Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Poll: Half of Israelis Want Temple Rebuilt

I would not have predicted these results. I know that polls are sometimes skewed by the way the questions are asked, but it’s not clear to me what factors might have been involved here. In my experience, only a small percentage has any interest in the temple in Jerusalem. From Arutz-7:

Half the Israeli public wants the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) to be rebuilt. This is the main finding of a poll commissioned by the Knesset Television Channel and carried out by the Panels Institute. The poll was taken in advance of this Tuesday’s national day of mourning, known as Tisha B’Av, on which the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, respectively. Forty nine percent said they want the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, while 23% said they do not. The remainder said they were unsure. The public is about evenly split on whether they believe it will happen, with a slight edge – 42% to 39% – to those who believe the Third Holy Temple will be rebuilt. Should the State of Israel take active steps towards the reconstruction? Forty-eight percent said no, while 27% said yes.

The story continues here.

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Adullam: A City in No-Man’s Land

According to the book of 1 Samuel, David found an ideal hideout at Adullam where he gathered hundreds of men into a small militia. In his earlier days, David had served King Saul well, but the king’s growing jealousy of his popular warrior forced David to flee. For reasons that don’t seem to make sense, David thought he could find safety in the Philistine city of Gath. When his identity was discovered, his feigned madness allowed him to escape once more. Desiring safety from both the Israelite forces as well as the Philistine garrison, David found refuge at the ideal location of Adullam (1 Sam 22).

Aerial view to the east.
Adullam is the tree-covered hill in the center.

Adullam has been identified as Tell esh-Sheikh Madhkur, and its situation is ideal for one seeking to avoid the Israelites and the Philistines because it was effectively located in “no man’s land.” The Israelites controlled the hill country to the east, and the Philistines were in possession of the coastal plain to the west. That left the low rolling foothills known in the Bible as the Shephelah as the “middle ground.” It was in this region that the Israelite Samson had defeated the Philistines, and it was here where David’s slingstone sent the Philistines running. During the period of the late judges and early monarchy, the Shephelah was contested ground that neither party could consistently control.

Adullam is situated on the eastern edge of the Shephelah, well out of range of the Philistines and apparently in territory that the Israelites were reluctant to travel. This reality is borne out by the story in the next chapter, in which the Philistines are attacking Keilah (Khirbet Qila), a city about three miles (five km) south of Adullam. Saul was apparently unwilling to go to the city’s defense, and it was only his motivation to capture David that changed his mind (1 Sam 23). That Adullam was apparently safe from either side is suggested in the comment that David was joined by men in debt and distress.

The situation of Adullam today is remarkably similar to ancient political realities, though the sides have switched. Israelis hold the territory once controlled by the Philistines, whereas the Arab Palestinians live in the hill country of Judah. The Shephelah is mostly populated by Israeli cities and villages, but parts of the eastern Shephelah are on the other side of the “green line.” Adullam today sits immediately next to the large border fence that Israel has constructed to prevent unauthorized access by Palestinians. A few years before that fence was erected, a friend and his wife were hiking in the area and decided to camp the night on the hill of Adullam. My friend was crossing a portion of the site that evening when he was suddenly tackled in the darkness. An enforcement team from the Israel Antiquities Authority was monitoring the site because of recent illegal excavation activity. The site was attractive to thieves because of its easy access to and from the Palestinian territories.

Chalk trough with border fence view e from Adullam, tb021707853

View east from Adullam showing the border fence

Recently Adullam has been in the news because of oil exploration in the area. According to a citizen group fighting the project, the American company IDT has been given a license without public hearings of environmental assessments. The commercial activity was only discovered when a resident of nearby Moshav Aderet happened upon it while out for a walk. In some ways it is not surprising that the government would grant such permission and that the activity would be discovered by accident, given Adullam’s location. Its out-of-the-way location is just as attractive to oil drillers today as it was to David in antiquity.

Tagged Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

Excavations this week have uncovered some potentially dramatic new material at Khirbet Qeiyafa, reports Luke Chandler. We’ll have to wait for word from the authorities before we know what it is.

At Gath, on the other hand, they keep pulling out great stuff and telling everyone about it. On Thursday, they not only worked in the field until 8 pm (work usually ends by 2 pm), but Aren Maeir still took time late that evening to report on the discoveries. Arutz-7 also had a story this week on the excavations at Goliath’s hometown.

The Mystery of Bethsaida – if you are hoping that this op-ed at The Bible and Interpretation will deal with the substance of the objections to the identification of et-Tell as Bethsaida, you’ll be disappointed. Here’s one of the claims: “At Bethsaida in the 1996 season of excavation was uncovered a Roman temple.” Notley has pretty well demolished this idea, but since it’s the only thing they have, they keep repeating it (see The Sacred Bridge, pp. 356-59). Only the grammar gets worse.

The Magdala synagogue stone with the menorah inscription is now on display in the (not quite open) Israel Museum. There’s a photo here. Expect a lot of stories on the newly renovated museum in the next two weeks.

As a follow-up to last week’s notice on the pre-publication special on the two Talmuds for Logos, see this post that explains some of the advantage of this electronic edition.

Tagged Galilee, Resources, Shephelah

Archaeology and Hype

Is Holy Land Archaeology Being Hyped by Politics? The answer is yes, according to this article by Matthew Kalman. But if your major sources are Jim West and Meir Ben-Dov, this is an entirely predictable, but not necessarily accurate, conclusion.

Is archaeology hyped? Sometimes it is. But is the cause politics or something else? Does the problem lie with archaeologists or with someone else?

Everybody wants a sensational story. The public doesn’t want to read about a clay tablet, they want to hear about the oldest inscription ever found in Jerusalem. Journalists and their publishers want stories that sell. Archaeologists are typically tireless workers who often lack necessary funding and sometimes may stretch the significance of their discovery for personal or professional reasons. In my observation, archaeologists in Israel generally present their work in an appropriate way that doesn’t overstate the evidence. Sometimes the media spins things to boost pageviews, such as one headline on this story that makes this latest discovery the “oldest document found in Israel.” That’s not true, and it’s not what the archaeologists reported.

I have been concerned in the past with some claims. Usually I find fault because the sensational conclusion is announced prematurely. Eilat Mazar found the palace of David in her first season of excavations in the area. If this claim was made after five years of careful investigation and discussion with colleagues, I would be less inclined to view it as a fundraising device. Shimon Gibson announced his discovery of the “Cave of John the Baptist” at the same time that his book was released, but I don’t know of any archaeologists who find his evidence compelling. Rami Arav is very outspoken about his excavations at the New Testament city of Bethsaida, but his impressive finds are from an Iron Age city of the kingdom of Gesher, and there is very little that he has excavated which supports the Bethsaida identification.

Are there problems with archaeologists hyping archaeological discoveries? Yes. Are they systemic and primarily motivated by politics? I hardly think so.

Tagged Analysis

Rollston on Jerusalem Tablet

Christopher Rollston has written a brief analysis of the recent IEJ report on the Jerusalem cuneiform tablet fragment.

Strikingly, the authors conclude that “given the fact that the tablet is written on clay from the Jerusalem region and that its find site is close to what must have been the acropolis of Late Bronze Age Jerusalem, there is good reason to believe that the letter fragment does, in fact, come from a letter of a king of Jerusalem, mostly likely an archive copy of a letter from Jerusalem to Pharaoh” (emphasis mine). It is also contemplated that, for Jerusalem 1, the “Jerusalem King in question could be Abdi-Heba,” but the authors also state “but again perhaps not, since Jerusalem 1 does not include any specific feature that would tie it directly to El Amarna 285-290.” They then conclude that “in short, the ductus of our letter fragment would be appropriate for a finely written letter from a king of Jerusalem to the Egyptian court.” It is with the probability of these historical conclusions and Sitz im Leben that I wish respectfully to differ.

He then makes eight observations before concluding that the text “could be one of various things . . . e.g., an epistolary text, a legal text, an administrative text, a literary text.”

You can read the whole piece here.

HT: Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem

2010 Excavation Blogs

I’ve started a list of active blogs, and would be grateful to learn of any others that you know of.

Gath – this is the best excavation blog I know of, thanks to the tireless work of the archaeologist, Aren Maeir. This year they are excavating July 4-30, but that’s less important because Maeir updates the blog year-round.

Ashkelon – this is a primarily an educational blog written by one of the supervisors. Note that this is a new location (as of 7/13). The season began June 6 and wraps up on July 16.

Bethsaida – the 24th season ran from May 23 to June 26, and brief summaries and photos are posted.

Tel Burna – they had a very successful first season (June 20 – July 1) and I have hopes there will be periodic updates as they do analysis and prepare for next year’s dig.

Tall el-Hammam – the website provides season summaries, but there appears to be no blog updating readers during the winter excavation seasons (upcoming: December 10, 2010 to January 20, 2011).

Hazor – excavations are on-going now (June 20 – July 30), and the current diggers have a Facebook page where they can upload photos and videos. The official Tel Hazor Facebook page is rather limited, and I am unaware of any blogging about the excavations.

Hippos (Susita) – the website indicates that the 2010 season will run July 4-31. Mark Schuler has a blog for the Concordia University excavations of the Northeast Church. Other members of the team have blogs listed at virtualdig.org.

Tall Jalul – this year’s excavation has concluded, but Owen Chesnut will be adding updates periodically throughout the year. Though less well known, this site is one of the largest in Jordan.

Magdala – this relatively new dig plans to be in the field for an extended period over the next several years (ahead of construction). The blog seems to be on break, but you can follow along by Twitter @magdalaisrael.

Khirbet el-Maqatir – the two-week season ended June 6. The dig doesn’t have its own blog, but the organization sponsoring the dig does.

Dig Megiddo 2010 – this blog is frequently updated with reports from volunteers about their experiences as well as photos posted on Facebook by Eric Cline. The season this year runs from June 12 to July 29.

Khirbet Qeiyafa – the Elah Fortress website, with all of its photos and summaries, appears to have been deleted. The Hebrew U website is infrequently updated. The excavation season this year is June 20 to July 30. Blogger Luke Chandler is volunteering and may have some reports in the weeks to come.

Ramat Rahel – the website provides general details only. Excavations are slated for August 15-26.

Tel Rehov – this is another Israeli dig with (apparently) nothing more than a website. The season began on June 15 and ends on July 16.

Temple Mount Sifting Project – this blog provides periodic updates on related issues, but daily
finds are not reported.
In addition to the blogs and new sources (for major discoveries), a couple of radio programs are available online to keep you up to date with interviews with the archaeologists. These include the

The Book and the Spade (Gordon Govier) and LandMinds (Barnea Levi Selavan and Dovid Willner).

What should be added to this list? If you know of something that is regularly updated (blog, Facebook, or twitter), please post a comment or send me an email (address on sidebar). Thanks!

Excavations at Beth Shemesh, 1920s

This photo is from the Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-09121).

Tagged American Colony Photos, Excavations