Jesus’ Baptismal Site to open to the public

According to this Jerusalem Post report, the site where Jesus was baptised will be opened to the public in 10 days’ time, on January 18, 2011. See also Todd Bolen’s report here.

When we tried to visit the site last year, following the signs for Qasr el-Yahud, we found that the road was blocked by a military fence and gate.

Leen at the road sign for the Baptismal Site
Military fence on the road to Bethabara

There was a sign which we ignored because we didn’t understand what “photgraphy” was!

View of Bethabara from the fence

It will be wonderful to visit this site, which has been off-limits for 42 years. The site where Jesus was baptised is called Bethabara in John 1.28. The Hebrew name Bethabara means the “Place of Crossing”. Not only was it a suitable place where travellers crossed the River Jordan opposite Jericho, but the name also indicates that it was the place where the Israelites crossed over into the Promised Land after the death of Moses.

This drawing from our Image Library shows the location of the Camp of Israel in the Plains of Moab opposite Jericho (Numbers 33.48,49). Here, the scene is set for the crossing of the Israelites into the Promised Land. The place where they crossed the River Jordan is called Bethabara, where later Jesus was baptised (John 1.28).

The crossing of the Jordan is described in Joshua 3.15,16 (quotes from ESV):

“as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks othroughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.”

The Ark Passes over the Jordan, by J. James Tissot (1836-1902)

Bethabara played an important role in the life of Jesus, as he returned there many times after his baptism. He went there, for example, after his rejection in Jerusalem during Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, “He went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.” (John 10.40). “Beyond Jordan” is, of course, also the place where the Camp of Israel was located just before they entered the Promised Land! Undoubtedly this site had a strong impact on the mind of Jesus as he would have been very familiar with the Biblical events that took place there.

After Jesus was baptised, he was tempted in the wilderness nearby. He used the words of Deuteronomy to counter the temptations of the devil. Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy while Israel was encamped “beyond Jordan” (Deut. 31.9).

According to the Madaba map, Bethabara is on the west side of the Jordan (see white arrow)

After the crossing, Joshua commanded to take out 12 stones and place them in the next camping place, Gilgal: “these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever” (Joshua 4.7). As John was baptising here, he probably referred to these 12 stones when he said: “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Matthew 3.9).

Bethabara features again in the book of Judges. To complete his victory over the Midianites, Gideon:

“sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb.” (Judges 7.24,25).

This victory is reflected in a psalm when David longed for the victory over Israel’s future enemies “Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb”, looking forward to a time when their adversaries would be confounded forever (Psalm 83.11,18).

And there are still further references in Scripture to Bethabara: During the rebellion of Absalom, King David crossed here and returned later via the same crossing place:

“So the king came back to the Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan. ” (2 Samuel 19.15).

Bethabara is also the place where Elijah and Elisha went after leaving Jericho. There “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2.11).

Giovanni Battista's (1683-1754) painting of Elijah ascending in a whirlwind

A visit to this site will be a valuable addition to any tour of the Land. Needless to say, such a visit would be greatly enriched if it is with “Bible in hand”, in order to reflect on all the significant events that took place here. Hopefully I will be able to see the place from the other side, when I visit Tall el-Hammam in Jordan.

Herod’s Palace as a Cultural Center

Having returned from Canada, where we gave a series of lectures on places mentioned in the Gospels, we bring this news item to your attention.

A former prison, locally known as the Kishle, that was built over the ruins of Herod’s Palace in Jerusalem, will soon feature a concert as “one of many performances and exhibits that the Tower of David Museum plans to hold in the Ottoman compound, once it turns it into a hall that it seeks to open to the public by June”.

The new hall will host summertime cultural events that are part of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, sponsored by the Schusterman Foundation, with temporary platforms to be built over the ongoing archaeological excavations. In the future, the Tower of David Museum, which had 300,000 visitors in 2010, plans to use the Kishle compound to house temporary exhibits and shows while allowing visitors to take a look at the archaeological finds beneath their feet.

Herod's palace stood at the northwest corner of the First Wall, which was fortified by the Towers of Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne. Only the remians of the Hippicus Tower have been found.

The Tower of David Museum, which is housed in the Citadel, is an excellent place to visit as one can trace the history of Jerusalem through well-designed exhibits. The remains of the massive Hippicus Tower can still be seen today near the Jaffa Gate.

This is a reconstruction drawing of the First Wall near Herod's Palace with the towers discovered inside the courtyard of the Citadel, which is shown in light color. In the foreground are the original Hasmonean Southern and Middle Towers which Herod strengthened. The Hippicus Tower stands at the north-west corner of the First Wall.

Anger over Temple Mount report

The State Comptroller has prepared a report on the wanton destruction caused by the Waqf on the Temple Mount, and on Israel’s response. The Committee to Prevent Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities is up in arms that the lion’s share of the report will not be publicized.

Read the rest of today’s Israel National News report here.

You can read some of our earlier posts on this issue here.

Building Solomon’s Temple

An exhibition “Building Solomon’s Temple” will be held from January 17 – May 27, 2011, in The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ, UK. Hopefully the snow will have disappeared by then.

For more than 200 years, the concept of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem had been central to organised freemasonry and had influenced its symbolism, architecture and ceremonies. Biblical scholars and early freemasons had only been able to use the few biblical references to construct their images of the Temple on paper and later on ceramics, textiles and glass. Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt reawakened interest in the Middle East.

The formation of an English lodge in Jerusalem was the result of the opening up of the area to archaeology and tourism from the middle of the nineteenth century in which many freemasons were involved. Freemasons such as the American Rob Morris and Sir Charles Warren journeyed to Jerusalem on archaeological excavations and wrote about their visits. The recovery of archaeological remains and the development of tourism enabled them to bring back tangible fragments to furnish English lodge rooms and reinforce the imaginary Masonic temple.

During his work in Jerusalem, Charles Warren discovered an underground hall near Wilson’s Arch, which he called the “Masonic Hall”. In his book Recovery of Jerusalem, p.87, Warren writes:

This chamber acquired the name of the Masonic Hall from some circumstances connected with its discovery.

This is a reconstruction drawing of the Masonic Hall that was discovered by Charles Warren. The remains on which the drawing is based form part of a complex system of vaults lying to the west of Wilson's Arch beneath the present-day Street of the Chain.

It is not difficult to imagine what these circumstances were. The above-mentioned Dr. Robert Morris was Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, who, on the 13th of May, 1868, during a freemason’s convention in Jerusalem directed a Secret Monitor Ceremony in the Cave of Zedekiah, popularly known as King Solomon’s Quarries, deep under the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. This ceremony took place at the time when Warren had just discovered this underground hall. Being a freemason himself, Warren called this building the Masonic Hall in honor of the ceremony.

The building has been identified as the Council Chamber, mentioned by Josephus in his description of the First Wall (War 5.142-144). It was one of the buildings where the Sanhedrin met.

Israel expects major earthquake

There have been previous earthquake warnings in Israel and Haaretz reports today again that a major earthquake may hit Israel at any tine. Read the full report here.

Dr. Avi Shapira, the chairman of the inter-ministry steering committee for earthquake preparedness, asserts that a strong earthquake can be expected here within the next 50 years. That is, it could happen today, tomorrow, 10 minutes from now, or 10 years from now. A powerful quake in Israel is therefore not a question of “if,” but rather a question of “when.”

The El Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount suffered major damage in the earthquake of 1927

The last deadly earthquake struck the Land of Israel in July 1927, damaging Jericho, Nablus, Ramle, Jerusalem and many rural locales. In January 1837, a strong earthquake occurred in the Galilee, and killed thousands of people in Safed and Tiberias. In Safed alone the number was estimated at 2,400.

Three people were killed when this house on the Mount of Olives was destroyed in the earthquake of 1927

The earthquake that took place during the last year of King Uzziah was still remembered some 400 years later (Zech. 14.5).

Epigraphy and Daily Life – Conference in Memory of Hanan Eshel

From the Agade list:

“See, I will bring a scroll recounting what befell me” (Ps 40:8)

The Second International Conference of the Jeselsohn Epigraphic Center
of Jewish History, Epigraphy and Daily Life – From the Bible to the Talmud,
is dedicated to the memory of Professor Hanan Eshel, who sadly died on 8 April of this year at the age of 52, and will take place on Sunday, 2 January, 2011, The Nanotechnology Building (no. 206), Bar-Ilan University. Here is the program:

09:15 – 09:45 Reception
09:45 – 10:30 Greetings

Chair: Dr. Esther Eshel, Acting Head of the Jeselsohn Center,
Bar-Ilan University

Prof. Moshe Kaveh, President, Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Eliezer Tauber, Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University

Prof. Avraham Faust, Chair, The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of
Israel Studies and Archeology, Bar-Ilan University

10:30 – 12:00 Session 1: The First Temple Period
Chair: Dr. Ze’ev Meshel, Tel-Aviv University

Prof. Shmuel Ahituv, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
The Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions: Language and Religion

Prof. Amihai Mazar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Comments on 10-9th Centuries BCE Inscriptions from the Land of Israel
and their Research

Prof. Aaron Demsky, Bar-Ilan University
Researching Literacy in Ancient Israel – Recent Approaches

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch

13:00 – 14:30 Session 2: The Second Temple Period
Chair: Prof. Amos Kloner, Bar-Ilan University

Prof. Lester L. Grabbe (University of Hull, UK)
Scribes, Writing, and Epigraphy in the Second Temple Period

Dr. Ada Yardeni, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Unprovenanced Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea

Prof. Uriel Rappaport, University of Haifa
Historical Aspects of the Jewish Coin Inscriptions

14:30 – 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 – 16:30 Session 3: The Mishnaic and Talmudic Periods
Chair: Prof. Albert Baumgarten, Bar-Ilan University

Dr. Uzi Leibner, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Inscriptions from the Synagogue of Khirbet Wadi Hamam

Dr. David Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority
Jewish Stamps for Bread, Wine and Olive Oil

Prof. Gideon Bohak, Tel-Aviv University
Amulets in the Daily Lives of Jews in Antiquity

16:30 – 17:15 Coffee Break

17:15 – 18:15 Special Session in Memory of Hanan Eshel
Chair: Dr. David Jeselsohn, Founder of the Jeselsohn Epigraphic Center
of Jewish History

Prof. Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University
Hanan Eshel’s Contribution to the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Israel Remembers the Holy Temple

Today, the 10th of the Hebrew month Tevet, Israel Remembers the Holy Temple and the Holocaust.

Friday is the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, a fast day on which Jews remember the siege of Jerusalem that preceded the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile. The siege is described in the Bible in the Book of Kings.

It is always sad to remember the destruction of such a beautiful building. Read more here.

Solomon's Temple

The design of this beautiful model of Solomon’s Temple is based on the description in the Book of Kings. The Temple had a high Porch, supported by two bronze pillars, called Yachin and Boaz. The inner sanctuary was divided into two rooms, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place), where the Ark of the Covenant stood. A three-storey high structure surrounded the sanctuary. In front of the Temple stood the Altar, the bronze Basin (Sea) and ten smaller basins.
This Temple was frequently damaged and rebuilt during its long history and it was the Temple described in the Book of Chronicles, that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

The sadness of its destruction is expressed in the Book of Lamentations 2.1:

How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion junder a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger. (ESV)

Roman statue discovered in Ashkelon

It doesn’t often happen that the weather helps archaeologists. Haaretz reported that a massive storm caused a collapse along the Ashkelon coast and revealed a statue of a headless woman. The report also has a slide show of the discovery.

The massive storm that swept through Israel over the weekend caused a great deal of damage to archaeological sites all along the Mediterranean coast, but also uncovered a an impressive statue of a woman between 1650 and 1800 years old in Ashkelon.

A statue from Roman times discovered in Ashkelon after a cliff collapsed, revealing archaeological treasures. © Ilan Assayag

The Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem

One of the questions I am frequently asked is where the Beautiful Gate of the Temple was located. This gate is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 3.2,10) as the place where the lame man was begging. After he was healed by Peter and John “he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God” (Acts 3.8).

The “Beautiful Gate” is not mentioned in  other historical sources. Many scholars have accepted Thackeray’s comment on Josephus’ description of the Nicanor Gate, or the Corinthian Gate as he called it (War 5.201,204), that it “probably” was the gate of Acts 3.2,10. Edersheim was of the same opinion.

The Nicanor Gate stood in front of Herod's Temple. It gave access from the Court of the Women to the Temple Courts. In front of this gate were fifteen semi-circular steps on which Levites sang the fifteen "Psalms of the Steps" (Psalms 120-134 of Degrees or Ascents). © Leen Ritmeyer

The Nicanor Gate (Middot 1.4, 2.3,6; Yoma 3.10, etc.) was certainly beautiful, but the question is, would the lame man have been allowed to enter so far into the Temple Courts? This appears not to have been the case, as once he was healed, he entered into the Temple Courts (Acts 3.8), so the Nicanor Gate could not have been the Beautiful Gate. According to Acts 3.11 the healed man and Peter and John were in Solomon’s Porch, which is to the east of the Court of the Women.

An overall view of a model of the Temple Mount looking from the northwest. In the foreground is the Antonia Fortress, while the Temple with its surrounding buildings stood close to the centre of the Temple Mount. The lower portico above the Eastern Wall (upper centre) was known as Solomon's Porch, mentioned in John 10.23 and Acts 3.11; 5.12. © Leen Ritmeyer

Others have suggested that the Beautiful Gate must have been one of the outer gates of the Temple Mount. Because of its proximity to Solomon’s Porch, some have suggested that the Shushan Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount, may have been the Beautiful Gate, as it had a beautiful representation of Shushan the Palace (Middot 1.3).

Herod's Temple Mount viewed from the northeast. On the east of the Temple was the large Court of the Women (centre left), also known in the Gospels as the Treasury. The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount with the Shushan Gate and the city wall can be seen at the bottom of the image. © Leen Ritmeyer

According to Mishnah Kelim 1.8, nobody with an issue of any kind was allowed into the Temple Mount. Although the lame man need not have had an issue, his infirmity may have put him in the same category. Another point to consider is the fact that he was begging. To get the best results, one would want to be where the traffic was greatest, which is another argument which would rule out the Nicanor Gate, as not many people were allowed to go through this gate. It would also rule out the Shushan Gate, which was mainly used for ceremonial purposes.

An overall view of a model of Herod's Temple Mount looking from the south. In the foreground is the Royal Stoa above the Southern Wall, while the Temple with its surrounding buildings stood close to the centre of the Temple Mount. There were two gates in the Southern Wall, the Double Gate with its monumental stairway is on the left and the Triple Gate on the right. © Leen Ritmeyer

A more likely location would have been the Double Gate in the southern wall of the Temple Mount, which I have described in my book The Quest, Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, pp. 67-74.  A 210 feet (64 m) wide monumental stairway led up to this gate from the lower plaza. Because of its monumental proportions, this gate was probably used by most of the pilgrims going to worship at the Temple.

A reconstruction drawing of the Double Gate of Herod's Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Most of the elements have been preserved, including the domes inside the double passageway. Some researchers have proposed that this beautifully decorated gateway was the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, mentioned in Acts 3.10. © Leen Ritmeyer

The ceiling inside the passageway has beautifully carved domes, which have survived up to today. Most of the worshipers went up to the Temple Courts through this gate, which was certainly beautiful and very effective for begging purposes, as suggested on p. 74 of the above mentioned book.

We suggest then that Peter and John healed the lame man at the Double Gate and from there he went “walking and jumping” to Solomon’s Porch.

Ancient Maps of Jerusalem and Palestine

In his Weekend Roundup, Todd Bolen mentioned that “The Israel National Library website has an extensive collection of maps of Palestine, dating from 1462 to 1927.”

Hundreds of maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land have been digitized and put on the website. This is a treasure trove for map lovers. The website has a fascinating introduction to the Story of the Maps. You can search for maps by date or by the person who made them. Many maps have been made by fellow Dutchmen, which made me feel at home.

Being in the process of building our own Image Library, which involves the scanning and digital enhancing of the many drawings I have made over the last decades, we can fully appreciate what a laborious work it must have been to get all these maps digitized.

Map of Jerusalem ca. 1200. © Koninklijke Bibliotheek

My attention was naturally drawn to the special section on Jerusalem. The oldest digitized map dates from ca. 1200 and is well-known, having been reprinted frequently. The original map is part of a Latin Psalter which is kept in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands) in The Hague.

The Ichnography of the Temple of Jerusalem by H. Prideaux DD. © The Jewish National and University Library & The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

A Temple plan, entitled “The Ichnography (ground plan) of the Temple of Jerusalem with a description of the same. Delineated & Described according to the Scriptures, Josephus & the Talmud by H. Prideaux DD. Dean of Norwich” shows that he has struggled to harmonize the Temple descriptions in Josephus and the Mishnah. The lengthy description makes for interesting reading.

Looking at these old maps, we can be thankful for the many archaeological excavations that have taken place in Jerusalem and are still on-going, so that we now have a much clearer picture of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.