Ancient Jerusalem Research Articles

Towards an Inclusive Archaeology in Jerusalem: The Case of Silwan/The City of David

The village of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, contains the remains of most ancient Jerusalem, often termed “The City of David”. In recent years the excavation and presentation of the archaeology of Silwan has been placed in the hands of a Jewish settler non-governmental organization. Their incorporation of this site into the Jewish-Israeli narrative is multifaceted — mixing religious nationalism with theme-park tourism. As a result, conflict with local Palestinians occurs at the very basic level of existence, where the past is used to disenfranchise and displace people in the present. The volatile mix of history, religion and politics in the City of David/Silwan threatens any future reconciliation in Jerusalem, which must be based on the empowerment of local people and the adoption of a proactive inclusive archaeological stance in which the many voices of the past are heard.

Seeking in Modern Athens an Answer to the Ancient Jerusalem Question

Carl Schmitt's Political Theology, recycled into The Concept of the Political, was meant to be to political theory what the Book of Job has been to Judaism, and through Judaism to Christianity. It was intended/designed/ hoped to answer one of the most notoriously haunting of the born-in-Jerusalem questions: a sort of question with which the most famous of the born-in-Jerusalem ideas, the idea of the one and only God, omnipresent and omnipotent creator, judge and saviour of the whole Earth and the whole humanity, could not but be pregnant. The question, however, had to be born once the Hebrew Prophet Jesus declared the omnipotent God to be in addition the God of Love, and when his disciple, St Paul, brought the good tidings to Athens — a place where questions, once asked, were expected to be answered, and answered in tune with the rules of logic. Taking absolute power, the God of monotheistic religion took absolute responsibility for the blessings and blows of fate. The Book of Job recasts the frightening randomness of Nature as the frightening arbitrariness of its ruler: God speaks and gives commands. But just like numb Nature, he is not bound by what humans think or do. He can make exceptions. Indeed, the rule of norm is by definition irreconcilable with a true sovereignty — with the absolute power to decide. To be absolute, power must include the right to neglect/suspend/ abolish the norm. Schmitt's idea of sovereignty would engrave the preformed vision of divine order onto the ground of legislative order. Power to exempt founds simultaneously God's absolute power and the human's continuing, incurable fear born of insecurity. This is exactly what happens, according to Schmitt, in case of the human sovereign no longer handcuffed by norms. Thanks to that power of exemption, humans are, as they were in the pre-Law times, vulnerable and uncertain.

A History of Pottery and Potters in Ancient Jerusalem: Excavations by K. M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961–1967. H. J. Franken.

<i>A History of Pottery and Potters in Ancient Jerusalem: Excavations by K. M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961–1967</i>. H. J. Franken.

A History of Potters and Pottery in Ancient Jerusalem: Excavations by K. M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967. H. J. Franken.

<i>A History of Potters and Pottery in Ancient Jerusalem: Excavations by K. M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967</i>. H. J. Franken.

Barbara Green: How Have the Mighty Fallen?

AbstractBarbara Green's monograph, How Are the Mighty Fallen?, is a welcome addition to biblical interpretation, in part because it functions as a practical handbook on Bakhtin's criticism for readers. In this regard Green is an insightful teacher. Additionally she demonstrates that 1 Samuel is a narrative essay evaluating the experience of kingship as a whole in ancient Jerusalem and Samaria, and she gives attention to the theological issues with which this superbly crafted narrative confronts its readers. On the other hand, perhaps the story of Saul in 1 Samuel is not a significant Deuteronomic adaptation. Knowing Deuteronomy and Judges in advance will influence the reading of 1 Samuel; but a reading of the entirety of 1 Samuel works—and may even work better—without such knowledge. Also, her comparison of Saul's end with the end of 2 Kings 25 may deserve closer critical scrutiny. Jehoiachin's end is not in Chronicles and is thus an editorial addition in 2 Kings 25 to an earlier tradition. It may not be a good witness to the historical situation which gave rise to the whole narrative, and of which Green finds that Saul and his death are playing an interpretive role.

“To What Shall I Compare You?”: Jerusalem as Ground Zero of the Hebrew Imagination

In September 1995, corresponding in the hebrew calendar to the month of ELuL 5755, Jerusalem celebrated its three-thousandth anniversary, dating from King David's conquest of the Jebusite city. Of those three millennia of recorded history, the Israelites dominated the region for only six centuries; although many physical and textual reminders of ancient Jerusalem attest to its status as the center of the Hebrew political and religious imagination, the city remains the most contested site on the global map.

The History of the Gih on Spring in Jerusalem

The perennial spring at the eastern side of ancient Jerusalem is identified with the biblical Gihon and is frequently mentioned in the documents. Its history is summarized in the light of new archaeological data. Associated ceramics from several periods have been recovered, but explanations are proposed for three gaps in the archaeological record, which are marked by a complete absence of ceramic evidence during the Late Bronze Age and Iron I, Persian and Early Hellenistic, and the Byzantine to Crusader periods.

INTERNAL CONTROLS IN THE TALMUD: THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE

We examine the Hebrew Talmud's account of internal controls in the ancient Jerusalem Temple (c.823 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.) This far-reaching enterprise involved an extensive system of sacrificial offerings, management of three annual pilgrimages, a court system and maintenance of a priestly class. We outline the annual process of collecting half-shekel and other donations, withdrawals from the Temple treasury and the sale of libations. The Talmud describes numerous internal controls: donations were segregated according to their specific purposes and donation chests were shaped with small openings to prevent theft. When making withdrawals from the Temple treasury, the priest-treasurer was required to wear specific clothing to prevent misappropriation of assets. The Treasury chamber itself had seven seals, requiring the presence of seven different individuals, including the king, in order to open it. The process of selling libations and meal offerings required purchasing and then redeeming different tickets, which were specifically marked to prevent fraud. In explaining the reasoning for this tight system of internal controls, the Talmud reveals that an individual “shall be guiltless before G-D and before Israel” [Numbers 32: 22], so that a sound system of internal controls prevents both theft and any suspicion of theft, thus establishing the fiscal credibility of the Temple institution in the eyes of its congregants. Such an approach indicates that accounting did not represent a profane, secular vocation at odds with the Temple's mission. To the contrary, a system of accountability formed integral steps in the Temple's ritual processes.

On Scroll-Making in Ancient Jerusalem

This paper, read to an Association of Bible collectors, considers the way in which a small scroll-making community constituted by a prophet, scribes, and political operators formed a community with an alternative vision of social reality in opposition to the dominant vision and the dominant power structure of ancient Jerusalem. It is proposed that this oppositional community that produced its subversive scroll began the scroll movement that eventuated in "canon," a text production that was characteristically subversive of established social vision.

Roman Intaglio Gemstones from Aelia Capitolina

A dozen Roman engraved gemstones (intaglios) dating from the first century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. were found during the excavations below the southern and western enclosure walls of the Temple Mount (1968–78). Diverse figures are depicted on the gemstones, such as gods, goddesses, heroes, animals and religious symbols. Some of the images are unique and represent the substantial contribution of glyptics to research of antiquity. The intaglio that depicts Tyche of Aelia Capitolin a is the sole representation of the city-goddess in any medium other than city coins. The snake coiled around an altar, a representation of the Genius of the wearer of the gem, has parallels only on wall paintings. The depiction of Telemachos, son of Ulysses, riding a quadriga is the first known depiction of that scene. A finely carved gemstone is the Dionysiac combination of four masks arranged in a form of a grape cluster. Several gems have a strong association with the Roman army, such as the one depicting Mars or the gemstone carved with an imperial eagle. The study of these intaglios provides a glimpse into the personal world of a dozen inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem and illuminates the character of the region revealed at the excavations.

Celestial Lodge Above: The Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem as a Religious Symbol in Freemasonry

The hangings in the lodge room are blue, spread with golden stars. The Master and all the brothers wear a white robe as well as a blue headband with twelve golden stars on it, tied around their foreheads. The Master sits under a blue canopy on a throne, behind which is a transparent light that is sufficient to illuminate the whole lodge. Facing is a painting or image of a square city, or the celestial Jerusalem, descending from heaven, to crush the remains of the present Jerusalem. A Serpent or hydra with three heads representing the badness of the infidels remains there. This Celestial Jerusalem, elevated as on a cloud, has twelve gates, three on each side with a Tree in the middle that bears twelve different sorts of fruits. Under this is the ancient Jerusalem which is in ruins and overturned, along with the Serpent which is in chains and appearing crushed by the weight of the Celestial Jerusalem. There is a high mountain on one side toward which the candidate (for initiation) is directed by the Warden (the guide), who then retreats backwards, and after a moment of silence, the candidate takes three steps toward the three-headed Serpent and steps on each of the heads. He then advances in a special way toward the city and receives the secret sign, token, and password of the degree. He is also given a crimson sash with twelve golden stars on which hang a square jewel of gold from the right shoulder to the left hip, on one side the letter Alpha and on the other Omega.1

Ancient Jerusalem Revealed. Hillel Geva

<i>Ancient Jerusalem Revealed</i>. Hillel Geva

The Holy Land Appropriated: The Careers of Selah Merrill, Nineteenth Century Christian Hebraist, Palestine Explorer, and U.S. Consul in Jerusalem

The Holy Land Appropriated: The Careers of Selah Merrill, Nineteenth Century Christian Hebraist, Palestine Explorer, and U.S. Consul in Jerusalem Shalom Goldman (bio) I. Selah Merrill and the Jews of Palestine “The Jew needs to learn that his place in the world will be determined by what he can do for himself, and not so much by what Abraham did for himself four thousand years ago. It has a most mischevious effect to be always associating the modern Jews with eminent men and deeds in the remote ages of the past.”* So wrote Selah Merrill, U.S. Consul in Jerusalem, in a report on Palestine. Merrill felt impelled to include in his report a long section entitled “Jews and Jewish Colonies in Palestine” in response to the Blackstone Memorial of 1891, which petitioned President Benjamin Harrison to support the convening of an international conference to discuss Jewish claims to Palestine. The Blackstone Memorial had over four hundred prominent signatories, the vast majority of them Protestants; for many of them the contemporary Jews were the natural heirs of the ancient Hebrews: “Why not give Palestine back to them again? According to God’s distribution of nations, it is their home, an inalienable possession, from which they were expelled by force.” 1 It was just such restorationist sentiment that Merrill so vehemently opposed. His report calls the memorial “one of the wildest schemes brought before the public.” It is the “character and habits of the modern Jews” that will doom their Palestine settlement efforts to failure. According to Merrill, the originators of the petition “appear to be ignorant of two great facts, (1) that Palestine is not ready for the Jews and (2) that the Jews are not ready for Palestine.” Merrill’s sentiments were not unusual among American Protestant [End Page 151] elites, especially among those serving in the diplomatic and consular services. As Ruth Kark has noted, Merrill’s first term as consul (1882–84) coincided with the beginnings of Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. Merrill was in the unique position of being able to respond negatively to Jewish immigration, to oppose Jewish settlement, and to shape State Department attitudes towards these settlement efforts. As Peter Grose writes in Israel in the Mind of America, Merrill’s 1891 report was “the first considered assessment of the Jewish restoration in the State Department files.” As Merrill’s assessment was highly negative and artic-ulated by a man considered “the most serious and influential of the nineteenth-century Jerusalem Consuls,” its conclusion, that the U.S. should not lend any support to the settlement of Palestine by the Jews, was taken to heart by many of Merrill’s colleagues at the State Department. 2 In examining Merrill’s attitudes towards Jewish settlement in Palestine it is worth noting that Merrill’s 25 year career as U.S. diplomat (1882–1907) was preceded by three other careers. He served as a Congregationalist minister, teacher of Hebrew in a theological seminary, and archeologist in Palestine. Up to the time of his appointment to the Jerusalem consulate by President Arthur, Merrill’s life was devoted to the study of the Bible and the Holy Land, and of those very “eminent men and deeds in the remote ages of the past” whose modern descendants he so heartily disdained. Merrill’s study of the ancient Hebrews did not stop when he entered the consular service. During his tenure as consul in Jerusalem he deepened his knowledge of the Biblical world through study of ancient languages and recovery of lost artifacts. His books and articles—among them East of the Jordan (1881), Galilee in the Time of Christ (1881) and Ancient Jerusalem (1908)—demonstrate a flair for writing and an ability to popularize new discoveries. His influence on other archeologists and biblical researchers was considerable, though to a large extent unrecognized. This combination of acute interest in the ancient Hebrews and intense disdain for their modern descendants bears examination. While Christian writers on Judaism often displayed ambivalence toward Jews, Merrill’s case is especially intriguing because his attitude towards Jews had political consequences. With the advent of Zionism, these ambivalent attitudes affected the consideration of Jewish claims...

Two chants in the Byzantine Rite for Holy Saturday

Among the ten celebrations of the Mass of St Basil in the Orthodox Church during the year are the conclusions to the three Vesper services immediately before the three major feasts of Christmas, Epiphany and Easter. Two of these Vesper services – those for Christmas Eve and the Eve of Epiphany – are of particular musical interest since they contain psalms with troparia or antiphons, for both of which the entire music can be transcribed from thirteenth-century manuscripts, so that these two services can be celebrated with what are, almost certainly, the oldest known complete examples of Byzantine psalm singing. From a recent paper of mine on these psalms, it can be gathered that they are examples of what is known as ‘responsorial psalmody’, the psalm itself being sung by a soloist, and the attached troparion by a choir of trained singers or psaltae. In both services they occur as punctuations of a series of readings, appearing in each case after the third and the sixth reading. On the Eve of Epiphany we should perhaps expect to find further psalms after the ninth and twelfth readings, since the series extends to thirteen readings in modern service books and to twelve in the early Middle Ages; yet no such psalms appear now or seem ever to have been sung at this point. And similarly, on Holy Saturday, when according to the ancient Jerusalem cursus twelve readings were given, to be extended in Constantinople to fifteen, no equivalents seem to have been performed at any point.

Subterranean Waterworks of Biblical Jerusalem: Adaptation of a Karst System

Ancient Jerusalem has long been known to possess a system of subterranean waterworks by which the spring of Gihon, which issues outside the walls, could be approached from within the city, and its waters diverted to an intramural pool. Most scholars regarded these waterworks as man-made, but the techniques of underground orientation and ventilation employed by the builders, as well as the numerous anomalies and ostensible mistakes in design, mystified investigators. Geological investigation has revealed the waterworks to be part of a well-developed karst system, a network of natural dissolution channels and shafts, in the limestone and dolomite underlying the city. Thus, it was not through primary planning but by means of skillful adaptation of these pre-existing natural features that the city was ensured of a dependable water supply during both war and peace. Likewise, knowledge of the subterranean access may have played a role in David's capture of the Jebusite city.

The Origins of a Tradition: King David‘s Tomb on Mount Zion

One of the most difficult objectives of research into sacred traditions is to reveal their underlying origins. For early periods, about which we have scanty and sporadic information, the scholar must be content with indicating the earliest piece of historical evidence that connects a tradition with a specific site, though the reasons for this connection often remain unexplained. The tradition that locates the tomb of King David on Mount Zion, the southwestern hill of ancient Jerusalem, has often been considered one such case. Nevertheless this case seems to be exceptional. In this study I shall attempt to show that it is possible not only to indicate the connection between a site and a tradition, but also to explain the circumstances of the emergence of this tradition.

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Four

(Suite). Dans cette quatrieme et derniere partie, l'A. traite de la coutume funeraire juive des ossuaires: receptacles des ossements (inhumation secondaire). Caracteristiques physiques des ossuaires. Leurs inscriptions. Leurs marques (croix, zig-zags, lettres des alphabets hebreu et grec). Les artisans. L'iconographie et ses symboles. Premiers siecles de notre ere.

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Three

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Three

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Two

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Two

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part One

An examination of the psychological, social, and theological aspects of ancient burial practices.