Archaeology Lesson, Part 3
Once again, I show that I can both study and not study for the midterm at the same time, by telling other people about what I should be reading about.
Last Monday our trip was to the so-called "Tombs of the Kings," located somewhere north of the Old City, in the middle of the American Colony, I think. They were called Royal because they were discovered by some guy who got all excited by how elaborately the frieze on the front had been carved or something and thought it must be for the kings of Judah. Why do some archaeologists never bother to check up on their assumptions before they go around naming everything? Students in my class are being forced to make lists of all the sites that were named something by their discoverers that gives you a totally wrong impression of who built it or who it's for. There's the Hasmonean tower which was not built by the Hasmoneans, but by Herod. The Migdal David, not built by David. Tombs of the Kings, not at all royal, unless you think it was the tomb of Queen Helen of blah blah blah, in which case, there are still no kings. And so on.
The burial caves aren't big or anything, but I was happily surprised when our professor let us loose in the dark caves to explore, with only the candles she brought with her for light. Creepy fun. Then we all had to gather later to allow her to talk. I think we all felt very cult-like sitting in these old rock-cut burial caves, everyone with a candle in their hand.
Yesterday was the Western Wall tunnels, which are located in a complex to the left of the Kotel, and run along the entire western side of the Temple Mount and under the Muslim neighborhoods, north of the Kotel. They exist so people can see the foundations of the walls of Temple Mount, and more of the old Herodian stones underneath. Cool to see, but it's really just rocks, so not that interesting to describe.
Where to next? No idea. I haven't looked at our syllabus for weeks now. I could, but my notebook is all the way across the room, and I'm way too lazy to get up.
Last Monday our trip was to the so-called "Tombs of the Kings," located somewhere north of the Old City, in the middle of the American Colony, I think. They were called Royal because they were discovered by some guy who got all excited by how elaborately the frieze on the front had been carved or something and thought it must be for the kings of Judah. Why do some archaeologists never bother to check up on their assumptions before they go around naming everything? Students in my class are being forced to make lists of all the sites that were named something by their discoverers that gives you a totally wrong impression of who built it or who it's for. There's the Hasmonean tower which was not built by the Hasmoneans, but by Herod. The Migdal David, not built by David. Tombs of the Kings, not at all royal, unless you think it was the tomb of Queen Helen of blah blah blah, in which case, there are still no kings. And so on.
The burial caves aren't big or anything, but I was happily surprised when our professor let us loose in the dark caves to explore, with only the candles she brought with her for light. Creepy fun. Then we all had to gather later to allow her to talk. I think we all felt very cult-like sitting in these old rock-cut burial caves, everyone with a candle in their hand.
Yesterday was the Western Wall tunnels, which are located in a complex to the left of the Kotel, and run along the entire western side of the Temple Mount and under the Muslim neighborhoods, north of the Kotel. They exist so people can see the foundations of the walls of Temple Mount, and more of the old Herodian stones underneath. Cool to see, but it's really just rocks, so not that interesting to describe.
Where to next? No idea. I haven't looked at our syllabus for weeks now. I could, but my notebook is all the way across the room, and I'm way too lazy to get up.
