Inside BAR

002

Ancient Jerusalem is the setting for two articles in this issue. The first relates a little known escapade of a group of adventurers in the early years of this century who, while digging for gold and silver treasure, stumbled onto other archaeological riches. The second story focuses on the recently completed excavations adjacent to the Temple Mount, which for 10 years drew volunteers from all over the world to help uncover the remains of Herodian, Byzantine, and Moslem Jerusalem.

In his article, “In Search of Solomon’s Lost Treasures,” Neil Silberman recounts how a group of imaginative Englishmen, equipped with time, money and a Danish clairvoyant, embarked on a mission to find the lost treasures of King Solomon’s Temple. The expedition might have ended as a footnote to early 20th century archaeological history were it not that the great Jerusalem scholar, Père Louis Hugues Vincent, was enlisted as a consultant to the group. Père Vincent’s records are the lasting contribution of an improbable quest. The Parker Mission article is excerpted from Silberman’s forthcoming book, Digging for God and Country: The Secret History of Biblical Archaeology (Alfred A. Knopf). A writer by profession, the author graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 and then spent the next four years studying and working in Biblical archaeology in Jerusalem.

During those same years, the 10-year-long excavation led by Professor Benjamin Mazar at the Temple Mount was drawing to a close. In his article “Excavations Near Temple Mount Reveal Splendors of Herodian Jerusalem,” Professor Mazar describes some of the extraordinary finds which reveal the buildings, the streets, and walls, life and ceremonies of Herodian Jerusalem, as well as an earlier structure thought to be a building called Beth Millo in the Old Testament. The excavations at the Temple Mount are the culmination of Professor Mazar’s long career as one of Israel’s most prolific archaeologists and historians. As a tribute to him, Professor Mazar’s students at Hebrew University in 1978 prepared a cumulative bibliography of his published works which includes over 400 entries in German, Hebrew, and English! Yigael Yadin called Mazar’s excavations at the Temple Mount “the greatest archaeological enterprise Jerusalem has witnessed.”

Also in this issue we include “The Separate Traditions of Abraham and Jacob,” by the late Père Roland de Vaux who served as Director of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem, and as Editor of the Revue Biblique. In this piece, Père de Vaux illuminates portions of the controversial Genesis narrative.

In “The Last Legacy of Roland de Vaux,” Nahum Sarna, Dora Golding Professor of Biblical studies at Brandeis University reviews Père de Vaux’s The Early History of Israel, his final major work from which “The Separate Traditions of Abraham and Jacob” is excerpted. Sarna himself is a prolific writer, editor and Biblical commentator who has been a major contributor to Encyclopedia Judaica and Encyclopedia Britannia.

Born and raised in England, Sarna graduated in 1946 from Jews College, England’s rabbinical seminary. In 1951 he moved to the United States. He has both studied and taught in Philadelphia (Dropsie and Gratz Colleges), has served as Visiting Professor of Biblical Studies at Andover-Newton, and joined the Brandeis faculty in 1965. Student evaluations of his courses there repeatedly describe his teaching as “illuminating,” “insightful,” and “humorous.”

Ancient Jerusalem is the setting for two articles in this issue. The first relates a little known escapade of a group of adventurers in the early years of this century who, while digging for gold and silver treasure, stumbled onto other archaeological riches. The second story focuses on the recently completed excavations adjacent to the Temple Mount, which for 10 years drew volunteers from all over the world to help uncover the remains of Herodian, Byzantine, and Moslem Jerusalem. In his article, “In Search of Solomon’s Lost Treasures,” Neil Silberman recounts how a group of imaginative Englishmen, equipped with […]