Category: News

Battling for the Holy Places

In response to my previous post, Joe Zias, physical anthropologist, who worked for many years for the Israel Antiquities Authority, wrote concerning Rachel’s Tomb:

Check out photographs at Yad Ben Tsvi lib. to see Islamic graves surrounding the site up to and abutting the shrine. I in fact was called in to view burial remans just a few meters to the north of the entrance which lie under the pavement in which all and everyone walks across. they were Islamic according to their orientation and no more than a few hundred yrs old. Haredim were satisified that they were not Jewish and covered up the remains (so they said).

There certainly has been a Muslim graveyard next to Rachel’s Tomb for the last few hundred years. See pics below. However, a cluster of Muslim tombs does not a Muslim site make. The exterior of the eastern wall of the Temple Mount is lined with Muslim tombs, but we know a lot more about its history than that fact. Rachel’s Tomb is not just the tomb of an insignificant female character from the Bible, but of Rachel, who the Jews call Imeinu, “Our mother”, wife of Jacob, the third Jewish patriarch. The site of her tomb is noted twice in Scripture: Gen. 35.16-20 and 1 Sam. 10.2 and by numerous early pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Rachel's Tomb in 1894 - note Muslim graves around the building

The Muslims, who walked into history more than 2,500 years later, also revere Rachel and her name appears in the Koran. It is because of that association that her tomb became a popular “wely” or site to hold funerals.

Rachel's Tomb in the 1930's - note the Muslim tombs next to the building

And when Moses Montefiore bought the site for the Jews in 1841, he built a vaulted vestibule for the Muslims to pray in, in order to conciliate them. Denys Pringle in his comprehensive historical note to the site in The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, (written in 1995, with no political axe to grind) provides a sketch plan of how this building relates to the tomb.

Rachel's Tomb, plan made in 1995

It is difficult to see how this Muslim reverence for Rachel translates into the recent renaming of the structure, the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, after an Ethiopian Muslim believed to be the first muezzin! This rewriting of history is heading up for one more battle in the conflict over the Holy Places. It reminds me of the statement of a Muslim tour guide who we once employed to show us round the Temple Mount, in order to get their perspective. He told us, in all seriousness: “Melchizedek was the first Palestinian king of Jerusalem!

Rachel’s Tomb, The Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Mugrabi Gate

The politicians are at it again. UNESCO has declared The Tomb of Rachel to be a mosque. Israel’s Prime Minister has slammed the report.

The claim is, of course, ludricous. This photograph, taken in 1890-1900, already describes the building as The Tomb of Rachel:

The Tomb of Rachel - photograph taken in 1890-1900

Joe Lauer reminded us of what Abba Eban once said about the United Nations General Assembly, “If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.” 

When guiding round the Temple Mount excavations, we always pointed out that the headquarters of the United Nations are rightfully situated on the Mount of Evil Counsel.

In another report, the US demands from Israel to remove the Tomb of the Patriarchs from Israel’s list of national heritage sites. The very architecture of the Tomb of the Patriarchs of proves that it was built by Herod the Great.

The Tomb of the Patriarchs. The wall has been partly cut away to indicate the location of the double cave where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives were buried.- © Leen Ritmeyer

The Mugrabi Gate is also in the news, as it has been reported that falling stones from the ramp could endanger the women who pray below:

UNESCO appeared to support the PA demand for the Temple Mount as well, asking that Muslim officials be allowed to examine the Mughrabi Gate near the Western Wall (Kotel). Muslim leaders have accused Israel of attempting to damage the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount under the guise of repairs to the Mugrabi Gate. Israeli officials have warned that if the gate is not repaired, it could collapse, putting worshipers at the Western Wall at risk.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, Rabbi of the Western Wall, termed the decision “outrageous.” “They have never said in the past that this was a Muslim holy site. The [UN] organization responsible for heritage has turned heritage into politics.” Israel should think carefully about whether or not to cooperate with UNESCO in the future, he said.

In an earlier post, The UNESCO leopard has not changed its spots, we discussed the problems of the ramp. It is clear that nothing has changed in the attitude of UNESCO. See also Todd Bolen’s post: Falling Stones Endanger Women at Western Wall.

HT: Joe Lauer

Ehud Netzer, archeologist who located Herod’s tomb, dies at 76

It has just been officially reported that Ehud Netzer has died today. We mourn the passing of Ehud, who has died after a fall at his beloved Herodium on Monday. The archaeologist (and trained architect) most closely identified with the building projects of Herod the Great, he has dug at Masada, Jericho and Herodium. He fell six metres in an excavation area close to the site of Herod’s Tomb, which his team recently discovered after a search of 35 years.

Taking down from the Herodian section of our bookshelf, his “The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder,” which synthesises his life’s work, we read:

“Herod’s grasp of the realm of construction seems to me beyond the times in which he lived. The combination of a vibrant ruler, having an analytical mind and at the same time a pragmatic approach, together with a far reaching imagination, led him to initiate building projects that reflect a line of thought similar to that of an architect acting in the 20th or 21st century C.E.!”

Ehud’s passing is a great loss, not only to his wife Dvorah and family, but to all who love Israel.

Ancient Near East Evening Lectures at Cambridge University

An interesting series of Ancient Near East Evening Lectures will be given at Cambridge University on Tuesdays @ 5pm.
Location: Seminar Room, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK.

Michaelmas Term, 2010
26th October
Nicole Brisch (University Lecturer in Assyriology, University of
Cambridge): Letters to the Gods: Royal Letters of Petition as a Genre
of Sumerian Scholarly Literature

2nd November
Jacob Dahl (University Lecturer in Assyriology, University of Oxford):
Topic – Proto-Elamite

16th November
Johannes Haubold (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics and
Ancient History, University of Durham): Topic – Berossos and the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon

23rd November
Mark Weedon (British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow, SOAS): Tabal and
the Limits of Assyrian Imperialism
Lent Term, 2011

25th January
Tony Wilkinson (Professor of Archaeology, University of Durham): Title TBC

1st February
David Wengrow (Reader in Comparative Archaeology, UCL): Why did
cross-cultural trade matter in the ancient Near East?

15th February
Alasdair Livingstone (Reader in Assyriology, University of
Birmingham): Topic – Hemerologies
22nd February

Ronan Head (Doctoral Graduate, Johns Hopkins University): Title TBC
1st March

Frances Reynolds (Shillito Fellow in Assyriology, University of
Oxford): Title TBC
Easter Term, 2011
Dates: To be confirmed

Confirmed Speakers
Jonathan Taylor (Assistant Keeper of the Cuneiform Collections, British Museum)
Caroline Waerzeggers (Lecturer in the Ancient Near East, UCL)

HT: Jack Sasson

Mamre and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, reported today that the site of Mamre near Hebron has been visited recently and may be opened soon.

The site is mentioned three times in Genesis, in chapters 13,14, and 18. This is where Abraham settled after separating from his nephew Lot, where he built an altar to G-d, and where G-d sent him three angels to inform him that his son Isaac would be born the following year.
It was also here that Abraham established the first Hebrew army, for the purpose of rescuing Lot, who had been kidnapped by the Four Kings during their war against the Five Kings as described in Genesis.

The Herodian wall with pilasters in Mamre - © Leen Ritmeyer

Today, Elonei Mamre is also one of Israel’s most important archaeological sites. A two-meter-high, 70-by-30-meter wall has been found there, apparently built by King Herod 2,000 years ago. The wall’s construction has similar characteristics to that in the Machpelah Cave [the Cave of the Patriarchs, ed.] and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Remains of two towers from an earlier period have also been found in Elonei Mamre.

In the 1980’s I visited the site and made this reconstruction drawing of the Herodian enclosure. It was amazing to see how closely the architectural style of the outer walls resembled those of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Reconstruction drawing of the Herodian enclosure at Mamre - © Leen Ritmeyer

More on renovations planned for Jerusalem’s Old City

In connection to my previous post, I was interested to see that The Jerusalem Post also reported on the planned underground tunnel and parking lot in the Old City. I’m sure that Jerusalem archaeologists will be pleased with the prospect of excavating this area of the Jewish Quarter.

The architect Sherki admitted that it:

would be impossible not to lose some archeology in the course of construction, and said it took many years for the Israel Antiquities Authority to agree with the plan because of the potential archeological losses. But he believes that because they have a good idea of what exists underneath, the construction will minimize the destruction of archeological ruins.


At its deepest point, if no significant archeological discoveries are made, the parking garage will reach a depth of about nine meters, allowing for four levels of parking. But with as little as five meters, a depth Sherki is certain they can reach without disturbing any ruins, they can have a double-tiered parking garage.

Sherki may be disappointed, as from my experience of working on the Jewish Quarter excavations, I know that the Byzantine remains are only 3-4 m deep. They have been excavated by the team of the late Prof. Nahman Avigad and the results have been documented and published.

I could not help but be intrigued at the thought of what could be found, should the excavations go ahead. Depending how large an area will be opened, more of the entrance and narthex of the Byzantine Nea Church may be found and perhaps some of the internal architecture.

Remains of the Cardo Maximus may also be found. A large stretch of this street was already excavated during the 1980’s and I was privileged to supervise its reconstruction. The southern continuation, however, runs through the western part of the parking lot area.

Reconstructing the Byzantine Cardo. © Leen Ritmeyer

Procopius (500 – 565 AD), a prominent scholar who lived in Caesarea, wrote a detailed description of the Nea Church. According to his description, “as one advances there are two semi-circles (hemikykla) which stand facing each other on one side of the road that leads to the church”.
The street must be the Cardo Maximus and the two semi-circular colonnades stood between the Cardo and the Nea. Procopius does not supply us with any further information but I have suggested a possible arrangement on the accompanying plan. This differs from the plan of other Byzantine churches, which usually have a rectangular or square atrium in front of them. St. Peter’s Church in Rome (although dating from a much later period) also has two semi-circular colonnades in front of it.
In Jerusalem there is no space for anything as grand as in Rome, but nevertheless I hope that some light may be shed on Procopius’ description of the Nea Church, in particular on these semi-circular structures. The Byzantine historian did write that Justinian’s Nea Church was “a shrine with which no other can be compared.”

HT: Joe Lauer

Will the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem indeed be breached for first time in a century?

Haaretz has the following report about another planned underground tunnel in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem:

A wide-ranging plan for renovation of parts of the Old City of Jerusalem envisions a new gate being broken in the city walls for the first time in 112 years.

The plan, prepared by architect David Shriki as part of a greater plan for renovation of the Western Wall area drawn up by architect Gavriel Kertesz, was presented Tuesday to the municipal Planning and Building Committee and aims to renovate the Jewish Quarter and in particular ease access to the Western Wall Plaza.

The new gate will be an entry to a tunnel that would be hewn through the rock under all the layers of the city, beginning between Zion Gate and Dung Gate, leading to a four-story parking garage under the current parking lot not far from the Western Wall. The planners said both tunnel and garage will be hewn in rock deep beneath the city, leaving its numerous archaeological layers intact.

The last time a new opening was breached in the city walls was in 1898, when Ottoman authorities destroyed part of the wall near Jaffa Gate. The purpose was to allow the passage of the imperial carriage of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was then visiting the city.

This time, the plan is meant to accommodate the tens of thousands of visitors to the Western Wall, as well as residents of the Jewish Quarter. The parking garage would hold 600 cars, planners said.

The main technical obstacle to the plan is its high cost, raised by the need to cut through solid rock, estimated at hundreds of millions shekels. Some of the budget is meant to come from using the current outdoor parking lot for construction. Both this aspect of the plan and the proposed tunnel and garage have drawn protests from both Muslim religious figures and residents of the Jewish Quarter.

The planning committee did not vote on the plan and will continue discussing it over the coming week.

This plan would certainly reduce the congestion in this area. The report, however, contains several inaccuracies. First of all, the wall near the Jaffa Gate was not breached in 1898. Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to enter the Old City riding on his white horse and to make that possible, only the moat between the Jaffa Gate and the Citadel was filled in.

Kaiser Wilhelm enters the Old City of Jerusalem on his white horse in 1898

By contrast the much humbler General Allenby entered the city on foot in 1917.

General Allenby enters the Old City of Jerusalem on foot in 1917

Secondly, if this tunnel is to be cut through solid rock “under all the layers of the city”, then it must go below the Turkish city walls as well, which would therefore not be breached. It is to be hoped that the planners know where the top of the rock layers are located, for the preserved remains of the entrance to the Byzantine Nea Church are buried some 3-4 m. below the present parking lot.

Source: Joe Lauer

New plans for expanding the Western Wall Plaza near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

In a previous report we wrote about plans to construct an underground elevator to make the western access to the Western Wall Plaza easier for the disabled. Now a different and much larger tunnel is planned to access the Western Wall Plaza from the south. See this report in Haaretz. The new plan also provides for a larger prayer area for women:

The Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee will meet today (October 4th, 2010) to discuss a master plan for expanding the Western Wall Plaza.
The program, still in its initial phase of planning, has already provoked an outcry among opponents, including Islamic groups, women’s rights groups and denizens of the Old City’s Jewish Quarter.
The plan – prepared by the Western Wall Foundation in conjunction with the Jerusalem municipality and Jerusalem Development Authority – includes the construction of a new underground passageway that would become the main entryway to the plaza.

Planned access to the Western Wall Plaza.
1. Dung Gate. 2. Proposed underground tunnel. 3. Present access path to the Temple Mount. 4. Western Wall Plaza.

The Western Wall receives 8 million visitors a year, and by 2025, that number is expected to nearly double.
Excavating the area is complicated by the fact that the plaza was never initially planned. Its appearance today is the result of the hasty demolition of the Moroccan Quarter, the neighborhood that once existed adjacent to the wall, in the immediate aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War.
The cornerstone of the plan, which has been prepared by the architect Gavriel Kertesz, is to replace the current entryway to the plaza, via the Dung Gate, in favor of a wide underground corridor.
The tunnel will feature a large entry terminal where security personnel will examine visitors. Once inside, visitors will climb stairs or a ramp, or take an elevator, to the plaza itself.
Archaeological finds will line the corridor’s walls, giving visitors a sense of the area’s thousands of years of history.

As usual, a Muslim outcry is expected, but for archaeologists it would be a golden opportunity to learn more about the history of this fascinating area.

HT: Joe Lauer

Queen Helena of Adiabene and the Temple Mount

The sarcophagus of Queen Helena of Adiabene is now on display at the Israel Museum.

The Sarcophagus of Queen Helena of Adiabene

This sarcophagus and others had been removed in the 15th century AD from the so-called Tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem. In fact, this tomb complex should have been called the Tomb of the Queen, as it has been identified by her name on the above-mentioned sarcophagus. After removal, these sarcophagi were used as watering troughs on and near the Temple Mount.

In 1866, the sarcophagus of Queen Helena was taken away and given to the French explorer Louis Felicien de Saulcy, who shipped it to France. Two of these sarcophagi remain on the Temple Mount, one in front of the Islamic Museum and the other at the foot of the Qayit Bay Fountain.

Herodian Sarcophagus at the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount - Photo: Leen Ritmeyer
Herodian Sarcophagus at the foot of the Qayit Bay Fountain on the Temple Mount - Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

What interests me in these sarcophagi is their decorations. They all display rosettes, resembling flowers. These motifs are well known from the Temple Mount Excavations, where many such fragments were found. None of these fragments were large enough to inform us reliably as to the style of Temple Mount decoration. In order to make reconstruction drawings, we had to turn to the funerary monuments and sarcophagi of the Second Temple period which reflected the architecture on the mount itself.
The variation in motifs was amazing. For instance none of the rosettes on the sarcophagi and tomb friezes was the same as the next. The sarcophagus of this Mesopotamian queen with its arrangements of rosettes resembling a frieze is invaluable as an indication of the splendour and beautiful architecture of Herod’s Temple and the buildings of the Temple Mount.

Lectures at the Palestine Exploration Fund

Tomorrow is the date of the first in the latest series of lectures at the Palestine Exploration Fund offices in London. You can read more about the subject of this talk: James Leslie Starkey, best known for discovering the Lachish Letters, here.
J.L. Starkey (second from right) with Flinders and Hilda Petrie (centre) and Olga Tufnell (second from left)
The lecture title is derived from the camp chorus sung on the dig at Tell ed-Duweir (identified as Biblical Lachish):

“Not for the greed of gold

Not for the hope of fame

Nor for a lasting heritage

Not for a far-flung name

Rather for making history

And for some lore of old

This is our aim and object

Not for the greed of gold”