Discoveries from the current season of excavations at Ramat Rahel are featured in this Jerusalem Post article. The most interesting paragraphs are these:

A highly sophisticated ancient water system dating back to the end of the Kingdom of Judah in the Seventh Century BCE….

The water system, cut deep into the rock foundation, includes large underground water reservoirs, five open pools, small canals that transported water between the pools and three underground canals. The system continued to be functional, although with some alterations, during the Persian Era, the return to Zion after the destruction of the First Temple, the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BCE and through the Hellenistic Era in the Third Century BCE.

Along with 18 Jewish ritual baths from the Hellenistic Period, the archeologists uncovered a bathhouse and villa, and a large Byzantine village with a church, monastery, rooms and halls.

I suspect that the journalist got the date of the ritual baths mixed up; they are almost always from the late Hasmonean or Herodian period. About a dozen were known at the site before the present excavations, dated to the Herodian period. For more about previous excavations at the site, see the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review for an article by Gabriel Barkay.

If you’re in town at the beginning of August, this looks like fun. Not cheap, but fun…

Rediscover Ancient Jerusalem

The City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies
Everything you wanted to know about Ancient Jerusalem in one thrilling and up-to date course.

Learn about the most recent discoveries from the experts:
Have we found King David’s Palace?
What did Canaanite Jerusalem really look like?
How did the ancients achieve the engineering wonder of Hezekiah’s tunnel?

The Siloam Pool of the Second Temple Era.
The Hasmonean aqueduct in Armon Hantziv.
Mount of Olives archeological experience- Sift Temple Mount remains with your own hands!

And much more…

Participating Scholars:
Prof. Roni Reich, University of Haifa – Dr. Gabi Barkai, Bar Ilan University – Prof. Joshua Schwartz, Bar Ilan Univarsity – Dr. Eyal Meiron, Hebrew University – Dr. Dan Bahat, Bar Ilan University – Aryeh Rottenberg – Ahron Horowitz – and others.

Where and When:
The course runs from Sunday July 30th 2006 – Wednesday August 2nd 2006. Every day begins with a lecture at the Menachem Begin Center (9.00) followed by light refreshments and a daily tour. Includes a box lunch (dairy), all transportation, and return to the Begin Center at the end of the day (approximately 16.00). The lectures and tours will be conducted in English. Price: 1200 nis, 2000 for couples.

For information and enrollment please contact Ruchama at 054-805-7315, www.cityofdavid.org.il or via email: [email protected]

I can save you some money if you’re just looking for the answers for the three questions above.

1) We don’t know;

2) We don’t know;

3) We don’t know.

 Of course it’s more fun to talk about it for an hour, even if the answer is the same.

Readers of this blog know that we’ve followed the transfer of the Jerusalem model from the Holyland Hotel to the Israel Museum (for example, see here and here). The model is now essentially complete and scheduled to be open in two weeks. We, however, got a sneak peak.

There are various alterations to the model (e.g., valleys added, hippodrome removed), but the biggest change that will affect tourists is the two pathways around the model. One is low and close to the model; the other is more distant and elevated. This should work better for crowd control and photography.

The “Holyland Hotel model” of Jerusalem is close to opening at its new location at the Israel Musuem, according to the JPost. Three items not mentioned in previous news releases:

1. Entrance to the model will be included with payment for entrance to the museum. That’s not ideal for student groups who need to go to the model at the beginning of their program and to the museum at the end.

2. The Holyland Hotel gave the model to the museum.

3. The model will open on June 12. That’s a week or two too late for the hoards of tourists here now. Are there any evangelicals from Texas not in Israel this month??

I was at the Israel Museum a few days ago and construction is moving ahead on the installation of the “Holyland Hotel” model of Jerusalem. It looked like there were 30-50 workers on site and most of the model seems to be in place. Construction continues on the walkway around the model, which is elevated and affords a better view than the previous location. The museum says that the model will be open in May and I think they won’t be far behind that estimate.

You might want to skip the museum itself, if you’re interested in finds related to the New Testament. That section is greatly lacking with many of the finds now in Cleveland (pdf file) for a special exhibit. Among the missing are the Temple Scroll, the ossuary of Caiaphas, the trumpeting stone, the Temple inscription forbidding entry to Gentiles and the Pilate inscription. Too bad they can’t put the James Ossuary (forgery or not) on display in one of the empty cases.

Plans are afoot to dramatically change the museum’s layout. $50 million will move the main entrance to the display wings and create an enclosed route of passage to it. I admit that I’ve always been baffled by the two “entrances” to the museum, at either end of the campus (both with security guards to check your bags).