Gabriel: Tell this Man the Meaning of his Vision (Daniel, 8:16): Studies in Archaeology, Epigraphy and the Biblical World in Honor of Gabriel Barkay on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday (22 June 2024), 2024
The article constitutes a preliminary report on the result of the survey in the large burial fiel... more The article constitutes a preliminary report on the result of the survey in the large burial field, located northeast of Tel 'Eton, the Judean Shephelah, Israel
The cemetery that surrounds Tel ‘Eton is one of the largest burial grounds in ancient Israel. Add... more The cemetery that surrounds Tel ‘Eton is one of the largest burial grounds in ancient Israel. Additionally, this burial ground has a unique history. The earliest known caves appear to be dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age, but most of the caves are later, and the evidence suggests that the cemetery was used continuously from the Late Bronze Age to (at least) the 8th century BCE. Since this continuous use covers also the Iron Age I, from which hardly any burials are known in the region, and the Iron IIA, from which only a few burials were discovered, the unique continuity revealed in the Tel ‘Eton cemetery is of great importance to the study of this era at large, and especially for an understanding the unique type of burial that developed in Judah and was popular in the 8th-7th centuries BCE, and is known as the “Judahite Burial”. The cemetery was first studied as part of a large-scale salvage operation that was carried it in 1968, and a few additional caves were excavated over the years. The Tel ‘Eton expedition is conducting, in addition to the excavations on the mound, a survey in the mound’s immediate vicinity, and took upon itself also to publish previous salvage excavations that were not yet published. The first part of the article briefly presents the cemetery, describe the excavations that were carried out in it over the years, and introduce the results of the current expedition. The paper then analyzes the initial results, summarize the development of the cemetery in time and space, and briefly presents the changes in burial practices over the years, and the connection between the Tel ‘Eton cemetery and the popular Judahite burial of the Iron IIB-C.
JERUSALEM AND ERETZ ISRAEL 12-13 THE JOSHUA SCHWARTZ VOLUME, 2020
Dozens of Roman-Byzantine synagogues have been uncovered in the Land of Israel over the years, an... more Dozens of Roman-Byzantine synagogues have been uncovered in the Land of Israel over the years, and they have received a great deal of scholarly attention, regarding their typology, dating, architecture, and cultural origins, as well as their religious and social functions. In this article we will examine an additional social aspect of these synagogues which has not yet received sufficient scholarly attention. We suggest that the construction and maintenance of the ancient buildings played a crucial role in the social cohesion of rural Jewish communities during the Roman and Byzantine periods. We will show that the mechanisms used to fund the construction and the upkeep of these public structures, as well as the way public offices in these communities were managed and distributed, prevented (or at least delayed) the development of socioeconomic stratification within the community, and increased social solidarity. These mechanisms "drew" resources from the wealthier families and prevented them from becoming richer, which subsequently maintained an internal economic balance within the community that, to an extent, enabled its existence.
Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries: The Interbellum 70 – 132 CE, 2018
This paper will examine the significance of the word traklin in tannaic literature, and clarify t... more This paper will examine the significance of the word traklin in tannaic literature, and clarify the extent to which it is identical in both the physical and the conceptual sense to the triclinium in Roman culture. The archaeological finds in Land of Israel during the Roman period indicate that the Roman triclinium was not common in private houses. However, the examination of the ritual meal as it is reflected in rabbinic literature during this period reveals that there are significant similarities between the ceremonial meal described in the tannaic sources and the meal in the triclinium. The cultural aspects of the meal were in keeping with Roman norms, adjusted according to Jewish needs, but the physical aspects were not suitable for the majority of Jewish society and therefore did not follow Roman practice here.
The synagogues of the Roman-Byzantine period had received a great deal of scholarly discussion, t... more The synagogues of the Roman-Byzantine period had received a great deal of scholarly discussion, that dealt with their typology, dating, architecture, and religious role. It is the aim of the present article to tackle the issue from a different perspective, and to reanalyze the way the Jewish community financed and maintained the synagogue. As both the archaeological finds and the written sources indicate, the construction and maintenance of these public buildings was done by extracting surpluses from members of the community. By doing so, the community ‘prevented’ wealth from accumulating in the hands of individuals. What the donors received in return for their donations, was respect. Holding offices in the community had the same effect. The officers did not receive salary, and in many cases even had to subsidize the activities. They received respect, but lost wealth, and could not have inherited it to their children. There is plenty of information on similar mechanisms in other rural communities, and they are known as ‘leveling mechanism’, since by using them the community can keep its members on a relatively equal economic basis, and prevents the formation of classes. We therefore suggest that the way the Jewish community financed the construction and maintenance of the synagogues should be viewed in a similar way, and be regarded as a leveling mechanism.
The Roman Period was witness to the extensive construction of public buildings associated with a ... more The Roman Period was witness to the extensive construction of public buildings associated with a culture of leisure and hygiene, as exemplified by the building of the bathhouse and the latrine. While the former was the subject of exhaustive research, the latrine was not accorded similar attention. In this article, we review the traditional Jewish sources describing the latrine, on one hand and archeological finds, on the other.
The article attempts to trace the interependence between Jerusalem and its periphery, it examines... more The article attempts to trace the interependence between Jerusalem and its periphery, it examines how Jerusalem influenced its environs, and how the periphery contributed to the economy of the city. The second part of the article is devoted to changes that occurred in the pattern of settlement around Jerusalem in the transitional period between the Hasmonean and Herodian periods, closely examining what factors caused these changes and what influence they had on its economy
Jerusalem is probably the most politically sensitive site in the world, so much so that even an a... more Jerusalem is probably the most politically sensitive site in the world, so much so that even an archaeological excavation can become the focus of a discussion in the UN Security Council.
This was not always the case.
Jerusalem's began as a tiny and remote village on a low hill near the Gihon spring. From there history took over in a unique fashion, changing and molding the city, each time bringing a little closer to the unique status it eventually possessed. It was a small town in the Bronze Age, became a regional capital in the time of David, grew with the construction of Temple, originally local and regional, and survived the military challenges of the campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which greatly boosted its religious glory. It was devastated by the Neo-Babylonian army, but by this time its status as a holy city was well-established and from its ashes, the city was restored during the Return to Zion. The Temple was built anew and expanded during Second Temple Period times. It was the city of Jesus, and early Christianity, becoming holy to both Jew and Christian. It became Muslim and was at the heart of fierce battles between Muslim and Christians at the time of the Crusades, which greatly increased its importance. Finally, its establishment as the capital of the modern State of Israel and the on-going developments ever since brought it again to the center of world attention. As a city that is sacred to all three monotheistic religions, Jerusalem had received much scholarly attention. Still, a growing rate of research and the hundreds of excavations that were carried out in its over the last two decades have significantly changed our understanding of its history in some periods. As a result of the new discoveries, most of the older books are obsolete, and there is no up-to-date book that tells the history of the city. We seek to fix this. We bring to the readers an updated summary of the history of the city, incorporating the most recent discoveries and scholarly debates, and we do so in a popular and readable manner. Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest presents the history of the city from its beginning to the end of the Mamluk period, while referring to the most recent findings and through the use of many maps and illustrations.
The file includes the English abstracts of the articles published in this volume (in Hebrew):
Dav... more The file includes the English abstracts of the articles published in this volume (in Hebrew): David Ussishkin: Was Jerusalem a Fortified Stronghold in the Middle Bronze Age? An Alternative View Amir Feldstein: The Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 'El-Amarna' Period Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor: Khirbet el Rai: An Iron Age Site in the Judean Shephelah Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman: A Lost Manuscript, Tomb 1 at Ain Shems and the Earliest Identification of Iron Age IIA in the Shephelah Ido Koch: Stamp-Amulets from Iron IIA Shephelah: Preliminary Conclusions regarding Production and Distribution, Pictorial Assemblage, and Function Avraham Faust: Tel ‘Eton and the Colonization of the Shephelah during the Iron Age IIA Gabriel Barkay and Robert Deutsch: Another Fiscal Bulla from the City of David Aaron Greener, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig): Iron Age II Figurine Fragments from the Temple Mount Soil Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud: Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland Moran Hagbi: The Strategic importance of Judea and Jerusalem at the 2nd Century BCE - A view from the Fortified Sites David Gurevich: The Dam Dated to the Hasmonean Period at The Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem Eyal Regev: How Did the Hasmoneans Build Jewish Collective Identity Haim Cohen: Distinctive Plaster of Jewish Mikvaoth, Olive and Wine Presses during the Second Temple and the Talmud Period Zeev Safrai: Dk' lyh Shimon Gibson and Rafael Lewis: On Determining the Date of Agricultural Terracing Around Jerusalem Anat Avital: The Representation of Crops and Agricultural Tools in Late Roman and Byzantine Mosaics of Judea and Jerusalem Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Description of Jerusalem in Travelers' Books Shlomo Lotan: The Description of the Fate of Jerusalem and the Crusader Kingdom in the Chronicles of the Roman Emperor Frederick II Eyal Davidson: Between the Bridge and the Strawberry Tree – The Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem in the 16th Century Abraham David: The Travelogue of R. Moses Basola in the Beginning of Ottoman Rule as a Source for the History of Jerusalem and its Jewish Community
The conference was held at Bar-Ilan university in December 16th, 2010.
The attached files inclu... more The conference was held at Bar-Ilan university in December 16th, 2010.
The attached files include the inner cover, table of content and the English abstracts of the Hebrew articles, including the following papers:
-Tsvika Tsuk: The Water Sources of the First Temple at Jerusalem
-Gershon Galil: King David's First Decade as King of Jerusalem and his Relation with the Philistines in Light of the Qeiyafa Excavation and Inscription
-Moshe Garsiel : The Latent Literary Encounter between Samuel, the Prophet from Shiloh and Ramah, and Nathan, the Prophet of the Jerusalemite Court
-Hillel Geva : The Development of Northern Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period: the Archaeological Evidence and its Significance
-Ram Bouchnick , Guy Bar-Oz, and Ronny Reich : On the Importance of Poultry in the Animal Economy of Judea in the Late Second Temple Period
-Joseph Patrich : The Building Project of Simeon the Just on the Temple Mount: The Literary Sources, Suggested Remains and a Graphical Representation
-Ofer Sion: The Upper Aqueduct of Jerusalem in the Area of Jaffa Gate
-Emmanuel Friedheim : Was There a Meeting between Jewish Monotheism and Polytheism in the Second Temple?
Michael Ben Ari : The Battle of Jerusalem: Destructive Divisiveness or Strategic Coordination: A New Reading of the Writings of Josephus Flavius
-Yehoshua Peleg : The Passover Sacrifice in the Herodian Temple
-Naomi Sidi, Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich: Late Second Temple Period Pottery from the Stepped Street in the Tyropoeon Valley and from the Drain Under It: A Comparative Study
-Boaz Zissu and Amos Kloner: Horvat Midras (Kh. Durusiya): A Reassessment of an Archaeological Site from the Second Temple Period and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt
-Ze'ev Safrai: The Memory of the Temple
-Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu: A Street Pavement at the Lions Gate Along Lions Gate Street and its Dating to the First Century CE
-Eitan Klein: The Origins of the Rural Settlers in the Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period
-Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Status of Jerusalem in the Period of the Umayyad and the Abbasid Dynasties (From the mid Seventh to the Ninth Centuries CE)
-Michael Ehrlich: The Ovens of the Holy Sepulchre during the Crusader Period
-Shlomo Lotan: Exploring and Recovering the Concealed Part of the Crusader German Church of Saint Mary in the Heart of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem
-Perez Reuven: A Manuscript Fragment in Arabic Written in Hebrew Letters from the Mamluk Period Found at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
-Oded Shay: "Jerusalem is the Washington of Israel": The Journey to Jerusalem of the Zionist Functionary Dr. Otto Abeles, 1925
-Gabriel Barkay: Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem – The Excavations which Terminated a Brilliant Career
This is the schedule of the 22nd annual conference on New Studies on Jerusalem, to be held at Bar... more This is the schedule of the 22nd annual conference on New Studies on Jerusalem, to be held at Bar-Ilan University on January 26, 2017
Faust, A., Baruch, E., and Schwartz, J., 2017, Five-Thousands Years of History in Jerusalem: An I... more Faust, A., Baruch, E., and Schwartz, J., 2017, Five-Thousands Years of History in Jerusalem: An Introduction, in Faust, A., Schwartz, J., and Baruch, E. (eds.), Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest, Ramat Gan: The Ingeborg Renner Center for Jerusalem Studies, pp. 7-10 (Hebrew).
Gabriel: Tell this Man the Meaning of his Vision (Daniel, 8:16): Studies in Archaeology, Epigraphy and the Biblical World in Honor of Gabriel Barkay on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday (22 June 2024), 2024
The article constitutes a preliminary report on the result of the survey in the large burial fiel... more The article constitutes a preliminary report on the result of the survey in the large burial field, located northeast of Tel 'Eton, the Judean Shephelah, Israel
The cemetery that surrounds Tel ‘Eton is one of the largest burial grounds in ancient Israel. Add... more The cemetery that surrounds Tel ‘Eton is one of the largest burial grounds in ancient Israel. Additionally, this burial ground has a unique history. The earliest known caves appear to be dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age, but most of the caves are later, and the evidence suggests that the cemetery was used continuously from the Late Bronze Age to (at least) the 8th century BCE. Since this continuous use covers also the Iron Age I, from which hardly any burials are known in the region, and the Iron IIA, from which only a few burials were discovered, the unique continuity revealed in the Tel ‘Eton cemetery is of great importance to the study of this era at large, and especially for an understanding the unique type of burial that developed in Judah and was popular in the 8th-7th centuries BCE, and is known as the “Judahite Burial”. The cemetery was first studied as part of a large-scale salvage operation that was carried it in 1968, and a few additional caves were excavated over the years. The Tel ‘Eton expedition is conducting, in addition to the excavations on the mound, a survey in the mound’s immediate vicinity, and took upon itself also to publish previous salvage excavations that were not yet published. The first part of the article briefly presents the cemetery, describe the excavations that were carried out in it over the years, and introduce the results of the current expedition. The paper then analyzes the initial results, summarize the development of the cemetery in time and space, and briefly presents the changes in burial practices over the years, and the connection between the Tel ‘Eton cemetery and the popular Judahite burial of the Iron IIB-C.
JERUSALEM AND ERETZ ISRAEL 12-13 THE JOSHUA SCHWARTZ VOLUME, 2020
Dozens of Roman-Byzantine synagogues have been uncovered in the Land of Israel over the years, an... more Dozens of Roman-Byzantine synagogues have been uncovered in the Land of Israel over the years, and they have received a great deal of scholarly attention, regarding their typology, dating, architecture, and cultural origins, as well as their religious and social functions. In this article we will examine an additional social aspect of these synagogues which has not yet received sufficient scholarly attention. We suggest that the construction and maintenance of the ancient buildings played a crucial role in the social cohesion of rural Jewish communities during the Roman and Byzantine periods. We will show that the mechanisms used to fund the construction and the upkeep of these public structures, as well as the way public offices in these communities were managed and distributed, prevented (or at least delayed) the development of socioeconomic stratification within the community, and increased social solidarity. These mechanisms "drew" resources from the wealthier families and prevented them from becoming richer, which subsequently maintained an internal economic balance within the community that, to an extent, enabled its existence.
Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries: The Interbellum 70 – 132 CE, 2018
This paper will examine the significance of the word traklin in tannaic literature, and clarify t... more This paper will examine the significance of the word traklin in tannaic literature, and clarify the extent to which it is identical in both the physical and the conceptual sense to the triclinium in Roman culture. The archaeological finds in Land of Israel during the Roman period indicate that the Roman triclinium was not common in private houses. However, the examination of the ritual meal as it is reflected in rabbinic literature during this period reveals that there are significant similarities between the ceremonial meal described in the tannaic sources and the meal in the triclinium. The cultural aspects of the meal were in keeping with Roman norms, adjusted according to Jewish needs, but the physical aspects were not suitable for the majority of Jewish society and therefore did not follow Roman practice here.
The synagogues of the Roman-Byzantine period had received a great deal of scholarly discussion, t... more The synagogues of the Roman-Byzantine period had received a great deal of scholarly discussion, that dealt with their typology, dating, architecture, and religious role. It is the aim of the present article to tackle the issue from a different perspective, and to reanalyze the way the Jewish community financed and maintained the synagogue. As both the archaeological finds and the written sources indicate, the construction and maintenance of these public buildings was done by extracting surpluses from members of the community. By doing so, the community ‘prevented’ wealth from accumulating in the hands of individuals. What the donors received in return for their donations, was respect. Holding offices in the community had the same effect. The officers did not receive salary, and in many cases even had to subsidize the activities. They received respect, but lost wealth, and could not have inherited it to their children. There is plenty of information on similar mechanisms in other rural communities, and they are known as ‘leveling mechanism’, since by using them the community can keep its members on a relatively equal economic basis, and prevents the formation of classes. We therefore suggest that the way the Jewish community financed the construction and maintenance of the synagogues should be viewed in a similar way, and be regarded as a leveling mechanism.
The Roman Period was witness to the extensive construction of public buildings associated with a ... more The Roman Period was witness to the extensive construction of public buildings associated with a culture of leisure and hygiene, as exemplified by the building of the bathhouse and the latrine. While the former was the subject of exhaustive research, the latrine was not accorded similar attention. In this article, we review the traditional Jewish sources describing the latrine, on one hand and archeological finds, on the other.
The article attempts to trace the interependence between Jerusalem and its periphery, it examines... more The article attempts to trace the interependence between Jerusalem and its periphery, it examines how Jerusalem influenced its environs, and how the periphery contributed to the economy of the city. The second part of the article is devoted to changes that occurred in the pattern of settlement around Jerusalem in the transitional period between the Hasmonean and Herodian periods, closely examining what factors caused these changes and what influence they had on its economy
Jerusalem is probably the most politically sensitive site in the world, so much so that even an a... more Jerusalem is probably the most politically sensitive site in the world, so much so that even an archaeological excavation can become the focus of a discussion in the UN Security Council.
This was not always the case.
Jerusalem's began as a tiny and remote village on a low hill near the Gihon spring. From there history took over in a unique fashion, changing and molding the city, each time bringing a little closer to the unique status it eventually possessed. It was a small town in the Bronze Age, became a regional capital in the time of David, grew with the construction of Temple, originally local and regional, and survived the military challenges of the campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which greatly boosted its religious glory. It was devastated by the Neo-Babylonian army, but by this time its status as a holy city was well-established and from its ashes, the city was restored during the Return to Zion. The Temple was built anew and expanded during Second Temple Period times. It was the city of Jesus, and early Christianity, becoming holy to both Jew and Christian. It became Muslim and was at the heart of fierce battles between Muslim and Christians at the time of the Crusades, which greatly increased its importance. Finally, its establishment as the capital of the modern State of Israel and the on-going developments ever since brought it again to the center of world attention. As a city that is sacred to all three monotheistic religions, Jerusalem had received much scholarly attention. Still, a growing rate of research and the hundreds of excavations that were carried out in its over the last two decades have significantly changed our understanding of its history in some periods. As a result of the new discoveries, most of the older books are obsolete, and there is no up-to-date book that tells the history of the city. We seek to fix this. We bring to the readers an updated summary of the history of the city, incorporating the most recent discoveries and scholarly debates, and we do so in a popular and readable manner. Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest presents the history of the city from its beginning to the end of the Mamluk period, while referring to the most recent findings and through the use of many maps and illustrations.
The file includes the English abstracts of the articles published in this volume (in Hebrew):
Dav... more The file includes the English abstracts of the articles published in this volume (in Hebrew): David Ussishkin: Was Jerusalem a Fortified Stronghold in the Middle Bronze Age? An Alternative View Amir Feldstein: The Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 'El-Amarna' Period Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor: Khirbet el Rai: An Iron Age Site in the Judean Shephelah Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman: A Lost Manuscript, Tomb 1 at Ain Shems and the Earliest Identification of Iron Age IIA in the Shephelah Ido Koch: Stamp-Amulets from Iron IIA Shephelah: Preliminary Conclusions regarding Production and Distribution, Pictorial Assemblage, and Function Avraham Faust: Tel ‘Eton and the Colonization of the Shephelah during the Iron Age IIA Gabriel Barkay and Robert Deutsch: Another Fiscal Bulla from the City of David Aaron Greener, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig): Iron Age II Figurine Fragments from the Temple Mount Soil Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud: Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland Moran Hagbi: The Strategic importance of Judea and Jerusalem at the 2nd Century BCE - A view from the Fortified Sites David Gurevich: The Dam Dated to the Hasmonean Period at The Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem Eyal Regev: How Did the Hasmoneans Build Jewish Collective Identity Haim Cohen: Distinctive Plaster of Jewish Mikvaoth, Olive and Wine Presses during the Second Temple and the Talmud Period Zeev Safrai: Dk' lyh Shimon Gibson and Rafael Lewis: On Determining the Date of Agricultural Terracing Around Jerusalem Anat Avital: The Representation of Crops and Agricultural Tools in Late Roman and Byzantine Mosaics of Judea and Jerusalem Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Description of Jerusalem in Travelers' Books Shlomo Lotan: The Description of the Fate of Jerusalem and the Crusader Kingdom in the Chronicles of the Roman Emperor Frederick II Eyal Davidson: Between the Bridge and the Strawberry Tree – The Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem in the 16th Century Abraham David: The Travelogue of R. Moses Basola in the Beginning of Ottoman Rule as a Source for the History of Jerusalem and its Jewish Community
The conference was held at Bar-Ilan university in December 16th, 2010.
The attached files inclu... more The conference was held at Bar-Ilan university in December 16th, 2010.
The attached files include the inner cover, table of content and the English abstracts of the Hebrew articles, including the following papers:
-Tsvika Tsuk: The Water Sources of the First Temple at Jerusalem
-Gershon Galil: King David's First Decade as King of Jerusalem and his Relation with the Philistines in Light of the Qeiyafa Excavation and Inscription
-Moshe Garsiel : The Latent Literary Encounter between Samuel, the Prophet from Shiloh and Ramah, and Nathan, the Prophet of the Jerusalemite Court
-Hillel Geva : The Development of Northern Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period: the Archaeological Evidence and its Significance
-Ram Bouchnick , Guy Bar-Oz, and Ronny Reich : On the Importance of Poultry in the Animal Economy of Judea in the Late Second Temple Period
-Joseph Patrich : The Building Project of Simeon the Just on the Temple Mount: The Literary Sources, Suggested Remains and a Graphical Representation
-Ofer Sion: The Upper Aqueduct of Jerusalem in the Area of Jaffa Gate
-Emmanuel Friedheim : Was There a Meeting between Jewish Monotheism and Polytheism in the Second Temple?
Michael Ben Ari : The Battle of Jerusalem: Destructive Divisiveness or Strategic Coordination: A New Reading of the Writings of Josephus Flavius
-Yehoshua Peleg : The Passover Sacrifice in the Herodian Temple
-Naomi Sidi, Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich: Late Second Temple Period Pottery from the Stepped Street in the Tyropoeon Valley and from the Drain Under It: A Comparative Study
-Boaz Zissu and Amos Kloner: Horvat Midras (Kh. Durusiya): A Reassessment of an Archaeological Site from the Second Temple Period and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt
-Ze'ev Safrai: The Memory of the Temple
-Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu: A Street Pavement at the Lions Gate Along Lions Gate Street and its Dating to the First Century CE
-Eitan Klein: The Origins of the Rural Settlers in the Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period
-Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Status of Jerusalem in the Period of the Umayyad and the Abbasid Dynasties (From the mid Seventh to the Ninth Centuries CE)
-Michael Ehrlich: The Ovens of the Holy Sepulchre during the Crusader Period
-Shlomo Lotan: Exploring and Recovering the Concealed Part of the Crusader German Church of Saint Mary in the Heart of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem
-Perez Reuven: A Manuscript Fragment in Arabic Written in Hebrew Letters from the Mamluk Period Found at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
-Oded Shay: "Jerusalem is the Washington of Israel": The Journey to Jerusalem of the Zionist Functionary Dr. Otto Abeles, 1925
-Gabriel Barkay: Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem – The Excavations which Terminated a Brilliant Career
This is the schedule of the 22nd annual conference on New Studies on Jerusalem, to be held at Bar... more This is the schedule of the 22nd annual conference on New Studies on Jerusalem, to be held at Bar-Ilan University on January 26, 2017
Faust, A., Baruch, E., and Schwartz, J., 2017, Five-Thousands Years of History in Jerusalem: An I... more Faust, A., Baruch, E., and Schwartz, J., 2017, Five-Thousands Years of History in Jerusalem: An Introduction, in Faust, A., Schwartz, J., and Baruch, E. (eds.), Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest, Ramat Gan: The Ingeborg Renner Center for Jerusalem Studies, pp. 7-10 (Hebrew).
"Stop! Do Not Enter": Physical and Spatial Dimensions of Purity and Impurity, Sacred and Profane
In every traditional society, there are situations and objects which are considered defiled or im... more In every traditional society, there are situations and objects which are considered defiled or impure, and others that might be considered pure or sacred. Much of this might be culturally specific. Iron, for example, is considered in some societies to be sacred. Other phenomena, for example menstruation taboos, are more widespread, and are perhaps even universal. Still, whether we are discussing defiled objects and situational impurity or pure and/or sanctified objects or places, they all influence the placement of household objects and their use in domestic space, and even the construction of space itself, enabling the separation of the pure and from the impure, and the daily from the sacred.
Indeed, purity and impurity, sacred and profane are universal phenomena, and have influenced individuals and families in all traditional societies, for example in the need to separate or to include those who are or who have become impure. In the case of menstruation, for example, it was necessary to build structures, huts, shacks and the like for the "impure" women, or to designate particular spaces for them within the domicile. All, of course, have physical and spatial dimensions that can be easily observed by ethnographers and visitors. Still, although spatial analysis and studies of distribution comprise the backbone of archeological research, only limited work has been focused on identifying aspects of such universal behaviors in archaeological case-studies.
In light of the understanding that the distinction between purity and impurity, sacred and profane is found in all societies, and that these distinctions are translated into the expression of physical objects and actions, our conference will seek to examine a wide range of archaeological and historical test cases in order to identify unique examples and expressions of object dispersion and use of space which reflect or determine these phenomena. This will enable us to further sharpen and focus the research tools at our disposal and advance the study of the specific case studies we examine, as well as to identify new manifestations of these phenomena and their implications for the study of society in general.
Uploads
Papers by Eyal Baruch
The cemetery was first studied as part of a large-scale salvage operation that was carried it in 1968, and a few additional caves were excavated over the years. The Tel ‘Eton expedition is conducting, in addition to the excavations on the mound, a survey in the mound’s immediate vicinity, and took upon itself also to publish previous salvage excavations that were not yet published. The first part of the article briefly presents the cemetery, describe the excavations that were carried out in it over the years, and introduce the results of the current expedition. The paper then analyzes the initial results, summarize the development of the cemetery in time and space, and briefly presents the changes in burial practices over the years, and the connection between the Tel ‘Eton cemetery and the popular Judahite burial of the Iron IIB-C.
Books by Eyal Baruch
This was not always the case.
Jerusalem's began as a tiny and remote village on a low hill near the Gihon spring. From there history took over in a unique fashion, changing and molding the city, each time bringing a little closer to the unique status it eventually possessed. It was a small town in the Bronze Age, became a regional capital in the time of David, grew with the construction of Temple, originally local and regional, and survived the military challenges of the campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which greatly boosted its religious glory. It was devastated by the Neo-Babylonian army, but by this time its status as a holy city was well-established and from its ashes, the city was restored during the Return to Zion. The Temple was built anew and expanded during Second Temple Period times. It was the city of Jesus, and early Christianity, becoming holy to both Jew and Christian. It became Muslim and was at the heart of fierce battles between Muslim and Christians at the time of the Crusades, which greatly increased its importance. Finally, its establishment as the capital of the modern State of Israel and the on-going developments ever since brought it again to the center of world attention.
As a city that is sacred to all three monotheistic religions, Jerusalem had received much scholarly attention. Still, a growing rate of research and the hundreds of excavations that were carried out in its over the last two decades have significantly changed our understanding of its history in some periods. As a result of the new discoveries, most of the older books are obsolete, and there is no up-to-date book that tells the history of the city.
We seek to fix this. We bring to the readers an updated summary of the history of the city, incorporating the most recent discoveries and scholarly debates, and we do so in a popular and readable manner. Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest presents the history of the city from its beginning to the end of the Mamluk period, while referring to the most recent findings and through the use of many maps and illustrations.
David Ussishkin: Was Jerusalem a Fortified Stronghold in the Middle Bronze Age? An Alternative View
Amir Feldstein: The Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 'El-Amarna' Period
Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor: Khirbet el Rai: An Iron Age Site in the Judean Shephelah
Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman: A Lost Manuscript, Tomb 1 at Ain Shems and the Earliest Identification of Iron Age IIA in the Shephelah
Ido Koch: Stamp-Amulets from Iron IIA Shephelah: Preliminary Conclusions regarding Production and Distribution, Pictorial Assemblage, and Function
Avraham Faust: Tel ‘Eton and the Colonization of the Shephelah during the Iron Age IIA
Gabriel Barkay and Robert Deutsch: Another Fiscal Bulla from the City of David
Aaron Greener, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig): Iron Age II Figurine Fragments from the Temple Mount Soil
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud: Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland
Moran Hagbi: The Strategic importance of Judea and Jerusalem at the 2nd Century BCE - A view from the Fortified Sites
David Gurevich: The Dam Dated to the Hasmonean Period at The Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem
Eyal Regev: How Did the Hasmoneans Build Jewish Collective Identity
Haim Cohen: Distinctive Plaster of Jewish Mikvaoth, Olive and Wine Presses during the Second Temple and the Talmud Period
Zeev Safrai: Dk' lyh
Shimon Gibson and Rafael Lewis: On Determining the Date of Agricultural Terracing Around Jerusalem
Anat Avital: The Representation of Crops and Agricultural Tools in Late Roman and Byzantine Mosaics of Judea and Jerusalem
Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Description of Jerusalem in Travelers' Books
Shlomo Lotan: The Description of the Fate of Jerusalem and the Crusader Kingdom in the Chronicles of the Roman Emperor Frederick II
Eyal Davidson: Between the Bridge and the Strawberry Tree – The Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem in the 16th Century
Abraham David: The Travelogue of R. Moses Basola in the Beginning of Ottoman Rule as a Source for the History of Jerusalem and its Jewish Community
The attached files include the inner cover, table of content and the English abstracts of the Hebrew articles, including the following papers:
-Tsvika Tsuk: The Water Sources of the First Temple at Jerusalem
-Gershon Galil: King David's First Decade as King of Jerusalem and his Relation with the Philistines in Light of the Qeiyafa Excavation and Inscription
-Moshe Garsiel : The Latent Literary Encounter between Samuel, the Prophet from Shiloh and Ramah, and Nathan, the Prophet of the Jerusalemite Court
-Hillel Geva : The Development of Northern Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period: the Archaeological Evidence and its Significance
-Ram Bouchnick , Guy Bar-Oz, and Ronny Reich : On the Importance of Poultry in the Animal Economy of Judea in the Late Second Temple Period
-Joseph Patrich : The Building Project of Simeon the Just on the Temple Mount: The Literary Sources, Suggested Remains and a Graphical Representation
-Ofer Sion: The Upper Aqueduct of Jerusalem in the Area of Jaffa Gate
-Emmanuel Friedheim : Was There a Meeting between Jewish Monotheism and Polytheism in the Second Temple?
Michael Ben Ari : The Battle of Jerusalem: Destructive Divisiveness or Strategic Coordination: A New Reading of the Writings of Josephus Flavius
-Yehoshua Peleg : The Passover Sacrifice in the Herodian Temple
-Naomi Sidi, Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich: Late Second Temple Period Pottery from the Stepped Street in the Tyropoeon Valley and from the Drain Under It: A Comparative Study
-Boaz Zissu and Amos Kloner: Horvat Midras (Kh. Durusiya): A Reassessment of an Archaeological Site from the Second Temple Period and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt
-Ze'ev Safrai: The Memory of the Temple
-Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu: A Street Pavement at the Lions Gate Along Lions Gate Street and its Dating to the First Century CE
-Eitan Klein: The Origins of the Rural Settlers in the Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period
-Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Status of Jerusalem in the Period of the Umayyad and the Abbasid Dynasties (From the mid Seventh to the Ninth Centuries CE)
-Michael Ehrlich: The Ovens of the Holy Sepulchre during the Crusader Period
-Shlomo Lotan: Exploring and Recovering the Concealed Part of the Crusader German Church of Saint Mary in the Heart of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem
-Perez Reuven: A Manuscript Fragment in Arabic Written in Hebrew Letters from the Mamluk Period Found at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
-Oded Shay: "Jerusalem is the Washington of Israel": The Journey to Jerusalem of the Zionist Functionary Dr. Otto Abeles, 1925
-Gabriel Barkay: Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem – The Excavations which Terminated a Brilliant Career
Other by Eyal Baruch
Book Chapters by Eyal Baruch
The cemetery was first studied as part of a large-scale salvage operation that was carried it in 1968, and a few additional caves were excavated over the years. The Tel ‘Eton expedition is conducting, in addition to the excavations on the mound, a survey in the mound’s immediate vicinity, and took upon itself also to publish previous salvage excavations that were not yet published. The first part of the article briefly presents the cemetery, describe the excavations that were carried out in it over the years, and introduce the results of the current expedition. The paper then analyzes the initial results, summarize the development of the cemetery in time and space, and briefly presents the changes in burial practices over the years, and the connection between the Tel ‘Eton cemetery and the popular Judahite burial of the Iron IIB-C.
This was not always the case.
Jerusalem's began as a tiny and remote village on a low hill near the Gihon spring. From there history took over in a unique fashion, changing and molding the city, each time bringing a little closer to the unique status it eventually possessed. It was a small town in the Bronze Age, became a regional capital in the time of David, grew with the construction of Temple, originally local and regional, and survived the military challenges of the campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which greatly boosted its religious glory. It was devastated by the Neo-Babylonian army, but by this time its status as a holy city was well-established and from its ashes, the city was restored during the Return to Zion. The Temple was built anew and expanded during Second Temple Period times. It was the city of Jesus, and early Christianity, becoming holy to both Jew and Christian. It became Muslim and was at the heart of fierce battles between Muslim and Christians at the time of the Crusades, which greatly increased its importance. Finally, its establishment as the capital of the modern State of Israel and the on-going developments ever since brought it again to the center of world attention.
As a city that is sacred to all three monotheistic religions, Jerusalem had received much scholarly attention. Still, a growing rate of research and the hundreds of excavations that were carried out in its over the last two decades have significantly changed our understanding of its history in some periods. As a result of the new discoveries, most of the older books are obsolete, and there is no up-to-date book that tells the history of the city.
We seek to fix this. We bring to the readers an updated summary of the history of the city, incorporating the most recent discoveries and scholarly debates, and we do so in a popular and readable manner. Jerusalem: From its Beginning to the Ottoman Conquest presents the history of the city from its beginning to the end of the Mamluk period, while referring to the most recent findings and through the use of many maps and illustrations.
David Ussishkin: Was Jerusalem a Fortified Stronghold in the Middle Bronze Age? An Alternative View
Amir Feldstein: The Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 'El-Amarna' Period
Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor: Khirbet el Rai: An Iron Age Site in the Judean Shephelah
Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman: A Lost Manuscript, Tomb 1 at Ain Shems and the Earliest Identification of Iron Age IIA in the Shephelah
Ido Koch: Stamp-Amulets from Iron IIA Shephelah: Preliminary Conclusions regarding Production and Distribution, Pictorial Assemblage, and Function
Avraham Faust: Tel ‘Eton and the Colonization of the Shephelah during the Iron Age IIA
Gabriel Barkay and Robert Deutsch: Another Fiscal Bulla from the City of David
Aaron Greener, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig): Iron Age II Figurine Fragments from the Temple Mount Soil
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud: Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland
Moran Hagbi: The Strategic importance of Judea and Jerusalem at the 2nd Century BCE - A view from the Fortified Sites
David Gurevich: The Dam Dated to the Hasmonean Period at The Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem
Eyal Regev: How Did the Hasmoneans Build Jewish Collective Identity
Haim Cohen: Distinctive Plaster of Jewish Mikvaoth, Olive and Wine Presses during the Second Temple and the Talmud Period
Zeev Safrai: Dk' lyh
Shimon Gibson and Rafael Lewis: On Determining the Date of Agricultural Terracing Around Jerusalem
Anat Avital: The Representation of Crops and Agricultural Tools in Late Roman and Byzantine Mosaics of Judea and Jerusalem
Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Description of Jerusalem in Travelers' Books
Shlomo Lotan: The Description of the Fate of Jerusalem and the Crusader Kingdom in the Chronicles of the Roman Emperor Frederick II
Eyal Davidson: Between the Bridge and the Strawberry Tree – The Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem in the 16th Century
Abraham David: The Travelogue of R. Moses Basola in the Beginning of Ottoman Rule as a Source for the History of Jerusalem and its Jewish Community
The attached files include the inner cover, table of content and the English abstracts of the Hebrew articles, including the following papers:
-Tsvika Tsuk: The Water Sources of the First Temple at Jerusalem
-Gershon Galil: King David's First Decade as King of Jerusalem and his Relation with the Philistines in Light of the Qeiyafa Excavation and Inscription
-Moshe Garsiel : The Latent Literary Encounter between Samuel, the Prophet from Shiloh and Ramah, and Nathan, the Prophet of the Jerusalemite Court
-Hillel Geva : The Development of Northern Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period: the Archaeological Evidence and its Significance
-Ram Bouchnick , Guy Bar-Oz, and Ronny Reich : On the Importance of Poultry in the Animal Economy of Judea in the Late Second Temple Period
-Joseph Patrich : The Building Project of Simeon the Just on the Temple Mount: The Literary Sources, Suggested Remains and a Graphical Representation
-Ofer Sion: The Upper Aqueduct of Jerusalem in the Area of Jaffa Gate
-Emmanuel Friedheim : Was There a Meeting between Jewish Monotheism and Polytheism in the Second Temple?
Michael Ben Ari : The Battle of Jerusalem: Destructive Divisiveness or Strategic Coordination: A New Reading of the Writings of Josephus Flavius
-Yehoshua Peleg : The Passover Sacrifice in the Herodian Temple
-Naomi Sidi, Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich: Late Second Temple Period Pottery from the Stepped Street in the Tyropoeon Valley and from the Drain Under It: A Comparative Study
-Boaz Zissu and Amos Kloner: Horvat Midras (Kh. Durusiya): A Reassessment of an Archaeological Site from the Second Temple Period and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt
-Ze'ev Safrai: The Memory of the Temple
-Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu: A Street Pavement at the Lions Gate Along Lions Gate Street and its Dating to the First Century CE
-Eitan Klein: The Origins of the Rural Settlers in the Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period
-Bat-Sheva Garsiel: The Status of Jerusalem in the Period of the Umayyad and the Abbasid Dynasties (From the mid Seventh to the Ninth Centuries CE)
-Michael Ehrlich: The Ovens of the Holy Sepulchre during the Crusader Period
-Shlomo Lotan: Exploring and Recovering the Concealed Part of the Crusader German Church of Saint Mary in the Heart of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem
-Perez Reuven: A Manuscript Fragment in Arabic Written in Hebrew Letters from the Mamluk Period Found at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
-Oded Shay: "Jerusalem is the Washington of Israel": The Journey to Jerusalem of the Zionist Functionary Dr. Otto Abeles, 1925
-Gabriel Barkay: Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem – The Excavations which Terminated a Brilliant Career
Indeed, purity and impurity, sacred and profane are universal phenomena, and have influenced individuals and families in all traditional societies, for example in the need to separate or to include those who are or who have become impure. In the case of menstruation, for example, it was necessary to build structures, huts, shacks and the like for the "impure" women, or to designate particular spaces for them within the domicile. All, of course, have physical and spatial dimensions that can be easily observed by ethnographers and visitors. Still, although spatial analysis and studies of distribution comprise the backbone of archeological research, only limited work has been focused on identifying aspects of such universal behaviors in archaeological case-studies.
In light of the understanding that the distinction between purity and impurity, sacred and profane is found in all societies, and that these distinctions are translated into the expression of physical objects and actions, our conference will seek to examine a wide range of archaeological and historical test cases in order to identify unique examples and expressions of object dispersion and use of space which reflect or determine these phenomena. This will enable us to further sharpen and focus the research tools at our disposal and advance the study of the specific case studies we examine, as well as to identify new manifestations of these phenomena and their implications for the study of society in general.