Strata

022

IAA Squeezed by Religious Pressures

Is It Still in Charge of Archaeology?

After years of animosity between ultrareligious Jews and the archaeological establishment, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), under the direction of Amir Drori, is taking an unprecedented stab at bridging the gap by allowing IAA-sanctioned religious observers to attend digs.

Fourteen supervisors from the Ministry of Religious Affairs have been granted observer status at the country’s rescue excavations—digs the IAA is mandated by law to conduct in areas where roads or other development is planned. The IAA will inform the ministry when it is about to begin an excavation, and the ministry may dispatch an observer to the dig and take any unearthed bones for religious reburial.

“We hope that this will solve the dispute between the two sides and offer some solution to the protests all over the country,” said Osnat Goaz, IAA spokeswoman. The IAA is hoping that since Ministry of Religious Affairs employees are state workers, the government will pressure them to temper the violence that has often characterized the conflict between the IAA and the ultra-Orthodox over archaeological digs.

According to a 1994 decision by Israel’s attorney general, all Jewish bones discovered by the IAA must be given proper burial. The IAA has entrusted the Ministry of Religious Affairs with that responsibility.

The new agreement is intended to calm fears among the ultra-Orthodox that they are not fully informed about all digs and therefore are unable to collect all ancient bones that are discovered. But the ultrareligious camp is not placing much faith in the new setup. “The agreement will [have to] be carried out on the ground,” said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, a Jerusalem activist in Atra Kadisha, an ultra-Orthodox organization that frequently protests archaeological excavations. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The supervisors began work early this summer. According to Shimon Malka, spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, “It’s not going well.” He said, “We requested that they have authority [to stop a dig when bones are found], but they have none.” The religious parties have requested that the prime minister intervene, and the justice minister is currently considering whether the supervisors should be granted authority to stop a dig.

Ultrareligious Jews are often wary of the IAA, which they see as a secular bastion that is interested only in archaeological research and that ignores guidelines for excavations and the transfer of bones. “We always have to keep after them,” said Meshi-Zahav. “It’s a government organization, and they excavate like thieves at night. They don’t publish details, or they cover up an opening and enter through a different place so the religious won’t find out about an excavation.”

Civil rights groups are up in arms over the agreement, denouncing the plan as a capitulation to ultra-Orthodox demands. The IAA already automatically transfers every bone found to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, so there is no reason to supervise its work, said Amira Segev, executive director of Hemdat, the Council for Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture in Israel.

“We were shocked the IAA agreed,” said Segev. “We think it is a very dangerous decision that could serve as an opening for many other initiatives that could restrict science in Israel. Are they going to supervise a doctor’s work next?”

The future of archaeological research is at risk from this agreement, agreed Amir Feldstein, chairman of Israel’s Archaeological Association. “This is just the first step,” he said. “Today it just pertains to rescue excavations, but tomorrow they will want to supervise initiated excavations, too.”

In a late development, the Ministry of Education, which oversees archaeology, announced that a committee would be formed to formulate policy over excavations. The IAA was not a party to the meeting and was caught offguard by the announcement. “I heard about this decision from the media,” said IAA spokeswoman Goaz. “Nobody told us. Nobody called us.” Goaz could not say what effect, if any, this latest development would have on the appointment of religious observers.

023

On Exhibit: The First Artists

A diminutive figurine of a voluptuous woman , unearthed at Berekhat Ram in Israel’s Golan Heights in the 1980s, is being billed as the first man-made objet d’art. Roughly hewn from volcanic rock, the 2-inch-tall statuette is believed to be 250,000 years old. A flint tool was used to form the rotund body, which resembles that of a miniature snowman, with a head, arms, protruding breasts and unevenly fashioned buttocks.

Discovered by Hebrew University’s Naama Goren-Inbar, the figurine reached the Israel Museum—where it is the centerpiece of the current First Artists exhibit—three years ago, but many scholars doubted that the prehistoric lady had been fashioned by man. “Because it was so old, one could easily suspect that it was not made by a human being,” said Debby Hershman, curator of the exhibit. “We usually think art began much later, in Europe.” Professor Alexander Marshack of Harvard University, a specialist in prehistoric art, conducted microscope analysis, however, and determined that the statuette was indeed man-made.

The figurine was found in basalt strata dating from 800,000 to 233,000 years ago. By comparing the flint tools found at the site with those from other prehistoric sites, archaeologists have determined that human activity occurred near the end of this period, around 250,000 years ago.

Previously, the earliest known figurines were the 25,000-year-old “Venus” figurines from central Europe, noted for their large buttocks and pendulous breasts. These figurines are thought to symbolize deities and to have been used as amulets.

A second item in the museum exhibit, a 55,000-year-old flint plaque with an engraving of a rainbow, was also found by Goren-Inbar, in Quneitra. Three inches long, it features diagonal lines and concentric semicircles that form a rainbow, an important symbol in ancient rain rituals and seasonal ceremonies. “The rainbow was found after the figurine of the woman, but this is the first time we are showing it,” said Hershman. “Until Marshack came and checked it as well, we didn’t dare. We were waiting to see if it’s kosher.”

A horse on a stone plaque, also on exhibit, dates from the old Stone Age (about 30,000 years ago) when prehistoric artworks were being created in Europe. The horse is a fairly common animal image on prehistoric cave walls in Europe. This horse, however—discovered by Ofer Bar Yosef of Harvard and Ana Belfer Cohen of Hebrew University—is the earliest known representation of the animal.

Until these discoveries, mobile artworks and prehistoric cave drawings discovered in Europe a century ago were considered the beginnings of art. Scholars pegged this era to the end of the old Stone Age and the emergence of modern man. But the findings in northern Israel point to evidence of culture outside Europe, predating the appearance of modern man.

These latest discoveries may represent an artistic and religious tradition that spanned tens of thousands of years and spawned Europe’s prehistoric art culture. “This is a real revelation because until now people thought art began 35,000 years ago in Europe,” said Hershman. “But now, because of these findings, we have changed history.”

Home Sweet Home Page

A Feast For The Eyes

Visual artists who contribute to BAR have been busy lately on the World Wide Web.

Leen Ritmeyer, the virtuoso architectural draftsman whose work often graces these pages, now has his own Web site. You can see it at . In it, he describes his ideas on the square Temple Mount, the location of the Temple within that square, and the location of the Ark of the Covenant within the Temple—subjects on which he has written extensively in BAR.^a

For those who want to see more of the stunning photography produced by many of BAR’s lensmen, turn to a Web site maintained by Israel’s Foreign Ministry: . Numerous archaeological sites and aerial views are included. Of course, they can’t match the quality of the printed page, so never let BAR wander far from your coffee table.

024

Tabloid Watch

Read All About It: Tabloid Contains Some Truth

Our faith in the Sun, that mainstay of the supermarket checkout line, has been badly shaken.

Long-time readers of this department know that we have depended on the Sun for items unmatched in their brazen ludicrousness. Imagine our shock as we settled in with the April 22, 1997, issue, fully primed by the lurid cover showing a Crucifixion scene and emblazoned with several screaming headlines—“Christ’s Lost Gospel Bombshell,” “End of World Survival Guide” and “Censored Bible Secrets Hidden Over Centuries”—and we began to enjoy the classic Sun fare on the inside—“Surefire Tips on How You Can Survive Armageddon and Judgment Day!”—along with the comments of “Biblical researcher” Theodor Dassen (whom we have, needless to say, never heard of)—when it slowly dawned on us that the story actually had some truth to it.

The Sun’s account was very loosely based on the recent identification of a manuscript currently in Berlin’s Egyptian Museum as a fourth- to seventh-century noncanonical gospel. The identification was made by Paul Mirecki, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Kansas, and Charles Hedrick, professor of religious studies at Southwest Missouri State University. Mirecki is quoted by the Sun, albeit near the end of its story. He happened upon the 15-page document in 1991 but only recently have he and Hedrick been able to piece enough of it together to make sense of the content.

“It’s a noncanonical text,” Mirecki told BAR. “Salvation comes to these people through knowledge rather than faith”—a hallmark of the Gnostics, an early Christian movement that was drummed out of mainstream Christianity in the first few centuries of the current era for its dualistic ideas. “They see orthodox Jews and Christians as duped by the evil creator of the material universe. That type of theology is not what developing orthodoxy wanted to hear. They wanted to promote salvation in the Church, not in one’s personal experience,” Mirecki said.

Scholars recognize several noncanonical texts as gospels of early Christian communities, possibly containing authentic sayings of Jesus. The last such text to be discovered was the Gospel of Thomas, found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945.

Mirecki and Hedrick were studying the Berlin manuscript independently until a chance encounter at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature made them realize they were both working on the same document. They then decided to pool their efforts; their joint book is due this summer.

As for the Sun, we plead with its editors to come to their senses. If we wanted responsible Bible scholarship, we would turn to Bible Review. We depend on the Sun for totally off-the-wall items. Please try to do better next time.

026

Ark Verdict

Creationist Claims Victory

In our previous issue (“Ark Enemies,” Strata, BAR 23:03), we reported a court battle in Australia between Ian Plimer, a professor of earth science, and Allen Roberts, a proponent of creationism. Plimer charged Roberts with making false or unprovable claims in a video that purports to show the remains of Noah’s Ark in Turkey.

The judge ruled in Roberts’s favor on the grounds that Roberts had not been involved in trade or commerce as defined by Australian law. The judge did find, however, that Roberts had made false and misleading statements in his lectures and brochures. But since the judge had already ruled that it was not a matter of commerce, he said no law had been infringed.

Roberts described the ruling as a victory for freedom of speech. Plimer’s supporters expect him to appeal.

Chew on This

Stone-Age Chewing Gum Discovered in Northern Europe

Some gum really does last a long time. British archaeologists recently reported that black lumps of tar found in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden could be identified as Stone Age chewing gum, dating to around 7000 B.C. The birch bark tar was apparently chewed by children and teenagers, judging from the size of the teeth-marks left in it. Elizabeth Aveling, an archaeologist from Bradford University, in England, who made the report, said the gum might have been used to relieve pain or to remove milk teeth. It is unknown how the gum was made. In a Reuters account, Aveling described a reconstituted sample as having a “strange, smoky flavour” with a texture “very much like modern chewing gum, but it isn’t sweet.”

It’s nice to know that some progress has been made in 9,000 years.

024

Mark Your Calendar

Exhibitions

Revealing an Ancient Message: A Synagogue Mosaic from Sepphoris

Letters From Cairo: Jews and Muslims 800–1500

Through October 12, 1997

Two exhibits provide windows into the past. Discovered by chance in 1993, a fifth-century A.D. mosaic is the first complete synagogue floor excavated at Sepphoris, a major city in Galilee during Jesus’ time. The largest ancient mosaic floor to be taken out of Israel covers a 45- by 15-foot area and depicts three major subjects: Abraham and Isaac, the Tabernacle and Temple, and the zodiac.

Over 70 items—including ancient manuscripts, textiles and jewelry—are on display in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Cairo Genizah, one of the greatest caches of Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic manuscripts ever found. (See “The Twins and the Scholar,” BAR 22:05). Glimpse what 9th- to 15th-century Mediterranean life was like and peruse some of the famous documents found in that cache, including fragments of the Wisdom of Ben Sira and works by the rabbinical authority Moses Maimonides (1140–1204).

In the Presence of the Gods: Art from Ancient Sumer

Through March 8, 1998

These 43 ancient Sumerian objects—stone and copper statues, relief carvings, elaborate stone vessels and precious inlays—decorated the temples of Mesopotamia. Several of the items were used in daily feeding rituals of the gods or were buried in foundation boxes much like modern cornerstones.

The Gods of War: Sacred Imagery and the Decoration of Arms and Armor

Through October 31, 1997

Explore the use of religious and talismanic symbols, words and phrases on weapons and armor from the Middle and Far East.

026

Seminars

Jewish Museum—Sepphoris Mosaic Symposium

September 14 at 10 a.m.

Featured speakers are Sepphoris dig directors Ze’ev Weiss and Ehud Netzer, from the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. To explore the topic of synagogues in the Byzantine period, they will discuss synagogue art and architecture; related literature and law; and the roles of various subgroups—such as women and rabbis—and their relationship to that institution. For more information, contact the Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., New York, NY (212) 423–3224.

Dead Sea Scrolls Seminar

October 19, 1997

Southern California celebrates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the scrolls with a photo exhibit and talks by three scholars: Richard Sneed (on the Qumran community), Bruce Zuckerman (on photographing and preserving fragile texts) and James Robinson (on new interpretations of Qumran). Contact the Jewish Community Center of Orange County, (714) 755–0340, for details.

BAS Travel/Study Programs

San Francisco Study Seminar

November 20 to November 22, 1997

After you’ve seen the Golden Gate Bridge and the cable cars, come hear leading scholars speak on the hot subjects in their fields. Bible scholars George Brooke and Michal Coogan and archaeologists Motti Aviam and Ronny Reich will be the lecturers. For more information call the Biblical Archaeology Society at (800) 221-4644.

Caribbean Seminar Cruise

February 14 to February 21, 1998

Explore Mayan ruins, snorkel, scuba dive and sunbathe on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches as the M.S. Noordam visits Grand Cayman, Guatemala and Mexico. On board Boston College professor Anthony Saldarini will lead “Looking Back 2,000 Years—The Many Faces of Judaism, Jesus & Early Christianity,” lecturing on the Second Temple period (200 B.C.E.–200 C.E.), the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jerusalem, messiahs and the end of the world. For more information call the Biblical Archaeology Society at (800) 221–4644.

022

What Is It?

A. Bowling ball

B. Baby’s rattle

C. Earplugs and carrying case

D. Adding machine

E. Purse

026

What It Is, Is …

D. Adding machine.

Clay balls like this were used for record keeping in Mesopotamia. The small tokens beside the ball represented various quantities of different items. The tokens were stored in the ball, which was sealed for safekeeping. The ball (which is about 2.5 inches in diameter) could be cracked open later, allowing the tokens to be recounted for accuracy. Some such balls (also called bullae) have impressions of tokens on the outside, which correspond to their contents. This has led scholars to suggest that the impressions may be evidence of the origins of writing or arithmetic. One of more than 100 clay counting balls found throughout Mesopotamia, this example comes from Susa, in southwestern Iran, and dates to about 3300 B.C.

IAA Squeezed by Religious Pressures

Is It Still in Charge of Archaeology?