Jerusalem Archives - Page 137 of 197

Weekend Roundup #2

X-ray analysis may help scholars to determine where the Dead Sea Scrolls were written.

Christopher Rollston has posted his detailed observations about the Mariam-Yeshua-Caiaphas ossuary. Among other things, he suggests that Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shephelah preserves the name
of Caiaphas.

Israel has 6,000 miles of trails. A new article at Israel’s MFA describes some of Israel’s favorite hikes, including the Israel Trail, the Burma Road, Nahal Ammud, Nahal Darga, Nahal Yehudiya,
Wadi Qilt, and Mount Zephahot. Some courageous tour guide should offer a two-week tour of these fabulous trails.

The Jewish Magazine has a post about Khirbet Karta, the ruins of a Crusader castle near Atlit.

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is offering “Dig Into History: An Archaeology
Experience Camp for Adults” in July and August.

Israel’s History – a Picture a Day: This new blog presents images taken in the late 1800s or early 1900s, primarily from the collections of the Library of Congress. (Some of these photographs will be familiar to users of the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.)

Jerusalem Post: “A leader of Egypt’s most influential secular party…said American soldiers ‘with double Israeli nationality and Jewish religion’ stole Jewish antiquities from the Babylonian exile period and reburied them in Jerusalem to cement their historical claim on the city.” At least he’s not denying that Jewish antiquities have been discovered in Jerusalem.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Technology, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Archaeological Articles on Jerusalem

The Bible and Interpretation has posted a new section that collects articles written in the last several years related to the archaeology of Jerusalem. If you missed any of them, this might be a good chance to catch up.

Jerusalem Syndrome in Archaeology By Yuval Goren

Jerusalem in the 10th / 9th centuries BC By Margreet Steiner

The Final Days of Jesus: What Can Archaeology Tell Us? By Shimon Gibson

Was Jerusalem a Trade Center in the Late Iron Age? By Juan Manuel Tebes

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem During the First Temple Period: An Archaeologist’s View By David Ussishkin

Identifying King David’s Palace: Mazar’s Flawed Reading of the Biblical Text By Todd Bolen

The Persian conquest of Jerusalem (614 CE) – An Archaeological Assessment By Gideon Avni

Tagged Jerusalem

Prison on Ruins of Herod’s Palace Opened Briefly

Those in Jerusalem this month have a rare opportunity to visit the Kishle prison inside Jerusalem’s Old City. For two thousand years, this site atop Jerusalem’s Western Hill has served the city’s rulers as a fortress and police station. King Herod’s palace was constructed on the site and guarded by three towers. After the Romans destroyed the palace, the Tenth Roman Legion placed their encampment on the site. The Ottoman rulers constructed the present prison in the 1800s, and the British occupiers continued its use. From 1948 to 1967 the Jordanians used the site as a police station, and the Israelis have followed suit. According to the AP article, the jail has never been open to visitors.

An old Turkish prison in Jerusalem is briefly opening to the public this weekend, allowing visitors a rare glimpse inside an infamous local landmark.
[…]
Israeli archaeologists dug underneath the Kishle a decade ago and found important remains dating back nearly three millennia, including walls built by King Herod and medieval facilities for dyeing fabric.
“On this tiny spot we have the whole story of Jerusalem, from the Judean kings to the British mandate,” said Amit Re’em, the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist who excavated the Kishle.
The prison sits next to the Tower of David, an ancient fortress on the western flank of Jerusalem’s Old City. The tower complex, used as a stronghold and palace by Herod, early Muslim rulers, Crusaders and the Jordanian army, among others, is now a museum dedicated to Jerusalem’s history.

The full story is here.

If I was in Jerusalem this month, I’d get a group together and hire an expert like Gabriel Barkay or Shimon Gibson to give an archaeological tour.

HT: The Bible and Interpretation

Kishle police station from north

Tagged Jerusalem, Opportunities, Tourism

Weekend Roundup #2

The outgoing chairman of UNESCO’s Israel World Heritage Committee discusses the value and potential problems of adding historic sites to the World Heritage list. The Jerusalem Post has updated their article on the Miriam-Yeshua-Caiaphas ossuary with a 2.5 minute video, including an interview with the archaeologist. They expect to put the ossuary on display in a museum in the near future. Hundreds of decorated blocks were found recently at Tanis, Egypt, the site where Indiana Jones found the ark of the covenant. After five years of restoration work, the 1.6-mile (2.7-km) long Avenue of the Sphinxes connecting the Luxor Temple with the Karnak Temple will be opened in October. In his May/June edition of the Archaeology in Israel Update, Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg reviews the excavations of 10th century “Bethsaida,” the 70th anniversary of the Hebrew University Museum, the discovery of a Byzantine building in Acco, a salvage excavation at the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the arrest of an American professor for selling antiquities in Israel. Eisenbrauns has posted notice of publication of Unearthing Jerusalem: 150 Years of Archaeological Research in the Holy City. Edited by Gideon Avni and Katharina Galor. 520 pages! Due out in November. Also listed but without an expected publication date is a new work by Eilat Mazar, Discovering the Solomonic Wall in Jerusalem. Like most of this archaeologist’s books on Jerusalem, it is self-published. The IAA continues to post back issues of ‘Atiqot online. The winery of Psagot north of Jerusalem stores its barrels in a cave used for wine-making in the first century. Ray Vander Laan has a new website featuring clips from his most recent Faith Lessons videos.

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup #1

The Tel Burna Excavation has a season wrap-up, noting discoveries especially from the 13th, 8th, and 7th centuries. The previous post features many photos. Robert Cargill explains what the “Miriam, Daughter of Yeshua, Son of Caiaphas” inscription means as well as what it does not mean. The first piece of oil shale was extracted this week from a drilling site in the Elah Valley. The site of David’s victory over Goliath could become the place where Israel achieves oil independence. Wayne Stiles explains the pagan and biblical significance of Caesarea Philippi. Danny Herman leads viewers on a video tour of the Hasmonean channel in the Western Wall Tunnels. “Google Earth, circa 1570” is an article at Haaretz about the reprint of a 16th century book with 363 colored historical maps. ASOR has a roundup of news throughout the world of archaeology. If there’s not enough there to satisfy you, see also the lengthy list published last week. The Biblical Archaeology Society can tell you what’s brand new and most popular this week. Tomorrow we’ll have links to more stories from this past week.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Proposal: Cable Car to Dung Gate

From the Jerusalem Post:

A special Knesset session of the Jerusalem Lobby on Wednesday was dedicated to exploring the feasibility of a cable car leading to the Old City, which supporters claim will improve accessibility for tourists with disabilities and reduce traffic. “I remember the cable car on Mount Zion during the War of Independence,” Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said at the opening of the session. “There are things that seem impossible – like a cable car passing over us – because they require more effort on behalf of future generations.” Rivlin added that the traffic from the 150,000 tourists per month in the Old City creates “unbearable crowding” that also stops Jerusalemites from moving freely around their city. Rivlin proposed an economic feasibility study to examine the cost of such an initiative in greater detail. According to a plan from the Transportation Ministry, a cable car could carry up to 4,000 passengers an hour, eliminating the need for some of the 3,000 buses that drive in and around the Old City each month. The plan also stipulated that the cable car would be environmentally friendly and would not harm the view or surroundings of the historic area. The cable car would stretch across the Kidron Valley, from the building that houses the Government Printing Office on Rehov Miriam Hashmonaite, to the Dung Gate. The 1,030-meter-long ride would take approximately 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

The full story is here. I perceive a few obstacles and I wouldn’t rush to buy stock in the company just yet. As best as I can determine, the cable car would begin near the old train station (Miriam HaHashmonait is on its south end and intersects with Hebron Road). In that case, the cable car does not pass over the Kidron Valley at all, but travelers would cross over the Hinnom Valley. A more impressive route would be several hundred meters above the Old City. Possible cable car route over Hinnom Valley; screenshot from Google Earth

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism