Archaeology of Jerusalem...

March 15, 2009

Today we had yet another field study, this one for Archaeology. We were going to look at the Southern Wall excavations, but due to the rain, we headed instead to the Wohl Museum. This is another place that I had been to on my first visit to the city and hadn't yet re-visited. I don't remember much about my first visit, but I have no doubt that we were given more information this time around. :)

From the late 40's to the early 60's the Jewish quarter in the old city was under the control of the Jordanian government and by the time it was re-take by the state of Israel in the 60's, much of it had been destroyed. Some of the buildings were at least partially salvageable, but many were only rubble. These later buildings were cleared away in preparation for re-building. However, before construction commenced, the Israelis realized that this was a rare opportunity to "look under the skirt of the city" (as my professor put it) and so they commenced to excavate on these newly cleared areas. Nahman Avigad was in charge of the excavations. About 30 different areas in the Jewish Quarter of the old city were excavated. They found a variety of different finds from different periods, some dating all the way back to the Iron Age (or First Temple Period). After the excavations were finished, buildings were, of course, placed over all of these sites. However, in many cases the buildings were built so that the discoveries under them would still be accessible. In the case of the Wohl Museum, one specific time period is conserved for display - the second temple period. (Everything else was either removed or coverd up so as not to confuse visitors.)

What Avigad found in this area, and what we subsequently explored today, is a few very large mansions: rich, luxurious, and apparently belonging to Jews, as evidenced by the numerous mikvaot (ritual baths). We saw quite a few mosaics, pillars, frescoes, various household implements, and coins. All of these things were likely destroyed/buried in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. They give us quite a lot of insight into the time in which the New Testament was written. I won't bore you with the details of what kinds of pottery was used for what, but rest assured that we were given very detailed explanations of things that you never even knew existed. :)

We then ventured out in the rain again (not hard rain, just enough to make my notes completely illegible). We looked a little at excavations near the temple mount, and then at excavations along the modern day southern wall. It's an incredibly complex city. Everywhere you look there are archaeological remains, and most likely the remains are a mixture of 3 different times (and probably 3 different religions). Even on our own campus we have remains of a tower and a wall that were part of the "First wall" from Hasmonean times. One could study this city for a life time and not even begin to know all of her secrets.

It was a wet and cold morning, and I was glad to get home, but it was good to learn and soak up a little of Gabi's knowledge of the city.