Posted on 01/04/2006 11:24:58 AM PST by blam
Jan. 4, 2006 13:27 | Updated Jan. 4, 2006 13:44
Post-Roman ancient Jewish village discovered
Discovery of an ancient village just outside Jerusalem has brought into question one of the strongest images of biblical times - the wholesale flight of Jews running for their lives after the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Just beneath the main road leading north from Jerusalem, archaeologists have found the walls of houses in a well-planned community that existed after the temple's destruction. It might lead to rewriting the history books if it was really Jewish. But at least one expert isn't sure it was.
The discovery of stone vessels indicate Jews in the village continued to live by religious purity laws after 70 CE, said Debbie Sklar-Parnes, of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who is overseeing the dig.
This is the first evidence that Jews lived so close to Jerusalem - about 1.5 kilometers (a mile) away - after the destruction of the Second Temple, Sklar-Parnes said.
Archaeologists used pottery and coins found at the site to estimate that people lived there from around 70 to 132 CE, when the Romans crushed a second Jewish revolt.
About 30 Palestinian workers for the Israel Antiquities Authority - some of them sent to dig here by the government instead of collecting unemployment - uncovered and brushed dust off 2,000-year-old glass jewelry, bronze coins and stone vases in the hole carved out in the middle of the road as cars whizzed by.
"We were surprised to find such a massive settlement," Sklar-Parnes said. She estimated the village covered between three and four acres (1.2-1.6 hectares). She said it is impossible to tell if the settlement was built before or after the destruction of the temple, though life continued there after 70 CE.
But Hebrew University historian Lee Levine questioned whether the village was actually Jewish.
"The evidence is a little mixed," Levine said. The presence of wine amphorae from Italy and the absence of ritual baths cast some doubt on the Jewishness of the village, he said.
During the years of the settlement, most historians believe observant Jews no longer used wine made by non-Jews, Levine said. And assuming the settlement existed before the destruction of the temple, it is unusual there were no ritual baths, which were tied directly to temple rituals, he said.
But he noted they might still be found. Only a fraction of the settlement has been excavated, Sklar-Parnes said.
It is a widely held belief that Jews fled north from the Jerusalem area in 70 A.D. because Romans persecuted them and confiscated their property, Levine said. There are tales of Jews being led away in chains and sacked treasures from the temple on display in Rome, where the Arch of Titus, built to celebrate the triumph, still stands.
But it is "perfectly reasonable" that Jews continued to live around Jerusalem after the temple's destruction, said Daniel Schwartz, also a historian at Hebrew University. The Jews just would have had to pay higher taxes and do road work, farming or other labor for the Romans, he said. It is possible they operated two public bath houses for Roman soldiers that were found at the site, he said.
Sklar-Parnes, Schwartz and Levine said the settlement appeared to have been abandoned around 132, in the time of the second Jewish uprising against the Romans, called the Bar Kokhba Revolt. That time frame provided strong evidence it was a Jewish settlement, they said. It is likely that the villagers fled upon hearing of an impending Roman attack, Levine said.
"The Romans were pretty heavy-handed in putting down the second revolt," Levine said. From the jewelry, small stone vessels and other items found in the site, it appears the inhabitants fled in a hurry, Sklar-Parnes said.
The stone vessels left behind provide the best evidence the settlement was Jewish, Sklar-Parnes said. Jews used stone vessels because they didn't absorb liquids, allowing different materials to be stored while satisfying religious purity laws, she and Schwartz said.
It also appears that the settlement was not inhabited by anyone else after its original residents left, something rather unusual, Sklar-Parnes said.
The excavations began in 2003 ahead of the construction of a light rail line, because Israeli law requires archaeological exploration before any building project, said Itsho Gur, spokesman for the Moriah Co., which is building the train route.
According to historical records, the settlement was on the main Roman road between Jerusalem and Nazareth. Later, the Turks built a road in the same place and Jordan constructed a road on top of that early in the 20th century. Finally, Israel paved it after its capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
The stone vessels left behind provide the best evidence the settlement was Jewish, Sklar-Parnes said. Jews used stone vessels because they didn't absorb liquids, allowing different materials to be stored while satisfying religious purity laws, she and Schwartz said.
It also appears that the settlement was not inhabited by anyone else after its original residents left, something rather unusual, Sklar-Parnes said.
The excavations began in 2003 ahead of the construction of a light rail line, because Israeli law requires archaeological exploration before any building project, said Itsho Gur, spokesman for the Moriah Co., which is building the train route.
According to historical records, the settlement was on the main Roman road between Jerusalem and Nazareth. Later, the Turks built a road in the same place and Jordan constructed a road on top of that early in the 20th century. Finally, Israel paved it after its capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
""The Romans were pretty heavy-handed in putting down the second revolt," Levine said."
The Romans were pretty heavy-handed in putting down ANY revolt.
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Funny as they never discover an ancient "palestinian " city
How can anything be post-roman AND ancient?
I have always wondered if Jerusalem was the last stop on a career in decline for Roman politicians. It must have been a rough ride.
Any good restaurants that are reasonable?
There were Philistines then, in the time of Deuteronomy, but they were not semitic, not Arabic, not the same as the Palestinians who are there now.
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Durn good question.
I don't know why it is considered so unusual to find evidence of Jewish habitation near Jerusalem from the period between the destruction of the 2nd Temple and the Bar Kochba revolt. After all, the nearly 600,000 Jewish soldiers that were killed by the Romans in the Bar Kochba revolt had to live somewhere. Betar, which was Bar Kochba's HQ and the place where his forces made their final stand, is only a few miles from Jerusalem (to the East).
By the way, the Romans had to use 7 legions to subdue the Jews, and the Roman Emporer- for the first time in Roman history - didn't open his remarks to the Roman Senate with the words "I and the army are well."
So that explains why Orthodox bar mitzvahs serve only MD 20/20. MD is short for Mogen David (literally "Shield of David") -- the traditional Hebrew 6-pointed star.
Just can't wait till they find a post Roman ancient Muslim village somewhere...
Perhaps on Mars.
Palestine was a term invented by the British in 1923 (coined by the Roman term 'Palestina', which was near present day Ramallah.) Jordan was also invented by the British, as was Iraq, Syria and most of the Middle East.
I wonder if the term, palestine, may not be similar to the term, chester, simply a reference to the walls of a Roman camp, the palisades.
I wonder if the term, palestine, may not be similar to the term, chester, simply a reference to the walls of a Roman camp, the palisades.
Sorry to sound ignorant, but what does "CE" stand for? It is used in place of "A.D." apparently.
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