Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem’s Sacred Esplanade

A new book on the Temple Mount was published today in Jerusalem. It has been widely reported, for example here, here, here and elsewhere. Various Jewish, Muslim and Christian authors discuss the meaning of the Temple Mount, called in this book the “Sacred Esplanade”. The book is a collection of essays by renowned scholars on the history, archaeology, aesthetics and politics of the place that Jews revere as the location of their two ancient temples, and that now houses the Al Aksa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. The aim was to “to try to dispel insensitivity born of ignorance.”

Book

According to Miriam Feinberg Vamosh this aim was not achieved: “Despite their best efforts to produce an ecumenical book, the editors of this beautiful volume on the Temple Mount could not induce their Jewish, Christian and Muslim authors to agree on a single narrative, a fact that only confirms the complex and deeply held variety of traditions associated with the site.”

The wanton ignorance of archaeological evidence of the ancient temples, despite the many discoveries which prove that a Jewish Temple once graced the Temple Mount, has sadly led many Palestinians to deny any real Jewish attachment or claim to the plateau.

Nevertheless, I look forward to reading this book.

Source: Joe Lauer

New Studies on Jerusalem

On Thursday, December 24, 2009 a conference will be held dealing with new studies on Jerusalem at the Ingeborg Rennert Center, Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, The Faculty of Jewish Studies at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel. The conference will be held in Hebrew, but the proceedings with English abstracts will be available at the conference. If you understand Hebrew and are lucky enough to be in Israel at that time, here is the programme:

8:20 gathering
8:45 opening remarks:
Prof. Joshua Schwartz, Director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies
Prof. Avraham Faust & Dr. Eyal Baruch, conference organizers

Session 1 – 9:00-10:55
Chair: Eyal Baruch
09:00 Ronny Reich & Eli Shukron- Channel II in the City of David, Jerusalem: Technical Details, Date and Function
09:20 Avraham Faust- King David’s Palace, a Hellenistic Structure or a Jebusite Fort: A Reexamination of the Large Stone Structure Unearthed by Eilat Mazar in the City of David
09:40 Moshe Garsiel- The Book of Samuel: Compilation Stages and Historical Value for Describing David’s Kingdom and His Capital in Jerusalem
10:05 Ehud Nezer- An opus reticulatum Structure, West of the Old City, Jerusalem
10:25 Ram Bouchnick, Omri Larnow, Guy Bar-Oz & Ronny Reich- Jerusalem Fish Menu from the Late Second Temple Period
10:45 Discussion
10:55 Break

Session 2 – 11:20-13:10
Chair: Joshua Schwartz
11:20 Michael Ben-Ari- Simchat Beit Sho’eva – The Origins of the Custom.
11:40 Varda Sussman- Shaving/paring of Herodian Oil Lamps
12:00 Ze’ev H. Erlich (Jabo) – What is the ‘Kotel ha-Katan?’
12:20 Amos Kloner- The Damascus Gate
12:40 Yoav Farhi & Oded Lifshitz- A Unique Bulla from the Ramat Rahel Excavations Bearing the Name of Hadrian
13:00 Discussion

13:10 Lunch Break

Session 3 – 14:20-16:30
Chair: Josef Drory
14:20 Yehoshua Peleg- Were the Temple Mount Gates Reconstructed in the Second Century CE?

14:40 Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig- A Roman Period Centaur Relief from the Temple Mount
15:00 Perez Reuven- A Decorated Beam from the Roman Period in the Temple Mount
15:20 Bat-Sheva Garsiel- The Status of Jerusalem in Early Islamic Theological Writings
15:40 Michael Ehrlich- The Southern Quarters of Jerusalem during the Medieval Period: A Multi-Periodical Overview
16:00 Oded Shay- The Contribution Made by the Jerusalem-based Monk Father Antonin, to Jewish Studies and to the Research of the Material Culture of Palestine in the Final Years of the Ottoman period
16:20 Discussion
16:30 Break

Session 4 – 17:00-18:30
Chair: Boaz Zissu
17:00 Amos Frumkin & Boaz Lengford- The Research of a Karstic Cave Used for Refuge in the Jerusalem Hills
17:20 Boaz Zissu & Roi Porat- A Hoard of Coins and Other Finds from the Bar-Kokhba Period, Recently Discovered in a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills
17:40 Guy Stiebel- “On the Edge” – Military Equipment from a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills
18:00 Hanan Eshel- New Discoveries from a Refuge Cave in the Jerusalem Hills, and their Contribution to the Study of the Bar-Kokhba War
18:20 Discussion

Source: Joe Lauer

Leprosy in Jerusalem

In 1994 my archaeologist-wife Kathleen and I wrote an article in Biblical Archaeology Review (Nov/Dec 1994) called “Akeldama – Potter’s Field or Priestly Cemetery?” Akaldama is mentioned in the Bible as a burial place for strangers, bought with the money given to Judas to betray Jesus (Acts 1.19). Akeldama means Field of Blood, for Judas, while trying to hang himself, fell down and his body burst open.

We then suggested that a small, but beautifully decorated tomb in the area below St. Onuphrius Monastery might have belonged to Annas the High Priest, who condemned Jesus to death, for the Temple Mount could be viewed from this tomb and the architectural decoration of the tomb has been copied from the Temple Mount. There are other decorated tombs in this area. Instead of a burial place for strangers, this area was most likely the cemetery of priestly families.

TombAnnasTn
Entrance to the Tomb of Annas the High Priest

AnnasTombTn
Reconstruction of the Tomb of Annas (© Ritmeyer Archaeological Design)

In June 2000, another tomb was accidentally found, which contained bones and remains of a linen shroud. The tomb is located next to the tomb which we had identified as Tomb of Annas. Carbon-14 dating showed that the shroud dated from the first half of the first century AD. It has been reported that a new analysis has now showed that the man to whom the shroud belonged suffered from leprosy. Leprosy is mentioned in the Bible, but this is the first time that archaeological evidence has proved that it actually existed. Joe Lauer pointed me to an article in the Daily Mail, which has several photographs of the tomb.

It is interesting to note that this shroud doesn’t look at all like the Turin Shroud. The shroud in Jerusalem was made up of several wrappings and there was a separate wrapping for the head. This would, of course, be in harmony with the burial of Jesus, whose body was buried with a separate head cloth (John 20.27).

National Geographic’s The Holy Land Special Issue

While we were in the US, we noticed a special November 2009 issue of the National Geographic on The Holy Land.

It has many interesting articles about the Holy Land, but it also has a previously published poster of the Temple Mount as an insert. We described this poster, of which we were one of the contributors, in this previous blog post. Many readers asked for copies of this map and we are delighted to announce that it is still available inside this special issue.

If you don’t have a subscription to the National Geographic, you can order this special issue here.

Here is a view of the poster, reproduced with permission of the National Geographic Society:

Conferences and Lectures in New Orleans

My wife Kathleen and I enjoyed our time last week in New Orleans and even had time to sail on the Mississippi on the Steamboat Natchez. It was also interesting to listen to the many stories about the Katrina disaster four years ago. People’s lives are still dominated by that event. Their recent history seems to be divided in pre- and post-Katrina periods. The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where I lectured for two days as the Manuel Lectureship Speaker, is only now getting back to normal, after having had to move to Atlanta, as most of the campus was flooded.

natchezweb

There were many lectures to choose from at the ASOR, ETS, SBL and NEAS conferences. We attended lectures, ranging from Satellite Remote Sensing, the Location of Sodom, through the latest updates of recent archaeological excavations, such as Kh. Qeiyafa and Tell Es-Safi/Gath, to a fascinating section on Teaching Archaeology.

The latter section was at times hilarious, listening to archaeologists who had to teach archaeology, without having had any prior teacher training, to students who didn’t know anything about the subject at all. Reading assignments sometimes produced gems like the title of Eric Cline’s lecture: “The Israelites Wondered in the Dessert for 40 years” and “Before the Printing Press, it took 300 Sheep to Write the Bible”.

Here is a comment on my lecture on “The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – Deciphering Its Story”.

Lectures by Dr. Leen Ritmeyer

On Nov. 15th and 16th, I have been invited by Dr. Dennis Cole to lecture at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on two topics:
• The History and Archaeology of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
• The History and Archaeology of Herodian Jerusalem.

On Nov. 18th, 9.00 am, I am scheduled to deliver a lecture for ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research), also in New Orleans, on:
• The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount – Deciphering its Story.

The Eastern Wall is the most interesting of all the Temple Mount walls, as three types of masonry can be discerned: Herodian, Hasmonean and Iron Age (8th Century B.C.). These masonry types are directly linked with the historical development of the Temple Mount.
EastWallBlog

New excavations planned below the Western Wall Plaza

According to this report, new excavations are planned below the Western Wall Plaza. The present level would be supported by pillars and an additional underground area would be available for worship/visiting. Here is an artist’s impression:
kotel_dig

This is not a new idea, for already in 1967 plans were drawn up to excavate below this area. The plan called for an excavated area below ground level, but also retaining the level of the plaza as it was then:
kotel1967-12

It would be fascinating to see more of the Western Wall in this area and also to see Barclay’s Gate to its full height. This drawing shows the visible remains of Barclay’s Gate above ground today and the original size of the gate:
fig12blog
(This drawing was published in The Quest, p.26)

Coins from ancient Jewish revolt found near Temple Mount on display

AP reported that an interesting collection of coins, which was found below the Herodian street along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, is on display at the Davidson Centre. One coin, with a date palm portrayed on it, dates from one year before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

A peek into excavations near the Temple Mount

Just over a week ago I led a tour through the Western Wall tunnels and saw some very deep excavations between the foundations of buildings which date from the Mamluk period (14th-15th Century AD). Excavations are continuing until bedrock is reached. Several mikva’ot (Jewish ritual baths) from the Second Temple period were observed – an indication that Jerusalem was indeed Jewish at the time. Here is a picture I took of one of the deepest excavation pits:

WWHFdig

Joe Lauer sent me this report, showing that not everybody is happy with the excavations. The title of the article is misleading, as no excavations are conducted inside the Temple Mount. The Muslim claim that tunnels are dug within the Temple Mount are not true. The whole area lies to the west of the Temple Mount. An invitation to tour the area was turned down by Muslims. How can one reach understanding when dialogue is refused?

New Discoveries Related to Temple Mount

Todd Bolen’s blog post gives an excellent overview of discoveries related to the Temple Mount. Worth reading!