Uncategorized Archives - Page 282 of 571

Conference Report: Innovations in Archaeology in Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Post reports on recent discoveries made in connection with development projects in the Jerusalem area. (Emphasis added.)

In order to secure the necessary construction permits from the Interior Ministry, public works projects need approval from the IAA [Israel Antiquities Authority]. Preconstruction surveys during preparation for the expansion of Highway 1 around the Motza Interchange have yielded a plethora of new discoveries, including Iron Age buildings at Tel Motza, explained Dr. Doron Ben Ami, a chief researcher at the HU archeology institute. At the Motza Stream, archeologists discovered ruins dating back to the Neolithic period and an enormous underground water reservoir from the Crusaders.
Pre-construction surveys of the Ramot highway have yielded discoveries of Roman terraces. And when baseball fans in Ramat Beit Shemesh decided to build a baseball field, they discovered a new field of dreams: Just a few centimeters below the surface, there were hundreds of clay pots and figurines.
Nearby, archeologists discovered an enormous burial ground from the Bronze Age.
Even in the posh Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia, construction of fancy new apartments can sometimes lead to the most startling archeological discoveries. A 6-meter-high column was unearthed during construction of a new apartment building on the leafy neighborhood’s Abarbanel Street, leading scholars to believe it could have been a Byzantine era quarry. The column was mostly likely destined for one the magnificent cathedrals of the era before it cracked and became dangerous to move.

The full story is here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Picture of the Week: Appian Way with Ancient Paving Stones

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

When people think of “biblical archaeology” they usually think of cities such as Jerusalem, Jericho, or Capernaum. However, sometimes a road can be just as valuable as an archaeological “site.”

Our picture of the week is from Volume 15 of the revised and expanded version of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, which focuses on Rome. The photo is entitled, “Appian Way with Ancient Paving Stones.”

Although never explicitly mentioned in Acts 28, there can be little doubt that the Apostle Paul walked this road as he traveled from Puteoli (Acts 28:13) to Rome (Acts 28:14). From Puteoli, Paul and his escort of Roman soldiers probably travelled north to Capuae (also spelled Capua) where they travelled the rest of the journey to Rome on the Appian Way. In his 1962 work on Archaeology and the New Testament, Merrill F. Unger describes the journey in this way:

Not far from Puteoli at Capua, Paul and the group got on the Appian Way which connected with Rome via The Forum of Appius and The Three Taverns. Extensive sections of this well-paved road, planned by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 B.C., still exist, lined with tombs, sites of ancient Roman villas, and ruins of ancient aqueducts. … From Capua it was 132 miles to Rome. …

Since the Appian Way from Capua to Terracina Romeward skirted near the shore, picturesque vistas of land often combined with a magnificent view of the sea. …

At the Forum of Appius, 43 miles from the metropolis on the Tiber, Paul and the group had a pleasant surprise. Some of the believers at Rome, Luke writes, “came to meet us” (Acts 28:15), employing a word (apantēsis) technically used for the official welcome of a visiting dignitary by a deputation which went out of a city to greet him and conduct him on his way for the last part of his journey. …

Now on both sides of the Appian Way were seen the tombs and funerary memorials of the generals, conquerors, and distinguished men who had raised an obscure Italian town to the position of the first city of the world, and surrounded it with a halo of martial glory unexcelled by any other metropolis. Many of these illustrious Romans had passed over this same road to enjoy a magnificent triumph in the city. But the prisoner who that day was surrounded by a retinue of converts and a few Roman soldiers was being led in a triumph far more memorable than that of any victorious Roman general.

Excerpt is taken from Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1962), 314-316, and can be purchased here. This and other photos of Rome are included in Volume 15 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and can be purchased here.

Tagged Picture of the Week

Wednesday Roundup

Ross Burns has created a website to mirror his Monuments of Syria with photos, itineraries, and maps. He has also put many photos on Flickr (with watermarks).

Luke Chandler explains why the excavators of Khirbet Qeiyafa have decided to return for one more partial season, with the remainder to be spent at either Socoh or Lachish.

Paleobabble addresses Simcha Jacobovici’s Conspiracy Fantasy.

Ferrell Jenkins reports on new discoveries at Paphos, Cyprus.

The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology has a helpful list of links to universities and institutions with archaeological programs in Israel.

Tagged Pseudo-Archaeology, Resources, Shephelah, Syria

Haaretz: Following the Dream of a Third Temple in Jerusalem

Haaretz’s article on the Third Temple and Jewish visits to the Temple Mount is probably the most thorough and helpful report I’ve read on the subject.

They are proposing what they consider to be the key to solving all of our problems: building a Third Temple. In the meantime, they are trying to get permission to pray on the Temple Mount, where Jewish religious ritual has been prohibited since East Jerusalem was taken by Israeli forces in the 1967 war.
Shortly after the war, the government decided not to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount ‏(which is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, and is the site of two major Muslim holy places, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock‏). Jews could pray below the Mount, at the Western Wall, Israeli authorities decreed.
In terms of religious ritual, the Temple Mount remains a Muslim preserve. According to a survey conducted by the joint directorate of the Temple movements, only 17 percent of Israeli Jews, religious and secular alike, want to see a Third Temple built. However, the numbers shoot up in regard to the possibility of praying on the Temple Mount, with 43 percent of the secular public and 92 percent of the religious public in favor, which averages out to 52 percent of the entire Jewish public.
The police, though, are convinced that allowing Jewish religious ritual to be performed on the Temple Mount will stir unrest among Muslims on a scale that is hard to gauge. Accordingly, the police make every effort to enforce the long-standing government decision, even though this involves repeated skirmishes with the Temple movements. Some of their activists, Yehuda Glick among them, are barred from even approaching the entrance to the Temple Mount.

The full, lengthy article describes a meeting with leaders interested in rebuilding the temple, a visit to the Temple Mount on a bride’s wedding day, the modern Bezalel, preparations for rebuilding the sacrificial altar, and a plot to blow up Al-Aqsa Mosque.

HT: Bill Soper

Replica of the temple overlooking the Temple Mount
(Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Notes on the Water in Antiquity Conference

(by Chris McKinny)

Today, I was able to make it over to the Cura Aquarum conference on Water in Antiquity that was mentioned previously here. The first session of lectures dealt with several topics of interest for readers of this blog. Below I have added a few brief notes from the lectures.

1. Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel? The Gezer Water System Project – Dan Warner*, Tsvika Tsuk, Jim Parker and Dennis Cole

Warner gave an update of their project after two seasons and discussed their plans for the 2013 season. The following are a few difficulties that they have encountered and a few goals that the seek to accomplish in their project:

Macalister’s plans of the system differ from the seemingly more accurate plans of Father Vincent (no great shock there).

Entrance to Gezer Water System

Macalister built a large retaining wall for the material that he removed from the system, however, that retaining wall collapsed towards the end of the Gezer expedition – re-filling the system back to 60% of its original fill level. This is what they have spent the last two seasons removing. They have successfully excavated two of the systems three parts – 1.) the “keyhole opening” (see pic above) and 2. the “stepped and sloping water shaft”. On the last few days of excavation this past season they reached the water cavern itself (part 3.). All told they have removed around 439 tons of fill so far.

Vincent’s drawings seem to indicate that there was an opening or exit in the cavern section of the system. One of their goals is to determine the location or existence of this opening.

Dating: While admitting to not finding any datable materials in their excavations, Warner concluded that he believes that the Gezer water system should be preliminarily dated to the Canaanite period/Middle Bronze Age. He dates the system based on its close proximity to the Middle Bronze Age fortifications (conta the site’s former excavator William Dever). He also made note of several “cultic niches” along the walls of the water system one of which has what he referred to as an embedded massebah (i.e. “standing stone”) similar to what is seen on top of the tell. If this system does in fact date to the Middle Bronze age, Warner theorized that it would then be one of the largest such systems from that time period in all of the ancient Near East.

2. A New Assessment of the Upper Aqueduct to Jerusalem: its Date and Route – David Amit and Shimon Gibson*

Very nice presentation on all of the available date including some recent excavations near Jaffa Gate/Mamilla.

Concludes that the Upper Aqueduct was originally constructed during the time of Herod the Great, in order to provide water for the Temple Mount and the Herodian Palace on the Western Hill of Jerusalem. They interpret the large amount of “10th Roman Legion” epigraphic evidence (i.e. bricks with the imprint of “XLEGFR”) around the Upper Aqueduct near Rachel’s Tomb as evidence of repair and not initial building.

3. Dating and engineering of Siloam Tunnel, Jerusalem – Amos Frumkin* and Aryeh Shimron

Frumkin showed convincingly that the Siloam Tunnel (i.e. Hezekiah’s Tunnel) dates to around 700 BCE on the basis of a date range provided by the assessment of C14 (piece of charcoal found in the original plaster) and speleothems (stalactites). As both of these pieces of evidence fit the textual data, they concluded that the tunnel was dug by Hezekiah. On a side note, since both of the authors are geologists, it was very nice to see them consider all of the evidence including the biblical and extra-biblical texts. This has not always been the case with geological assessments of Hezekiah’s tunnel see here.

City of David with Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Blue

Frumkin also showed that Hezekiah’s tunnel was not excavated along natural karstic shafts. This common theory he referred to as the “Karst Theory.” Instead of following any natural, easier path for excavation, he demonstrated that the tunnel’s excavators passed through many bedding plates or fractures perpendicularly.

Of even more importance, Frumkin provided some very interesting rationale for why Hezekiah’s tunnel meanders on both starting points instead of being excavated in a straight line. He believes that the entire excavation process was marked by changes “on the fly.” He comes to this conclusion based on the several “false starts” inside the shaft and the “semi-circular loops” on the north-eastern and south-western beginning points (he also makes the point that the NE starting point dropped 5 meters from its initial starting point, another indication of a mistake). Frumkin hypothesized that the excavators soon realized that they were not going to be able to find each other by digging in a direct line, diagonally across the city. So instead, both excavation teams began excavating towards the slopes of the Kidron Valley, an area much closer to the surface, with hopes that they would be able to “hear” one another above ground. Testing this hypothesis – Frumkin and Shimron’s claim that they were able to hear someone inside of the tunnel from directly above, which would mean that their theory is plausible, at the very least.

Interestingly, Frumkin points out that this subterranean-to-above-ground communication could very well be what is meant in the Siloam Inscription where it reads, “… the tunnel … and this is the story of the tunnel while …the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut? … the voice of a man … called to his counterpart” (italics mine).

All told, it was a very interesting set of lectures that showed that even old excavations can be given new interpretation and nuanced meaning through the advancements and developments of the discipline.

*Presenter

Tagged Jerusalem, Lectures

New Resource: Israel Topographical Relief Map

I’ve been asked many times over the years if I know of a place where one can purchase a 3-D relief map of Israel. The first one I ever saw was hand-crafted and not for sale. Some years later I found a company making large maps. While I knew one guy who actually carried the small (6-foot) edition back as “luggage” from Israel, this is impractical for most.

I just learned that Preserving Bible Times, Inc. is selling 10” x 20” 3-D relief maps. These are now available in both framed ($39) and unframed ($29) versions, with shipping of $9.95 for the first map and $1.95 for additional maps in the same shipment. Take a look at the images below to see the quality and detail.

To order, contact the good folks at Preserving Bible Times at 410-953-0557 by mail at PBT, POB 83357, Gaithersburg, MD, 20883. Questions can be directed by email here. This can be a great resource for home, church, school, clubhouse, beach house, or treehouse. The timing is perfect for Christmas as well.

Framed version

Close-up of Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights

Close-up of Jerusalem area and Dead Sea

Tagged Resources