Plans to reconstruct an important synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem have given archaeologists the opportunity to excavate. The Hurvah synagogue was the largest and most beautiful in the city before its destruction in the 1948 War of Independence. Following the restoration of the Jewish Quarter since 1967, the location of the synagogue has been marked by a single arch.

Hurvah Synagogue arch before removal

Haaretz reports on some of the discoveries made by archaeologists Hillel Geva and Oren Gutfeld. 

The most significant find is an intact Byzantine arch which apparently served as a gate for a street leading from the Cardo. They have also found buildings from earlier periods.

Hurvah synagogue during renovation

The excavations, which began in 2003, also unearthed structures and pottery from the First Temple period, remnants of rooms from the Herodian period (Second Temple), burnt wooden logs (evidence of fire that took place after the destruction of the Second Temple), and three plastered ritual baths carved in rock from the Second Temple period.

Old City from west; location of synagogue is circled in red

James Tabor, who made the initial suggestion to study a certain area for bathroom activity at Qumran, comments on the discovery on his Jesus Dynasty blog.  He includes an aerial photo showing the location of the latrine area.  Here is another photo which also shows the area of the latrines in relation to the site.  The rocky outcropping would have provided privacy from anyone in the vicinity of the settlement.

HT: Paleojudaica

The 2006 report of the Hazor excavations is now online.  Though the season was cut short by the war with Lebanon, the excavators made good progress and the report reflects that.  If nothing else, you’ll love the beautiful aerial photo of the Solomonic gate and surrounding excavations.

HT: The ABR Newsletter (not online, but subscribe here).

Scholars have long debated the identity of those who lived at Qumran.  Most believe that the site was inhabited by Essenes, an ascetic group that separated themselves from the corruption of Jerusalem and the Temple.  There at Qumran they eked out an existence and copied scrolls by night.  Even in recent months the consensus theory has been challenged by those who believe that Qumran was a place of pottery manufacture.

Results from a recent study of the soil around Qumran strengthens the majority view.  Israeli paleopathologist Joe Zias found remains of human excrement about 500 meters north of the site.  The intestinal parasites in the remains prove that the remains were of human origin, and the burial of the feces indicates that they aren’t from Bedouins, as the latter do not bury their excrement.  It seems unlikely at best to suggest that pottery makers or inhabitants of a Roman villa would travel such a distance to relieve themselves, and thus this discovery supports the Essene hypothesis.

The results of the article will be published in Revue de Qumran, but the Jerusalem Post has the best synopsis online.  The story is quite fascinating and it would have been a perfect article for Biblical Archaeology Review, but the poor relationship between Shanks and Zias precludes such a possibility.

Zias goes further in the study to suggest that the short life expectancy of the Qumranites (as evidenced in a study of the cemeteries) was the result of their sanitary practices.  The Qumranites would pick up parasites as they walked through the defecating field which would then be passed on to everyone through the daily immersions in the ritual baths.

The article in Nature ends with this non-sequitur from Zias:

If his theory is correct, it might therefore carry a lesson about religious fundamentalism, Zias adds. “It shows what happens when people take biblical things too fundamentally or literally, as they do in many parts of the world, and what the ultimate consequences are.”

The ancient “church” at Megiddo is slated to be opened to tourists next spring, reports Haaretz. Within 4 years the prison itself should be entirely relocated so that the site can become a “tourist center.” I think they might be over-estimating the site’s importance with plans such as these:

The building in which it is located, which dates back to the British Mandate, will be turned into a center for tourists interested in ancient Christianity and the nearby airfield will be expanded to allow for pilgrim flights.

Do they really think that pilgrims are going to fly in just because they found an old “church”? 

For some years, Americans and other foreigners were afraid to come to Israel. Now that the calm has returned (ha, ha), they have come back. Among the projects, the Philistine city of Gath is being currently being excavated primarily by Israelis, and the Israelite city of Gezer was excavated in June primarily by Americans.

The Gath team has done something extraordinary in maintaining an excavation blog. You should follow along with them if you want to know the latest. If you haven’t checked in a few days, then you don’t know that they found an ostraca (inscribed potsherd) on their first day of digging!

The first season of the Gezer excavations concluded successfully and director Steven Ortiz is interviewed about the results by the Book and the Spade radio program. Among other things, he discusses his discovery of thick destruction layer that may be dated to the destruction of Siamun (1 Kings 9:16). That interview may only be online for a few days, so don’t wait if you are interested.

Back to the “calm situation,” the reality in Israel is that it is always on the edge of some turmoil. That is life here. When you live in the midst of Arab enemies (and yes, even those who have made peace with Israel still hate her), times of stability are brief. Should that affect one coming to tour Israel or to participate in a dig? Absolutely not. Tour operators and excavation directors know where it is safe and they won’t take their people to dangerous areas. CNN makes you think that all of Israel is in upheaval, and that is one of the ways that the media lies.