Archaeological Lesson, Part 2
Accounts of my last three archaeological trips, brought to you by a load of iced coffee.
Last Monday was a trip to the large model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period, cheesily named HolyLand (considering what I named my blog, maybe I shouldn't be talking). The model is pretty cool, large and intricate, and striking because while it roughly follows the Old City boundaries of today, the large Second Temple sits in the middle of Temple Mount. For those of us who've been living here for a while and are so used to seeing the domes of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock dominating the Old City landscape, it looks extremely strange.
Anyway, on to the archaeological story I will include here so that I can pretend I'm studying. Those who aren't as overly nerdy as I am may not want to bother to read this. In 538 BCE King Cyrus of Persia took over the Babylonian Empire, and decided to let the Jews go back to Judea if they wished, even giving them some measure of religious and governmental autonomy. The first wave of returnees didn't number that many, but they still set to work on rebuilding their Temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed. The community they built there went through varied periods, including a few foreign conquerors/rulers, like Alexander the Great and the Romans, but generally expanded into a decent-sized city, until the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD, tearing down the Temple and much of the mount itself. To this day, the holiest site in Judaism is the Western Wall, supposedly the last connection Jews have with their lost Temple.
While our professor was pointing out various things, a large group of Japanese tourists came in and started walking around like we had, but eventually ended up right behind us, since their guide wasn't taking half the time our professor was in explaining things. She didn't really care though, luckily, and just continued explaining things at her own pace. The tour group had so many cameras that I couldn't help but be reminded of the Japanese camera joke all the Egyptians had told me.
Last Wednesday we ended up at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, which is really really old, as opposed to the other corners, which are just old. This special corner, and parts of the southern and (obviously) western walls still have the massive limestone blocks Herod used in his numerous building projects, including the walls around the Second Temple and the Mount. We saw the remains of Robinson's Arch, which once supported a large staircase leading up to the Mount, remains of the southern Huldah gates, a paved Herodian street, Byzantine houses, a couple of miqves, and huge stones left in a pile from when the Romans tore down much of the walls. Too bad I forgot my camera.
Today was a trip to the Herodian Quarter, which sounds grand but is really just a small area in the Jewish quarter with remains from the Second Temple Period. Usually archaeologists don't get much chance to excavate anything in the Old City, and considering how many times my professor and authors of various articles and books we read mention that fact, it must eat at them every day. So when the whole Jewish Quarter area was being rebuilt in the 60s (I think) and they got a chance to do so, they must have been practically salivating. They found a bunch of old houses, pottery, columns, remains of frescoes and mosaics and other stuff, which are today preserved where they were found. That didn't stop the residents from building a yeshiva on the roof they put over the remains though. Hey, you can't let that much space go to waste.
A friend of mine named Sigal and I got the bus driver the drop us off at the city center, since Sigal wanted to buy shoes. After walking around the Ben Yehuda/King George area for good hour, we decided to try the Mahane Yehuda area, but didn't know whether rehov Jaffa went to it or not. The lady on the street we asked said we'd have to go up Straus instead, which was such a lie, since the further we went up the street the more black-coated or long-skirted Orthodox Jews we saw walking around us. An Avodat Israel street sign told us that we were, as we suspected, heading straight for Mea Shearim, the ultra-Orthodox religious neighborhood. After we turned around and rain started falling really hard, we decided to give up, and took a taxi home.
I liked seeing all the Orthodox Jews who cover their wide-brimmed black hats with plastic bags when they go out in the rain. I wonder if there's a reason they can't use umbrellas.
Last Monday was a trip to the large model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period, cheesily named HolyLand (considering what I named my blog, maybe I shouldn't be talking). The model is pretty cool, large and intricate, and striking because while it roughly follows the Old City boundaries of today, the large Second Temple sits in the middle of Temple Mount. For those of us who've been living here for a while and are so used to seeing the domes of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock dominating the Old City landscape, it looks extremely strange.
Anyway, on to the archaeological story I will include here so that I can pretend I'm studying. Those who aren't as overly nerdy as I am may not want to bother to read this. In 538 BCE King Cyrus of Persia took over the Babylonian Empire, and decided to let the Jews go back to Judea if they wished, even giving them some measure of religious and governmental autonomy. The first wave of returnees didn't number that many, but they still set to work on rebuilding their Temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed. The community they built there went through varied periods, including a few foreign conquerors/rulers, like Alexander the Great and the Romans, but generally expanded into a decent-sized city, until the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD, tearing down the Temple and much of the mount itself. To this day, the holiest site in Judaism is the Western Wall, supposedly the last connection Jews have with their lost Temple.
While our professor was pointing out various things, a large group of Japanese tourists came in and started walking around like we had, but eventually ended up right behind us, since their guide wasn't taking half the time our professor was in explaining things. She didn't really care though, luckily, and just continued explaining things at her own pace. The tour group had so many cameras that I couldn't help but be reminded of the Japanese camera joke all the Egyptians had told me.
Last Wednesday we ended up at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, which is really really old, as opposed to the other corners, which are just old. This special corner, and parts of the southern and (obviously) western walls still have the massive limestone blocks Herod used in his numerous building projects, including the walls around the Second Temple and the Mount. We saw the remains of Robinson's Arch, which once supported a large staircase leading up to the Mount, remains of the southern Huldah gates, a paved Herodian street, Byzantine houses, a couple of miqves, and huge stones left in a pile from when the Romans tore down much of the walls. Too bad I forgot my camera.
Today was a trip to the Herodian Quarter, which sounds grand but is really just a small area in the Jewish quarter with remains from the Second Temple Period. Usually archaeologists don't get much chance to excavate anything in the Old City, and considering how many times my professor and authors of various articles and books we read mention that fact, it must eat at them every day. So when the whole Jewish Quarter area was being rebuilt in the 60s (I think) and they got a chance to do so, they must have been practically salivating. They found a bunch of old houses, pottery, columns, remains of frescoes and mosaics and other stuff, which are today preserved where they were found. That didn't stop the residents from building a yeshiva on the roof they put over the remains though. Hey, you can't let that much space go to waste.
A friend of mine named Sigal and I got the bus driver the drop us off at the city center, since Sigal wanted to buy shoes. After walking around the Ben Yehuda/King George area for good hour, we decided to try the Mahane Yehuda area, but didn't know whether rehov Jaffa went to it or not. The lady on the street we asked said we'd have to go up Straus instead, which was such a lie, since the further we went up the street the more black-coated or long-skirted Orthodox Jews we saw walking around us. An Avodat Israel street sign told us that we were, as we suspected, heading straight for Mea Shearim, the ultra-Orthodox religious neighborhood. After we turned around and rain started falling really hard, we decided to give up, and took a taxi home.
I liked seeing all the Orthodox Jews who cover their wide-brimmed black hats with plastic bags when they go out in the rain. I wonder if there's a reason they can't use umbrellas.
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