Excavations Archives - Page 76 of 100

Byzantine Church Discovered in Acco

The Israel Antiquities Authority has had a breakthrough discovery, unearthing a public structure from the time of the Byzantine Empire in the northern Israeli city of Acre [Akko].
The structure is about 1,500 years-old and it is believed to have served as a church. The structure was uncovered during a rescue excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority following an unauthorized dig in the area that uncovered the structure.
The excavation was done approximately 100 meters west of a mound located in the eastern part of Acre, close to the area in which the future Azrieli shopping mall is being built.
Nurit Page, head of the excavations in the area under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority said that the city’s bishop was known in Christian scriptures as someone who was extremely influential in the development of Christianity as a religion.
This discovery is the first concrete proof of Acre’s role in early Christianity. “This is an important discovery for the study of Acre,” Page said, adding that it is of particular significance “considering no remnants from the Byzantine Period had been found other than living quarters near the [Mediterranean] sea.”

The full story is here. An IAA press release sent along by Joseph Lauer quotes the archaeologist as being less certain of the building’s identification: “It may possibly be a church. This is the first time that remains of a public building from this period have been uncovered in Akko.”

UPDATE (6/14): The Jerusalem Post is now reporting the discovery.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations

Walk a Mile Underneath Jerusalem

Matti Friedman, writing for the AP, describes the various “underground tours” that are open to tourists in Jerusalem. He also touches on the political and religious complications.

Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above.
At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab.
Underground Jerusalem is different: Here the noise recedes, the fierce Middle Eastern sun disappears, and light comes from fluorescent bulbs. There is a smell of earth and mildew, and the geography recalls a Jewish city that existed 2,000 years ago.
Archaeological digs under the disputed Old City are a matter of immense sensitivity. For Israel, the tunnels are proof of the depth of Jewish roots here, and this has made the tunnels one of Jerusalem’s main tourist draws: The number of visitors, mostly Jews and Christians, has risen dramatically in recent years to more than a million visitors in 2010.
But many Palestinians, who reject Israel’s sovereignty in the city, see them as a threat to their own claims to Jerusalem. And some critics say they put an exaggerated focus on Jewish history.

The story continues here. The underground “route” that Friedman describes begins with a walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel (or its alternate, the Siloam Tunnel). Then, later this summer, one will be able to enter the Roman drainage system and walk all the way to the Western Wall plaza. In several years, a new route will take visitors on the first-century street beneath the prayer plaza. That will link up with the Western Wall tunnels which run north along Herod’s well-preserved retaining wall.

For more of the political angle on the “Underground Jerusalem” excavations, see last month’s article in Haaretz (noted here). For some additional photographs, see Leen Ritmeyer’s post.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Western Wall tunnel: northern section through Hasmonean aqueduct

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem, Tourism

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

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

Weekend Roundup

Well preserved remains of an ancient ship possibly from the first century has been found in the port that served ancient Rome.

Roman and Byzantine buildings have been discovered in Jiftlik, a Palestinian town near Alexandrium-Sartaba in the Jordan Valley.

“Geography and culture are important.” Jim Elliff explains why in this bulletin insert that you can download and reproduce for your church.

Infanticide was apparently common in the Roman Empire.

The first phase of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation is scheduled to open next month.

The country of Turkey is starting to recognize the value of its Christian sites for bringing in tourists (NY Times).

The Alphabetical list of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies surpassed 900 titles this week.

Wayne Stiles shares his thoughts (and video) on Mount Arbel and the Sea of Galilee (JPost).

Tour guide Joe Yudin describes his jeep tour of the Judean Desert in a new column at the Jerusalem Post.

As a follow-up to the list of finalists for the 2011 Christian Book Award, it may be noted that the winner in the Bible Reference Category is the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds
Commentary, edited by John H. Walton.

Accordance is giving away a Bible a day (to one winner) and offering a big discount for all users, through the month of May.

ICEJ News reports on Israel’s plans to invest in Nazareth: On Wednesday, Israeli tourism minister Stas Meseznikov announced that the government is planning to invest more than NIS 12 million over the next four years in Israel’s largest Arab city, Nazareth, which is also a major tourist attraction due to its status as the town where Jesus grew up, being visited by over 40% of the tourists who arrive in Israel every year. One of the strategies used in order to develop the city is to encourage local residents to open their own businesses, and grants of up to 30% of their start up investments are therefore offered. “The program to boost development of the tourism industry in Nazareth is part of a 2010 government initiative to encourage development in the Arab sector,” Meseznikov said.

HT: Paleojudaica, Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Italy, Judah, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Underground Jerusalem

The weekend magazine of Haaretz has a lengthy article on the excavations below ground in Jerusalem. While the majority of the information is not new, the article brings matters together in a helpful survey. The second half of the article focuses on the excavations of the road and drainage channel that runs from the Western Wall to the Pool of Siloam.

The excavation of the sewage canal that links the City of David with the Western Wall began in 2003. In many respects, this tunnel became Elad’s flagship project. If, as Elad officials hope, the public can walk the length of the tunnel, it would give the national park a major boost, connecting it directly to the Western Wall plaza. The excavators say this is not an excavation in the ordinary sense, but rather a matter of “clearing” sewage from a Herodian tunnel that was largely exposed by Warren and his successors.

The excavation is criticized on political grounds as well as on archaeological ones.

The scholarly objection to digging laterally through the tunnels is that this is a faulty, unscientific way of excavating, one that typified archaeology a century or more ago; it makes it impossible to find, date and document all the archaeological findings. Another objection concerns the fact that most of the excavations are cautiously retracing the steps of Warren and his successors, meaning they are providing only marginal added value. Critics also say the tunnels conceal the excavation from the public.

Archaeologist Ronny Reich is given a chance to respond:

Reich himself wrote in an introductory archaeology textbook that the tunnel excavation method is outdated. Nevertheless, he rejects the criticism of his work in the City of David. One must differentiate between genuine archaeological excavations and clearing out debris from an ancient sewer, he says. This is not a vertical excavation, but rather the uncovering of an ancient structure. As for vertical excavations, such as the stepped street – the street that was built above the sewer system, now cleared and part of the City of David national park – Reich explains that given the choice between what he gave up by adopting this type of excavation style, and what he discovered by virtue of employing the method, he has no doubt that the excavation was highly valuable.
[…]
“I’m not motivated by politics; I myself am on the left. I’m motivated by the archaeological understanding of Jerusalem. The excavation is sponsored by the State of Israel. What can I do if it is easy to raise funds for excavations in Jerusalem?”
Reich is also proud of his part in encouraging tourism in the area. “When we started, 15 years ago, there may have been a thousand tourists a year. Now there are 450,000 and that is solely because of the archaeology. There is nothing else. So what am I being accused of, helping develop tourism in Jerusalem?”

It’s worth noting that Reich is a political leftist. This contradicts the earlier statement in the article by Meretz city council member Meir Margalit.

I have no problem with excavating per se; I myself am an archaeology buff, and I always get a thrill from these tunnels. The problem is the excavators’ messianic political agenda.

Margalit’s statement should not go unchallenged. The fact is that Elad, who is supporting the excavations financially, is ideologically driven, but the archaeologists are not. There have been many pieces criticizing the excavations, but not once have I heard any hint that Reich or his partner Shukron distort their findings or interpretation because of personal or institutional bias.

The article concludes with a statement from Elad, financial backer of the City of David excavations.

The final paragraph makes an important point:

“Recently a drainage canal from the Second Temple period was exposed. This is one of the most important and exciting archaeological discoveries of recent years, not only for the Jewish people but for all of human civilization. It is clear to every thinking person that the route of the canal was determined 2,000 years ago, and there is no connection between its discovery and attempts to connect it, indecently, to political viewpoints.”

The entire article contains much more. Previous posts on this blog about the excavations of this street were written in Jan 2011, Sept 2009, Mar 2008, and Sept 2007.

Drainage channel below Siloam Street

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem