THE SECOND TEMPLE, 516 BCE - 70 CE

THE SECOND TEMPLE, 516 BCE - 70 CE

The Old City is a maze of interwoven historic, archaeological and religious traditions that can be analyzed at great length and from varying perspectives. Let’s focus on one particular site –the corner where the Second Temple’s Western Wall meets the Southern Wall. Here the Temple construction dates back over 2,000 years: in the United States, we can count history in decades; in Europe we think in terms of centuries; in Jerusalem time is counted in millennia!

Benjamin Mazar, born in Poland, studied in German universities and then immigrated to British controlled Palestine in 1929. He was known as the dean of Biblical archaeology and later served as the president of Hebrew University. But let’s stop for a personal connection….. I have a clear recollection that he came through our NYC apartment to gain support for the Zionist cause and the work he was doing. My great-grandmother was a part of the Shimshelevitz family in Poland as was Dina Shimshi Mazar, Benjamin Mazar’s wife—hence the connection. 

Dina’s brother was Yitzchak Ben Tzvi - note how he changed his name to adapt to the new setting in Palestine and the rebirth of Hebrew as a living language. In fact, Ben Tzvi translates “son of Tzvi” referring to his father Tzvi Shimshi. Ben Tzvi was a Zionist pioneer, an ardent socialist who arrived in Palestine from Poland following a bitter exile in Siberia. Ben Tzvi was a founder of the state of Israel – signing its 1948 Declaration of Independence along with Ben Gurion - and served as Israel’s second president. 

The most famous excavation Mazar directed was that of the Southern and Western walls of the Temple Mount, a site that first become available to Jewish archaeologists after the Six-Day War in 1967 when the Israel Defense Forces succeeded in unifying Jerusalem under Israeli civil law. 

Mazar’s 10-year excavation (1967-77) uncovered many historical finds, notably at the stratum dating from the Herodian period. A pile of rubble containing multi-ton stone building blocks gives mute testimony to how the Romans used battering rams to destroy the walls and parapets on the Temple Mount, attempting to obliterate a core element of Jewish civilization. Mazar’s meticulous dig uncovered remnants from the Second Temple period which had been buried for 2,000 years. He found that the base of the wall extended another 70 feet below the 1967 ground level, and had not seen the light of day for close to two millennia. Significantly, the dig uncovered the base of Robinson’s Arch over which had been steps leading to the Temple grounds. One of the large stones thrust down from the top of the Temple Mount by the Romans carried a Hebrew inscription- “Tekiah”.  Was this the stone from the corner where the priests trumpeted the arrival of the Sabbath?  

To commemorate the destruction of the Jewish people with the fall of the Second Temple and their exile from Jerusalem, the Romans minted a coin with the inscription  “Judea Captiva” (see below). Note the Roman soldier standing over a kneeling weeping woman. To celebrate its rebirth, the state of Israel, with roots back to the times of Herod, issued its own commemorative coin with the Roman inscription and relief on one side and a modern Israeli inscription on the other side. Here, an Israeli woman stands proudly besides a blooming tree and holds a child to the heavens reflecting an ultimate triumph over Rome and the rebirth of the Jewish State. As we learned from the Israel Museum’s coin collection, coins which circulate among the population are intentionally designed to spread a message. 

Walking through the Old City of Jerusalem, one sees a vibrant Israel that has risen from the rubble of the Second Temple and has taken its place again among the nations. 

Israel liberata

Judea capta 

View of Old City from Scottish Church, by Tuvia Book

Jane and Bob with view of Old City, by Tuvia Book

Temple wall rubble from Roman destruction

Modern road sign to Old City!

Hebrew inscription 2,000 years old

Western Wall with base of Robinson's Arch

Note left in Western Wall

IF STONES COULD TALK

IF STONES COULD TALK

Israel prides itself on protecting the extensive archaeological record often unseen and buried beneath its soil. It considers it a sacred trust to preserve records of ancient civilizations that thrived in the Middle East. Whenever excavating for a new building, the uncovered remains of the past are preserved. One trick is to create a glass floor where one can see the past history while building above to satisfy new needs. So as one travels to a state-of-the art 21^stcentury hotel such as Beresheet, one can divert off the direct route to explore archaeological ruins of the past. Many of the sites reveal how earlier Jewish settlers from Biblical times to the present inhabited the land.

BET GUVRIN - MARESHA

This national park in a region of low hills consists of two cities, the biblical city of Maresha which was abandoned in Roman times when the settlement moved to nearby Bet Guvrin, straddling an important N-S / E-W crossroads. Archeological discoveries show that the town flourished during the Biblical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods with decline in the Byzantium and Crusader periods. Talmudic scholars walked these very streets in the third and fourth centuries.

At the end of the Mandate period, the British gave their police station here along with other strategic sites to the Egyptian Army. However, during the 1948 War of Independence, the Israel Defense Forces took this area and five months later established Kibbutz Bet Guvrin .   

We climbed down into a system of connected caves dating from the Biblical period. Soft chalk rock allowed for easy excavation of caves which had created an underground city.  The 21^stcentury tourist can descend underground and can find baths, mikvehs, oil press complexes and most startling, columbaria.  A columbarium is a structure with many niches to raise doves.  The 85 rooms of columbaria have multiple niches carved into the wall where the doves can nest and rest. We imagine that the doves in these underground niches provided the inhabitants of this biblical city with eggs, meat, fertilizer and finally a source of cash income as worshipers on their way to Jerusalem purchased some of the doves for sacrifice on the Temple Mount. 

  

Descending into the caves

Part of an underground olive oil press

Columbarium with niches for doves on the side and rear walls, photo by Tuvia Book

AVDAT

The Incense Route extended from the Arabian Peninsula to the port of Gaza and from there to the rest of the Roman Empire.  It passed through the small Nabatean settlement of Avdat that was abandoned after a huge earthquake in the 7^th century CE.  The heart of the city was perched on a high hill overlooking the road and the expansive desert below. Extensive archeological remains consist of two Byzantine churches, a winepress, fortress walls, towers and much more. 

Driving north to Jerusalem from Avdat, we encountered high winds creating a major sand storm. Masada and other sites were closed to tourists. Our Waze GPS added an hour to our drive due to these adverse conditions. (Just imagine being on a camel walking through the desert!)

Pipes remaining from Roman Baths

Roman Arches

Avdat ruins on hilltop

Looking out to desert below

Ben-Gurion visiting Avdat

Lintel giving added support

Nabatean Cut-outs

Whirling Sand Storm

RAMON CRATER IN THE NEGEV DESERT

RAMON CRATER IN THE NEGEV DESERT

Driving south through the Negev Desert from the town of Beersheva en route to Eilat, one comes upon a spectacular geological site -- the 2000 foot deep Ramon Crater. Israel has designated the Ramon Crater as a national park with limited areas for mountain biking, hiking, overnight camping, and stargazing. One can take a professionally guided nighttime jeep tour in the crater to see wildlife – hyenas, snakes, even leopards who live in caves during the heat of the day.

The road to Eilat goes down the crater rim and runs on the crater floor passing many interesting geological formations and fossil remains from the bottom of an ancient sea. To serve tourists, a hotel hugs the rim of the crater.  Each ground level room has its own small pool that overlooks the vast and majestic crater. Sunrise over its rim is an unforgettable experience. 

In fact, the largest part of Israel is desert. With great foresight and love for the landscape, Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion predicted that the Negev is Israeli’s frontier and that tens of thousands will settle there. Setting the example when out of office, David Ben-Gurion and his wife Paula retired to Kibbutz Sde Boker and are buried overlooking the great expanse of the Negev.

Today the early steps of settlement are coming to pass. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) is moving many of military bases to the Negev; a railway is planned to terminate in Eilat; Ben Gurion University of the Negev is the fastest growing research university in Israel. Creative Israeli technology has made great strides in overcoming the desert shortcomings – with drip irrigation; 80% of water used being recycled; and ingenious methods of desalinization.

Drip irrigation blooms

Geologic formation, Ramon Crater

Sunrise caught by Tuvia Book, our guide

Beresheet Hotel at the Ramon Crater, photo: Tuvia Book

Buffet Breakfast

Hike in the crater. Photo: Tuvia Book

View of the Negev from Sde Boker

David Ben-Gurion Grave, Sde Boker

Ibex, formerly endangered. Sde Boker. Photo: Tuvia Book.

TECHNION, Israel Institute of Technology

TECHNION: ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

See Jane's grandparents, Mr. and Mr. Joseph Levine, New York City, on Technion Founders Wall  

Israel is a high-tech leader in today’s world. Successes include WAZE that helps navigate via GPS; Mobile-Eye that alerts sleepy drivers to avoid a crash; drip irrigation that enables Israel’s desert to bloom. The spirit of invention and creativity underlies these great scientific successes – as described in Start-Up Nation by Saul Singer and Dan Senor.

Technion, the Israeli Institute of Technology, modeled after MIT, was founded in 1912 and is the nation’s oldest university. In 1961, Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, felt developing science and technology was essential to the growth of the nation. Therefore, he expanded Technion by giving it a 300 acre campus in Haifa where today 15,000 students study and do research in the fields of engineering, medicine, architecture, computer science, nanotechnology and more. Currently Technion is building satellite campuses in NYC and in China.

You’ll find Israeli-Arab physicians on staff at every Israeli hospital. But only Carmel Medical Center in Haifa can boast that its newest Israeli-Arab obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Mais Ali Saleh, recently graduated No. 1 in her class at the Technion Medical School.

When Albert Einstein was pursuing groundbreaking research at Princeton’s Institute of Advanced Studies, he also helped found the American Technion Society. He would come into NYC to and meet with potential donors. Perhaps my grandfather attended such a meeting and became a Technion Founder. We have followed my grandfather’s lead as American supporters of Technion. Now in Haifa, we had the opportunity to visit the campus and to see the educational and research opportunities Technion offers to all Israelis.

Purple hose with recycled waste water used for irrigation

Technion student chorus rehearsal

Single Molecule Biophysics and Nano-Biotechnology Laboratory 

Single Molecule Biophysics seeks to isolate a single strand of DNA to note changes to help predict onset of disease

CAESAREA

CAESAREA  Oct. 23, 2018

Caesarea was a thriving ancient Roman seaport directly on the Via Maris connecting far points of the expansive Roman Empire. Tuvia (www.tuviabook.com), our amazing Israeli guide (born in London), commented that Caesarea's location provided the essential 4 Ds – Drink (bringing water by aqueduct from the Judean Hills); Defense (a strategic port on the Mediterranean Sea); Dining (areas for growing food); and Drive (on the Via Maris). King Herod built many of his grand structures right here—a coliseum, an aqueduct, markets, and villas. Caesarea is currently one of Israel’s major archaeological sites with layer upon layer of ruins of the many passing civilizations – Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine and Crusader.

Israel feels it is an important trust to control these antique treasures. Here and elsewhere, trained experts uncover, study and preserve the archaeological record for generations to come.

Roman Ruins - Note Columns and Arch 

Mosaic Floor - one of many

Harbor - Protected by Roman Breakwater

Roman Amphitheater for Gladiator Combat

Bob among the Ruins; Tuvia checking Column Design

Basket of Shards to be sorted - see the handles

Ancient Gold Coins From Ship Sunk in Caesarea Harbor

 Israel Antiquities Authority 

Matching Shards from a dig

BARAK 10, JERUSALEM

BAKA NEIGHBORHOOD, JERUSALEM
October 21-29, 2018

We rented a small mother-in-law suite in a beautiful Jerusalem stone residence in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem. Over a century ago, German Jews came to settle here in their ancestral homeland and lived together in what is known today as the German Colony. All around our Barak 10 rental, one could hear English spoken by Americans and British who have made aliyah and have settled there. It is walking distance to the Ottoman Railway line that has been converted into a biking and walking path ending at the Menachem Begin Center and Scottish Church overlooking the Old City. Baka also includes many convenient neighborhood restaurants serving modern Israeli fare. And Baka is quite close to the American Embassy recently moved to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. 

I add this tragic note to the blog entry after visiting Shaare Zedek Hospital. A prominent plaque there remembers the late, American-born Israeli

"Dr. David Applebaum, December 27, 1952 - September 9, 2003, Director of Shaare Zedek's Department of Emergency Medicine. A man of vision and compassion whose life and that of his beloved daughter Naava were cruelly cut short by a terror attack in the center of Jerusalem."

A Palestinian suicide bomber took both their lives in a major terror attack on Emek Refriam,  the main commercial street with neighborhood restaurants mentioned above. Dr. Applebaum and Naava had gone out for coffee together on the night before her wedding.

The late David Applebaum, M.D.

Open Book Stall where residents pause to donate or select books.

Blooms

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Barak 1 at the top of our street

Walkway to our apartment

Renting at an Artist's Home

Plaque at US Embassy, Jerusalem

Road near the US Embassy