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Widening Archaeological Horizons After the Six-Day War
By DR. AVRAHAM BIRAN
(Copyright 1955, J'1A Inc.)
Director, Department of Antiquities
and Museums of the Israel Ministry of
Education and Culture.
JERUSALEM—It will be a long
time before- the aftermath of the
Six-Day War is properly evaluated
and summarized. The impact of
the war has already affected the
course of history in this land and
has made itself felt in practically
all walks of life. But perhaps no
field can equal that of archaeology
and the study' of Israel's past.
The sudden opening up of terri-
tories closed to Israelis for 19
years was equal to a revaluation
bordering on the miraculous. First
and foremost there was Jerusa-
lem.
Jerusalem is not only a symbol.
It is archaeological flesh and
blood. The Western Wall, called
the Wailing •Wall, is not only the
sum total of Jewish aspirations
through the ages. It is a magnifi-
cent Herodian construction with
huge stones some 30 feet long testi-
fying to the engineering audacity
of Herod the Great. Indeed the
very first archaeological expedi-
tion organized by Israeli archaeol-
ogists in what used to be Jordan
territory was in Jerusalem near
the Southern and Western Walls,
surrounding the Temple Mount.
On the Herodian steps walked
our ancestors 2,000 years ago on
their way to the Holy of Holies.
The history of Jerusalem goes
back 2,000 years before Herod.
Archaeology comes to the rescue
of history. Problems relating to
the fortifications of the Cana-
ante, Jebusite, Davidic and
Solomonic city find their solu-
bons.
Whether the city of the kings
of Juda extended to the Western
hill (theofpresent Mt. Zion) is still
problematic. Jerusalem's water
supply was always of concern to
its rulers. Archaeology seeks to
trace the developments of these
different projects, Paradoxically,
it is archaeology that breathes life
into numerous episodes — an oil
lamp deposited by a Jewish pil-
grim in the 3rd Century BCE on
his way to the Temple Mount; the
bones of a builder, 50 years old,
whose name was Simon, are laid
to rest in an ossuary together with
his 20-year-old wife whose name is
not given. A whole panorama of
Jerusalem's history is yet to be
revealed by archaeology.
The hill country of Juda and
Samaria, the valley of the Jordan
and the Dead Sea, were well known
to the older generation of Israeli
archaeologists. But the new gener-
ation gazed in wonder at Dothan
were Joseph was sold into slavery,
Hebron where Abraham bought
the burial plot of the Patriarchs,
Jericho whose wall came tumb-
ling down before Joshua, Bethel
where Jacob saw the ladder of
heaven, Anathoth where Jeremiah
prophesied, Beitar where Bar
Kokba fought and died, and a
hundred other sites which evoke
the memory of Israel's ancient his-
tory.
Various British, French, Ger-
man and American expeditions
have worked in the area as well
as a Hebrew University expedi-
,
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tion which excavated the ancient
synagogue of Eshtmoe. But
many archaeological and histori-
cal problems need clarification.
The conquest of Jericho by Jos-
hua, the battel at Ai, the Samari-
tan Temple' at Mt. Gerizim, the
Bak Kokba strategy at Beitar
and many others.
One of the first tasks undertaken
after the Six-Day War was an
archaeological survey of the new
territories. In the Samaria area,
which comprises in our survey the
Gilboa and Ephraim mountains,
many new sites were recorded.
Chalcolithic, Canaanite and Israel-
ite sites were discovered in the
Gilboa region. The most intensive
settlement however took place dur-
ing the 1st and 6th Centuries
CE, comprising the end of the
period of the Second Temple, the
Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
The survey discovered a small
number of sites of the Lower Pale-
olithic period, near pre-historic
lakes. More numerous were the
sites of the Middle Paleolithic
which were found in open areas
and near caves which had fallen
in. The Upper Paleolithic remains
were found along the mountain
range and only a few in the dry
riverbeds or the lower slopes of
the valleys. In the Mesolithic and
Neolithic periods the inhabited
sites lay near springs and along
the river beds in areas which even
today. have a fair proportion of
water and springs. Even in arid
zones Mesolithic remains were
found near the springs.
The hill country of Israel began
to be settled in historic times. Al-
ready during the third millennium
BCE in the Early Bronze Age,
large settlements were established
in the mountains where the set-
tlers with their copper and flint
implements could quarry into the
soft limestone and build cisterns
for the storage and preservation of
water. These people also began the
clearing of the forests in order to
obtain land for agriculture.
During' the second millennium
BCE with the introduction of the
bronze implements it was possi-
ble to quarry also into the hard-
er limestone and at least 40 new
sites were recorded in areas
which have no fresh water
sources. Thus the way was open
for the settlement of the entire
Ephraim mountain range.
Later in the Late Bronze Age.
the settlements, strongly fortified.
were established near springs and
other water sources. The density
of settlement increased during the
Israelite period. The Israelites
chose the difficult mountain areas.
Some settled in the ruins of the
Early and Middle Bronze Age
sites but most established their
hamlets in previously uninhabited
localities. Cisterns for storing rain
water were common at the time
and the Israelite settlement per-
sisted and developed in density
for many centuries. A large num-
ber of the present day villages are
located on these ancient sites.
Archaeological evidence is now
lending support for the ideniifica-
tion of Biblical Devir with Tel
Rabud for example, 12 kilometers
south of Hebron. Also the division
of Judaea into districts (Joshua,
Chapter 15) was re-examined in
the light of the results of the sur-
vey.
The Babylonian exile left its
mark on the area and only a few
small and unfortified sites were
recorded in the Bethlehem region.
Because the Golan has been
practically unknown territory,
archaeologically speaking, it be-
came clear that some of the ac-
cepted theories about the history
of the area would have to be modi-
fied as, for example, in the case
of the Via Maris. It was always
assumed that one of the main
routes linking Egypt with Meso-
potamia passed through the Golan
by way of the present highway
from Gesher Banot Yaakov to
Damascus. The survey found no
evidence and no ancient sites to
support this theory.
The Golan, although inhabited
also. in the Canaanite period,
.....
reached the height of prosperity
and extensive settlement follow-
ing King Herod's extensive ac-
tivity in the region which was
his royal domain. Remains of
many synagogues were recorded
in various sites. Typical Jewish
symbols such as bunches of
grapes, vine leaves, palm branch.
es and pomegranates carved on
ashlar stones were found in
many places. Hebrew inscrip-
tions which testify to the exist-
ence of a learned community
were found at various sites.
In Sinai the challenge to the
archaeologist is even greater than
in other areas. To this day schol
ars are not agreed on the route of
the Exodus and the site of Mt.
Sinai. Arguments have been mar-
shalled for the northern route from
present-day Kantara, along the
Mediterranean coast to El Arish
and Gaza, and for the southern
route by way of the traditional
Mt. Sinai at whose foot a Chris-
tian monastery exhibits the burn
ing bush. A .survey team is now
examining the northern •route in
an attempt to determine whether
any sites along these routes were
inhabited in ancient times. It may
well be necessary to carry out
archaeological excavations to ob-
tain final proof.
Israeli archaeologists are just
beginning to approach the new
horizons which hold great promise
and exciting rewards.
Murmur at nothing; if our ills
are reparable, it is ungrateful; if
remediless, it is vain. — Shake-
speare.
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