Draft:Jerusalem Archaeological Park
Jerusalem Archaeological Park, also known as Ophel Garden, is an archaeological park located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located south of the Western Wall Plaza and under the Dung Gate. It was mamaged by the Ir David Foundation up until 2021, when it changed management to the Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter.
Location[edit]
The Park is located in the northern Ophel of Jerusalem at the foot of the Temple Mount's Southern Wall. It contains archaeological finds from the Bronze Age in 3,000 BC up to the Ottoman Period in the early 20th century. The area of the property is around 20 dunams, and is partly bounded by the Ophel Road. Its entrance is through an underpass on the access road to the Western Wall.
The nomenclature of its designation, Ophel, is a biblical term for an elevated part of the city where the administrative center was located. Its ascent to the Temple was from the City of David through the Ophel, which is mentioned in the Book of Chronicles.
Compound division[edit]
The excavation team had to decide which layer to preserve on site, as there were multiple layers of history on location continuously for 3,000 years. In the end, it was decided that the park would be divided into 3 sections, each based on a single layer excavation, to varying depths. They are as follows:
- Second Temple Compound - The area adjacent to the Western Wall was excavated up to the Second Temple period, around 2,000 years ago.
- Byzantine Compound - The area adjacent to the eastern half of the Southern Wall mainly displayed artifacts from the Byzantine period, about 1,500 years ago.
- Early Muslim Period Compound - The area adjacent to the western half of the Southern wall focuses on the Early Muslim Period, around 1,300 years ago.
History[edit]
British archaeologist Charles Warren was the first to excavate the area in the 1860s. Ottoman authorities forbade him to dig on or near the Temple Mount, claiming that it would damage a site holy to Islam. To circumvent the rules, he travelled through tunnels and underground shafts. Using the more difficult method, he discovered many important findings. In the 1960s, when the Old City was under Jordanian control, Kathleen Kenyon was granted ability to excavate there, mostly near the City of David.[1]
In February 1968, Israeli archaeologists were granted permission to excavate in and around the Old City for the first time. Due to religious tension, it was decided that they would not excavate by the Temple Mount, and they instead searched around the Temple Mount.[2] Benjamin Mazar of the Archaeological Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was appointed chief archaeologist for the project. The land, owned by the Jerusalem Waqf, was leased for him to do his archaeological dig.[3] The excavation lasted for a decade, and became one of the largest archaeological projects in Israeli history. Archaeologists' publications called their research the "Excavations of the Temple Mount", even though the Mount itself was not excavated. The dig and many of its discoveries brought forth great interest in both the academic community, as well as among the general public.
The excavation ended in 1978, although another of smaller reports were published afterwards, along with many scholarly analyses of the published findings. In 1989, Mazar and his granddaughter Eilat published a report. Benjamin died in 1995 before his final report was issued,[4] and a team headed by his daughter published the rest of the report from the site. At the end of the 1990s, the site was declared a park by the Israeli government, and the Davidson Center Museum was opened, displaying artifacts discovered within its limits.
Second Temple Compound[edit]
Previous excavations in the park showed that the area near the junction of the Southern Wall to the Western Wall is rich in finds from the Second Temple period. Due too this, it was decided to deepen excavations of the site for this eldest layer, dismantling the staging of the finds from later layers. The decision also cancelled the deepening of the excavation up to the First Temple period, or earlier periods.
Herodian Street[edit]
One of the most striking finds located in the Second Temple compound of the park is a paved street adjacent to the Western Wall. The street served as part of the complex during its active period, from which pilgrims could access the western entryway of the Temple. Along the street, adjacent to the wall, a series of shops were uncovered that most likely served as merchanting areas, perhaps for ritual items related to worship.[5] The continuation of the street was discovered in 2007 on the slopes of the City of David near the Pool of Siloam.
References[edit]
- ^ "Kathleen Kenyon". Somerville College Oxford. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
- ^ Benjamin Mazar; Michael Avi-Yonah (1968). THE EXCAVATIONS IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM: Preliminary Report of the First Season, 1968. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p. 1.
- ^ Reiter, Yitzhak (May 2019). "סטטוס-קוו בתהליכי שינוי: מאבקי שליטה בהר הבית" (PDF). Jerusalem Institute (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-01-11.
- ^ Greenberg, Joel (1995-09-11). "Benjamin Mazar, 89, Israeli Biblical Archaeologist". New York Times. pp. D23. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ^ "Herodian Street". madainproject.com. Retrieved 2024-01-12.