A great reason to visit the “city of dreaming spires”
This drawing shows the excavation results of the fortified area in the City of David. The earliest remains are stone filled terraces from the Jebusite period, which were excavated by Kathleen Kenyon. Yigal Shiloh excavated the rest of the area, which he called Area G.
The Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum (University of Oxford) is pleased to invite friends and colleagues to:
The Seventh Annual Roger Moorey Memorial Lecture:
Dr Kay Prag, University of Manchester, “Re-excavating Jerusalem: A Review, Fifty Years On”
Saturday 28 May 2011, 2.30pm, at Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford, OX2 6UD
Summary: May 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the large-scale excavations undertaken by Dame Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem. The huge archive contains a remarkable record of finds from the earliest occupation through to the Islamic centuries – but did Kenyon achieve her aim – to put the archaeology of Jerusalem on a sound scientific footing for the first time?
***Entry to this lecture is free but seat reservation is essential***
Please contact: Ilaria Perzia, Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean MuseumE-mail: antiquities@ashmus.ox.ac.uk Tel: 01865 278020 www.ashmolean.org
In the Book of Exodus we read about the construction of the Tabernacle. On the first day of the first month (called ‘Rosh Chodesh Nisan’ in Hebrew) of the second year after coming out from Egypt, the Tabernacle was put up (Exodus 40.1) and on the same day God’s glory filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40.34).
Tomorrow, on the 5th of April, the Jews celebrate Rosh Chodesh Nisan (which is also the beginning of the Sacred New Year) and the Temple Institute of Jerusalem is organising the 2nd International Temple Mount Awareness Day with a program that will be live broadcast from 2.00 – 8.00 pm Israel time. Click on the picture below to see a video that gives a brief description of what they are planning:
The Jerusalem Post has an article called “Mythical Water Pipe Discovered”. In the accompanying video, tour guide Danny Herman explains the various components of the water system in the City of David and how it developed over the ages. If you haven’t been in the City of David for a while, you may find this video interesting.
Over the last 150 years or so, researchers have attempted to understand the water systems in Jerusalem and the City of David in particular. During the 19th Century, illustrious researchers, such as Wilson, Warren, Conder, Schick, Weill and others have discovered and recorded parts of underground water channels and tunnels, which were all connected with the Gihon Spring in one way or another. The discovery of a vertical shaft from inside the so-called Hezekiah’s Tunnel by Charles Warren, has since 1878 been identified with the ‘tsinnor’ by which Joab presumably climbed into the City of the Jebusites, so that David could capture it, according to the account in 2 Sam. 5. This has now been discounted by the latest excavators.
The first scientific recording of this water system in the 20th Century was done by Vincent, who accompanied the Parker Mission in 1911. He published very valuable plans and sections in ‘Jerusalem Sous Terre’ (1912). Later researchers, such as Kathleen Kenyon and Yigal Shiloh did further exploration of these tunnels and channels, but the most extensive research was done from the end of the 20th Century up till now by Ronnie Reich and Eli Shukron. Despite all their investigations, it is not altogether clear how all the different channels, pools and reservoirs work together, but we are a lot closer to understanding the water systems now than ever before.
My son Nathaniel Ritmeyer was in Israel last month and took these photographs of the location of the fake tombs at the southern tip of the City of David, above the stepped Siloam Reservoir and King’s Garden.
The fake tombs are in the foreground above the Siloam Reservoir and King’s Garden, looking south. Photo: Nathaniel Ritmeyer 20 Feb. 2011
The fake tombs are located above the high stone wall at the southern end of the City of David, looking north. Below the stone wall is the northern cliff of the Siloam Reservoir. The exit is near the grey car and the steep road beyond it leads up into the City of David. The road on the very right, where the white car is parked, runs through the Kedron Valley toward the Gihon Spring. Photo: Nathaniel Ritmeyer 20 Feb. 2011This photograph, looking east, was taken on 14th June 2010, showing that the tomb stones have been there for almost one year. Photo: Nathaniel RitmeyerOnly a tiny bit of concrete holds up this tomb stone, which is clearly not attached to any grave. Photo: Nathaniel Ritmeyer 14 June 2010This picture was taken on 28 May, 2009, looking south over the Siloam Reservoir and King's Garden. No fake tombs are visible. Photo: Nathaniel Ritmeyer.
Ferrell Jenkins reports on what looks like fake tombs on a small plot of land near the Siloam Pool in Ancient Jerusalem:
New Tombstones above the Pool of Siloam. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
They certainly look fake, as normally tombstones are added after first a stone or concrete enclosure has been constructed. In a previous post I wrote about this problem which appears to be a land grab. Ferrell writes:
Ancient burial places create serious problems for archaeologists. Ultra-Orthodox Jews often create a scene at digs when they know or suspect that there may be Jewish tombs in the area.
The cemeteries of the Holy Land have become a ground for religious and political skirmishes. Leen Ritmeyer reported on fake Arab tombs near the Temple Mount here.
Muslim tombs have been on the eastern wall of the Old City for a long time. This photo was made looking south from outside the Lion’s Gate (or St. Stephens’ Gate). Perhaps every reader knows that this is across the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives which we mentioned in the previous post.
In early February I noticed a large number of new tombstones with Arabic inscriptions in a small plot above the Pool of Siloam. Suspicious, to say the least.
In a previous post, we reported on the opening of the Small Kotel as a place for Jewish prayer. Now, however, it has been reported in IsraelNationalNews (Arutz Sheva) that the State of Israel has decided that the site is not holy:
The State’s representatives have determined that the “Kotel HaKatan” (“Small Kotel” or “Small Wailing Wall”), a wall which is a continuation of the Kotel in Jerusalem, is not a holy site. The statement was submitted to the court as part of the reply to a damages lawsuit filed by a group of Jews who prayed at the Small Kotel on Rosh HaShana of 5767 (2006).
One member of the group, Elihu Kleiman, was arrested after he blew the ram’s horn, or shofar. The group of Jews who sued for damages also said they were beaten by police, who denied them their freedom to worship at a holy site.
The “Small Kotel” is nothing but “an inner courtyard of several residential homes in the Muslim quarter,” the State determined in its response.
Like the Kotel, the Kotel HaKatan is an exposed face of the original western wall of the Temple Mount, built by King Herod over 2,000 years ago. However, compared to its famous “bigger brother,” the Small Wall is less accessible and looks less impressive: it is barely 10 meters long, less of its height has been exposed and its plaza is much narrower.
In fact, however, the Kotel HaKatan can be considered holier than the better known Kotel, because it is located 200 yards to the north – and therefore practically opposite the actual site of the Holy of Holies in the original Holy Temples.
Attorney Daniel Robins, who represents the group of Jews who were praying at the site in 2006 and who sued the State, told Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew-language service that Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the Kotel Rabbi, testified before the court as to the sanctity of the site, but the State rejected the power of Jewish Law to determine the site’s sanctity.
Robins said that he hopes the State is not acting out of political considerations in rejecting the sanctity of the Kotel HaKatan. He noted that the site is included in the area that Defense Minister Ehud Barak wants to hand over to the Arabs in a peace deal.
Reading about the on-going renovations in the Dome of the Rock made us turn to the magisterial work of the recently deceased Oleg Grabar on Early Islamic Jerusalem: “The Shape of the Holy.” Within its pages, you can appreciate, much more than on a site-visit, the brilliance of the mosaics of the Dome of the Rock, photographed from scaffolding at all the right angles. Dome of the Rock, NNW panel of the upper drum. Photo: Saïd Nuseibeh
Grabar reminds us that “the 1280 square meters (or 12,800 square feet) of mosaics in the Dome of the Rock make it the largest repository of medieval wall mosaics before the Norman church in Monreale” (in Palermo, Sicily).
He points out that: “It is important to recall that, in addition to its continuing forceful presence, the Dome of the Rock was the first monument sponsored by a Muslim ruler that was conceived as a work of art, a monument deliberately transcending its function by the quality of its forms and expression.”
It is fascinating to read about the purpose of the construction of this monument that is such a feature in the advertising of Jerusalem by both Jews, Muslims and Christians. Muqaddasi, a native of the city in the 10th century wrote:
“is it not evident how the caliph Abd al-Malik, noting the greatness of the dome of the Qumamah (refuse, a vulgar pun on qiyamah or resurrection, the Arabic term for the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem) and its magnificence, was moved, lest it should dazzle the minds of the Muslims, and hence erected above the Rock the Dome which is seen there?”
The Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority report the following:
For those of you who will be in Israel on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011, please join us at the festive opening ceremony for the First Temple Period Archaeological Site recently excavated, conserved and made accessible to visitors in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park.
This fabulous project, near the southern wall of the Temple Mount enclosure, is made possible through the exemplary generosity of Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman.
The announcement is accompanied by this video:
The site was first excavated in the 1970’s under the direction of the late Prof. Benjamin Mazar and in the 1980’s and onward, Eilat Mazar has further excavated the site. The site has remains from the Israelite, Herodian (dismantled), Roman, Byzantine and Ummayad periods.
The plan shows the walkways (brown) to be used by visitors, once the site is open.
A plan for the renovation of the Mughrabi Gate bridge, which leads from the Western Wall plaza to the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Temple Mount, received final approval from the Jerusalem Municipality last week, enabling construction to begin at any time.
Previous work on the bridge has sparked widespread rioting and violence in both east Jerusalem and the Arab world due to the sensitive location.
The wooden replacement bridge to the Mughrabi Gate and the excavations of the ramp. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer
We reported on the problems of the construction of a new bridge here, here and here.
“This drawing is a section through the dirt ramp leading up to the Mughrabi Gate. The ramp is in the middle of the drawing. On the left is the Western Wall Plaza, reserved for Jewish worship. On the right of the section is the excavated area with, on the bottom, the Herodian street, with the stones which were thrown down by the Romans in 70 AD. Immediately above this level, remains of the Byzantine period were found, including a water channel cut into the Herodian stones for use in a bath house. Above this level, the remains of a large Ummayad palace was found, which used a similar water channel, cut higher in the Herodian stones of the Western Wall. No Crusader remains have so far been found in this area.”
It will be interesting to see what will happen now. Approval may have been granted, but the building of a new bridge may not be accepted by all:
“[Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel] Rabinovitch dismissed any suggestion of renewed tensions, even with the Arab world in a state of unrest.
“We don’t see any reason for conflict, because we’re talking about a bridge renovation,” Rabinovitch said on Monday.
“In Jerusalem, you never can tell,” said Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran. “There are things we think will cause riots and don’t do anything, and there are things that we don’t understand why they suddenly riot.”
Gil Ronen & Yoni Kempinski report in Arutz Sheva on the monthly Circling of the Gates, which includes a video clip:
Thousands of people took part Sunday evening in “The Circling of the Gates” – Sivuv Shearim in Hebrew – a renewal of an ancient custom that expresses, in our age, a yearning for the Holy Temple.
Sivuv Shearim involves making pilgrimage to Jerusalem, walking around the Temple Mount and stopping at each of its gates.
The event takes place every Hebrew month on Erev Rosh Hodesh, the eve of the first day of the month. The route followed by the participants passes through the Muslim quarter of the Old City. The participants stop at every gate and recite a section of the Tenth Psalm.
The event usually draws about 3,000 participants. Its organizers dream of the day in which 20,000 people take part, placing the Temple Mount on the public agenda for the entire Jewish nation.
It reminds us of two beautiful Psalms:
“That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.” (Ps. 9.14 ESV)
“Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” (Ps. 48.12-14 ESV)
