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Catholic Conflicts: Electric Poles and Holy Sites

The Caspari Center Media Review reports on a couple of items in the Israeli press of interest to this blog. The first is from an article in Haaretz on October 17.

The Catholic Church in Israel launched a petition demanding the removal of an electricity pole that was put up two years ago across from the Garden of Gethsemane, which is “one of the holiest [sites] to Christians – the place where tradition says Jesus and his disciples prayed together before Jesus was arrested by the Romans and crucified the next day.” The pole was put up at the request of Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem “who have asked to be disconnected from the Jerusalem District Electricity Corporation, which supplies electricity to Arab neighborhoods on the city’s east side.”
The Catholic custodian of the Garden of Gethsemane wrote in his petition that “the huge pylon obstructs the view of the Old City from the prayer garden of the church used by pilgrims. … One of the significant reasons for the popularity of the church is the unique view of the Temple Mount and the Old City, and the pylon utterly destroys this uniqueness.”
The judge presiding over this case criticized the placement of the pole, saying that “it was a beautiful corner of Jerusalem and in addition a holy place.” He later added, off the record, that the Israel Electric Corporation “would not have done it in the Kotel [Western Wall] plaza.” By the end of the hearing, “the two sides agreed to transfer the matter to the appeals committee of the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee.”

I do not have a photo of the pole, but if any of our readers do, you’re welcome to send it in and we’ll post it here.

UPDATE: See photo below.

The second is from HaModia and HaMevaser.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be traveling to Rome next week to meet with the pope; they will discuss, among other things, the transfer of certain holy sites to the custody of the Catholic Church. “It turns out,” says HaModia, “that the new pope has set a public declaration of the transfer as a condition for his promised visit to the land.” One of the sites in question is David’s Tomb, “which the Catholics have claimed as their own for hundreds of years.”
HaMevaser reports that Rabbi Haim Miller has appealed to Knesset Members in an effort to stop the deal from going through. Miller claims that it is better for the pope not to visit Israel than that the tomb be handed over to the Catholic Church, even if this causes a rift between the Vatican and Israel.

The full Caspari Center Media Review is here.

David's Tomb and Upper Room on Mount Zion, mat14676

David’s Tomb and the Upper Room on Mount Zion
Photo from Jerusalem

UPDATE: A.D. Riddle has sent along a photo that shows the electrical pole. On the right side of the photo, there’s a purple bush with the pole to the left.

Church of All Nations and Garden of Gethsemane

UPDATE #2: Pat McCarthy notes that Haaretz has posted two photos of the pole.

UPDATE #3: Paul Mitchell points to Google Images which has a link to this image in an article dated to last year in the Jerusalem Post.

UPDATE #4: Shawn French has sent a photo of an old electric pole that tarnishes the view from Gethsemane.

View from Gethsemane towards Temple Mount, 2008
Photo by Shawn French

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism

New Book: Everyday Life in Bible Times

John A. Beck has just published a new book that will be of interest to many readers here. The Baker Illustrated Guide to Everyday Life in Bible Times is an attractive, full-color guide to the culture and customs of the ancient world. Beck is familiar to readers here as one of the authors of the popular A Visual Guide to Bible Events and A Visual Guide to Gospel Events.

The book is comprised of about 100 articles, each three pages long. Every subject is carefully illustrated, and it is difficult to find a page without a photo (or two or three).

The book covers a wide range of subjects such as sacred days, family relationships, agriculture, warfare, clothing, and food. Specific articles include:

Anoint
Clap Hands
Crucify
Engrave
Kiss
Land On Hands
Naked
Run
Shave
Thresh
Widow

I made note of a few items that may be new to readers here:

“We can safely say that no activity was more ordinary in Bible times than the baking of bread.”
“The belt of our Western world is very different in appearance and function from the belt of the ancient world.”
The clapping of hands sends one of four messages in the ancient world: “(1) to mark a time of joy-filled celebration, (2) to mock or scoff at someone’s misfortune, (3) to express grief or anger, or (4) to play a part in a magical incantation.”
The Gadites are noted for their military greatness in part because of their ability to cross the Jordan during flood season (1 Chr 12:14-15).
There is one positive use of the word “drunk” in the Bible (Deut 32:42).
There are four categories of kissing in the ancient world: (1) the greeting kiss, (2) the departure kiss, (3) the kiss of respect, and (4) the erotic kiss. Beck gives biblical examples for each one and mentions three other types of kisses mentioned in Scripture: the deceptive kiss, the holy kiss, and the figurative kiss.
“Jews of the first century carried a combined tax burden that was near or slightly exceeded 50 percent of their income.”

In every article I read, I learned something new. Though written for a popular audience, the book includes footnotes that point to the source of the information or related good resources.

The book is also available on Kindle, but I would guess that it’s not as attractive as it is in print format.

On a related subject, if you’re looking for a collection of photos of Cultural Images of the Holy Land, we know of a good one.

Tagged Resources

Weekend Roundup

Yitzhak Sapir claims that Matthew Kalman has misrepresented the verdict regarding the ownership of Oded Golan’s artifacts. Kalman has responded briefly.

A report from this season’s excavations of the Roman camp of Legio near Megiddo is now online.

Wayne Stiles provides a perspective, with photos and video, from atop the walls of Jerusalem.

The lecture schedule for the Bible and Archaeology Fest is now online. There are many interesting topics planned.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is now offering a masters of arts in biblical archaeology in partnership with Mississippi State University.

Haaretz reports on students excavating in the port of Dor as part of a new English MA in Maritime
Civilizations at Haifa University.

An article at The Christian Science Monitor about Khirbet Qeiyafa is more interesting for its profile of Israel Finkelstein.

Barry Britnell suggests a number of opportunities to learn.

Britnell also links to a beautiful video on the Sky Above Jerusalem.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

The ancient harbor of Dor
Photo from Samaria and the Center

Tagged Forgery, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Lectures, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Oded Golan

The forgery case against Oded Golan has been concluded with the court’s rejection of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s claim of ownership of the Jehoash Inscription. Matthew Kalman has covered the case for nearly a decade and he reports on the 2-1 decision by an appeal panel of Israel’s Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruling caps a crushing defeat for the Israel Antiquities Authority following the sweeping 2012 acquittal of Golan and dealer Robert Deutsch on multiple charges of archaeological forgery. Israeli prosecutors advised by the Israel Antiquities Authority had argued that even though they continue to believe the inscription is a modern forgery, the reverse of the stone had been “dressed” in ancient times and was therefore classified as an antiquity that should belong to the state. But those arguments were rejected by the majority decision of the court. Oded Golan is now poised to reclaim both the tablet and the more famous item, the James ossuary, along with dozens of pieces confiscated by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israeli police at the time of his arrest in 2003. Golan greeted the decision as “good news.” He says he plans to put both the ossuary and the tablet on public display. The latest about-turn could be the final twist in a nail-biting finale to the decade-long pursuit of Golan. However, a sternly-worded ruling by the same court in September suggests that the battle over the future of the antiquities trade is just beginning. In an 8,000-word ruling handed down on September 29, a panel of three Supreme Court Justices rejected Golan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence on three minor charges and used the opportunity to declare war on the antiquities market. Branding the trade in antiquities “damaging” and motivated by “avarice,” the ruling authored by Supreme Court Justice Daphne Barak-Erez depicts “a world of collectors exchanging treasures teeming with trembling hands and heart – often within the law, and sometimes without,” and notes with approval that “in most countries of the world there is a general ban on the trade in antiquities, because of their recognition as a national resource.” She further observed, that this "conception also serves as the basis for the antiquities law” in Israel.

The full story is at The Bible and Interpretation and includes Golan’s response to the court’s broadside on the antiquities market. Since I believe that the tablet is likely authentic, I am happy to hear that Golan plans to put the artifact on public display.

Tagged Forgery

Picture of the Week: Kedesh in Galilee

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

For the next few posts of our “Picture of the Week” series, we will be working our way back through the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and focusing on obscure sites included in the collection. One of the great things about the PLBL is that it includes places that you would never typically go when you visit the lands of the Bible. Even if you spent a semester or a whole year in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, or one of the other countries covered in the collection, you would probably not visit every site that Todd Bolen and his team of photographers have assembled in the PLBL. So this little sub-series can be called “Obscure Sites in the PLBL.” Or perhaps, “What You Missed on Your Trip to the Holy Land.”

Our first stop is the ancient city of “Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali” (Josh. 20:7). This site is located just west of the Huleh Basin, in the region north of the Sea of Galilee. Below is a section of a map provided in Volume 1 of the PLBL which shows the location of Kedesh.

Tel Kedesh itself can be seen image below, covered with spring wildflowers. In the Old Testament period, this was one of the places designated a “city of refuge” where someone could escape from an avenger if they had accidentally killed someone (Josh. 20:1-9). There were six cities of refuge scattered throughout the Israelite territory and Kedesh was the one that was farthest to the north.

Kedesh also shows up in Judges 4. This was the where Barak lived, and it is where the Israelite army assembled before they marched out to war under the leadership of Deborah and Barak. At the time, the king of Hazor was oppressing the Israelites. Hazor is only about 8 miles southeast of Kedesh, and in the image above the camera is looking in that direction.

Lastly, Kedesh is mentioned in 2 Kings 15:29 where it was conquered by Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, along with many other cities in the region. However, the site continued to be occupied for many centuries after that. In the Roman period a temple was built here, and if you visit the site today you can see part of one wall still standing. Several pictures of the Roman temple at Kedesh are available in Volume 1 of the PLBL.

This image and over 1,100 others (along with the map) are included in Volume 1 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and is available here for $39 with free shipping. Additional photographs taken in this region can be seen here, here, and here on BiblePlaces.com. Historic images of this region can be seen here, here, and here on LifeintheHolyLand.com.

Update: Another suggested location for the Kedesh of Barak is Kh. el-Kidish, southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Both of these sites were within the territory of Naphtali.

Tagged Obscure Sites, Picture of the Week

Archaeology for the Kids

The Jerusalem Post reports on an excavation near the coast south of Haifa where thousands of teenagers are taught the value of archaeology each year.

The Tel Esur dig is the largest communal excavation in the country, [Dr. Shay] Bar said. “It’s a project of the community, for the community, for the education of the children of this community,” Bar said last week at the dig’s makeshift headquarters. He said that different skills involved in archaeology – from the meticulous digging required to unearth artifacts to careful record keeping – allow the teenagers to discover their talents. “Here they open like a flower,” he said. “They are flourishing.” On a typical day in Tel Esur, 150 children from four different schools work at different areas at the dig site, supervised by 20 staff members, volunteers and the students’ teachers. The teenagers don’t necessarily mix with students from other schools, in order to simplify the logistics, Bar said. Still, students from Arab and Jewish schools “can work five meters from each other” on a common project under the supervision of researchers from a variety of backgrounds, he said. At points throughout the day, students take a break from digging to hear short educational lessons about archaeology. Instead of discussions about who recently owned the land, the archaeologists attempt to instill an appreciation for the craft of the research. “They have to understand the value of history before they understand the relationship to different ethnicities that existed here,” said Netanel Petrushka, one of the archaeologists.

The full story is here.

Tagged Excavations, Israel's Coast