Strata
018
Heavy Metal
Tiberias Yields Islamic Treasure
Archaeologists recently dug up the largest collection of Islamic period objects ever found in Israel. The hoard was buried under the dirt floor of an ancient shop near Tiberias.
In all, five to six hundred bronze and brass objects were recovered in three large clay jars, each sealed with a stone. Several bowls with ancient Kufic Arabic script, a large candelabrum and snake and bird figurines were among the items found. “The amount, beauty and quality of the artistic work is incredible,” says Yizhar Hirschfeld, a Hebrew University archaeology professor who is director of the excavation. “It’s an incredible treasure from around A.D. 1000, a period from which we don’t have many pieces, especially metal, so it’s unique in every sense.”
At the time the objects were made—sometime between the 10th and 11th centuries—Tiberias was an Islamic capital with a mixed Muslim, Jewish and Christian population. Crosses and medallions with the likeness of Jesus were also among the objects found, leading Hirschfeld to identify the shopkeeper as Christian. In addition, 80 European coins dating from the 11th century, apparently brought to Tiberias by pilgrims, were among the objects. Hirschfeld does not know why the treasures were placed in jars and buried in the dirt, though it is possible the hoard was hidden prior to the Crusader conquest of the city in 1099.
Not at the End of the Rainbow
Pot of Gold Found in Beth-Shean
It’s not often that archaeologists literally hit a pot of gold, but that’s what happened in Beth-Shean this past October.
The Israel Antiquities Authority was performing a rescue excavation at a site where a youth hostel will be constructed when archaeologists unearthed a large ceramic jug holding two to four hundred gold coins from the sixth or seventh century A.D. The coins were—literally—in mint condition. Ofer Sion, director of the dig, speculates that the owner of the Byzantine villa where the coins were found hid them under the floor temporarily, intending to come back for them later.
The previous four months of excavation had already revealed a wealthy neighborhood outside the walls of the Roman and Byzantine city, Sion says. “Most of the homes appear to have been large Roman-style villas, although from the Byzantine period,” he says. Judging from the architecture, the size of the buildings and the quality of the other artifacts, Sion says, “the people who lived there 019would have been very rich, possibly big land owners who also had business interests in the city.”
Sion isn’t prepared to guess the value of the coins in either today’s prices or the prices at the time, but “it would have been a great deal of money.” (Altogether, the coins weigh about one kilogram. Currently, gold is selling for $288.60 an ounce. That would make the gold in the coins worth about $10,180.)
Sion says archaeologists are always finding coins, but “you don’t find a treasure-trove of so many gold coins like this every day,” Sion says. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime discovery and therefore exciting, even for a veteran archaeologist.”
Vying Churches Finally Agree on Something
Holy Sepulchre to Get New Exit
After nearly a thousand years of status quo and five years of negotiations, the religious bodies that govern the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem have agreed to what amounts to a major alteration in the church’s structure—adding a new door.
The church is believed by many to be the site of Jesus’ tomb. Though the building has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times since it was first established by the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century A.D., the present building incorporates features from several of those earlier structures. One such feature is the single door. During the Crusades, there were 12 entries, but after Saladin conquered Jerusalem in 1178 all but one door was sealed off, and the key to the remaining entrance was entrusted to a Muslim family. The key has stayed in the same family ever since.
Today, Christian holy places in Jerusalem are primarily governed by the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches and the Franciscan Roman Catholic religious order. Despite its many chapels, only those churches and the Syrian, Coptic and Anglican Churches are allowed to conduct services in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the past, conflicts among the different Christian bodies have arisen over their centuries-old rights to various parts of the massive structure. They hold services simultaneously, which means that thousands of worshipers, many carrying candles or torches, cram into the building on Easter, creating a serious safety hazard. According to Uri Mor, head of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s department for Christian communities, the second door will be an emergency exit.
Mor said that while the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Franciscan authorities have agreed in principle to the need for such a door, they are still not agreed on where it should be placed.
Did the New York Times Copy BAR?
Where did you read it first?
The Beginning |
|
Sept./Oct. 1998 BAR (published 8/22/98) |
New York Times—10/18/98
|
“The head of government is charged with an illicit sexual relationship while in office. In a deposition, he vehemently denies the charge. ‘Emphatically no,’ he testifies. ‘I did not sleep with her.’ His agents are called in to testify. The case has dragged on almost interminably.” | “Dogged by an aggressive prosecution, a political leader denies an illicit affair—‘I did not have sex with her!’—although one of his associates swears to it.” |
The Ending |
|
Sept./Oct. 1998 BAR |
New York Times—10/18/98
|
“Alas, the tablet containing the verdict has not yet been found, so we know no more about the eventual outcome of the Kushshaharbe-Humerelli case than we do about the Clinton-Lewinsky case.” | “[T]he investigation continued interminably … [T]he records of the final verdict on Nuzi’s infamous Mayor have never been found.” |
Did the New York Times take its cue from the BAR story? It is unlikely that the answer will ever be found. Times writer Tom Kuntz did not return our call.
But we both properly credited the Harvard Semitic Museum, where the relevant tablets were displayed in an exhibit. Kudos to curator James Armstrong.
020
Masada Restoration
Filling the Holes in Herod’s Palace
The dramatic mountaintop of Masada is ideally suited for fortifications, as both the Romans and the Jews discovered in the First Jewish Revolt in (67–73 A.D.). However, it’s less well suited to serve as a permanent monument. Just ask the conservationists with Israel’s National Park Protection Agency.
Wind, water and salt have wreaked havoc on Herod’s fortress and palace since they were built two thousand years ago. The limestone buildings were originally covered with white plaster to give the appearance of marble, but the plaster also helped protect the soft stone from weathering. Now that most of the plaster is gone, the foundation walls of Herod’s northern palace have become honeycombed with softball-sized cavities. Fearing that an earthquake or even a harsh storm would destroy the palace, the park agency brought in a team of British conservators to try to repair the damage and to train their Israeli counterparts in their methods.
According to Catherine Woolsit, a conservator with Resurgam Conservation Consultancy in Gomshall, England, the first order of business was to fill what she calls the “big cavernous pockets” that had weakened the foundation. It’s not simply a matter of sticking a replacement rock in the hole, Woolsit says. “New stone is different from old stone, structurally, so that would cause new problems,” she told BAR. Instead, the British conservators used stone slips and lime to slowly build up the damaged sections.
“The whole story of Masada is about sliding,” says John Ashurst, the architect in charge of the project. “We’re trying to gather it up and hold it up again.” In fact, one corner of the palace’s bathhouse had already slid off an eroded precipice by the time the British team arrived this past October. British masons worked to repair the arch above the cold bath in an effort to keep the surrounding cliff walls from sliding down and pulling the entire room down with them.
Plasterers and a wall-painting conservator were also part of the team, trying to repair damage done by earlier restorers. For example, Woolsit said, at one point delicate frescoes were removed from the walls, adhered to a metal backing and then reattached to the walls. Conservators now know that this is no way to treat a fresco; the team this fall was trying to keep the frescoes from flaking off even more than they already have. They also worked on the decorative stucco in the palace and on other plaster repair projects.
Built on top of sheer cliffs, Masada has presented conservators with physical challenges as well: At one point, masons had to work from 50-foot-high scaffolds. All in all, “It’s one of the most daring conservation projects we’ve started in Israel,” says Asi Shalom, a conservation archaeologist with the Park Protection Agency.
Masada: The Musical!
Are You Sure the Gershwins Started This Way?
Masada: It’s a mountain! It’s a fortress! It’s a … musical?
Yep. Masada: The Musical made its debut on December 15 in a concert performance at the Shubert Theater in Century City, California. The production starred Davis Gaines, formerly of Phantom of the Opera. The evening was hosted by Jon Voight, fresh from playing Noah in a Biblical mini-series on NBC.
According to a report in Variety, the show-biz trade journal, “Masada is based on the 2,000-year-old saga of the 967 Jewish zealots who stood atop the mountain of Masada … in defiance of the 15,000 Romans who sought to enslave them.” Musicals being musicals, however, a love story between a Roman general and a female defender is woven throughout the script.
Masada: The Musical is based on a concept by Shuki Levy, who also wrote the music for the play. It features lyrics by screenwriter and actress Shell Danielson. The producers hope for a turn on Broadway, as well as productions in Europe, the Far East and atop the real Masada, in Israel. A cast album featuring Gaines and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra was released in Israel last year.
018
What Is It?
A: Persian hobby horse
B. Bronze whetstone handle
C. Pendant
D: Byzantine andiron
020
What It Is, Is …
B. Bronze whetstone handle.
Ornate decorations on utilitarian objects such as this seventh-century B.C. bronze whetstone handle are typical of the artworks produced by a mysterious group of people from the mountainous regions of southwestern Iran. Archaeologists know little about these people—in fact, they are still unnamed—but presume they were pastoralists, based on artifacts found, initially, in unsupervised digs and, later, scientifically excavated tombs. Horse gear, especially bridle bits, figure prominently in their art, and objects like this handle indicate that horses themselves were a common decorative motif as well.
Heavy Metal
Tiberias Yields Islamic Treasure
Archaeologists recently dug up the largest collection of Islamic period objects ever found in Israel. The hoard was buried under the dirt floor of an ancient shop near Tiberias.
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