Jerusalem Archives - Page 177 of 197

King David’s Water Tunnel in Jerusalem

Last week Eilat Mazar announced that she had discovered a water channel connected to the building she has identified as the palace of King David. Based on the tunnel’s date, location, and characteristics, she believes that she has identified “with high probability” the shaft used by David’s men to conquer Jerusalem. You may recall the story:

On that day, David said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the tsinnor to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies” (2 Samuel 5:8).

The Hebrew word tsinnor is usually translated “water shaft.” For many years, this shaft was identified with a 40 foot (13 m) vertical shaft near the Gihon Spring. More recent excavations have suggested that this shaft was not accessible during the time of David.

The story gets the press-release-rehash in the Jerusalem Post and Arutz-7. The Trumpet, because of its close relationship with Mazar, has two photos. Haaretz apparently wrote their story before the press release and has some strange information about the water system:

But Mazar believes the water system served to purify David’s warriors, first among them his chief of staff, Joab, after the city had already been conquered.

She says that purification was necessary because the Bible states they had to fight against the “blind and the lame,” and in so doing would have become impure. She notes the use in the relevant verse of the Hebrew root naga (touch) in relation to the “gutter,” a word usually involving matters of purity.

Here are just a few thoughts (based on the articles, not the minimal information above):

It seems that this channel was discovered at the end of the last season of excavation, and much more work is required.

Both ends of the tunnel are currently blocked, so it is not clear where the tunnel begins or ends.

The tunnel runs north-south, that is, roughly from the area of “David’s palace” towards the Temple Mount, all within the city fortifications. This does not seem to fit the type of passageway that would be needed to conquer the city.

Oil lamps from the end of the First Temple period (c. 600 B.C.) were found, but it’s not clear how Mazar knows the tunnel was in use in the time of David. It’s usually easier to date the end of use of a water system than the beginning.

The attempt to also connect the tunnel with refugees fleeing from Jerusalem in the days of King Zedekiah seems stretched.

Both identifications of the tunnel to the Bible (David and Zedekiah) strike me as the sort of “biblical archaeology” that Bible believers like myself wish would go away. By that I mean, you find a tunnel and without knowing where it begins or where it ends, you assume that it must be the very one that is mentioned in a famous story in the Scriptures. How is it that such archaeologists, working in a very restricted area, always happen to find exactly what they are looking for?

The solution is not to refuse to make connections to the Bible, nor to deny that the Biblical record is historically accurate, but instead to carefully study all of the evidence, avoiding unwarranted and premature sensationalistic headlines. It goes both ways; more often it is scholars on the other side who use a scrap of evidence as complete and compelling proof that the biblical story is false. Abuses on one side do not justify abuses on the other.

Tagged Analysis, Discoveries, Jerusalem

Third Temple Preparations

The Jerusalem Post has a long, but very good, article on the preparations being made for the construction of the Third Temple by the Temple Institute. If I had an extra couple of hours, I’d enjoy commenting on various statements made. Since I don’t, I’ll simply refer you to the article, which begins:

For centuries Jews have remembered and mourned the destruction of the Temple through traditions such as crushing a glass at weddings or leaving unpainted a patch of wall opposite the entrance to one’s home – each stressing that nothing can be perfect or complete without the Temple.
Built by Solomon in about 950 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, the Temple was rebuilt about 70 years later but finally razed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Talmud scholar Rabbi Yohanan wrote: “During these times that the Temple is demolished, a person is not allowed to fill his mouth with laughter. This is because the verse [Psalms 126] says, ‘Then our mouths will be filled with laughter,’ and does not say ‘Now our mouths will be filled with laughter.’ And when is ‘then’? ‘Then’ will be when the Third Temple is rebuilt.”
In other words, “Jewish life without the Temple is like fish out of water,” says Rabbi Chaim Richman, head of the international department of the Temple Institute.
An author of 10 books on the Temple, Richman adds: “Do you realize that 202 commandments out of 613 must have the Temple to be fulfilled? Without the Temple, Judaism is a skeleton of what it’s supposed to be.”
To this end, the Temple Institute was founded in 1987 with the explicit goal of rebuilding the Temple. Located in the Jewish Quarter, some 100,000 visitors, about half of them Christian, visit the institute each year to learn about the First and Second Temples and preparations for the Third Temple.
The institute is presently involved in education, research and constructing vessels for use in the longed-for Temple.

You can read the full article here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Golden menorah, prepared for Third Temple. Estimated value: $3 million

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

Arutz-7 published several articles related to the Sukkot (Tabernacles) celebration in Israel, including a photo essay of Sukkot, an article and video on the priestly blessing, and an article and video of the public reading of the Torah that occurs every 7 years.

Eisenbrauns has a remarkable deal going until October 31: anyone can get any of their conference (SBL/ASOR) specials at conference prices! Not only does that save you a flight to Boston and conference fees, but if you’re going to Boston, it saves you from carrying an extra suitcase (which now results in a surcharge). There is some fine print, but it’s all very reasonable. The page probably of most interest to readers of this blog is the Carta page (this is the direct link in my browser, but no guarantees that it’ll work for you). Another work that may be significant in the present archaeological controversy over the 10th century is Literate Culture and Tenth-Century Canaan: The Tel Zayit Abecedary in Context, edited by Ron E. Tappy and P. Kyle McCarter Jr. That was just released on Thursday, includes a free DVD, and is available for only $26.

The Jerusalem Mosaic reports that a new park will be constructed at the Beit Zayit Reservoir. Many visitors to Jerusalem drive right by this (on the south side of Highway 1 before the last ascent to Jerusalem), but soon will have reason to stop for a picnic or a boat ride. In addition, a 35-mile (60-km) bike trail is being built to connect a series of parks in the Jerusalem area.

Publicized earlier this summer, but not noted here, is a fragment of Nehemiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Though small, this is the only known portion of this book from Qumran. You can see the fragment and read about it here.

Tagged Jerusalem

Autumn Nights in the Old City of Jerusalem

If you want to avoid the crowds and get a different glimpse of Jerusalem, there are some great opportunities in the Old City for the next two weeks. From the JPost:

After putting their heads together, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the municipal Tourism Authority, the Tourism Ministry and the municipal company Ariel came up with a brilliant move called Autumn Nights in the Old City. Successful beyond their wildest dreams, it consists of special (free) Monday and Thursday programs offered from the beginning of September until the end of October. Among the goodies are two light-hearted guided tours, evening performances of vastly diverse music programs and discounted museums kept open until evening.

The article has lots of details of the sites that are open and the costs. If you like to take photographs, I’d recommend the Ramparts Walk and the Tower of David.

Temple Mount and excavations from southwest

Tagged Jerusalem, Opportunities

“Son of the High Priest”: Sarcophagus Fragment Found

Arutz-7 reports:

Archaeologists excavating north of Jerusalem have found a piece of a sarcofagus – a stone coffin – belonging to a son of a High Priest. The visible inscription reads, “the son of the High Priest” – but the words before it are broken off. It thus cannot be ascertained which High Priest is referred to, nor the name or age of the deceased…
The precise location of the find is not being released, for security reasons.
The sarcophagus cover fragment – 60 centimeters (2 feet) long by 48 centimeters (19 inches) wide – is made of hard limestone, is meticulously fashioned, and bears a carved inscription in Hebrew letters that are both similar to today’s script and typical of the Second Temple period.
A number of High Priests served in the Temple in its final decades – it was destroyed in 70 C.E. – and there is no way of knowing which one is noted in the fragment. Among the known High Priests of the end of the Second Temple period were Caiaphas, Theophilus (Yedidiya) ben Chanan, Shimon ben Baitus, Chanan ben Chanan and others…
Other discoveries at the site include public and residential buildings, agricultural installations, pools and cisterns.

Tombs from the 1st centuries B.C. and A.D. are very common in Jerusalem. There was a large upper class that built lavish stone tombs, approximately 1,000 of which have been found.

The full story (and a tiny photo) is here.

UPDATE: The Israel Antiquities Authority press release includes a link to a zip file with three high-res photos, including one of the excavation site and two of the inscription.

HT: Joe Lauer

UPDATE (10/8): Haaretz has the story with some new details, and the Jerusalem Post has a 2-minute video about the excavation and discovery.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Recent News and Resources

I’ve been collecting items of interest over the past week:

Archaeologist Shimon Gibson claims that a concert near Jaffa Gate would damage antiquities (JPost).

A Christian organization in Colorado Springs is spending $2.3 million on a replica of the Western Wall, and a building to showcase it. 50 million tons of stone will be brought from Israel.

King Tut comes to Dallas on Friday.

The JPost Magazine has a profile of Eilat Mazar, currently excavating in the City of David. She says,
“I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other. The Bible is the most important historical source.”

The ESV Study Bible, which was mentioned before here, is due out in a couple of weeks and its visual components (maps, charts, drawings) gets further explanation in an interview with Justin Taylor.

Leen Ritmeyer, renowned for his architectural work on the Temple Mount, is now offering some of his excellent work in affordable PowerPoint files.

I’ve just added Ferrell Jenkins’ Travel Blog to the blogroll.

This is not new, but I do not remember really recognizing all that is here before, so perhaps you did not either. The Archaeological Study Bible website has many dozens of photos, charts and maps (medium-resolution) available for download. You can find your way around from here, or go directly to Introduction, Old Testament, New Testament, or Maps.

David Padfield has photos of a Roman army enactment performed at Jerash. There are 15 free PowerPoint-size images.

If you’re an image junkie, you’ll save time downloading images from the last two sites if you have a download manager. (I use Free Download Manager with FlashGot on Firefox)

Shana tova (happy new year)!

Tagged Jerusalem, New Exhibits, Resources