Tag Archives: hebrew university of jerusalem

The Herodium becomes more complex

Posted on December 18, 2014 | 2 comments

The information below comes from a news release today from the Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Herodium, built by Herod the Great, is located near Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. See our recent Index of articles on Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus for numerous links about the Herodium.

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Archaeologists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology have discovered a monumental entryway to the Herodian Hilltop Palace at the Herodium National Park. The unique complex was uncovered during excavations by The Herodium Expedition in Memory of Ehud Netzer over the past year, as part of a project to develop the site for tourism. Photo of unique palace entry complex discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace by Hebrew University archaeologists.

Photo of unique palace entry complex discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace by Hebrew University archaeologists. (Credit: The Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Photo of unique palace entry complex discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace by Hebrew University archaeologists. (Credit: The Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

The main feature of the entryway is an impressive corridor with a complex system of arches spanning its width on three separate levels. These arches buttressed the corridor’s massive side-walls, allowing the King and his entourage direct passage into the Palace Courtyard. Thanks to the supporting arches, the 20-meter long and 6-meter wide corridor has been preserved to a height of 20 meters.   The Hebrew University archaeologists — Roi Porat, Yakov Kalman and Rachel Chachy — suggest that the corridor was built as part of Herod’s plan to turn Herodium into a massive artificial volcano-shaped hill, a vast and impressive monument designed to commemorate the architect-King.   Surprisingly, during the course of the excavations, it became evident that the arched corridor was never actually in use, as prior to its completion it became redundant. This appears to have happened when Herod, aware of his impending death, decided to convert the whole hilltop complex into a massive memorial mound, a royal burial monument on an epic scale.   Whatever the case, the corridor was back-filled during the construction of the massive artificial hill at the end of Herod’s reign. The upper section of a new monumental stairway stretching from the hill’s base to its peak, constructed during the course of this building phase, appears to have been built over it.   The excavators point out that not only was the arched corridor covered over in the course of the construction of the hill-monument, but also all the structures earlier built by Herod on the hill’s slopes, including the Royal Theater uncovered by the expedition in 2008, while still led by Prof. Ehud Netzer, since deceased.   The only edifice not covered over was the splendid mausoleum-style structure, identified by Netzer and the expedition as Herod’s burial-place. Together with the monumental cone-shaped hill, this constituted the unique Herodian Royal burial-complex.

Photo of unique palace entry complex discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace by Hebrew University archaeologists. Credit: The Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Photo of unique palace entry complex discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace by Hebrew University archaeologists. Credit: The Herodium Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

During the course of the current excavations, the original impressive Palace vestibule, blocked when the corridor became redundant, was also exposed. This entry-room, decorated with splendid painted frescoes, had a magnificent entryway leading into it, and offered evidence of the rebel occupation during the Great Revolt (66-71 CE), including Jewish Revolt coinage and crude temporary structures.   In addition, the excavations in the arched corridor also turned up impressive evidence from the Bar Kokhba Revolt period (132-135/6 CE): hidden tunnels dug on the site by the rebels as part of the guerilla warfare they waged against the Romans. Supported in part by wooden beams, these tunnels exited from the hilltop fortress by way of the corridor’s walls, through openings hidden in the corridor. One of the tunnels revealed a well-preserved construction of 20 or so cypress-wood branches, arranged in a cross-weave pattern to support the tunnel’s roof.   In the future, according to Mr. Shaul Goldstein, Director of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, the excavation of the arched corridor will allow visitors direct access to the Herodium hilltop palace-fortress, in the same way that Herod entered it two thousand years ago. There are also plans to provide tourists direct access from the structures on the slope, the Royal Theater and the Mausoleum, via the earlier monumental stairway, to the hilltop Palace.

Aerial view of the Herodium. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Aerial view of the Herodium. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Heritage and Commemoration Department of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Etzion Bloc Regional Council and Civilian Administration are all co-partners in the development of the Herodium.   Ehud Netzer was a world-renowned professor at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology. Following several decades of excavations at the Herodium, Netzer discovered the tomb of Herod the Great in 2007. He died in 2010 at age 76 after being injured in a fall at the Heroudium archaeological site.

HT: Carl Rasmussen, HolyLandPhotos’ Blog; I see that Bible Places Blog has already posted information about this discovery.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Study, Israel, New Testament, Photography, Travel

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Tenth century B.C. inscription found in Jerusalem

Posted on July 10, 2013 | 4 comments

Hebrew University announces another significant archaeological discovery today. The entire press release is below.

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Jerusalem, July 10, 2013 — Working near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar has unearthed the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city.

Dr. Eilat Mazar with Canaanite inscription.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar displays a jar fragment unearthed near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount bearing an inscription in the Canaanite language. Dated to the tenth century BCE, it is the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar; photographed by Oria Tadmor.)

The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found with six others at the Ophel excavation site. According to Dr. Mazar, the inscription, in the Canaanite language, is the only one of its kind discovered in Jerusalem and an important addition to the city’s history.

Canaanite inscription excavated by Dr. Eilat Mazar.

This jar fragment bearing an inscription in the Canaanite language was unearthed near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar. Dated to the tenth century BCE, it is the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar; photographed by Noga Cohen-Aloro.)

Dated to the tenth century BCE, the artifact predates by two hundred and fifty years the earliest known Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem, which is from the period of King Hezekiah at the end of the eighth century BCE.

A third-generation archaeologist working at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Mazar directs archaeological excavations on the summit of the City of David and at the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

The discovery will be announced in a paper by Dr. Mazar, Prof. Shmuel Ahituv of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Dr. David Ben-Shlomo of the Hebrew University, following their extensive research on the artifact. Prof. Ahituv studied the inscription and Dr. Ben-Shlomo studied the composition of the ceramic materials. The paper, “An Inscribed Pithos From the Ophel,” appears in the Israel Exploration Journal 63/1 (2013).

The inscription was engraved near the edge of the jar before it was fired, and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six large jars of the same type. The fragments were used to stabilize the earth fill under the second floor of the building they were discovered in, which dates to the Early Iron IIA period (10th century BCE).  An analysis of the jars’ clay composition indicates that they are all of a similar make, and probably originate in the central hill country near Jerusalem.

According to Prof. Ahituv, the inscription is not complete and probably wound around the jar’s shoulder, while the remaining portion is just the end of the inscription and one letter from the beginning. The inscription is engraved in a proto-Canaanite / early Canaanite script of the eleventh-to-tenth centuries BCE, which pre-dates the Israelite rule and the prevalence of Hebrew script.

Reading from left to right, the text contains a combination of letters approximately 2.5 cm tall, which translate to m, q, p, h, n, (possibly) l, and n. Since this combination of letters has no meaning in known west-Semitic languages, the inscription’s meaning is unknown.

The archaeologists suspect the inscription specifies the jar’s contents or the name of its owner. Because the inscription is not in Hebrew, it is likely to have been written by one of the non-Israeli residents of Jerusalem, perhaps Jebusites, who were part of the city population in the time of Kings David and Solomon.

Excavations at the site are conducted in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the East Jerusalem Development Company. The site is in the national park surrounding the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, near the southern wall of the Temple Mount compound. The Israel Antiquities Authority maintains the excavation site as a national park open to the public.

The excavations are made possible through a generous donation by Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman of New York. Participants in the dig include Israeli students and workers, along with students or alumni of Herbert W. Armstrong College sent to Jerusalem from Edmond, Oklahoma to participate in the excavation.

HT: Joseph I. Lauer

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Israel, Old Testament, Photography, Travel

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Egyptian sphinx fragment found at Hazor

Posted on July 9, 2013 | 6 comments

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced today the discovery at Hazor of a sphinx fragment of Pharaoh Mycerinus. Mycerinus is the builder of the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The photo below was made facing east toward the Nile Valley. The pyramid of Mycerinus is on the right. The pyramid, built about 2500 B.C., is 204 feet high.

The pyramids of Giza" Cheolps, Chephren, and Mycerinus (left to right). Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Pyramids of Giza: Cheops, Chephren, & Mycerinus (left to right). Photo: Ferrell Jenkins.

The press release from Jerusalem says,

At a site in Tel Hazor National Park, north of the Sea of Galilee, archeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unearthed part of a unique Sphinx belonging to one of the ancient pyramid-building pharaohs.

The Hazor Excavations are headed by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, the Yigael Yadin Professor in the Archaeology of Eretz Israel at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, a lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology.

Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, who are leading the Hazor Excavations (Photo courtesy archaeologists Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman)

Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, who are leading the Hazor Excavations (Photo courtesy archaeologists Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman)

Working with a team from the Institute of Archaeology, they discovered part of a Sphinx brought over from Egypt, with a hieroglyphic inscription between its front legs. The inscription bears the name of the Egyptian king Mycerinus, who ruled in the third millennium BCE, more than 4,000 years ago. The king was one of the builders of the famous Giza pyramids.

As the only known Sphinx of this king discovered anywhere in the world — including in Egypt — the find at Hazor is an unexpected and important discovery. Moreover, it is only piece of a royal Sphinx sculpture discovered in the entire Levant area (the eastern part of the Mediterranean).

Along with the king’s name, the hieroglyphic inscription includes the descriptor “Beloved by the divine manifestation… that gave him eternal life.” According to Prof. Ben-Tor and Dr. Zuckerman, this text indicates that the Sphinx probably originated in the ancient city of Heliopolis (the city of ‘On’ in the Bible), north of modern Cairo.

The Sphinx was discovered in the destruction layer of Hazor that was destroyed during the 13th century BCE, at the entrance to the city palace. According to the archaeologists, it is highly unlikely that the Sphinx was brought to Hazor during the time of Mycerinus, since there is no record of any relationship between Egypt and Israel in the third millennium BCE.

More likely, the statue was brought to Israel in the second millennium BCE during the dynasty of the kings known as the Hyksos, who originated in Canaan. It could also have arrived during the 15th to 13th centuries BCE, when Canaan was under Egyptian rule, as a gift from an Egyptian king to the king of Hazor, which was the most important city in the southern Levant at the time.

Hazor is the largest biblical-era site in Israel, covering some 200 acres, and has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The population of Hazor in the second millennium BCE is estimated to have been about 20,000, making it the largest and most important city in the entire region. Its size and strategic location on the route connecting Egypt and Babylon made it “the head of all those kingdoms” according to the biblical book of Joshua (Joshua 11:10). Hazor’s conquest by the Israelites opened the way to the conquest and settlement of the Israelites in Canaan. The city was rebuilt and fortified by King Solomon and prospered in the days of Ahab and Jeroboam II, until its final destruction by the Assyrians in 732 BCE.

Documents discovered at Hazor and at sites in Egypt and Iraq attest that Hazor maintained cultural and trade relations with both Egypt and Babylon. Artistic artifacts, including those imported to Hazor from near and far, have been unearthed at the site. Hazor is currently one of Israel’s national parks.

The Hebrew University began the Hazor excavation in the mid-1950s and continued them in the late 1960s. Excavations at the site were resumed in 1990 by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, who was joined in 2006 by Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, as part of the Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin. The present excavation area is managed by Shlomit Becher, a doctoral student of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, and is sponsored by the Israel Exploration Society (IES) in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

Two views of a Sphinx statue fragment found by Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologists at the Tel Hazor excavations north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. An inscription ties the Sphinx to Mycerinus, an Egyptian king and pyramid builder, circa 2500 BCE. This is the only known statue bearing this pharaoh's name. (Photo courtesy archaeologists Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman)

Two views (above and below) of a Sphinx statue fragment found by Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologists at the Tel Hazor excavations north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. An inscription ties the Sphinx to Mycerinus, an Egyptian king and pyramid builder, circa 2500 BCE. This is the only known statue bearing this pharaoh’s name. (Photo courtesy archaeologists Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman)

hu130709_hazor_sphinx2t

Thanks to Prof. Ben-Tor and Dr. Zuckerman for making available these nice photos. We understand better what we are able to see.

HT: Joseph I. Lauer

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Lands, Bible Places, Bible Study, Egypt, Israel, Old Testament, Photography, Travel

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