Gathering Stones aka Biblical Archaeology: January 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Archaeology News

Dr. Eilat Mazar again falls under crucial and scholarly criticism concerning her evaluation of a new finding in the excavations in the area of the City of David. Earlier in January, Dr. Mazar announced the finding of a seal attributed to the time of Nehemiah and she determined that the translation of the seal was Temech from the biblical text found in Nehemiah 7:6, 7:46, and 7:55.

Dr. Mazar had interpreted the seal to read “tmx” (TanaH).

The criticisms were quick to follow—an interpretation was needed to see if the seal should be read right to left or left to right. Hebrew is read right to left, but a seal is inscribed to be impressed into wax or other soft material, and would be read in a mirror image.

In support of Dr. Mazar and after speaking with Dr. Mazar, Dr. peter van der Veen acknowledged that during the Persian period, Jewish inscriptions were sometimes written the wrong way which is evidenced by other archaeological findings; however, in this case, his interpretation was that the interpretation should be ‘sh-l-m-t'. Peter van der Veen is supported by other epigraphic scholars including Robert Deutsch who was very public in his slamming of Dr. Mazar.

Dr. Mazar is not an expert in epigraphy which is the study of written script. She did, in fact, using her own interpretation, mistranslate the inscription on the seal.

There are only three consonants on the seal, the vowels in ancient Hebrew are not identified, therefore, there is always room for error in translating ancient Hebrew text. The mirror-image translation or lack of mirror-image could be substantiated as previous stated.

On further evaluation by epigraphic scholars, the name is not Temech from the biblical text; but on the recommendation of noted epigrapher, Anson Rainey, as he critiqued Eilat Mazar’s interpretation:

“It is obvious that the inscription on the newly discovered seal from the City of David excavations has to be read from left to right—that is, in the negative. Otherwise, the tail of the letter MEM is on the wrong side.

“Most seals, unless they are devoted to a temple, are incised in the negative so that the inscription can be read from right to left in the clay impression of the seal. Therefore, the suggested reading by Dr. Eilat Mazar cannot be interpreted from right to left on the seal itself. The personal name is most likely to be read: sh-l-m-t.” This could be the name of Shelomit, the daughter of Zerubabbel (1 Chronicles 3:19). The name was apparently common in the exilic and post-exilic period, e.g. Ezra 8:10.” (BAR: January 30, 2008)

In the latest barrage of hurled insults to Dr. Mazar, the more scholarly community was correct in their interpretation but unduly harsh that Dr. Mazar had incorrectly identified a seal to be associated with a name from the Bible—but from the wrong text.

Mazar has now acknowledged that the seal should indeed be read as “Shlomit.”

“I accept the suggestion made by Peter van der Veen and followed by many other scholars to read Sh l m t. Actually, I love it. For the time being, this reading is preferable to my reading of t m h or h m t.”

1 Chronicles 3:19 And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister:

Ezra 8:10 And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.

“First Temple seal found in Jerusalem” Etgar Lefkovits, Jerusalem Post, January 17, 2008

“Anson Rainey Critiques Mazar’s Interpretation,” January 30, 2008 http://www.bib-arch.org/Mazar/bswbMazarRainey.asp

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Capernaum: First-Century Fishing Village or Polis? Part IV

Capernaum is one of my favorite locations in the biblical accounts.

Capernaum was the largest of the sea ports on the Galilee having a promenade along the Sea for more than 2,500 feet. Looking at the map, one may see Capernaum in comparison to the other sea-port villages of the Galilee. It is centralized at the north of the Galilee and nearest to the crossing between the properties of Herod Philip and Herod Antipas, therefore giving the area access to the Roman road leading from Egypt to Damascus. The sea wall at Capernaum was eight feet wide and there were several piers extending over one hundred feet into the lake. This indicates that Capernaum was a shipping port of both people and products. Matthew would have made a fortune collecting taxes for both produce and people traveling.

The road system was well established. Capernaum was well-located both on the sea and within a short distance of the Roman road making it a commercial center for Northern Israel. The main road through Capernaum came alongside the synagogue and continued until it reached the sea. Both sides of this street were established with businesses where merchants could sell to those arriving/exiting at the Capernaum port or those meeting with the established road north of the city.

~serapha~

Monday, January 28, 2008

Capernaum: First-Century Fishing Village or Polis? Part III

The Centurion

The biblical record identifies the miracle of healing the Centurion’s servant. The fact that a Centurion is identified with Capernaum carries the implication that a garrison of soldiers were living there. A Centurion is charged with the command of one hundred soldiers. The excavations on the Orthodox side of Capernaum (Tzaferis: 4) identify a large administrative area which is believed to be built upon an earlier and similar structure. With the addition of a large bathhouse, the summary of the excavations tends to support a large group of administrative and supporting personnel, thus the probability that the centurion was in command of one hundred soldiers at Capernaum.

The Building Boom

In regards to Mark 2:1-12, it would be important to understand the architectural standards for the time and place. It would be an assumption to say that Jesus was in Peter’s house in Capernaum, but I feel safe in making that assumption based upon the historical evidences from other texts in the biblical accounts.

Peter’s home was located to be facing on the promenade of the seaport at Capernaum.

Archaeological evidences seem to indicate that the walls were not significantly thick enough to support a second floor. A second consideration is that the basalt stones in the walls were unfinished which is an indication there was no second floor.

The insulae was the standard housing structure in first-century Capernaum. An insulae was a building structure with one or two open courts surrounded by individual living rooms. Each of the insulae structures was capable of supporting many family units. Each insulae structure was equivalent to a small, self contained block within the city which was able to house up to 100 people within each structure. The standard rendition of Peter’s house in the first century appears as this:

Peter’s home was a structure built on the basis of an insulae which was common for the area. There were two courtyards in the structure with other rooms opening into these courtyards. The biblical text states that so many people were crowding the house to hear Jesus that many were still outside the house unable to fit inside the structure. This would seem to indicate that one of the courtyards was the area where Jesus was teaching.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Capernaum: First-Century Fishing Village or Polis? Part II

The Millstone Capital

One of the leading industries in Capernaum was the manufacture of millstones for use as grinding grains, both for personal home use and for commercial use. The biblical account concerning the millstone around the neck was a part of the Capernaum ministry. The people would have well understood the significance of the millstone with the thriving business of grinding millstones in Capernaum. The closest town to Capernaum is two miles west. It is the village of Tabgha which was known both as a fishing port and for commercial milling for grinding grains. Millstones were also for the shipping industry and fishing industry as anchor stones for boats. Between the Franciscan side of Capernaum as well as in the "Anchor Museum" at Ein Giv (Israel), there are hundreds of millstones and anchor stones on that were collected from the Sea of Galilee and from archaeological sites around the Sea.

The Local Tax Farmer

Another occupation which would have an economical impact on Capernaum was its location. The detested tax collector would be busy at Capernaum collecting taxes on the fish caught daily in the Sea, collecting taxes on the fish which were salted and dried for shipping out of the area, collecting taxes on the millstone industry, and collecting toll taxes on the nearby Via Maris so one might pass from one district to another. Taxes in the Roman Empire were “farmed out” to area members. It was then, the tax farmer’s job to collect the tax for the Empire and anything that the tax farmer could collect above the tax would be considered as income for the tax farmer. The tax farmer did pay the tax up front, and his own income was dependent upon doing a successful business. For this reason, we may assume that as a tax collector or tax farmer, that Matthew (Levi) had sufficient wealth to buy the area tax business at auction, pay the taxes to the Empire, and still collect a sum above these fees.

And there is one “biggie” in tax collection that I can never pass up bringing to mind. The Romans brought the public Roman bath to the common person at a charge of about two mites per person. Usually located very near the Roman bath and its continual flow of water would be the public toilets. When water left the public Roman bath, it would flow through the public toilets carrying away the waste to a waste collection point outside the city in the care of “manure farmers.” A manure farmer was one who collected and sold the manure for area agriculture. But before the manure could be sold, it had to be measured and taxed. Yes, traditionally, the Roman Empire taxed “crap” and while there is no historical record of this occurring in Capernaum, one may be assured that since there was a public bath, a public toilet was not far away; and therefore, a collection of tax upon the product.

~serapha~

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Capernaum: First-Century Fishing Village or Polis?

Twice in the biblical record Capernaum is referenced as a city or “polis” in Greek which implies that it was a bit larger in the first century when Jesus lived there than the small fishing village that one usually images. Capernaum was an expanding community with an expanding economy.

Capernaum--The Fishing Industry

Being the largest seaport on the Galilee, it was also probably the busiest with boats carrying both passengers and cargo across the Sea of Galilee. There would have been numerous fishing boats working in the area.

In fact, Mendel Nun gives an estimate of the number of fishing boats that support the fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. (Nun: 12) He states that the fishing industry changed very little from ancient times until 1948 when the Arab fishermen left the area as they maintained the old traditions in fishing. When nylon netting was introduced to the fishing industry in the 1960 along with the introduction of two new species of fish in the Galilee, the fishing industry and production increased three-fold.

Presently, there are 65 small fishing boats on the Galilee, four large vessels for seine fishing, and about 150 fishermen working during peak season. We have no reason to believe that more fishing boats were present on the Galilee in the first century because production was much lower then than now. All of the fishermen on the Galilee would have known each other and each ship which was fishing on the Sea. News would have traveled quickly among the fishermen on the Galilee.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Historical Evidence...

In 2006, I published a brochure entitled, “Evidences for the Historical Jesus,” from which I will now include portions of information from text concerning the fact that it is known that descendents of the family of Jesus lived in the area of the Galilee.

It becomes more important to know that descendents of the family of Jesus were still living in the area when the excavations of Nazareth begin to reveal such things as inscriptions.

Jack Finegan's research indicates that relatives of Jesus were still alive and living in Israel, he believes at Nazareth. The fact that relatives of Jesus were still living in the area becomes significant because they could verify the birthplace of Jesus, the family living in Nazareth, and the circumstances of the death and resurrection of Christ.

But what happened to the descendents of the family of Jesus?

An excerpt from the text,

“With respect to the possible resemblance of any particular location in Nazareth associated with the life of Jesus, it is possible to recall that, according to positive evidences, members of the family of Jesus were still living in Palestine, some of them perhaps in Nazareth, until the end of the first century and the beginning of the second, and further descendants were probably there much longer than that.”

Eusebius, an early church father quotes from the writings of Hegisippus concerning the relatives of Jesus. He writes, “Of the family of the Lord there were still living the grandchildren of Jude, who is said to have been the Lord’s brother according to the flesh.”

Hegesippus is also quoted by Eusebius in Book IV, Chapter 22, “Symeon was appointed the second bishop, whom all proposed as the cousin of our Lord.”

In his history, Eusebius writes, “The same author [Heggesippus] also describes the beginnings of the heresies which arose in his time, in the following words: ‘And after James the Just had suffered martyrdom, as the Lord had also on the same account, Symeon, the son of the Lord’s uncle, Clopas, ...was appointed the next bishop. All proposed him as second bishop because he was a cousin of the Lord.’”

Julius Africanus records in his history, Chapter V, “A few, however, of the studious [Jews], having private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting at them in some other way from the archives, pride themselves in preserving the memory of their noble descent; and among these happen to be those already mentioned, called desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour. And these coming from Nazara and Cochaba, Judean villages, to other parts of the country, set forth the above-named genealogyas accurately as possible from the Book of Days.”

Nazareth is rich with inscriptions. One inscription refers to Conon which, according to the written record was a descendent of the family of Jesus. "I belong to the city of Nazareth in Galilee, and am a relative of Christ whom I serve, as my forefathers have done.” (Kopp: 90)

Finegan, Jack, The Archaeology of the New Testament, Princeton University Press, 1992.
Kopp, Clemens, Die heiligen Stätten der Evangelien, Regensburg, 1959.
McRay, John, Archaeology and the New Testament, Baker Book House, 1991.
Safrai, Shmuel, “Jesus and the Hasidim”, Jerusalem Perspective, January 1, 2004.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Precipice

Some critics of Christianity cite that there was no area around Nazareth that could have been the reference to which Jesus was going to be thrown over the side of the mountain; however, they would be mistaken.

The problem arises, though, with an investigation of the traditional site of the “Mount of the Precipitation.” Most locations in Israel have three names, one in English, one in Hebrew, and one in Arabic. Occasionally in archaeology there is a fourth name, one in Greek. As is the custom in Israel, the same peak is called Jebel el Qafsah in Arabic, the “mount of the leap.” The Hebrew name for the mountain is Mount Kedumim meaning “the ancient place” as there are ancient caves in the area containing up to eighteen stratagraphic layers.

Traditional teachings of this site maintain that the steps of Jesus may still be seen in the rock.

Since Nazareth sits in a bowl-shaped depression on the Southern side of the mountain, there is a beautiful view from the Mount of Precipitation.

The problem associated with this site is its location to ancient Nazareth as it is two kilometers from the village of Nazareth. Additionally the Gospel of Luke identifies that the precipice was adjacent to Nazareth.

Luke 4:29-30
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way

Two words are used here which are noteworthy concerning ancient Nazareth. The first is city, or in Greek, the word is polis (city). In Roman times, the word city was used for a substantial size settlement, and would not be used for the backwards village of Nazareth as depicted by most scholars. Luke’s use of “polis” to describe Nazareth identifies the location as larger than a town or village.

The second word is translated as brow, but in Greek the word is opruoß meaning the prominent point, and it is the only use of the word in the New Testament. This is where the confusion in locations lies.

However, in looking from the Mount of Precipice back towards the city of Nazareth, there is a ridge which does fit the description provided by Luke.

J.W. McGarvey , an early pilgrim from the 19th century, describes this location. It is a long, but worthy read, and I quote from J.W. McGarvey (McGarvey: 1900)

“There is only one object at Nazareth which I was especially anxious to see, and this is the precipice down which the Nazarenes attempted to cast Jesus. The tradition-mongers, with their usual disregard of Scripture statements, have located this incident near the steep hill mentioned above, which we climbed in coming to Nazareth; but this is more than two miles from the town, while the Scripture states that "they led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

"The hill on which the city is built," then, is the one on which we must look for the place in question; and if it cannot be found there, honesty must compel us to admit that it cannot be found at all. Some writers have come so near making this admission that I felt quite solicitous on the subject, and I searched that hill from top to bottom, from side to side, and from end to end. I did so, not because all this was necessary to find a place suited to the event, but because I desired to know all the places where it could have occurred, and to speak on the subject with full assurance. I found only two such places.

“One is near the northeastern end of the town, and about one-third the way up the hill. It is a perpendicular precipice sixty feet high, made by the falling in of the roof of a deep cavern which once extended along the face of the hill at this point, and part of which still exists close by the precipice. I think, however, from the appearance of the rock, that this precipice has been formed in comparatively recent times; and for this reason I do not suppose that the attempt at precipitation occurred here. But near the opposite end of the town, and at about the same elevation up the hill, the same ledge of rock forms a natural precipice, which has every appearance of having existed from time immemorial. Its perpendicular height is now about forty feet, abundantly sufficient to kill a man if dashed headlong from its top. It is high enough up the hill to justify the Scripture statement that it was on "the brow of the hill;" and it was probably outside the ancient city. Lieutenant Conder thinks, from the appearance of ruins higher up, that the ancient city was situated, like most of the towns of Palestine, near the top of the hill. If this supposition is correct, then the Nazarenes, in taking Jesus out of the town, took him down hill to the precipice below the town, and this precipice constituted the brow of the hill as seen from the valley below. I am entirely satisfied that here is where the awful attempt was made; but I know not how to realize the feelings of Jesus, when his own neighbors, former friends and lifelong companions, thus attempted to take his life.”

While McGarvey has several interesting comments in his travels concerning Nazareth, there is one of his comments which still apply today to all of Israel.

“...if you will give enough buckshish I think they will show you any place you can call for connected with the life of Jesus.”

Excavations at Nazareth Village have recovered pottery and other artifacts that support the fact that the city of Nazareth did extend further up the hillside as McGarvey identifies 100 years ago. Nazareth Village is a site that has been excavated and the project included building a reconstruction of buildings and culture in first-century Nazareth.

McGarvey, J.W., Lands of the Bible, Part 3, letter 13, The Standard Publishing Company, 1900.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Cactus House

In Nazareth, a few feet from the location of the ancient well known as Mary’s Well is a small tourist shop selling jewelry, clothing, and olive wood products to tourists. The hill behind the shop is known locally as Tel el-Sabra or the hill of the cacti, thus the name Cactus House is given to this small shop which was purchased in 1993 by Elias and Martina Shama.

Shortly after purchasing the store, they began the work of remodeling the store’s floor and walls and expanding the area beneath the store for storage. On the main floor, Elias Shama immediately uncovered a section of first-century terracotta tiles.

In digging out the basement area, more tiles were uncovered as well as a furnace area and brick support columns with a marble floor. The marble floor would have been imported from outside the area at a great expense.

The Shamas contacted the Israeli Antiquities Authority and were told that the materials they were finding were part of a turkish bathhouse built in 1887 by Tanous Qa'war, the first Mayor of Nazareth. Elias and Martina were not convinced with the information they received from the IAA and they eventually were in contact with Dr. Richard Freud of the Maurice Greenberg Centre for Judaic Studies at Hartford University in Connecticut.

A team of experts including Dr. Freud came to the Cactus House to perform ground penetrating radar (GPR) on the floor of the tea room in the lower part of Cactus House as well as two locations outside the shop. (JBFDBHRS:2003) Their findings included a carbon dating of some materials found beneath Cactus House to the crusader era with an additional structure beneath the floor of that bathhouse dating to an earlier period.

What Elias Shama has uncovered in his amateur excavations of his store is truly exciting. He has uncovered a large segment of tunnels and a furnace area which is only part of an even larger bathhouse area. His basement contains the hippocaust for the caldarium of an ancient bathhouse. Usually, bathhouses contained a caldarium (hot bath), a tepidarium (lukewarm bath) and a frigidarium (cold water bath). Such a large bathhouse would only have been built to support a large community or a large garrison of soldiers to be stationed in the area.

This flies in the face of what had previously been known from archaeology and historical records concerning the small, reclusive, uncultured village known as ancient Nazareth.

Historically in Nazareth, there are two churches which both claim to be the place of the annunciation to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first and more widely received is the Church of the Annunciation affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church located within walking distance of Mary’s Well. The basilica of the Roman Church of the Annunciation is traditionally believed to be built over the grotto identified as the location of Mary’s home in Nazareth where the angel Gabriel visited her there. There is nothing tangible that supports the RCC beliefs concerning the Church of the Annunciation. Fr. Bellarmino Bagatti, now deceased, but former professor at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum at Flagellation, Jerusalem, excavated the area (1955-1968) and it is considered to be the most completely documented sacred site in Israel. But still, no absolute evidence of Mary, Jesus, or Joseph.

Back at Mary’s Well, within a few steps is St. Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church which, according to the non-canonized text of the Book of James, is the location of the annunciation. Their belief is that the angel Gabriel visited Mary at the well with the announcement of the coming Incarnation of God. Inside the Greek Orthodox Church are several areas which the Church claims to support this belief.

One historical record is significant concerning Cactus house. It is the record of Rabbi Moshe Bassola of Ancona who visited the area of Nazareth five hundred years ago. The published statement from Rabbi Bassola is, “We came from Kfar Kana, arriving the next day in Nazareth, where the Christian Jesus lived. The citizens told me that there existed a hot bathhouse where the Mother of Jesus immersed herself.”

Problems arise concerning continued excavations at Cactus House. Present-day Nazareth is an Arab city of 70,000 people without concerns for evidences of the Christian faith. If future excavators were to find evidences of the Holy Family in the area of Mary’s Well, the prominent tourist point and religious affiliation would be shifted from the Roman Church of the Annunciation to the Cactus House. The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation might prove, then, to be more substantial in the life of Jesus and his family in Nazareth creating more conflict in the religious arena. Add into this, the Israeli Antiquities Authority holding the validation of licensing an excavation in the midst of religious conflict between Christians in an Arab Muslim community.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Nazareth

Nazareth

Lithograph of Nazareth, “April 28th 1839" and signed “David Roberts R.A."

Now, those are famous words, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?"

On first evaluation, it appears that the village of Nazareth had a very bad name. Nazareth has been found to be a small village in the first century, probably with less than 150 people from four to five different families, all from one clan. It was a Jewish community, but different Jewish communities followed different rabbinical teachings.

Dr. Charles R. Page II, in his book, Jesus and the Land, page 38, states:

"Since Nazareth was a very small village that was not located on a major trade route and was populated by an ultraconservative Hasidic sect, one can better understand Nathanael's response to Philip's announcement of the arrival of the Messiah: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46)—that backward, holier-than-thou village in the middle of the countryside!"

Concerning the Hasidic sect at Nazareth, Page continues (p. 62):

"Jesus was reared in a very strict environment among people who thought they had been singled out as the vehicle through which God would redeem humankind. However, somewhere along the way he came to the realization that this is not how God acts—exclusively within the community of one small clan or sect."

Like their contemporaries the Essenes, the Hasidims believed that their sect of Judaism held the true understanding and that the "Anointed One" would rise from within their own people. Knowing this adds more understanding to the response within the synagogue when Jesus read to them from Isaiah, telling them that He was the one they had been waiting for to lead them.

Shmuel Safrai points out that all of the references to the Hasidim in the Second Temple Period related to the Galilean area.

Says Safrai:

"Jesus, who was quite closer to the Hasidim and perhaps even involved with some of them, does not therefore reflect Galilean boorishness or ignorance, but rather the dynamism and ongoing creativity of Jewish life in Galilee.

A trait that is unique to the Hasidim is the referral

to God in a very intimate way as “father” or “abba.”

"It appears . . . that the Hasidim and those associated with them, including Jesus, considered their relationship with God to be one of extreme familiarity . . . However, in Hasidic circles the relationship of a Hasid to God was not just one of 'child of God,' but of a son who can brazenly make requests of his father that someone else cannot make. The Hasid addressed God as 'abba,' 'my father,' or 'my father in heaven'..."

Nathaniel may not have liked the idea of the Messiah coming from a Hasidim sect, since this would have represented a rejection of the other sects of Judaism.

Gathering Stones aka Biblical Archaeology