Ritmeyer Archaeological Design

In a previous post we reported on the The Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project in Rome, led by Prof. Steven Fine, which has as its aim the scanning of the menorah panel for evidence of ancient color.

Prof. Steven Fine noted that in the first presentation at the upcoming April 4 Kennes Torah Umadda (Congress of Torah and Science) in Jerusalem he will be discussing — for the first time in Israel — the discoveries made by the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project last summer and the implications of advances in the study of polychromy for the study of the arch (and of Jewish visual culture in general).

Here is the account that has been  published by the Center for Israel Studies of the Yeshiva Universtity in New York.

The Arch of Titus Project will have important significance for the study of Roman architecture, as no monument of the Flavian period has yet been subjected to pigmentation analysis to reveal its original coloration. It is also projected to be of great importance for the study of the appearance of the sacred vessels of the Second Temple in the first century CE, as well as of the Herodian building projects in ancient Judaea, especially King Herod’s rebuilding of the Second Temple in the first century CE. It will thus expand the reach of the new field of research surrounding polychromy in the ancient world beyond Classics and Classical Archaeology into the fields of Judaic studies and early Christian history.

Steven Fine had asked me earlier this year what I thought about Eilat Mazar’s color reconstruction of Herod’s Temple Mount, whom she had  published in her Complete Guide to the Temple Mount Excavations, p. 43, with this comment:

The colours were chosen on the basis of parallels of painted architectural remains in the Judean Desert at Cypros and Masada.

As far as I remember, paint was only found on plaster in these sites, not on stone. No remains of any paint has been found so far on any excavated Herodian stone remains in the Temple Mount Excavations led by Prof. Benjamin Mazar from 1968-78.

The comment of archaeologist Stephan Zink in the above mentioned article is interesting:

The 2009 study of the remains of the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine by conservator Heinrich Piening, another member of our team, and archaeologist Stephan Zink showed that “most surfaces of the temple were kept uncolored as white marble (probably from Carrara) but a carefully-chosen color palette highlighted strategic elements such as capitals, entablature and doorframe. Although evidence for the original coloring remains fragmentary, sufficient information is available to allow us to consider the design strategies that lie behind the color scheme of the temple…”

So, some paint may have been used, but only sparsely. In his description of the Jerusalem Temple, Josephus (War 5.207-10; 222-23) is quite clear that the facade of the Temple “was covered with gold all over” …  “with plates of gold of great weight” and that “those parts that were not gilt, were exceeding white.” No color was therefore used in the entablature and columns that decorated the Temple’s facade.

In his post of Monday, March 11, 2013, Todd Bolen of Bibleplaces, remarks on a statement reportedly made by Dan Bahat in an Italian newspaper:

There’s an article in the Italian press (with a Google translation in English here) in which Dan Bahat allegedly claims that he knows the exact place where Jesus taught the rabbis at the age of 12. He identifies an area on the south side of the Temple Mount where he says that excavations have uncovered the scales on which the teachers stood.

This is the paragraph that was translated by Google:

“The paths of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem could be enriched by a new holy place” the point where Jesus’ amazed the rabbis with his wisdom when he was 12 years old. I think I can show exactly where this and ‘happened.” This is an area in the southern part of the Temple, where excavations have brought to light the scales on which the teachers of the law were standing normally.”

So much for Google translator that wrongly translated “scale” with “scales” instead of “steps”, as mentioned by Ferrell Jenkings in his comment on Todd’s blog. I once saw “out of sight, out of mind” translated as “invisible moron”! So, better get your dictionaries out.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the event described by Luke 2.46 took place:

“After three days they [Mary and Joseph] found him [Jesus] in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions”.

If Bahat was thinking of the monumental stairway leading up to the Double Gate, that would not be “in the temple”, but outside of it, and therefore can be dismissed. But, who were those “teachers” that Jesus questioned? According to the Talmud (see quote below), they were the members of the Temple Sanhedrin that met in special courts, such as the Chamber of Hewn Stone. Normally, non-members of the Sanhedrin couldn’t enter the premises where these teachers and lawyers met in order to question them, let alone a 12-year old. There were, however, occasions when these teachers came out upon the “Terrace” or “Rampart” (Hebrew: hel) of the Temple. This was a walkway in front of the buildings that stood to the south of the Temple and was located on the top of a flight of 12 steps.

These 12 steps were most likely the “scale” which Bahat referred to. Although the only source that mentions this location is of a later date, it is still our only authority. It is stated in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 88b:

“… they all proceeded to the Hall of Hewn Stones, where they [i.e., the Great Sanhedrin] sat from the morning tamid  until the evening tamid; on Sabbaths and festivals they [the members of the Temple Sanhedrin] sat within the hel”.

Both terrace and steps are mentioned in Middot 2.3:

“Inside this [soreg] was the Rampart (hel), ten cubits broad. And there were twelve steps there; the height of each step was half a cubit and the tread thereof was half a cubit.”

We have illustrated this location in our book “The Ritual of the Temple in the Time of Christ” and in a corresponding CD.

In the illustration we see  the little figure of Jesus in blue (see arrow) with a few of the teachers (in white) on the hel above the 12 steps during that first visit to the Temple. Jesus was there during the Feast of Passover and it may possibly have been the first time that he would have realized that he was that to be that ultimate Passover sacrifice and that he would have to lay down his life for his friends.

It is always worth visiting the Temple Institute when visiting the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Temple Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, and the central role it fulfilled, and will once again fulfill, in the spiritual wellbeing of both Israel and all the nations of the world. The Institute’s work touches upon the history of the Holy Temple’s past, an understanding of the present day, and the Divine promise of Israel’s future. The Institute’s activities include education, research, and development. The Temple Institute’s ultimate goal is to see Israel rebuild the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, in accord with the Biblical commandments.

The Institute announced that early this year they are moving to a new location, a couple of hundred meters from their present location on Misgav Ladach Street. This new site is located directly above the Herodian Quarter that was excavated by the late Prof. Nahman Avigad and which contains the remains of what was possibly the Palace of Annas the High Priest.

The Temple Institute is delighted to announce that after twenty five years of introducing visitors the world over to the sacred vessels of the Holy Temple and the dream, along with the practical measures being taken for rebuilding the Holy Temple, our headquarters will be moving in early 2013 to a new, expanded facility, which will include a brand new Visitors Center. Just a few hundred meters from our current location the new center will be located just above the Yehudah HaLevy stairs which lead from Jerusalem’s Old City Jewish Quarter down to the Western Wall Plaza facing the Temple Mount. The new exhibition will include a highly advanced, state of the art presentation of the Temple-ready sacred vessels created by the Institute, garments of the High Priest, oil-paintings depicting aspects of the Divine service of the Holy Temple and model of the Holy Temple Complex. Visitors will also be able to see a scaled-down stone altar, made in accordance with Torah law, transportable and completely ready for use on the Temple Mount.

In the events section of their website they show a massive Laver being transported to the new premises:

This post has many pictures showing how the Laver was made.

The exhibition space available will be three times as large as that at the current site. Below, we see one of the halls being prepared for future use:

Renovation work is being carried out in the north of the Temple Mount. Large blue drapes cover part of the Antonia Rockscarp and razor-sharp barbed wire has closed off the area.

By the looks of it, the building on top of the rockscarp is undergoing much needed restoration. Here stands the madrasa (Islamic religious school) of al-Jawiliyya that was built in the Mamluk period, between 1315 and 1320. Inside this building is a large vaulted semi-enclosed area opening up to a courtyard which has adjacent rooms that look out over the Temple Mount area.

In the Ottoman period, this building was the seat of government of Jerusalem. To its west stands the Umarriya School for boys, that was established here during the British Mandate in 1923.

In the Herodian period, this was the location of the Antonia Fortress that overlooked the Temple Mount. In the northwest corner of the Temple Mount stands the Ghawanima minaret, behind which there was a staircase leading up to the roof of the porticoes and the entrance to the Antonia Fortress. This forms the backdrop to the scene portrayed in Acts 21 and 22. Climbing up this stairway, Paul would have reached the top of the north portico from where he addressed the people. Here Paul defended himself against his countrymen in the Hebrew language.

In the courtyard of this fortress, he was bound with cords and prepared for scourging. Proposals that this was the Praetorium of the gospels have been discounted and this is now understood to have been located in Herod’s Palace that stood in the west of the city.

The sockets for the northern portico can still be seen in the rockscarp today, cut into the Herodian masonry that formed the south wall of the Antonia, see the drawing below. This is one of many illustrations of the Antonia Fortress, published in my book The Quest – Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on pages 123-131. It is to be hoped that this renovation will not obscure or damage these vitally important archaeological remains.

HT: Alexander Schick