Hudon, Jeffrey P

English

Andrews University

By Jeffrey P. Hudon, Institute of Archaeology, Andrews UniversityArchaeology has been Israel’s national pastime since this nation emerged out of the ashes of World War II in 1948. While popular interest has waned in recent years, most Israelis, secular and religious alike, maintain a keen interest in the latest archaeo-logical discoveries, especially biblically related fi nds. Today, most universities in Israel off er a broad range of archaeology study programs. Is-raeli archaeologists not only dominate the fi eld within Israel, but also hold important teaching positions at universities worldwide. Moreover, Israel’s numerous museums cumulatively house an unparalleled collection of biblical artifacts. Th is year marks the sixtieth anniversary of Is-rael’s independence, which is an appropriate occasion to recount how interest in archaeolo-gy as a scientifi c discipline originated and grew among the Jewish population of Palestine dur-ing the early decades of the twentieth century.As the nineteenth century drew to a close, France, Germany, England, and the United States all established or sponsored archaeologi-cal research institutes in Jerusalem, a city then under the weakening grasp of the Turkish Ot-toman Empire. Just a few years earlier, noted Egyptologist Sir William Flinders Petrie had pioneered the use of stratigraphic excavation techniques and was the fi rst to recognize that the hundreds of artifi cial hillocks dotting the landscape of Palestine were actually the ruins of ancient biblical towns and cities. Once the importance of Petrie’s fi ndings was fully recog-nized, each of these foreign schools scrambled to obtain excavation rights for the most prom-ising sites. Th ese developments were closely “Truth Shall  Spring Forth Out of the Earth1” The Establishment of Modern Jewish Archaeological  Research in the Land of Israel32 SHABBAT SHALOMobserved by the yishuv, Palestine’s Jewish pop-ulation. Frustration mounted as they watched well-financed foreign expeditions uncover the ancient remains of such sites as Megiddo, Jer-icho and Jerusalem. Their feelings were best exemplified in an editorial letter written by Tel-Aviv resident David Smilansky in 1912. After hearing archaeologist Carl Watzinger lecture on the German excavations at Jericho as well as discuss a group of Galilean synagogues recently discovered by two German colleagues, Smilan-sky reacted with this terse assessment: “thus Christian-Germans are working in our historical homeland. Both religious and scientific inter-ests are the driving forces be-hind their activities. And we, who should be the most in-terested party in the success of these archaeological exca-vations, do almost nothing in this field and leave it to who-ever else wants it: Germans, Americans, British.”2 In actuality, while a number of Jewish scholars living in Palestine harbored an interest in ar-chaeology and in organizing an excavation, not one of them was a trained archaeologist. De-spite this handicap, a small group of enthusias-tic intellectuals met in Jerusalem on November 7, 1913, to establish the Jewish Palestine Ex-ploration Society.3 These first members came together with varied backgrounds and interests, yet all of them shared the same heartfelt need to establish a Jewish archaeology society dedicated to the study of the history, geography, and ma-terial remains of eretz yisrael, the land of their ancestors. Among those attending this historic meeting was Izhak Ben-Zvi, a labor leader in the yishuv who worked tirelessly with David Ben-Gurion and many others in Palestine and abroad to promote Zionism and ultimately to forge a new Jewish nation. Ben-Zvi later served as Israel’s second president until his death in 1963. Ben-Zvi was joined by David Yellin, another leader of the yishuv as well as a gifted linguist and teacher. Also present were Abra-ham Brawer, a geographer and historian who produced the first modern regional geography of Israel; fellow geographer Abraham Luncz; and Jewish historian and topographer Yeshaya-hu Press. Other notables with close connections to the soci-ety were well-known Jewish historian Joseph Klausner and also Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the man responsible for the resur-rection of Hebrew as a spoken language. This initial meeting featured a lecture by Press ap-propriately titled “The History of Research in the Land of Is-rael.” Yellin also addressed the attendees, emphasizing that their responsibility as a “re-born” people was nothing less than to recover and preserve their material past, passing it on to future generations.4 The cataclysmic events of World War I suspended the society’s activities and changed the face of the entire country, which passed from Turk-ish over to British control. Nahum Slousch, a noted scholar of Hebrew literature and gifted with a flair for publicity, reestablished the so-ciety in 1920. Nevertheless, it remained, as its long-time director Joseph Aviram later recalled, “a small society without means and without archaeologists—but with good intentions and high spirit.”5 Once Slousch had raised adequate funds through his charismatic appeals to fellow Jews abroad, he conducted the first excavation for the society at Hammath-Tiberias, near the Sea of Galilee. During clearance work on an ancient syna-gogue, the excavators uncovered a large seven-branch menorah carved in stone. News of the discovery electrified the Jewish community. For the first time, Jewish excavators had recovered a tangible symbol of their own past—a dramatic A small group of enthsiastic intellectuals met in Jerusalem on November 7, 1913, to establish the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society.SHABBAT SHALOM 33link with their ancient forefathers. Since most of them were immigrants, this discovery served more than ever to tie the Jewish population to-gether with the land, emphasizing the fact that they had, after centuries in the Diaspora, finally returned home. The symbolism of this great find and its effect on the entire yishuv cannot be overemphasized. A facsimile of this meno-rah became the official emblem of the society and continues as such today. Ironically, Slousch’s excavation at Hammath-Tiberias was not the first Jewish-led archaeo-logical expedition in Palestine. That honor belongs to Frenchman Raymond Weill, who began work in 1913 at Jerusalem with the fi-nancial sponsorship of Baron Eduard de Roth-schild. In 1914 and 1924, he also excavated a group of tombs at Gezer, a biblical city fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15-17).6 Weill’s work in Jerusalem focused on the southern end of the City of David, the southeastern ridge that formed the ancient core of the city during the Old Testament period. Weill exposed two long, parallel vaulted chambers, which he heralded as the fabled royal tombs of the Davidic dynasty. While debate continues as to the function of these chambers, recently published evidence seems to vindicate Weill’s identification. A synagogue dedicatory plaque, which may refer to the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Acts 6:9), was also discovered by Weill. This plaque re-mains the only archaeological evidence for a synagogue in Jerusalem during the first century AD. Throughout the ensuing years, the Jew-ish Palestine Exploration Society continued field work, although large scale excavations remained well beyond the society’s limited fi-nancial resources. Slousch did clearance work among the ancient monuments of Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley, which drew the attention of The London Times Weekly Edition and provided the society much needed international recognition. While many Palestinian Jews made contribu-tions to archaeology during these early years, two men in particular—Eleazar Sukenik and Benjamin Mazar—must be regarded as pivotal figures in the emergence of Jewish archaeologi-cal research. Eleazar Sukenik was a young high school in-structor in Jerusalem following World War I, where he quickly developed an insatiable in-terest in Jewish history and antiquities. After taking classes at the American School, Sukenik caught the attention and came under the tute-lage of William F. Albright, the school’s director. With Albright’s recommendation and a modest scholarship from the society, Sukenik studied in Berlin and at Dropsie College in Philadel-phia, receiving a PhD in 1926. The newly es-tablished Hebrew University awarded Sukenik a research position, where he remained to even-tually become a professor. Among the sites that Sukenik excavated were sections of New Testa-ment Jerusalem’s “Third Wall” (known from the writings of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus) and the ancient synagogue at Beth Alpha.  While directing work at the latter site in 1929, Sukenik uncovered an elaborate and beauti-fully preserved mosaic floor that generated a vast amount of publicity, including a New York Times headline. The find catapulted Sukenik from a relatively unknown archaeologist to a world renowned scholar and national celebrity. Sukenik demonstrated the awesome potential of archaeology’s impact upon society, which deeply impressed itself upon the consciousness of his son, Yigael Yadin, who later became Is-rael’s most celebrated archaeologist. Sukenik’s most enduring legacy, however, was his ex-traordinary efforts to purchase the first group of Dead Sea Scrolls when they became avail-able in 1947. Often at peril to his life, Sukenik acquired three of the priceless scrolls for the Hebrew University and studied them until his death in 1953.  Benjamin Mazar immigrated to Palestine from Germany shortly after completing his PhD in 1927. He immediately became involved with the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society and, like Sukenik, studied archaeology under the inspiration of Albright. With anthropologist Moshe Stekelis, Mazar conducted his first ex-34 SHABBAT SHALOMcavation at Ramat Rahel, south of Jerusalem, in 1931 and then began a long-term project at the extensive Jewish cemetery of Beth She’arim. Mazar lacked Sukenik’s ar-chaeological training, but was a superb historian with an ex-tensive knowledge of the bibli-cal and ancient Near Eastern sources. Mazar taught at He-brew University for many years, eventually serving as its presi-dent. One of Mazar’s greatest attributes was his enthusiastic and engaging teaching style. Consequently, Mazar’s excava-tions became the “classrooms” for many of Israel’s pioneer archaeologists. His legacy con-tinues today through his neph-ew and granddaughter, Amihai and Eilat Mazar, two of Israel’s leading archaeologists. Palestine during the British Mandate was marked with political tension, religious strife, and often bloody violence. Dur-ing these tumultuous times, Jews continued to make aliyah (immigration) to Israel (then called Palestine), despite restrictions imposed by the British. These Jewish immigrants arrived with widely diverse cultural traits and languages, so the society aided their assimilation process by conducting a series of lectures and field trips. Called the “Knowledge of the Land Movement” or yedi’at ha-aretz, these tours and hikes not only forged a common cultural identity among the various immigrant groups, but also fostered a deeply rooted connection with their history, biblical heritage, and the land itself through the lectures and explorations. Many Israeli archae-ologists credit the Knowledge of the Land pro-grams as their first exposure to archaeology. The Israeli archaeology community today is a quantum leap ahead in growth and sophistica-tion when compared to its inauspicious begin-nings in 1913. As we mark Israel’s sixty-year anniversary, let us also remember the ninety-five years of Jewish archaeological research in the Holy Land. May the enthusiasm, resolve, and achievements which characterized these earliest Jewish pioneers continue for many years to come!1. This phrase, taken from Psalm 85:11, was adopted from the title of a Hebrew paper by Y. Shavit entitled “Truth Shall Spring Out of the Earth: The Develop-ment of Jewish Popular Interest in Ar-chaeology in Eretz-Israel,” Cathedra 44 (1987): 27-54. The paper recounted the rise of Israeli popular interest in archae-ology.  2. This quotation and its context are tak-en from Y. Shavit, “Archaeology, Political Culture, and Culture in Israel,”  in The Ar-chaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present, ed. Neil Asher Silberman, David Small. (Sheffield: Shef-field Academic Press, 1997), 48.3.  Initially named the “Society for the Reclamation of Antiquities,” the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society’s Hebrew title is literally trans-lated as “Hebrew Society for the Study of the Land of Israel and Its Antiquities.”4. Janet Amitai, “Israel Exploration Society,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, ed. Eric M. Meyers. (New York: Oxford, 1997), vol. 3, 190.5. Joseph Aviram, “The Israel Exploration Society,” in Biblical Archaeology Today, ed. Avraham Biran, Joseph Aviram. ( Jeru-salem: Israel Exploration Society, 1990), 31.6. The details of Weill’s excavation at Gezer remained a mys-tery for over sixty years. His assistant, Paula Zilberberg, was entrusted with preparing the material for publication. Howev-er, during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, she was deported, along with thousands of other French Jews, to the concentration camps, where she perished. Moreover, her written records of the dig were never found. Weill’s Gezer ex-cavations were nearly forgotten until Israeli scholar Aren Maeir recently gathered the surviving artifacts, which were scattered among museum collections in Israel and France. These were then published, eighty years after they were excavated.For the first time, Jewish excavators had recovered a tangible symbol of their own past—a dramatic link with their ancient forefathers.SHABBAT SHALOM 35

Truth Shall Spring Forth Out of the Earth

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Truth Shall Spring Forth Out of the Earth

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