Excavations Archives - Page 55 of 97

Jerusalem Quarry Discovered

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a quarry from the Herodian period north of the Old City of Jerusalem. The quarry was revealed in the course of construction of Highway 21. The IAA press release describes the results of the excavation.

An enormous quarry from the time of the Second Temple (first century CE) was exposed in recent weeks in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out prior to the paving of Highway 21 by the Moriah Company. A 2,000 year old key, pick axes, severance wedges etc are also among the artifacts uncovered during the course of the excavation.
According to Irina Zilberbod, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The quarrying phenomenon created a spectacular sight of bedrock columns and steps and craters of sorts that were the result of the rock-cuttings. What remained are rock masses in various stages of quarrying, and there were those that were found in a preliminary stage of rock-cutting prior to detachment. Some of the stones that were quarried are more than 2 meters long. The giant stones were probably hewn for the sake of the construction of the city’s magnificent public buildings”.
Zilberbod explains, “The pick axes were used to cut the severance channels around the stone block in the bedrock surface and the arrowhead-shaped detachment wedge, which is solid iron, was designed to detach the base of the stone from the bedrock by means of striking it with a hammer. The key that was found, and which was probably used to open a door some 2,000 years ago, is curved and has teeth. What was it doing there? We can only surmise that it might have fallen from the pocket of one of the quarrymen”.
The enormous quarries that were exposed – totaling a 1,000 square meters in area – join other quarries that were previously documented and studied by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Research has shown that the northern neighborhoods of modern Jerusalem are situated on Jerusalem’s “city of quarries” from the Second Temple period.

The rest of the press release considers the questions of why this area was attractive to ancient quarriers and how they moved the stones to the building sites.

In September 2007 another Herodian quarry (location, photos) was discovered in the same neighborhood. In July 2009 a quarry was found on Shmuel Hanavi Street. Today’s story is also carried by the Times of Israel.

Aerial view of the quarries. Photo by Skyview Company.

Artifacts discovered in quarry. Photo by Clara Amit.

Key from the time of Jesus discovered in quarry. Photo by Clara Amit.

All photos courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

New Excavations at Ashdod-Yam

A new excavation is beginning this summer at Ashdod-Yam that you may want to consider joining. If its location on a beautiful Mediterranean beach appeals to you, you can skip the rest of this post and sign up here.

While the site was settled for several millennia and includes an impressive Early Islamic and Crusader fortress (see photo below), the excavation will focus on the Iron Age enclosure with particular interest in the late 8th and early 7th centuries (the time when Hezekiah and Manasseh were ruling in Judah). The project’s website lists five goals for the planned five seasons of excavation:

To understand the history of the site during the period of Assyrian domination and hopefully to discover an Assyrian emporium.
To learn about the sea trade that occurred at the site.
To study pottery from the first half of the 7th century.
To discover evidence of Greek mercenaries stationed at the site on behalf of Egypt.
To shed light on the Philistines after their conquest by Babylon in the 6th century.

The excavation website provides more information about the history of the site, excavations during the 1960s, and a diagram of the ruins. You can also see a list of the extensive staff and support the project through a donation. The home page includes some impressive images of the site. The excavation is co-directed by Prof. Angelika Berlejung of the University of Leipzig and Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University. Registration is now open!

Crusader fortress of Ashdod-Yam
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 4

Tagged Excavations, Philistines

Research Plan Posted for New Jerusalem Excavations

When Tel Aviv University announced plans to excavate in Jerusalem’s City of David, some liberal voices responded with anger. What is the most liberal archaeological department in Israel doing working in an area associated with a history they deny? The apparent (but unconfirmed) funding of the dig by the conservative organization Elad grated all the more, for as the liberals know, the Bible-confirming results that come out of excavations in the City of David are controlled by these radical Jewish settlers.

More details about the planned excavations are now online. Yuval Gadot has posted his research plan for excavating on the eastern slope south of the Gihon Spring in Shiloh’s Area D3. He plans to excavate six squares in the first four-month-long season.

Gadot hopes to discover houses as well as the eastern wall of the city in order to address two questions: (1) How does household archaeology illuminate social order and cultural identity? (2)

What was the size and growth pattern of Jerusalem? In regard to the second question, Gadot wants to determine if the massive wall that Reich and Shukrun found in the Kidron Valley was a city wall or a revetment wall.

Before excavation begins, the archaeologists have to remove the dump of previous excavations. The area will be open to visitors and a 24-hour webcam will broadcast the work on the site.

HT: Joseph Lauer

City-of-David-aerial-from-east,-tb010703201

City of David from east with excavation area marked
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup

Plans to reconstruct Herod’s tomb at the Herodium have been scrapped.

The same article reports that the Herod exhibition at the Israel Museum has been extended to January 2014.

Tuesday’s Samaritan Passover ceremony is described in a Haaretz article. (I believe the first photo caption is wrong, for the animal is not slain until sunset.)

105 million euros is not enough to save Pompeii from deterioration, according to a New York Times video.

Ferrell Jenkins is back in Israel and he recently spent a morning with Shmuel Browns.

The Spring 2013 season at Tel Burna is over and they have found evidence of a destruction in the 9th century. There are still a few days left to sign up for the summer season.

Haaretz’s “Tourist Tip #218” describes the significance of the Broad Wall of Jerusalem.

The temporary bridge to the Mughrabi Gate next to the Western Wall still stands, but next month a committee is going to meet in Paris to discuss its replacement.

FoxNews reports on apps for archaeology.

Berlin’s Pergamon Museum has a new exhibition on the Mesopotamian city of Uruk. Better photos are available here.

Christianbook.com is now selling The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.) for only $99.99. (That’s 75% the $400 list.)

A rare, original set of the 13 volumes of the Survey of Western Palestine has just been listed by a UK bookseller for $6,400. For $35 more, you can pick up a digital copy of the oversized maps.

HT: Jack Sasson

Key Map for the Survey of Western Palestine. All 26 maps (plus one from Transjordan) are for sale here.

Tagged Excavations, Holidays, Italy, Jerusalem, Judah, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Unique Ritual Bath Complex Excavated in Jerusalem

Archaeologists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently excavated a unique ritual bath (mikveh) in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood of Jerusalem (southwest of the Old City). Three separate collecting tanks (otzar) were carved into the rock in order to collect as much rainwater as possible.

The IAA press release quotes Benyamin Storchan, director of the excavation:

Numerous ritual baths have been excavated in Jerusalem in recent years, but the water supply system that we exposed in this excavation is unique and unusual. The ritual bath consists of an underground chamber entered by way of steps. The miqwe received the rainwater from three collecting basins (otzar) that were hewn on the roof of the bath, and the pure water was conveyed inside the chamber through channels.
The ritual baths known until now usually consist of a closed cavity that was supplied with rainwater conveyed from a small rock-cut pool located nearby. The complex that was exposed at this time is a more sophisticated and intricate system. The bath was apparently associated with a settlement that was situated there in the Second Temple period. Presumably, due to the rainfall regime and arid conditions of the region, the inhabitants sought special techniques that would make it possible to store every drop of water.
It is interesting to note that the bath conforms to all of the laws of kashrut, like collecting the water in it naturally without human contact, and ensuring that the water does not seep into the earth which is why the bath was treated with a special kind of plaster.

The full press release is here, and three high-res photos are available in a zip file. The story is also reported by the Jerusalem Post and Arutz-7.

Archaeologist Benyamin Storchan stands in the immersion chamber of the mikveh.

Aerial view of the excavations

Aerial view of three storage tanks and channels

All photos courtesy of the IAA. The second and third are by Skyview.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

New Excavation Reports: Megiddo, Gezer, Sepphoris

Several significant excavation reports will be published in the next couple of months and Eisenbrauns is offering major discounts on pre-orders.

Megiddo V: The 2004-2008 Seasons

Gezer VII: The Middle Bronze and Later Fortifications in Fields II, IV, and VIII

Sepphoris I: The Pottery from Ancient Sepphoris

With the ongoing debate over the chronology of the Iron Age II, the Megiddo volumes may receive the most attention from scholars.

Eisenbrauns has a number of other excavation reports on sale, including volumes on Bab edh-Dhra, Lahav (volumes I-II), Tell el-
Hesi (volumes II-V), Gezer (volumes I-III, V), and Dothan. For those interested in a popular work, the Timnah volume is now marked down 50% (to $15).

There doesn’t seem to be a direct link to the sale page, so go to the home page, read about their phenomenal new “Online/Offline
Backup Service” (announced on April 1), and follow the link to the sale from there.

A couple of recently published excavation reports are reviewed in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. In the article now available online, William G. Dever reviews Ashkelon 3: The Seventh Century B.C. and Hazor: The 1990–2009 Excavations: The Iron Age.

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jezreel Valley, Resources, Shephelah