An interesting discovery was made in the southwestern area of Israel on the edge of the Nahal Besor not far from the Gaza Strip. Qubur el-Walaydah has the remains of a early Iron Age Philistine farming village. Beneath it, excavators from Ben Gurion University discovered a large, well-preserved Egyptian settlement from the Late Bronze Age. The article refers to what they found as an “Egyptian residence,” suggesting that it is similar to other such buildings found at Aphek and Beth Shean. For more, see the Jerusalem Post.
Excavations were resumed in June on Mount Zion after a long hiatus (since 2000). The “Mount Zion Archaeological Expedition is directed by Shimon Gibson and James Tabor and looks very promising.
After only five days of fieldwork this summer, they report the discovery of:
- Well-preserved houses from the 1st century A.D.
- Clear abandonment of the area during the Late Roman period (c.70-330 A.D.)
- Preservation of the area during construction of the Nea Church (c. 530 A.D.)
You can read a 5-page report about the site and excavation (pdf, via Dr. Jim West). Two seasons are planned for 2008 and it sounds like they will accept students as volunteers. There are not many excavations in Jerusalem that are open to volunteers, so you might want to see what you can do to get in on this one. I can personally testify that working in an excavation with Shimon Gibson is interesting and rewarding.
Mount Zion from southeast
- Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem
This is probably your last chance to get the best posters of biblical sites in the Holy Lan
d that I know of. Each poster in the set of 8 has 16-20 spectacular photographs by Richard Cleave. BibleLandPosters.com has the “last in existence” for $72 including shipping. I have my own photos, but you can’t print them this cheap, so I bought the poster set and recommend it to others. If you don’t want to plaster your house with these, they could be ideal for a church or school classroom or hallway. Before you order, you can see exactly what you’re getting.
- Tagged Resources
A couple of Jerusalem archaeologists have audio interviews/conference calls online. A 34-minute conference call with Gabriel Barkay is at www.onejerusalem.org. Eilat Mazar is interviewed by Arutz-7 (direct link here; doesn’t seem to work in Firefox; 15 min. long).
On another subject, Ehud Netzer talks about his discovery of Herod’s tomb here (audio version here).
- Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount
Haaretz reports:
A 70-meter-long segment of Jerusalem’s central drain dating from the Second Temple period was discovered Sunday by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The segment is located between the Temple Mount and the Pool of Siloam. It apparently was part of a long drain that spanned from the Western Wall to the Kidron River, near the Dead Sea.
The drain stretched underneath the Old City’s main street, and cleared rainwater from the areas now known as the Jewish Quarter and the western section of City of David, as well as the Temple Mount, before the city’s destruction at the hands of the Romans in 70 C.E.
The excavation, conducted by the Antiquities Authority in conjunction with City of David Foundation, also found shards and coins from the period. The drain is made of massive slabs of stone, and is about three meters high and one meter wide.
The archeologists professors Roni Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukrun from the Antiquities Authority, who are in charge of the excavation, say that the land that accumulated during 2000 years of landslides required them to dig 10 meters deep in order to reach ancient Jerusalem’s main street.
“According to Josephus, the historian who recorded the siege, occupation and destruction of Jerusalem, people found refuge in the drain until they managed to escape through the city’s southern gate,” they said.
The northern segment of the drain, which is yet to be dug up, is believed to reach the Western Wall area, where another major drain was previously found. The archeologists assume that they are both part of the same drain.
Drains have been found in Jerusalem before, including other segments of this same drain. But if the word “drain” doesn’t excite you, it may be because you missed the size of what they found. The drain they uncovered was 70 meters (220 ft) long, 3 meters (10 ft) high and 1 meter (3 ft) wide.
The article doesn’t state exactly where the drain is located, but Reich and Shukrun have excavated in two areas in recent years that are possibilities. I think location B, depicted on the aerial photo, is more likely. Earlier excavations and photos of this area were included in the February issue of the BiblePlaces Newsletter (not online, but see Leen Ritmeyer’s blog for a photo from it).
UPDATE: The AP article includes a photograph of the channel (HT: Joseph Lauer). Very impressive. The masonry on that drain is better than the masonry of most people’s houses in Jerusalem today.
UPDATE (9/10): Some of the artifacts found in the excavation are displayed in this photograph.
UPDATE (9/11): The Israel Antiquities Authority has issued a press release.
- Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem
I read this story yesterday in the Washington Times and ignored it, because I thought it was in error.
I’ve since seen it mentioned in blogs online as if the story was credible. Jay Bushinsky of the Washington Times begins his report:
An ancient inscription memorializing Jerusalem’s salvation from Assyrian invaders 2,700 years ago is to be returned to the Holy Land from Turkey for study and public display. Israel has been trying for about 20 years to recover the artifact, which marks one of the most important turning points in Hebrew history.
I think this story is bogus for the following reasons:
1. No one else is reporting this. I hardly think that the Washington Times knows something that no one else does. You can check online news sources easily by searching for “Siloam Inscription” at Google News (here is that link).
2. A story like this would be broken by the Israel Museum or a major government agency, and not only are they not mentioning it, the WT story does not cite them. The story is long, but the length is deceptive as only the first sentence mentions the return.
3. About a month ago, various news outlets reported some discussion of the matter. The essence of the story was that a Turkish official agreed to consider some sort of loan. In the Middle East, such “consideration” is a far cry from a decision. And a decision is very different than action. In other words, this isn’t “news” until the inscription is sitting in Jerusalem.
What I think happened is that this reporter read some of those stories too quickly and wrote an article based on a misunderstanding.
By the way, if you want to take a picture of the inscription, don’t wait until it comes to Jerusalem.
The Israeli authorities won’t allow it, I’m certain. You’ll do better to go visit it in Istanbul, where you can take pictures. Which is far better anyway, because there are so many great artifacts on display that won’t be coming to Jerusalem on loan. There would be a certain irony as well if the Siloam Inscription came to Jerusalem the next couple of years, as hundreds of the best archaeological finds in Israel are locked up out of sight of visitors.
- Tagged Analysis, New Exhibits
