after he was evicted from Nazareth.

Archaeological excavations along the route have been conducted over many years by the Franciscan Fathers of Capernaum and the IAA and a joint application was made over the last few years to UNESCO to have the area designated as a site of Historic Interest. The application has so far not succeeded as the management of the Trail has not yet been fully organized between the many different ownerships involved.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg

W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem #36, 6th November 2011

Dead Sea Scrolls On-Line

As mentioned previously, the Scrolls were to be brought on line in a joint project organized by the Israel Museum and Google, and five of the most complete scrolls went on-line at the end of September. By 5^th October, there had been over a million viewers from 213 countries, speaking 236 different languages, including all the Arab countries neighbouring Israel, except for Syria. Nearly half-a-million viewers originated from the US. The site is named http://dss.collections.imj.org.il, and the high resolution photographs are considered to show more detail than can be seen by the naked eye. Chief among the scrolls available is the great Isaiah scroll, which is shown in original and translated into English line-by-line, and can be searched by specific phrases and verses in that language. A Chinese translation is in preparation as Biblical studies are very popular in China.

Ancient Assembly-Line at Qesem Cave

In early October, archaeologists Prof. Avi Gopher, Dr. Ron Barkai and Dr. Ron Shimelmitz, of Tel Aviv University, announced that they had uncovered thousands of cutting blades in the Qesem Caves near Tel Aviv, which they date to the lower Paleolithic age of 400,000 to 200,000 BCE. Such blades had previously been associated with the emergence of homo sapiens about 35,000 years ago, but it now appears that they were produced at a much earlier date and in great numbers where the conditions were favourable. The blades were produced in the cave on a kind of production line arranged for selection of the raw material, choice of cutting implements, and the finished product, that being a flint with one sharp edge and one dull edge for easy handling. The cave is attributed to the Amudian culture, and shows use of daily fire and a division of space for specific tasks and functions. The blades were used mainly for butchering animals, whose hides were taken to another spot for processing into skins for several purposes.

Revised Siting of “King’s Garden” in German Colony

The King’s Garden, mentioned in the Song of Songs (4:16; 5:1) has traditionally been located in the area south of Silwan (as mentioned in Nehemiah 3:15) and tradition also has it that Solomon wrote the scroll of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) there, but now Professors Oded Lipschitz and Nadav Na’aman of Tel Aviv University have said it is to be found in the Emek Refaim valley, at what is today the north end of the German Colony of Jerusalem, between the old Railway Station and Liberty Bell Gardens.

Their argument is that the present excavations at Ramat Rahel, to the south of Jerusalem, conducted by Lipschitz and the University of Heidelberg, show that there was an important government tax centre for vegetable produce in the 8^th century BCE at a site on level ground between Ramat Rahel and the City of David, which would place it around the Emek Refaim street that runs through the centre of the German Colony.

They claim that this area was the Valley of Shaveh (the “level” valley), also called the King’s Valley, where the King of Sodom met Abraham (Gen. 14:17). If they are right, then Emek Refaim, famous today for its cafés, boutiques and two vegetable stores, will have acquired a reputable history going back three thousand years and more.

Heritage Site in Safed

Trial excavations at the Kahal Centre in mid-Safed, in the Galilee, conducted by Livnot Lehibanot, a private NGO, under the supervision of the Israel Antiquities Authority, have revealed a number of late medieval dwellings, a bakery, a ritual bathhouse, cisterns and courtyards. It is intended to extend the site and prepare it for public viewing to give a picture of Jewish life in the city in the sixteenth century, when it was the premier Kabbalistic centre of the world. To this end, the government is allocating funds to the tune of four million shekels (about £700,000) to complete the work and prepare it for opening to the public within the next five years.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F.Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem