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Beth Shean, Then and Now

Many students have commented to me at the end of a semester that the most impressive site in Israel is Beth Shean. They are referring to the prominent Roman and Byzantine remains of the lower city that have been excavated and reconstructed in the last 20 years.

If you had visited before that time, the tell was striking, but there was little evidence that a glorious city was buried in the dirt. I’ve heard, but not seen in a photograph, that there was a lone column sticking out of the ground prior to excavations.

The natives visible in the photo below certainly don’t have any idea of what lies beneath their feet.

Then again, that’s probably true for hundreds of cities around the world today.

Beth Shean from the south. Date of photograph: 1920-1933

Beth Shean from the south

There is another impressive photo comparison of Beth Shean mid-way down this page at www.lifeintheholyland.com.

The top photograph is one of 600 high-resolution images in the new Northern Palestine CD, volume 1 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Photo: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-02786.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Then and Now

Virtual Walking Tour of Temple Mount

Some months ago I learned about a new Virtual Walking Tour of al-Haram al-Sharif (the Temple Mount), but being short of time, I filed it for later. Today seems to be a slow news day and so I started it up and enjoyed the tour. It is excellent.

Created by Saudi Aramco World, the tour focuses on the present Muslim structures at the site, but it does not deny the previous existence of the two Jewish temples.

The tour begins with a five-minute narrated introduction (which you can skip) and then includes 32 360-degree panoramic views, each of which is explained both by an audio recording and a written transcript.

The visitor starts with two views of the Temple Mount from the east and west before surveying the grounds of the complex with approximately 18 more scenes. A particularly unique image is #25, taken atop Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Tourists to Israel today can see most of these views if they visit during the open hours of the Temple Mount (approximately Sun-Thurs, 7:30-10:00 am, 12:30-1:30 pm), but since 2000 the holy buildings have been closed to non-Muslims. Thus the images inside the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque will be especially appreciated by those who have been denied entrance.

A couple of practical comments: 1) You can turn the audio off and read the text; 2) the full-screen view is very high quality, but may be slow on your internet connection; 3) to get “inside” the Dome of the Rock, select #8 and new options will become available; 4) to get “inside” Al-Aqsa Mosque, select #26.

The creators did a fantastic job with this. The photography is superb, the narration is helpful, and the location is one of the most religiously (and politically) important in the world.

Dome of the Rock from southwest

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Drawing Israel’s Borders

The Jerusalem Post has an interesting article on the modern map of Israel and the man in charge.

Most Israelis and Jordanians are probably unaware that the border between their countries isn’t really fixed. The boundary runs directly through the center of the Jordan River, but should the river naturally change its course, so too will the border. It is one of many secrets held by Dr. Haim Srebro, director-general of the Survey of Israel center. For decades, Srebro has been working to give the State of Israel its final borders. When the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan were signed, Srebro and his Arab counterparts worked behind the scenes, away from the limelight and photo-ops of leaders shaking hands, to draw up some of the Middle East’s best-known frontiers. "The Jordan River is constantly changing. If it alters its route naturally, according to our agreement with the Jordanians, we recognize the change. But if the river is redirected artificially and suddenly, the border remains fixed," he said this week, speaking from his spacious office at the Survey of Israel’s Tel Aviv headquarters…. Jordan is now working to develop a $27 million complex in Aqaba, complete with hotels and lagoons, funded largely by investment from the Gulf states. The proximity of the development to the Israeli border means that Srebro and Sagarat have had to be called in for advice. "The border fence isn’t actually on the border. It’s on Israel’s side, meaning that the Jordanians could have crossed into Israel without knowing it. That’s why they are now building a border fence on their side, too," Srebro explained. During the 1979 peace negotiations with Egypt, Srebro employed the cutting edge technique of using bridged straight aerial photographs (known as orthophotos) to draw up a new border between the countries following Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. "I told the Egyptians, we’ll do something together. Let’s set up a committee, so that you can check on us and we’ll check on you," Srebro recalled. At first, the Americans, who were brokering the talks, handed both sides an abstract map of the new proposed border, but Srebro said the map, which lacked any physical features, was useless. "For the first time in a peace treaty, aerial photographs were used to plan a border," he said. The Egyptians were so pleased with the result that they sent Srebro a statue of Nefertiti to thank him.

The complete article is here.

Tagged Egypt, Jordan, Technology

The Petra of Saudi Arabia

Madain Saleh is a beautiful Nabatean site that few know about because of restrictions from the Saudi Arabian government. The AP has a good article about it, and you can see some beautiful photos at Nabatea.net.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,'” and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.
That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.
But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.
The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret.
In the eyes of conservatives, the land where Islam was founded and the Prophet Muhammad was born must remain purely Muslim. Saudi Arabia bans public displays of crosses and churches, and whenever non-Islamic artifacts are excavated, the news must be kept low-key lest hard-liners destroy the finds.

The rest of the article is here.

HT: Agade via Joe Lauer

Tagged Tourism

Proto-Sinaitic Inscription Found at Timna

Stonewatch/Arad Academy e.V. has announced the discovery of a proto-Sinaitic inscription in Timna, Israel, about 20 miles north of Eilat. The press release, via ANE-2:

The engraving, measuring ca. 12 x 16 cm, was found by "Stonewatch / Arad Academy e.V.", an institution based in Germany, that has been conducting surveys of rock art in Timna and worldwide for many years (www.stonewatch.de). Dr. Stefan Jakob Wimmer, an Egyptologist and ANE epigraphist at the University of Munich – who is not related to Stonewatch – is studying the engraving and working on a scholarly publication. He has preliminarily suggested to identify the writing as Proto Sinaitic: "… The right oval shows signs that are identical with characters of the Proto-Sinaitic script, and can in my view quite easily be read as a West Semitic personal name. In the left oval several signs will need more consideration. Some features of the inscription are especially remarkable: The suggested personal name in the right oval ends with the sign of a seated man. The adoption of a personal determinative has to my knowledge not been observed in other PS inscriptions, but is easily conceivable and should by no means contradict the identification of the inscription as PS. The upper character in the left oval could in my view be a variant of the image of the sun with two uraei protruding on either side, reduced to the uraei, and may shed light on a roughly similar sign in the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions. It will have to be examined if the oblong frames were inspired by cartouches. As an alternative one might think of stylised footprints…. The constellation of Egyptians and Semites in the context of mining activities is attested at two places: Serabit el-Khadim/Sinai, where almost all PS inscriptions were found (with the only exception until now of Wadi el-Hol near Luxor), and Timna. … The importance of the discovery of this inscription – if indeed Proto-Sinaitic – is obviously considerable. It is hoped that its common ground with the inscriptions from Serabit el-Khadim, and also Wadi el-Hol, and even more its new, variant features, may substantially contribute to the study of the early alphabet." We can add that the location of the inscription (which will not be disclosed until the necessary measures to protect the engraving from vandalism have been taken) corroborates a connection with the Egyptian copper mining activities at Timna. It is not, however, in close vicinity to the Hathor sanctuary. The possibility of a modern "hoax" can safely be excluded due to clear signs of erosion and the identical colour (patina) of the grooves with the stone surface. For more rock art from Timna including what may be other examples of yet undiciphered inscriptions, go to our free downloads:
http://stonewatch.de/free_downloads/special_cds/index.html (Catalogue of Rock Art in Southern Israel Timna Valley) Josef Otto
Stonewatch / Arad Academy e.V.
www.stonewatch.de

A photograph is available at http://www.stonewatch.de/Daten/Timna-1.jpg

Tagged Discoveries

Capernaum Synagogue, Then and Now

Today visitors to Capernaum are impressed by the white limestone remains of an ancient synagogue.

Archaeological excavations indicate that this synagogue was built over the remains of an earlier synagogue dating from the time of Jesus. Thus we can say with some measure of confidence that this is the place where Jesus healed the demon-possessed man (Mark 1:21-28) and preached the sermon on the bread of life (John 6:25-59).

Capernaum synagogue, view from Peter’s house, present day

Visitors may not be aware that the synagogue did not survive in this condition since ancient times.

The photograph below shows what the synagogue looked like in the early 1900s. The staircase in the foreground of the photo below is on the far right (middle) of the photo above.

Capernaum synagogue, early 1900s

The second photograph is one of 600 high-resolution images in the new Northern Palestine CD, volume 1 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Photo: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-10654.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Galilee, Then and Now