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I just found this on Todd Bolen’s blog… a 360 degrees, virtual reality view of the inside of the Al-Aksa Mosque, Dome of the Rock and the underground Double Gate tunnel.
When you look at the Double Gate tunnel view, be sure to look up and see the beautifully decorated domes which still exist in their original form!
On Thursday, December 24, 2009 a conference will be held dealing with new studies on Jerusalem at the Ingeborg Rennert Center, Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, The Faculty of Jewish Studies at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel. The conference will be held in Hebrew, but the proceedings with English abstracts will be available at the conference. If you understand Hebrew and are lucky enough to be in Israel at that time, here is the programme:
8:20 gathering
8:45 opening remarks:
Prof. Joshua Schwartz, Director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies
Prof. Avraham Faust & Dr. Eyal Baruch, conference organizers
Session 1 – 9:00-10:55
Chair: Eyal Baruch
09:00 Ronny Reich & Eli Shukron- Channel II in the City of David, Jerusalem: Technical Details, Date and Function
09:20 Avraham Faust- King David’s Palace, a Hellenistic Structure or a Jebusite Fort: A Reexamination of the Large Stone Structure Unearthed by Eilat Mazar in the City of David
09:40 Moshe Garsiel- The Book of Samuel: Compilation Stages and Historical Value for Describing David’s Kingdom and His Capital in Jerusalem
10:05 Ehud Nezer- An opus reticulatum Structure, West of the Old City, Jerusalem
10:25 Ram Bouchnick, Omri Larnow, Guy Bar-Oz & Ronny Reich- Jerusalem Fish Menu from the Late Second Temple Period
10:45 Discussion
10:55 Break
Session 2 – 11:20-13:10
Chair: Joshua Schwartz
11:20 Michael Ben-Ari- Simchat Beit Sho’eva – The Origins of the Custom.
11:40 Varda Sussman- Shaving/paring of Herodian Oil Lamps
12:00 Ze’ev H. Erlich (Jabo) – What is the ‘Kotel ha-Katan?’
12:20 Amos Kloner- The Damascus Gate
12:40 Yoav Farhi & Oded Lifshitz- A Unique Bulla from the Ramat Rahel Excavations Bearing the Name of Hadrian
13:00 Discussion
13:10 Lunch Break
Session 3 – 14:20-16:30
Chair: Josef Drory
14:20 Yehoshua Peleg- Were the Temple Mount Gates Reconstructed in the Second Century CE?
14:40 Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig- A Roman Period Centaur Relief from the Temple Mount
15:00 Perez Reuven- A Decorated Beam from the Roman Period in the Temple Mount
15:20 Bat-Sheva Garsiel- The Status of Jerusalem in Early Islamic Theological Writings
15:40 Michael Ehrlich- The Southern Quarters of Jerusalem during the Medieval Period: A Multi-Periodical Overview
16:00 Oded Shay- The Contribution Made by the Jerusalem-based Monk Father Antonin, to Jewish Studies and to the Research of the Material Culture of Palestine in the Final Years of the Ottoman period
16:20 Discussion
16:30 Break
Session 4 – 17:00-18:30
Chair: Boaz Zissu
17:00 Amos Frumkin & Boaz Lengford- The Research of a Karstic Cave Used for Refuge in the Jerusalem Hills
17:20 Boaz Zissu & Roi Porat- A Hoard of Coins and Other Finds from the Bar-Kokhba Period, Recently Discovered in a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills
17:40 Guy Stiebel- “On the Edge” – Military Equipment from a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills
18:00 Hanan Eshel- New Discoveries from a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills, and their Contribution to the Study of the Bar-Kokhba War
18:20 Discussion
Source: Joe Lauer
In 1994 my archaeologist-wife Kathleen and I wrote an article in Biblical Archaeology Review (Nov/Dec 1994) called “Akeldama – Potter’s Field or Priestly Cemetery?” Akaldama is mentioned in the Bible as a burial place for strangers, bought with the money given to Judas to betray Jesus (Acts 1.19). Akeldama means Field of Blood, for Judas, while trying to hang himself, fell down and his body burst open.
We then suggested that a small, but beautifully decorated tomb in the area below St. Onuphrius Monastery might have belonged to Annas the High Priest, who condemned Jesus to death, for the Temple Mount could be viewed from this tomb and the architectural decoration of the tomb has been copied from the Temple Mount. There are other decorated tombs in this area. Instead of a burial place for strangers, this area was most likely the cemetery of priestly families.
Entrance to the Tomb of Annas the High Priest
Reconstruction of the Tomb of Annas (© Ritmeyer Archaeological Design)
In June 2000, another tomb was accidentally found, which contained bones and remains of a linen shroud. The tomb is located next to the tomb which we had identified as Tomb of Annas. Carbon-14 dating showed that the shroud dated from the first half of the first century AD. It has been reported that a new analysis has now showed that the man to whom the shroud belonged suffered from leprosy. Leprosy is mentioned in the Bible, but this is the first time that archaeological evidence has proved that it actually existed. Joe Lauer pointed me to an article in the Daily Mail, which has several photographs of the tomb.
It is interesting to note that this shroud doesn’t look at all like the Turin Shroud. The shroud in Jerusalem was made up of several wrappings and there was a separate wrapping for the head. This would, of course, be in harmony with the burial of Jesus, whose body was buried with a separate head cloth (John 20.27).
While we were in the US, we noticed a special November 2009 issue of the National Geographic on The Holy Land.
It has many interesting articles about the Holy Land, but it also has a previously published poster of the Temple Mount as an insert. We described this poster, of which we were one of the contributors, in this previous blog post. Many readers asked for copies of this map and we are delighted to announce that it is still available inside this special issue.
If you don’t have a subscription to the National Geographic, you can order this special issue here.
Here is a view of the poster, reproduced with permission of the National Geographic Society:
My wife Kathleen and I enjoyed our time last week in New Orleans and even had time to sail on the Mississippi on the Steamboat Natchez. It was also interesting to listen to the many stories about the Katrina disaster four years ago. People’s lives are still dominated by that event. Their recent history seems to be divided in pre- and post-Katrina periods. The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where I lectured for two days as the Manuel Lectureship Speaker, is only now getting back to normal, after having had to move to Atlanta, as most of the campus was flooded.
There were many lectures to choose from at the ASOR, ETS, SBL and NEAS conferences. We attended lectures, ranging from Satellite Remote Sensing, the Location of Sodom, through the latest updates of recent archaeological excavations, such as Kh. Qeiyafa and Tell Es-Safi/Gath, to a fascinating section on Teaching Archaeology.
The latter section was at times hilarious, listening to archaeologists who had to teach archaeology, without having had any prior teacher training, to students who didn’t know anything about the subject at all. Reading assignments sometimes produced gems like the title of Eric Cline’s lecture: “The Israelites Wondered in the Dessert for 40 years” and “Before the Printing Press, it took 300 Sheep to Write the Bible”.
Here is a comment on my lecture on “The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – Deciphering Its Story”.
On Nov. 15th and 16th, I have been invited by Dr. Dennis Cole to lecture at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on two topics:
• The History and Archaeology of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
• The History and Archaeology of Herodian Jerusalem.
On Nov. 18th, 9.00 am, I am scheduled to deliver a lecture for ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research), also in New Orleans, on:
• The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount – Deciphering its Story.
The Eastern Wall is the most interesting of all the Temple Mount walls, as three types of masonry can be discerned: Herodian, Hasmonean and Iron Age (8th Century B.C.). These masonry types are directly linked with the historical development of the Temple Mount.
According to this report, new excavations are planned below the Western Wall Plaza. The present level would be supported by pillars and an additional underground area would be available for worship/visiting. Here is an artist’s impression:
This is not a new idea, for already in 1967 plans were drawn up to excavate below this area. The plan called for an excavated area below ground level, but also retaining the level of the plaza as it was then:
It would be fascinating to see more of the Western Wall in this area and also to see Barclay’s Gate to its full height. This drawing shows the visible remains of Barclay’s Gate above ground today and the original size of the gate:
(This drawing was published in The Quest, p.26)
Todd Bolen’s blog post gives an excellent overview of discoveries related to the Temple Mount. Worth reading!
Despite the fact that this building has been known for several decades, only now has it been possible to restore it using modern techniques:
“Although the new hall was originally discovered decades ago, it lay untouched for years due to fears that the ancient stones were not stable enough for excavation. A new technique was found to support the walls from crumbling, enabling workers to remove the rubble.”
Artifacts from both the First and the Second Temple periods were found. The name given to this building, “Hall of Ages” (or “Hall of Eras”), is a bit ridiculous, as remains of these periods have been found in many other sites in Jerusalem.
Within a few months it will be opened to the public. I look forward to discovering where this building is actually located. I guess it is part of the old Makhkama building shown on the plans of Charles Warren. If so, it should be located near the Masonic Hall, mentioned in my previous post, and Wilson’s Arch.
For full story, see the Jerusalem Post’s article here.
Photo: Channel 2
Source: Joe Lauer
While I was abroad, the IAA reported that a 2,000 year old mikveh has been found near the Temple Mount:
“The miqve was discovered inside the western hall of a splendid structure that is located just c. 20 meters from the Western Wall. Parts of the building were discovered in the past and the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently exposing another one of the three halls inside it. It is one of the most magnificent structures from the Second Temple period ever to be uncovered.”
This “magnificent structure” is the Council-chamber, also known as the Masonic Hall, which was first discovered by Charles Warren in the 1860’s. It is located near the Western Wall and the bridge over Wilson’s Arch was later partly built over it. This drawing shows the location of the Council-chamber, the Xystus and the Hasmonean Palace in relation to the Temple Mount:
The confusing part in the rest of this report is the following sentence:
“In his book The War of the Jews, Josephus Flavius writes there was a government administrative center that was situated at the foot of the Temple. Among the buildings he points out in this region were the council house and the “Xistus”- the ashlar bureau. According to the Talmud it was in this bureau that the Sanhedrin – the Jewish high court at the time of the Second Temple – would convene. It may be that the superb structure the Israel Antiquities Authority is presently uncovering belonged to one of these two buildings.”
Josephus actually writes the following about the northern part of the First Wall in The War of the Jews 5.144:
“Beginning on the north at the tower called Hippicus, it [the city wall] extended to the Xystus, and then joining the council-chamber terminated at the western portico of the temple.”
The Xystus was not a building, but a paved open space for assembly, used for public speeches. In Greek, xystus means smooth, polished flag-stones. Previously, the Gymnasium was located there. In The War of the Jews 2.344, Berenice stood watching on the roof of the Hasmonean Palace, while King Agrippa made a speech to the people which he had summoned to the Xystus below. If they were inside a building, Berenice could never have watched this event. It is therefore a mistake to confuse the Xystus with the “ashlar bureau”, better known as the Chamber of Hewn Stone (Lishkat haGazit in Hebrew) of the Mishnah.
The Council-chamber (Bouleh in Greek) was located between the Xystus and the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. It was a public building and has nothing to do with the Chamber of Hewn Stone, which was located on the Temple Mount. It is described in Mishnah Middot 5.4 as one of the chambers of the Temple Court: “Those [chambers] on the south were the Wood Chamber, the Golah Chamber and the Chamber of Hewn Stone.” “The Chamber of Hewn Stone – there used the Great Sanhedrin of Israel to sit and judge the priesthood.” See also my previous post on The Sanhedrin and the Temple Mount.
The archaeologist Alexander Onn correctly calls the Council-chamber a government administrative building. The mikveh with its 11 steps was built later into the building, testifying to the growth and development of Jerusalem later on in the Herodian period.
The Council-Chamber was a beautifully designed building with pilasters cut into the interior walls, resting on a plinth which was located about 1 meter (3 feet) above the original floor. The newly discovered mikveh is located in the western hall of this building, well below the original floor level. Below is my reconstruction drawing, showing the location of the mikveh:
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