Archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, Holy Sepulchre: a preliminary report (original) (raw)
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Unearthing Jerusalem comprises chapters developed out of a 2006 conference at Brown University, the goal of which was " to provide, insofar as it is possible, a balanced view of the scholarly discussions " of every period from the prehistoric to the Ottoman period. The goal was not to present a homogenous view but " to present various, and sometimes even opposing, views " (xiii). This volume seeks to bring due attention to neglected periods of Jerusalem's history, which have been overlooked because of the " preferential attention among scholars … given to the periods of the biblical kings, the Herodian era as well as the early days of Christianity " (xiii). The exploration and documentation of Jerusalem's history and archaeology " have been highly influenced by this selective interest. " This exclusivity has changed in recent decades, and Unearthing Jerusalem presents the cumulative data of both older and newer researches. The volume contains two introductory chapters. In " Unearthing Jerusalem: 150 Years of Archaeological Research, " Gideon Avni and Katharina Galor review the century-and-a-half of continuous excavations in and around Jerusalem, which probably come close to about 1,850 initiatives. Jerusalem is one of the most extensively explored sites in the world, and the excavation and exploratory activities there have " produced thousands of books and scholarly papers, covering almost every aspect of the history and material remains in Jerusalem and reconstructing its long sequence of more than 6,000 years of
The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah in Honor of Professor Louis H. Feldman, ed. S. Fine. Brill Reference Library of Judaism 19. Leiden: Brill, 2011
When Jerusalem first appears in biblical history, it is a location unaffiliated with any individual Israelite tribe. In the Bible, Jerusalem is described as a Jebusite settlement, conquered and chosen by David to be the capital of his newly united kingdom. In the three thousand years that separate the modern city from David’s settlement on the southeastern spur of Mount Moriah, Jerusalem is a contested city, considered sacred by the world’s three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Its spiritual significance encompasses past, present and future. In this paper, I reassess the evidence and present the major highlights of recent archaeological discoveries near the Temple Mount during the First and Second Temple periods.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 2006
Abstract Archaeological involvement in the holy places of Jerusalem has become a focus of professional and public concern during recent years. The two sacred areas of the Temple Mount and the Holy Sepulchre combine their role as historical and architectural monuments of supreme importance with their daily use as central religious sites. The connection between scholars, mainly archaeologists and architects, who studied these monuments, and the local religious authorities in charge of the holy sites has accompanied research on Jerusalem since the mid-nineteenth century. The main issues to be analyzed in this paper are related to the ways archaeologists and other scholars are involved with the major holy sites of Jerusalem: how the ‘owners’ of the Temple Mount and the Holy Sepulchre viewed these scholars and their research; to what degree they were prepared to cooperate with them; what their motives were for doing so and how archaeologists and other researchers operated and adhered to scholarly interests in such complex sites. The Jerusalem case study is used to investigate the larger scope of interrelations between the academic world and the religious ‘owners’ of holy sites in other locations. Keywords: Jerusalem, religion and nationalism, holy places, site ownership, public archaeology
Archaeological excavations in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: 2023 preliminary report
Liber Annuus, 2023
Aim of the contribution is the presentation of the results of the 2023 archeological excavations conducted by a team of the University of Rome Sapienza inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as part of a project to restore the floor of the complex. Investigations covered the areas of the south-eastern Rotunda, the space in front of the Aedicule, and the north-eastern deambulatory. The excavation of the Rotunda was been completed and it was possible to reconstruct the chronological sequence of the first monumentalization of the venerated Tomb. The apse of the early Christian church was found, beneath which runs a Roman street. These findings contribute to the reconstruction of the archaeological history of the towns and the architectural phases of the Holy Sepulchre complex.