In today’s Haaretz it is reported that mysterious 2,800 year old V-shaped carvings were found in the City of David.
Mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped.
Israeli diggers who uncovered a complex of rooms carved into the bedrock in the oldest section of the city recently found the markings: Three "V'' shapes cut next to each other into the limestone floor of one of the rooms, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) deep and 50 centimeters long. Photo: AP
The archaeologists in charge of the dig know so little that they have been unable even to posit a theory about their nature, said Eli Shukron, one of the two directors of the dig.
“The markings are very strange, and very intriguing. I’ve never seen anything like them,” Shukron said.
It is possible, the dig’s archaeologists say, that when the markings were made at least 2,800 years ago the shapes might have accommodated some kind of wooden structure that stood inside them, or they might have served some other purpose on their own. They might have had a ritual function or one that was entirely mundane. Archaeologists faced by a curious artifact can usually at least venture a guess about its nature, but in this case no one, including outside experts consulted by Shukron and the dig’s co-director, archaeologists with decades of experience between them, has any idea.
In my latest blog post, I tried to show how the Temple Mount may have developed after the death of Herod the Great. This post was written in the wake of the discovery of four coins from the time of the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus (17/18 AD) below the Western Wall as described previously.
Now, a Palestinian “archaeologist”, Dr. Jamal Amro, claims that he was the one who found the 17 (not 4) Roman coins! He rightly states that the coins date from the time of Valerius and then draws the illogical and ridiculous conclusion that:
“All archaeological discoveries that were found before this one in the Arab city of Jerusalem and around the Aqsa Mosque date back to ancient Arab and Islamic eras especially the times of Umayyad and Abbasid reigns (661-1258) up to the Ottoman rule (1520 AD)”
He also stated this discovery left the Jewish archaeologists in a state of shock and frustration because it just proved further their false claims and beliefs about the legend of the temple.
The sad thing is that instead of laughing Amro off the stage, his statements are being parroted all over the world and incorporated into the Arab Narrative, perhaps to become an official UNESCO policy statement. Googling the headline “Archaeologist rebuts Jewish claims about their alleged temple” demonstrates how quickly and easily foolish lies can be spread in our day.
The latest archaeological developments near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount (see my previous post) have caused concern to some who feel that their understanding that King Herod the Great built the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is being undermined. It would mean that the Temple Mount was not finished when Jesus visited the Temple. That, however, does not have to be the case.
It took several decades to complete this massive Temple Mount. I will always call it Herod’s Temple Mount, as he was the originator of its plan and began its construction. Todd Bolen pointed out in his latest blogpost: “Josephus reported that in AD 64 work was halted on the Temple Mount and 18,000 workers were laid off (Ant. 20:219-23).” Such large projects take a long time to complete. It was started in the reign of Herod the Great, but continued during the time of his sons and grandsons. It is possible that the Temple Mount was never totally completed.
The problem of how and when the Temple Mount walls were built is very complex. There are architectural features that indicate that the Temple Mount walls were built in stages over a considerable period of time, although within a time span of less than 100 years. I don’t as yet have all the answers, but focussing on the Western and Southern Walls, the following points need to be taken into consideration:
1. The south end of Robinson’s Arch is keyed into the stones of the Western Wall, but its northern end is NOT:
These drawings show the different treatment of how the north and south ends of Robinson's Arch were keyed into the wall.
This means that, at some stage, the upper part of the Western Wall was built from a point to the north (possibly Wilson’s Arch) to the location where they planned to build Robinson’s Arch (see the straight joint in the drawing on the left). The arch and perhaps the southwest corner must have been built later (see The Quest – Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, p.46). This means that in 20 AD (see previous post), the southern part of the Western Wall was not yet completed.
2. However, this would leave enough time (10 years) for the southern part of the Temple Mount to be finished by around 30 AD, when Jesus and his disciples visited the Temple.
3. The street complex below Robinson’s Arch was built later (perhaps 50 AD), as coins from the time of Agrippa II were found below the paving stones.
4. The stones of the Western Wall below Robinson’s Arch have rough bosses below street level. That is also the case near Barclay’s Gate, but not to the north of this gate. The stones of the Southern Wall, from the southwest corner to the Double Gate have also rough bosses below street level, but they don’t appear in the east part of the Southern Wall. Warren wrote (Survey of Western Palestine, Vol II, Jerusalem, p. 191):
“From the two shafts sunk at Wilson’s Arch and at Barclay’s Gate, it is obvious that the Sanctuary wall is for this portion built up from the bottom with drafted stones with well-cut faces. But to the south of the retaining wall at Barclay’s Gate, at the south-west angle and round the south-west angle to the Double gate, the stones have rough projecting faces up to the level of the pavement under Robinson’s Arch, that is, up to Course P, or to about 23 feet 6 inches above the rock at Barclay’s Gate, the sill of the gate being about 50 feet above the rock. From this the inference may be drawn that the wall south of Barclay’s Gate is of later date that that to the north, and was not commenced till the valley had begun to fill up about 23 feet 6 inches at this part. In this case the retaining wall may have been one side of a ramp or viaduct leading across the valley to this Suburban gate, at a height of 27 feet above the surface of the ground at that time.”
5. Two fallen voussoirs are lodged in the drain below Robinson’s Arch, showing that part of the arch fell down during its construction (see pictures in this previous post).
6. The two eastern domes of the Double Gate passageway (barely visible on the right in the drawing below) also fell down at some time during the First Century AD and were built up again without decorations. (The western domes are still decorated). It is not clear if this happened before or after the Royal Stoa was completed.
At present, I see the following sequence in the building of the southern part of the Temple Mount (only four of the stages are illustrated below):
a. Herod, in his lifetime, completed the lower part of the Western Wall from the Antonia Fortress up to Barclay’s Gate, that is as far south as the Hasmonean extension of the square Temple Mount goes (see this previous post). The portico on top of the wall may only have been completed from the Antonia up to the gate over Wilson’s Arch, as that is where the First Wall was connected to the Temple Mount.
b. The part of the Western Wall that lies below the street, from Barclay’s Gate up to the southwest corner and then up to the Double Gate in the Southern Wall, was built with rough bosses in or soon after 20 AD. Because the southwest corner of the Temple Mount crossed the Tyropoeon Valley and cut the drain below the planned street, an arched relay section was built to connect the drain again. The Western Wall with the rough bosses was built up to the level of the planned street:
c. The Tyropoeon Valley was then (20 AD), filled up to the level of the rough bosses from Wilson’s Arch to Barclay’s Gate.
d. The top of the Western Wall was built from the gate over Wilson’s Arch to the north side of Robinson’s Arch:
e. Robinson’s Arch and the Double Gate in the Southern Wall with the wall in between were built later, possibly sometime around 30 AD.
f. Part of Robinson’s Arch fell down (and perhaps also Wilson’s Arch) and the two eastern domes of the Double Gate passageway were destroyed (The Quest, p. 74) – possibly by an earthquake?
g. The underground passageway of the Double Gate was repaired, the southwest corner with Robinson’s Arch and stairway completed and the Royal Stoa finished.
This proposal for the development of the Herodian Temple Mount is only in its early stages, but I hope that it may be helpful to those who struggle to understand the implications of the latest archaeological discoveries near the foundation of the Western Wall.
The announcement of the new theory on when the Western Wall was built (see here and here) was not as dramatic as expected. The discovery of coins, the latest of which were struck by the Roman procurator Valeruis Gratus in 17-18 AD, in a mikveh that went out of use when the Western Wall was built over it, suggests that the building of the Temple Mount walls took decades. This is the full report released by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
A picture of the two coins that were found in the mikveh. The coins date from the time of the Roman procurator Valeruis Gratus (17-18 AD). Photo: Vladimir Neichin/IAAThis picture shows that the Western Wall was built over the remains of a mikveh. Photo by Vladimir Neichin/IAAPhoto of the excavation of the mikveh by Vladimir Neichin/IAA
This late date is not surprising, as at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, usually dated to 30 AD, it was said that this Temple complex had been in building already for 46 years (John 2.20).
At the northern end of the Western Wall is a piece of bedrock that wasn’t even removed before the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
This doesn’t mean to say that the Western wall is not Herodian. The whole building concept was designed by Herod the Great and completed after his death.
The Spokesperson of the Israel Antiquities Authority “circulated an invitation to journalists to attend a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, November 23, 2011) at which “A find will be presented that challenges the conventional viewpoint in archaeology regarding the construction of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.”
Although it sounds mysterious, Ronny Reich, whom I met very recently in Jerusalem, said that he has new information about the construction date of Robinson’s Arch. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.
In the previous post we mentioned the opening of the Herodian sewer in Jerusalem. One can now walk underground from the Siloam Pool to the Temple Mount. Last week, we were one of the first groups to walk through this drain/sewer, that collected the rain water that fell on the street and drained the sewage from the adjacent buildings. Here is a photographic record of the tour:
Don’t fear, the sewer is dry! One can now walk underground through the full length of the 2,000 year old Herodian drainage channel that ran below the street from the Siloam Pool to Robinson’s Arch near the Temple Mount. The route of the street is indicated on the drawing below:
Tom Powers has an excellent description using recent photographs and my map of this drainage system that I used in a previous blog post to explain its construction during the Hasmonean period and the Herodian bypass that was made after the construction of the southwest corner of the Herodian Temple Mount cut the earlier drain.
It will be exciting to walk again through this tunnel, but while doing so, one should also remember that in 70 AD many Jerusalemites tried to escape through this same tunnel, but were cruelly killed by the Romans when they were discovered.
Wayne Stiles always writes enthusiastically about places in Israel that have a connection with the Bible. In his latest article for the Jerusalem Post, he describes the steps leading up to the Double Gate of the Temple Mount. These were indeed used by most of the pilgrims that used to go up to the Temple to worship.
Wayne recounts that some tourists say the 15 Psalms (120-134), called “Psalms of Ascents” (which could be translated the Psalms of the Steps) on the Southern Wall Steps.
There are, however, more than 15 steps, in fact, there are 27 at the eastern end and 31 at the southern end. Twelve of these steps are broad landings, which some people have suggested have a spiritual meaning (twelve being the number of Israel). However, as the lower steps are cut out of the bedrock, these landings were designed to take the natural slope into consideration, making the ascent easier as well. Wayne correctly observes that:
The Mishna notes that these fifteen psalms were sung by the priests who stood not on the Southern Steps, but on the fifteen steps from the Court of the Women ascending to the Court of Israel: “On the fifteen steps which led into the women’s court, corresponding with the fifteen songs of degrees, stood the Levites, with their musical instruments, and sang” (see m. Sukkah 5:4-5).
This moving scene has been portrayed in one of our models:
The Damascus Gate is located in the centre of the northern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Kikar haShabbat News reports that the top of this gate has been restored as part of the Jerusalem City Wall Conservation Project.
The article puts special emphasis on the central decoration at the top of the gate, nicknamed ‘the crown’, that was destroyed in the Six Day War.
This detail shows the 'crown' before restoration.The 'crown' after restoration. Photo: Kikar haShabbat
The Damascus Gate was built by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538 AD over the remains of a Roman gate. That gate was built in the 2nd century AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a monumental entrance to the city of Jerusalem, which he had renamed Aelia Capitolina. This gate features on the Madaba Map, which shows an open square with a column inside the gate. In the Byzantine period, the gate was incorporated into the city wall.
After extensive conservation work on the largest and most impressive of Jerusalem’s gates, which took nearly a year to complete, visitors there can now enjoy the gate in all its splendor just as the public experienced it for hundreds of years, until the ‘crown’ was damaged in the battles of 1967.
The conservation of the gate was carried out as part of the Jerusalem City Wall Conservation Project, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Prime Minister’s Office
For hundreds of years, when visitors arrived in Jerusalem and entered the city by way of Damascus Gate – the largest and most magnificent of Jerusalem’s gates – they glanced up and saw the large ‘crown’ that the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built atop the gate in 1538 CE.
But in 1967 the gate sustained serious damage and the crown was destroyed during the fighting in the Six Day War. Now, the Jerusalem Development Authority, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority and with funding provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, is concluding a comprehensive project of rehabilitating Damascus Gate, during which the gate was cleaned of the effects from the ravages of time and its ornamentation was restored, including the magnificent ‘crown’ at the top of the gate.
When workers of the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority went about restoring the decorations on Damascus Gate they were aided by pictures of the gate that were taken at the beginning of the twentieth century when the British governed Jerusalem. The pictures show the gate in all its glory, with the crown at the top of the center embrasure, and based on this the conservators proceeded with their work. As part of the engineering and stabilizing measures performed, the ‘crown’ was secured to the core of the wall by means of eleven anchors. At the same time the decoration’s four stones were
completely restored, and its ceiling was covered again with stone slabs as it was in the past, based on the historical photographs.
“The Old City of Jerusalem is a focus of interest for people the world over and the number one tourist attraction in Israel”, says the Elʽad Kendel, director of the Old City Basin in the Jerusalem Development Authority, “the city walls and the gates are the first thing that everyone sees when they arrive at the Old City, and it is therefore important to us that tourists, both domestic and foreign, see the city in all its glory”.
According to Avi Mashiah, the project’s architect on behalf of the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The work at Damascus Gate was particularly challenging since it is located at the entrance to a noisy and bustling marketplace. All of the work that was carried out there was done so in agreement with the local merchants. In order to avoid disturbing business in the marketplace, work was begun after the last stall closed at 10:00 PM, and continued until the early hours of the morning, prior to the start of the following business day. Because of its beauty, Damascus Gate is also
the most documented of Jerusalem’s city gates and its historical
material and numerous photographs facilitated an accurate restoration of its appearance. Every single decoration, including all of its features, was studied and restored by us down to the smallest detail, in order to provide visitors to the gate as full and complete an experience as possible”.
Four years ago the Jerusalem Development Authority commenced work on the rehabilitation and conservation of the Old City walls in Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, which is actually carrying out the work on the walls, and with funding provided by the Prime Minister’s Office. As part of the project, work was conducted along the entire length of the Old City walls and on the gates from the Dung Gate, clockwise in the direction of Zion Gate, Jaffa Gate, the New Gate and
Damascus Gate. Work on the wall is currently being done at the
northeastern corner of the Old City and is scheduled to be completed by year’s end.
The work on the wall included conservation, the removal of hazards and the rehabilitation of elements in the wall. In addition a laser scan was used for the purpose of precisely measuring the wall, particularly the gates, which were surveyed and studied at the level of individual stones. The Jerusalem Development Authority and the Israel Antiquities
Authority are pleased that visitors to the Damascus Gate can now enjoy the full splendor of the structure, and experience it exactly as the public has for 460 years, until the gate was damaged in 1967.
Two amazing finds testify to the last days of Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD, In a drainage channel that led from the Temple Mount to the Siloam Pool a stone with an inscribed menorah was found, together with a Roman sword. These finds vividly reminds us of the terrible destruction and how some people tried to save their lives by fleeing through the underground drainage channels.
A stone with an inscribed menorah. Photo: Sebastian Scheiner / AP
Both the menorah and the sword reminded me of similar finds made by Prof. Nahman Avigad in the Jewish Quarter. A sword was found in the Burnt House and a menorah was found inscribed in the wall of one of the priestly houses.
This depiction of the Lampstand (menorah) was found incised on one of the walls of a priestly family home in Jerusalem. Apart from the Lampstand, it shows the Table of Shewbread (bottom right), the Altar of Incense (top right) and the three-stepped stone (bottom left) which the priest would stand on to light the lamps of the Lampstand in the Temple.
