Historically Speaking

Archaeologists say that artifacts found on a dig taking place at the site of what was a fortified city is Israel give strength to Biblical accounts of King David.

Recent excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, what was a fortified city located in Judah - about 30 kilometres south-west of Jerusalem, have unearthed pottery, stone and metal tools, art and objects used in worship as well as three large rooms which served as “cultic shrines”.

Professor Yosef Garfinkel, of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that the architecture of the rooms used for worship corresponds to descriptions of worship practices at the time of King David. In a statement, the university said the discovery “is extraordinary as it is the first time that shrines from the time of early biblical kings were uncovered”.

“Because these shrines pre-date the construction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem by 30 to 40 years, they provide the first physical evidence of a cult in the time of King David, with significant implications for the fields of archaeology, history, Biblical and religion studies.”

Located in the Valley of Elah, Khirbet Qeiyafa was a border city of the Kingdom of Judah opposite the Philistine city of Gath and existed for a short period of time between 1020 and 980 BC before being violently destroyed.

Professor Garfinkel says the city - where excavations have gone on every summer since 2007 - is the first fortified city uncovered in Judah which dates from the time of King David.

“Thus, various suggestions that completely deny the Biblical tradition regarding King David and argue that he was a mythological figure, or just a leader of a small tribe, are now shown to be wrong,” he said

Professor Garfinkel says the lack of human or animal images in the rooms used for worship and the lack of bones from pigs found on the site despite the thousands of bones from other animals suggest the population observed Biblical bans on pork and graven images.

One portable clay shrine found at the site is decorated with an elaborate facade which features two guardian lions, two pillars, a main door, beams of the roof, folded textile and three birds standing on the roof. Two of these elements are described in Solomon’s Temple: the two pillars (Yachin and Boaz) and the textile (Parochet).

~ www.huji.ac.il

- DAVID ADAMS

Conrad Schick, a 19th century German missionary, scholar and architect, was described by Dr Shimon Gibson as a kind of “oracle” in Jerusalem during his time. Anyone desiring to truly understand the city’s history, and possibly its future, simply had to visit and learn from Schick. With the return of some of Schick’s most prominent work to the Christ Church compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, pilgrims once again have the opportunity to do so.

Having attended the unveiling of Schick’s famous multi-layered model of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount at Christ Church’s Heritage Center, it seems hard to understate the man’s importance to and impact on the city, even if one has never before heard his name.

“Still today, we are finding that supposedly new archeological discoveries in Jerusalem had already been discovered and written about by Schick,” Dr Gibson, told Travelujah. Dr Gibson, a British-born archaeologist is a senior associate fellow at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and adjunct Professor of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

But, perhaps it would be instructive to go back to the beginning.

Schick was sent to the Holy Land in 1846 as a missionary with the Reformed St Chrischona Pilgrim Mission as part of a kind of “quiet mission,” where he and another German missionary would settle and become living examples of Jesus’ love and message. While he remained dedicated to that mission until his death in 1901, Schick found that he had something else to offer both Jerusalem and its visitors.

Despite lacking any formal education in architecture, archeology, history or geology, Schick nevertheless became recognized as “the foremost authority on everything about Jerusalem,” said Professor Haim Goren, an expert on 19th century German Christianity in the Holy Land, adding that ‘Schick’s house’ (Tabor House on Jerusalem’s Prophets Street) was a regular pilgrimage tour stop during his day.”

After he started making models in the 1850s, Schick used his architectural and artistic abilities to help solve disputes concerning the historical terrain. For instance, Goren recounted that Schick’s detailed model of the Holy Sepulchre (which is also on display at the Heritage Center) was built to bring a conclusion to arguments between the various Christian sects inhabiting the ancient church. In addition to his creative talents, that incident likewise demonstrates Schick’s considerable status among all Christians in the Holy Land at the time.

And his influence is still fully felt today. “We are still using Schick’s sketches to make new discoveries in Jerusalem,” said Professor Goren. “His genius permeates everything concerning Jerusalem. He was one of the most important people in one of the most important periods of this city’s development.”

Dr Gibson also stressed the enormous impact of Schick’s work on modern archeology, noting that Schick had access to areas that today’s researchers could only dream of entering, such as the multitude of passages, cisterns and ancient halls under Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. And his privileged knowledge is now on display for all to see in Schick’s stunning recreation of the Temple Mount, a model that spent the last 150 years traveling the world, first on display at prestigious events like the World Fair and then gathering dust in Swiss attics.

Slowly lifting the different layered pieces, Dr Gibson revealed the intricate craftsmanship that is perhaps the only detailed documentation of what today lies beneath the Temple Mount.

Christ Church went to considerable effort to raise funds to purchase the Temple Mount and others of Schick’s models when St Chrischona decided in 2010 to auction them. The transition is a homecoming for Schick’s work, literally. The building that is today the Christ Church Heritage Center was in Schick’s day known as the House of Industry, a portion of Christ Church where local carpenters produced goods made of olive wood, and the very place where Schick constructed his models.

Dr Don Stanley, head of CMJ Israel (Christ Church’s parent ministry), said he hopes the model will become the centerpiece of the new Heritage Center and a strong reminder of the historical and biblical importance of Jerusalem. That sentiment was echoed by St Chrischona Spokesman Claudius Buser, who stated, “The long round trip is finally over, and Schick’s work is back home in Jerusalem. We know that in Jerusalem, the models will serve so many more pilgrims.”

• The entire Christ Church Heritage Campus is open to the public every day of the week and includes a small guest house, the Christ Church, recognized as the first Protestant Church in the Middle East, as well as a lovely restaurant servicing breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Outside groups and individuals are welcome. The new Heritage museum at Christ Church will be open shortly to the public, (by March 2012 at the latest). We recommend that you contact the guesthouse at christch@netvision.net.il to check on opening hours of the museum. The new Heritage Center is situated in the Alexander Wing of the complex which is accessed off the guesthouse courtyard. Private group visits should be pre-arranged by contacting Christ Church at christch@netvision.net.il. If you wish to arrange a Holy Land tour and to include this museum on your itinerary, please contact Travelujah.

- RYAN JONES

Ryan Jones writes for www.travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land.

A small ceramic stamp used to mark bakery produce may not seem like a significant archeological find, but Israeli archeologists are rather excited by such a discovery made near the northern coastal town of Akko.

In previous eras, Akko was known as Acre, and was a major Christian stronghold in the Holy Land. That is why interest has been piqued by the small ceramic stamp bearing an image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah, which was found in a controlled archeological dig at Horbat Uza just outside Akko.

The stamp dates back to the 6th century AD, a time when Akko was a Christian-dominated city under the Byzantine Empire.

Gilad Jaffe and Dr. Danny Syon, who are directing the dig on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, were pleased to be able to do definitely date the artifact: “This is the first time such a stamp is discovered in a controlled archaeological excavation, thus making it possible to determine its provenance and date of manufacture,” stated Jaffe and Syon in an official press release.

The existence of the stamp is evidence that despite Christian control of that part of the Holy Land at that time, a Jewish presence remained. And, that presence must have been somewhat significant if it required its own dedicated bakeries to produce certified kosher goods.

“The stamp is important because it proves that a Jewish community existed in the settlement of Uza in the Christian-Byzantine period. The presence of a Jewish settlement so close to Akko - a region that was definitely Christian at this time - constitutes an innovation in archaeological research,” added the press release.

“Due to the geographical proximity of Horbat Uza to Akko, we can speculate that the settlement supplied kosher baked goods to the Jews of Akko in the Byzantine period.”

The stamp itself is of similar design to other Jewish bread stamps found around the region, though which have not been as definitely dated as the Horbat Uza stamp. It is engraved on the flat end with a seven-branched Menorah, “a Jewish symbol par excellence,” noted Jaffe and Syon, which identified anything marked with the stamp as being undeniably of Jewish manufacture. Along the neck of the stamp’s handle are carved Greek letters that experts believe spell out the name Launtius, a common Jewish name in Byzantine times.

This important discovery was only made because of plans to build a new railroad connecting Akko to the central Galilee town of Karmiel. So inundated is the Holy Land with historical remains that any simple construction project must be preceded by a painstaking archeological review and even a comprehensive dig to ensure that the past is not lost in making way for the future.

- RYAN JONES

Ryan Jones writes for www.travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land.

Despite centuries of assumption that King Herod built the Western Wall of the temple in Jerusalem, recent archaeological findings could throw this accepted conventional premise on its head.

Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a news conference last week that a ritual bath exposed beneath the Western Wall of the Temple Mount contains proof that the construction of that wall was not completed during Herod’s lifetime but at least 20 years after his death around 4 BC.

“The find changes the way we see the construction, and shows it lasted for longer than we originally thought,” Shukron said.

This confirm accounts by Josephus, the Jewish historian, who wrote that the work was only finished during the reign of King Agrippa II (Herod’s great-grandson), not before that during Herod’s time.

During recent excavations, archaeologists uncovered three clay oil lamps from the 1st century AD and 17 bronze coins, some dating to around 17 or 18 AD, approximately 20 years after Herod’s death, the archaeologists said.

Donald Ariel, curator of the numismatic collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority, determined that the bronze coins were stamped by a Roman proconsul, Valerius Gratus, 20 years after Herod’s death, around 17 AD. That indicates that Herod did not build the wall and that construction was not close to being complete when he died. Valerius Gratus was the predecessor of Pontius Pilate, Reich said.

The coins were found inside the ritual bath. The find is the first archaeological evidence that supports Josephus’ account.

“This bit of archaeological information illustrates the fact that the construction of the Temple Mount walls and Robinson’s Arch was an enormous project that lasted decades and was not completed during Herod’s lifetime,” the Israel Antiquities Authority said.

- NICOLE JANSEZIAN

Nicole Jansezian writes for www.travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land.

Archaeologists and researchers from Hebrew University have deciphered an inscription bearing the name of Frederick II written in Arabic, declaring him King of Jerusalem, right before he peacefully conquered the city through a treaty rather than a battle.

The discovery is unique because it is the only Crusader inscription in the Arabic language found in the Middle East. Frederick II was the Holy Roman Emperor. The inscription reads: “Frederick II, 1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.” Professor Moshe Sharon and Ami Shrager of Hebrew University deciphered the inscription.

Researchers did not expect that a Christian king would have written his title in Arabic, the language of the Muslims who were the main combatants of the crusaders at the time. The Crusades, which stretched frmo 1095 to 1291, were religious wars designed to restore Christianity to the holy places in and near Jerusalem.

Frederick II led the Sixth Crusade - and won Jerusalem through diplomacy, not war.

“Frederick II led the Sixth Crusade of 1228 to 1229 and succeeded, without resorting to arms, in achieving major territorial gains for the Crusader kingdom,” Sharon said. “His most important feat was the handing over of Jerusalem to the Crusaders by the Egyptian Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil as a result of an armistice agreement the two rulers signed in 1229.”

Before signing the agreement, Frederick fortified the castle of Jaffa, and apparently left in its walls two inscriptions, one in Latin and the other in Arabic. The small bit of the Latin inscription that remains was previously attributed to Frederick II, Sharon said.

Frederick had a colorful reign in Jerusalem. Sharon said he opened a zoo and a university plus had a harem that included a Muslim woman.

The Latin portion of the inscription was partially preserved, enough to ascribe it since the end of the nineteenth century, to Frederick II. But the Arabic portion of the inscription baffled researchers for some time.

“It’s not so easy to read Arabic inscriptions, and particularly this one, which was written in an unusual script, and it is on stone and it is 800 years old,” Sharon told LiveScience. “It was written by an artist and this artist decided to create a special script for this royal inscription and it took us a very long time until we were able to find out that, in fact, we were reading a Christian inscription.”

The unique Arabic inscription is almost completely intact. It lists all of the titles of Frederick II. Even in Sicily, where Frederick’s main royal palace was located, no Arabic inscription has been found regarding his title.

Apparently, Frederick II, despite having been excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX, crowned himself King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. He knew Arabic and maintained a close relationship with the Egyptian royal family.

Sharon said that it was unheard of to find a Christian ruler in Jerusalem who knew Arabic, was interested in Islam and had Muslim scientists and ambassadors in his court.

- NICOLE JANSEZIAN

Nicole Jansezian writes for www.travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land. This article was published on Assist News Service.

A team of Italian archaeologists has announced the discovery of what they believe to be the tomb of Philip, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, at the ancient Asia Minor city of Hierapolis in Turkey’s Aegean province of Denizli, and are planning to excavate the unopened grave soon.

The discovery of the grave of the New Testament saint, who came to Hierapolis - known today as Pamukkale - nearly 2,000 years ago to spread the Gospel and was crucified upside down by the Romans, will attract immense attention around the world, said excavator Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce.

Philip’s tomb has traditionally been associated with the church built at the site, though no evidence of the ancient burial was ever found. In July, however, D’Andria and his team located a smaller church less than 150 feet away from the martyrium that appears to contain the grave of the apostle.

“As we were cleaning out the new church we discovered a month ago, we finally found the grave,” said D’Andria. “With close examination, we determined that the grave had been moved from its previous location in the St. Philip Church to this new church in the fifth century, during the Byzantine era.”

D’Andria has been leading archeological excavations at the ancient city for 32 years. Hierapolis was founded around 190 BC by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 BC-159 BC), The Hellenistic city was given over to Rome in 133 BC and grew into a flourishing Roman metropolis, with temples, a theatre and popular sacred hot springs, believed to have healing properties.

“Until recently, we thought the grave of St Philip was on Martyrs’ Hill, but we discovered no traces of him in the geophysical research conducted in that area. A month ago, we discovered the remnants of an unknown church, 40 metres away from the St Philip Church on Martyrs’ Hill. And in that church we discovered the grave of St Philip,” D’Andria said.

“St Philip is considered a martyr. In fact, the church built in his name on the Martyrs’ Hill is, for this reason, also called Martyrion, despite the fact there were no traces of the grave of St Philip. As we were cleaning out the new church we discovered a month ago, we finally found the grave. With close examination, we determined that the grave had been moved from its previous location in the St Philip Church to this new church in the fifth century, during the Byzantine era. We are extremely happy and proud to have discovered the grave of a saint whose name appears in the Bible - this surely is an important discovery for religious tourism, archaeology and Christendom.”

- GIL ZOHAR
Gil Zohar writes for www.travelujah.com, the only Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land. This article was published on Assist News Service.

The British Library is looking to raise £2.75 million to acquire the St Cuthbert Gospel - the oldest surviving intact European book.

The Gospel, which was created in the last 7th century in the north of England, has been on long-term loan to the library since 1979 but owners the Society of Jesus (British Province) have now decided to sell it with the library given the first option to acquire the text.

The library have agreed to a price of £9 million, of which only £2.75 million remains outstanding. Funds raised so far including a £4.5 million award from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The text, which is a copy of the Gospel of St John, was apparently buried with St Cuthbert on the Isle of Lindisfarne in 698 AD. It was later found in Cuthbert’s coffin buried under Durham Cathedral in 1104.

Bound in red leather, the text is in excellent condition and is the only surviving high-status manuscript from the period of British history to retain its original appearance.

St Cuthbert was born in Northumbria, England, in about 635 and entered the monastery of Melrose in 651. He later become the prior of Melrose and then of Lindisfarne before going to live as a hermit on the island Inner Farne off the Northumbrian coast.

He was consecrated as bishop of Lindisfarne in 685 and died at his Inner Farne hermitage on 20th March, 687. He was elevated to sainthood only 12 years later when his body was reinterred in a new wooden coffin. Following Viking raids in the 9th and 10th centuries, this coffin was later transferred to Durham where the Lindisfarne monks fleeing the raids has settled.

After the coffin was opened in 1104, his body was reburied at the east end of the new Norman cathedral. Cuthbert was one of England’s most popular saints in the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods and his shrine at Durham became a major pilgrimage centre.

- DAVID ADAMS

An image of St Paul which dates from the early 6th century has been discovered in catacombs in Naples just a year after the oldest image of the disciple was uncovered in Rome.

The Vatican this week released a photograph of the fresco which dates from the 6th century and which was discovered during restoration work at the Catacombs of San Gennaro. It shows a bearded figure dressed in robes, which have the letter Latin ‘I’ on them (possibly standing for Jesus), approaching what is believed to be a dead person.

“His face, extremely expressive and characterized by the particular physiognomy of a philosopher, is similar to the Roman representations of the same period…” writes Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, adding that the discovery “enriches and defines our understanding of the iconographic evolution of the prince of the apostles”.

Local authorities reportedly hope the find will attract tourists to the area.

St Paul, a Jew who was born in Tarsus and who was noted for his persecution of early Christians, famously converted to Christianity after seeing a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. He wrote numerous letters to early church leaders - now contained in the New Testament - before he was believed to have been beheaded around 65 AD.

Last year the earliest image of St Paul uncovered so far was found in a Roman catacomb. It dates to the 4th century AD.

- DAVID ADAMS

A top British scientist claims his Biblical, historical and astronomical research shows Christians have been observing Jesus’ Last Supper on the wrong day of the week.

Cambridge University Professor Colin Humphreys says Jesus’ final meal with His disciples actually was eaten on the Wednesday before the Crucifixion - one day earlier than has been traditionally accepted, Religion News Service reports.

The mix-up, Humphreys concludes in his new book, The Mystery of the Last Supper, may be because Jesus and disciples Matthew, Mark and Luke used one calendar, but fellow disciple John used another.

Humphreys notes the Gospels attributed to the first three claimed the last meal coincided with the Jewish Passover, whereas John’s Gospel says the meal took place “before” Passover.

Eminent Biblical scholar FF Bruce once described that contradiction as “the thorniest problem in the New Testament,” but Humphreys said, “if we use science and the Gospels hand in hand, we can
actually prove that there was no contradiction.”

Humphreys theorises that Jesus employed an age-old Jewish calendar - perhaps dating back to the Exodus from Egypt - rather than the official lunar calendar popular at the time. That, Humphreys said, would put the Passover and Last Supper meals on the Wednesday rather than Thursday, and means Jesus’ arrest, interrogation and trials were not all crammed into a single night but were instead spread over a longer period of time.

Humphreys based his project on earlier research he conducted with Oxford University astrophysicist Graeme Waddington 28 years ago, which established the date of the Crucifixion as Friday morning, 3rd April, 33 AD.

- AL WEBB
ENInews/RNS

Palestinian officials have formally launched a bid to have Bethlehem - birthplace of Jesus Christ - placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The campaign is being led by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in cooperation with the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation in Bethlehem and Bethlehem Municipality. If successful, the West Bank city would become the first World Heritage site in Palestinian territory.

The bid follows an earlier unsuccessful attempt to have one of the city’s star sights - the Church of the Nativity - placed on UNESCO’s list of the world’s most important cultural sites. It was rejected because Palestine remains unrecognised by the UN, a fact which will continue to be a hurdle for the most recent submission.

Tourism Minister Khulud Daibes announced the submission earlier this month.

The Church of the Nativity, said to have been built over the site where Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, is one of the earliest Christian structures.

The original basilica was erected by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century but was destroyed in the Samaritan Revolt of 529 AD. A larger basilica was subsequently built in the same site during the reign of 6th century Emperor Justinian. The complex of buildings was later significantly expanded by later Christian groups.

- DAVID ADAMS