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Wednesday Roundup

The Israeli State Comptroller report released yesterday finds that the Muslim work in “Solomon’s Stables” was destructive and illegal.

It is dangerous to travel in the Middle East, but not because of war or terror. You’re much more likely to die in a car accident. The traffic fatality rate average is nearly three times that of Europe.

It is not only crazy drivers that one must fear in Israel, but rockslides. A man driving on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway found his car destroyed when passing the Hemed Junction near Abu Gosh.

A new park near the Ben Gurion Airport will be three times the size of Central Park in New York City, built on top of a large garbage dump.

The largest dish of hummus was created last year in Abu Gosh (and then again surpassed in Lebanon), but honors for the largest falafel ball go to a chef in Santa Clarita, California. [What else do Abu Gosh and Santa Clarita have in common? Answer: Proximity to two campuses of one of the best educational institutions in the world.]

Israel received a lot of rainfall in April, but it’s not enough. And the water level of the Dead Sea is now 1,358 feet (424.44 m) below sea level.

Dennis Dufrene looks back at the “discovery” of Noah’s Ark by the Hong Kong group last year and concludes that “All of these issues point to the fact that the NAMI find was most certainly a hoax.”

Abu Gosh, formerly home to the largest hummus dish and near location of recent rockslide. The Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway cuts across the photo. View from the southeast.

Tagged Jerusalem, Pseudo-Archaeology, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weather

Verenna on the Lead Codices

Over at the Bible and Interpretation, Thomas S. Verenna has written an article entitled “Artifacts and the Media: Lead Codices and the Public Portrayal of History.” This well-researched piece addresses the way news organizations failed to serve their readers in the recent “discovery” of the lead codices.

I appreciated his conclusion, which begins (emphasis added):

What this treatment illustrates, more than the deception behind the lead codices, is the hijacking of history and the Bible by the media. This isn’t a new problem; it is one that has existed for decades. Some might say this problem dates back to the Roman period, wherein historians like Tacitus and Suetonius used the Acta Diurna which, as far as other sources are concerned, was not nearly as useful except perhaps for those who preferred gossip and rhetoric to factual information. But with the internet, the media has the ability to spread memes much more quickly than it had before and those memes are likely to last longer and remain available longer than inaccuracies presented in the past. While deceptive persons might try to pull the wool over the eyes of others, it is really the media that must be held accountable. It is accountable for giving these individuals a pedestal to stand on and an audience of eager readers who have no idea they are about to be conned into believing a false portrayal of the past.
More scandalous is the complete lack of journalistic integrity, honest research, and thorough fact-checking. These codices might never have been heard of if the authors of the reports for BBC and Fox News (among others) had just checked with the academic community before publishing the “find”. At the very least, the journalists might have used less authoritative language, expressed more caution, and exposed the controversy rather than simply stating, as if doing so made it fact, that these codices were “the earliest Christian texts” and that they held “early images of Jesus.”

The full article is worth reading, as are the comments (especially #3).

Tagged Pseudo-Archaeology

Excavation Report of Omrit, 2009

The current issue of Hadashot Arkheologiyot includes a preliminary report of the 2009 excavations of Omrit. Readers here may recall that Omrit is the location of a beautiful first-century temple, not far from Caesarea Philippi in the far north of modern Israel.

The findings from the temple are described near the end of the report:

Space 5 (SP5 in Fig. 1), which corresponds to the area beneath the porch of the temple, is confined by the north, east, and south walls of the podium in Temple I and its cross wall, separating Space 4 from Space 5; it was partially excavated in 2006 and 2007 and the southeastern portion of Space 5 was investigated in 2009 (Fig. 6). Beneath several strata of dense fill associated with the construction of Temple II (late first century CE), the ashlar-built platform, partially exposed in 2007, was found to extend eastward where it abutted the door threshold of a temenos wall. The platform splays out at skewed angles from the Early Shrine’s ashlar steps. The platform was intended to connect the staircase with the doorway, but since the doorway does not fall on the long axis of the Early Shrine, the typical symmetry expected in temple and temenos design was discarded. About half way between the Shrine’s steps and the door threshold, two pedestals were built into the platform, opposite one another on the north and south sides. The pedestals were found in an excellent state of preservation with their original frescoes still intact. The pattern, a faux marble executed in ochre and red colors, has been found on some architectural blocks discovered in previous seasons. Some white plaster with a partially preserved circular lip or impression is preserved on the top surface of the south pedestal. Each pedestal probably supported a basin or statue with a circular base.

The report includes a plan of the site and five photographs.

Omrit temple from the east

Tagged Excavations, Galilee

Magdala Excavation to be Celebrated

From the Denver Post:

A Holy Land archaeological discovery will bring together some of Denver’s biggest names in politics and religion for a Galilee Gala June 8 at The Denver Museum of Nature & Science. A first-century synagogue, uncovered in 2009 in Magdala — Mary Magdalene’s hometown in the region of Galilee — holds the oldest known depiction in stone of a menorah. Jesus lived most of his life, conducted most of his ministry and performed most of his miracles in the region of Galilee. And so the area was chosen by the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic order of priests seeking to promote Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land, as the site for a $100 million building project. Plans encompass a 300-bed hotel, educational center dedicated to Jesus called "Walk With Me," and, acknowledging the Mary Magdalene connection, a cultural center for women. The project began purchasing land in Magdala in 2006, eventually acquiring more than 20 acres on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As providence would have it, project spokesman Father Eamon Kelly said, workers soon discovered, in the very footprint set aside for an ecumenical chapel for Christians, a 2,000-year-old Jewish place of worship. An intricately carved stone table is its striking centerpiece. The find seemed to be a sign that the center is meant to promote dialogue not only among Christians, but among Jews and Muslims as well, said the Jerusalem-based Kelly. "This is the most beautiful synagogue in antiquity," Kelly said. "It’s a magic place." The Israeli Antiquities Authority has called it "the most important archaeological discovery ever related to the 2nd Temple."

As Paleojudaica notes, that last quotation is quite an overstatement. The full story is here.

Tagged Galilee

Photo of the Day: Sunset over the Judean Hills

The sun sets over the Judean hills on a clear day in February. The three towers of the Mount of Olives are visible on the horizon.

Tagged Judah, Photo of the Day

Hinnom Valley Excavation Report

A year ago yesterday this blog noted the excavation of an arched bridge in the Hinnom Valley. The current issue of Hadashot Arkheologiyot includes a final excavation report by Yehiel Zelinger.

The Sultan’s Pool, which was built in the upper part of the Ben-Hinnom Valley, is located in the lowest spot of the region and was therefore used as a reservoir for floodwater. To maintain the elevation of the aqueduct that passed through the pool, a bridge was constructed to support the aqueduct over the valley. The bridge is visible in photographs taken at the end of the nineteenth century (Fig. 2); however, it was covered over with alluvium during the twentieth century.

[…]

Conrad Schick was the first to describe the aqueduct and the bridge that carried it when he documented the Sultan’s Pool and its surroundings in 1898. The detailed plan and sections that accompany his article enabled the reconstruction of the aqueduct and the bridge; however, they are useless for dating the remains. The Lower Aqueduct provided water to Jerusalem as of the Hasmonean period and continued to function until the Ottoman period. Due to its prolonged use and the numerous repairs made to it, it is difficult to date the different phases. The method of construction in the southwestern section of the aqueduct is similar to sections of the aqueduct that were exposed in the past and were dated to the Early Roman period. The arch bridge, however, is dated to the Mamluk period, based on the dedicatory inscription from 1320 CE that was incorporated in it (it is visible in photographs but has not yet been exposed).

The report concludes:

The aqueduct was probably built originally in the Hasmonean period and crossed the channel in the Ben-Hinnom Valley on a bridge that was destroyed due to neglect or floods and a new bridge had replaced it in the Mamluk period.

The article includes five illustrations, including a plan and section of the excavation.

The Hinnom Valley from the south, taken between 1907 and 1914. The arched aqueduct passed through the area of the buildings and may have been visible when this photo was taken. This photo is from the Jerusalem volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-07473).

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem