First Person: Ketef Hinnom

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Those of you who were BAR subscribers in the summer of 2009, when we published a double-sized magazine to celebrate our 200th issue, will recall our feature story on the tombs of Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem where excavator (and author) Gabriel Barkay described this extraordinary site in which he found an undisturbed tomb with treasures beyond belief, including two silver amulets containing the oldest Biblical texts ever discovered, 400 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls.^a For those of you who weren’t subscribers then (or who may have forgotten), we have posted this article on our Web site.

At the end of his article, Barkay lamented:

“Today the seven burial caves of Ketef Hinnom lie hidden behind the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, unmarked, unguarded and unprotected. They deserve better.”

I had earlier tried to remedy this deplorable situation. I had interested leading South African philanthropist Mendel Kaplan in the project, and we had a meeting with the head of the Begin Center. Mendel even brought a leading Jerusalem museum designer to the meeting. Alas, Mendel later became ill and, after a long siege, died in 2009. The Ketef Hinnom project foundered.

The site lies between the Begin Center and the Scottish Church farther up the hill. Rumors were that the two parties had issues regarding who owned what. I decided to get involved to see if I could restart the project. We had a meeting in the Begin Center with director Herzl Makov and the minister of the Scottish Church, George Shand. Some of the skeptics were surprised at the willingness of the two institutions to meet together. To my delight, if not surprise, it was a wonderful meeting; both parties could not have been more cordial and cooperative. I thought I could raise some money for the project and the Scottish Church might also be able to make some financial contribution. We even talked about a small museum of the finds in the hospice of the church that would include part of an enchanting Byzantine church mosaic that had also been uncovered in the excavation.

I mentioned the project to the head of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Shuka Dorfman, when we had dinner together. Would we need permission from the IAA to undertake the project? The answer was “no,” as long as we did not do anything to the tombs themselves. Cutting the weeds, creating paths to the site, putting up a fence and explanatory signs was all okay. So was caring for the site by pumping water out of the open tombs after heavy rains.

I sent everyone involved a letter summarizing our encouraging meeting at the Begin Center. As a courtesy I sent a copy to the IAA’s Jerusalem District Archaeologist Jon Seligman. The letter noted that I had discussed the project with IAA director Shuka Dorfman, who had told me that “no permission from the IAA is needed” to do what we were planning.

If I thought that my involvement would be welcomed by the IAA archaeologist, I was badly mistaken. Seligman responded with a one-line message: My letter was “misleading and not helpful.”

I decided the best thing to do was to call Seligman and try to establish a better relationship. I did so and thought I had done that. It seems that Seligman wanted, in addition, to do some reconstruction work on the tombs themselves that would cost about 50,000 shekels. I then sent him a confirming letter of our telephone conversation: “Dear Jon: It was good talking to you. I think we made a lot of progress in our conversation … I think we are on the right road to progressing 066the project efficiently and cooperatively. Thank you for working with us.”

Of course, I sent copies of this letter to the others involved in the project. From Seligman came a two-line reply; he was furious that I had sent copies to the others: “This is more than a little irritating” was all he said.

I admit it: At this point, I blew my cool. “My dear friend Jon,” I responded. “You think my e-mail is irritating. I’m trying to be nice. You should see me when I’m being irritating. Jon, lighten up. We’re trying to work together to accomplish a worthwhile project. I telephoned you to see if we couldn’t get things on a friendly, cordial footing.”

It had become obvious, however, that I could not be effectively involved in the project, so for this (and other) reasons, I soon withdrew completely.

But that is not important. What is important is that the job gets done. With all his power, resources, knowledge and ability, Jon Seligman is in an excellent position to do just that, to get the job done. Now, a year later, it is time to ask him what progress he has made. Is he on the road to success? Or will this precious site remain, in the words of excavator Gaby Barkay, “unmarked, unguarded and unprotected”?

Those of you who were BAR subscribers in the summer of 2009, when we published a double-sized magazine to celebrate our 200th issue, will recall our feature story on the tombs of Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem where excavator (and author) Gabriel Barkay described this extraordinary site in which he found an undisturbed tomb with treasures beyond belief, including two silver amulets containing the oldest Biblical texts ever discovered, 400 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls.a For those of you who weren’t subscribers then (or who may have forgotten), we have posted this article on our Web site. At […]