Inside BAR

004

“A rose-red city, half as old as time”—so the Nabatean site of Petra was described by 19th-century poet John William Burgon. Not “half as old as time,” and perhaps not even a “city,” Petra, in modern Jordan, has received too much attention from archaeologists, says Avraham Negev in “Understanding the Nabateans.” Although a major religious center, Petra was not a dwelling place, nor was it of major economic importance, in Negev’s view, and overemphasis on it has detracted from the study of other Nabatean sites. Negev’s excavations in Israel’s Negev desert have greatly increased our knowledge of the Nabatean trade network and have uncovered the secrets of its success. The importance of this network can hardly be exaggerated, for it made the Nabateans the masters of the desert and provided the riches that enabled them to sculpt their extraordinary, monumental temples and tombs.

Negev’s work does not end with excavation, however. His study of inscriptions, including one discovered only recently, clarifies the linguistic and cultural affiliations of the Nabateans and gives us a glimpse of the Nabateans’ unusual way of using language.

Because he is an Israeli archaeologist, Negev has had to overcome formidable difficulties in his study of the Nabateans. Such major Nabatean sites as Petra in Jordan, Egra in Saudi Arabia, and Seeia in Syria are closed to him; and he was unwelcome at a Nabatean archaeology convention in Oxford, England, in 1980, sponsored by H.R.H. Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan. Forced by circumstances to excavate in the Negev desert, at such important Nabatean caravan stops as Oboda (Avdat, 1958–61 and 1975–77), Mampsis (1965–67) and Elusa (1973 and 1979–80), Negev has gained a unique perspective on the nature of the Nabatean trade network and has developed an unusually broad knowledge of Nabatean civilization. Negev serves as professor of classical archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition to digging at Nabatean sites, he has also directed excavations at Caesarea (1961–62) and Susiya Carmel (1984–85).

A more detailed exposition of Negev’s ideas about the Nabateans may be found in his seventh book, Nabatean Archaeology Today, which Philip C. Hammond reviews in Books in Brief.

In a sidebar, “Nabatean Farms Reconstructed in the Desert,” BAR editor Hershel Shanks describes an exemplary case of how insights from archaeology can result in practical benefit. The rediscovery and application of Nabatean irrigation methods have created, in the harsh Negev desert, thriving experimental farms—possible models for agricultural development of Earth’s other arid lands.

The Golan, east of the Sea of Galilee, is less well known, archaeologically speaking, than most sites in Israel. Yet, during excavations over the past 20 years, the Golan has yielded many exciting finds, from strange Chalcolithic figurines to tragic reminders of the Roman assault on Gamla in 67 A.D. Now these finds are housed in a small gem of a modern museum—which even contains a reconstructed Chalcolithic house, including furnishings, all from original materials dating to 4000–3000 B.C. Shlomit Nemlich and Ann Killebrew put the Golan treasures in context in their profusely illustrated tour of the museum and the region, “Rediscovering the Ancient Golan: The Golan Archaeological Museum.”

Nemlich is curator of the Golan Archaeological Museum. Originally a native of southern California, Killebrew has lived in Israel for more than ten years. She has excavated at Katzrin, Deir el-Balah and Tel Miqne. Her work with Rachel Hachlili at a turn-of-the-era Jewish cemetery near Jericho was published for BAR readers in “The Saga of the Goliath Family—As Revealed in Their Newly Discovered 2,000-Year-Old Tomb,” BAR 09:01.

At Shiloh in Israel’s central hill country, the newly arrived Israelites set up a Tabernacle after their desert wanderings. Here the two stone tablets of the Law rested until they were captured by the Philistines about 1050 B.C. Although this ancient site has been explored and excavated several times over the last hundred years, the experts still strongly disagree about where exactly the Tabernacle stood. In “Fixing the Site of the Tabernacle at Shiloh,” Asher S. Kaufman reviews the major theories and offers his own arguments based on measurements, topography and an insightful reading of the Biblical text.

Research physicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Kaufman grew up in Scotland and served in the Royal Air Force in World War II. During the war, he helped design a new RAF gunsight for the bright skies over the Pacific Ocean.

Kaufman is the author of the most popular article ever published in BAR—“Where the Ancient Temple of Jerusalem Stood,” BAR 09:02. In that article, he proposed that the First and Second Temples stood not where the Dome of the Rock stands today—the traditional location—but about 330 feet north of this Jerusalem mosque. In fact, this article was so popular that no back issues of the March/April 1984 BAR remain!

In “Probable Head of Priestly Scepter from Solomon’s Temple Surfaces in Jerusalem,” BAR 10:01, we reported an extraordinary object—a pomegranate carved from a single piece of ivory, bearing an inscription that may read “Belonging to the Temple of Yahweh.” Now the pomegranate has made news again. Believed to be a decorative finial or part of a ritual scepter from Solomon’s Temple, the pomegranate was recently purchased by the Israel Museum for a sum that is nothing short of extraordinary itself. In a soul-searching article, BAR editor Hershel Shanks reviews the artifact’s history and asks, “Was BAR an Accessory to Highway Robbery?”

“A rose-red city, half as old as time”—so the Nabatean site of Petra was described by 19th-century poet John William Burgon. Not “half as old as time,” and perhaps not even a “city,” Petra, in modern Jordan, has received too much attention from archaeologists, says Avraham Negev in “Understanding the Nabateans.” Although a major religious center, Petra was not a dwelling place, nor was it of major economic importance, in Negev’s view, and overemphasis on it has detracted from the study of other Nabatean sites. Negev’s excavations in Israel’s Negev desert have greatly increased our knowledge of the Nabatean […]