By Amihai Mazar
In my first article in this series, I described the new "archaeological garden" in the City of David, on the eastern hill of Jerusalem. Last Succot (the Jewish festival of Tabernacles), a new and fascinating site was opened to the public in Jerusalem. This is the "Herodian Quarter," excavated and restored by professor Nahman Avigad, in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.
The "Jewish Quarter," the seat of the Jewish community in the Old City of Jerusalem during the last 400 years, is located on the Western Hill of Jerusalem, overlooking the Temple Mount and the lower Eastern Hill. During the Second Temple period this area was known as the Upper City of Jerusalem. Here were located the palaces of the Hasmonean kings and of King Herod, as well as the homes of the aristocratic families of Jerusalem: high priests, nobles, and merchants. We had some idea about this area from the writings of Josephus Flavius, the Jewish commander, betrayer, and historian, and from passages in the Jewish literature of the period. But only archaeological excavations could reveal its beauty and elaborate architecture.
Following the unification of Jerusalem after the Six Day War of 1967, the government of Israel decided to rehabilitate the ruined Jewish Quarter which, since the War of Independence in 1948, was a slum in the Old City. Ruined synagogues were cleaned and restored, and many houses were rebuilt. But many other buildings in the Quarter were not rebuilt as the foundation or the superstructure had been destroyed beyond repair. They had to be removed and replaced by new buildings. This was a golden opportunity for the archaeologists: for the first time we had a chance to excavate extensive areas in this part of Jerusalem, which was almost completely unaccessible to archaeological research until that time.
I had a chance, to be the assistant to professor Aviad in August 1969 when the excavations started. We were all very pessimistic: we knew that Jerusalem was inhabited throughout the last two thousand years. Massive buildings were erected there during many periods. Would we find any remains from the early periods? Soon we were surprised to find that fascinating remains awaited us below the ruined buildings of the last centuries. We found that elaborate houses from the Second Temple period were preserved very well in this area, providing a window into daily life of the upper class households of Jerusalem during the first century A.D. To our surprise, we even discovered most interesting remains from the First Temple Period, including the fortifications of the city before its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The results of many years of archaeological discoveries in the Jewish Quarter were described in a popular way in Professor Avigad’s book, Discovering Jerusalem. Illustrated with many color pictures and line drawings, this book provides a lively and comprehensive picture of one of the most interesting archaeological enterprises ever carried out in Israel.
The restoration of the Jewish Quarter called for preservation and exhibit of the remains to the public. Avigad, together with a team of architects and archaeologists, found original and vivid ways to preserve the remains. In several cases, new buildings were erected above the excavated areas, and the archaeological remains were preserved in underground cellars. Several of these were opened to the public in the last few years: one of them shows remains of the First Temple fortifications of the city; another includes the remains of the "burnt house", a house of a rich family which was heavily burnt by the Romans during the conquest of Jerusalem in A.D. 70; a third preserves remains of the great church know as "Nea" (the "New" church), erected by the Byzantine emperor Justinian during the 6th century; a fourth site is the "Kardo," the main street of the city during the Byzantine era which was restored and has become one of the focal points for tourism in Jerusalem.
The new site opened now in the Jewish Quarter is the largest and most interesting of all. It is located in the basement of a large Yeshiva (a Jewish religious school) overlooking the Western Wall. In antiquity, it was one of the best located places in the city of Jerusalem: situated above the eastern cliff of the Tyropeon Valley, overlooking the Temple Mount. Here the excavations revealed an astonishingly well preserved residential quarter of high rank. A large building in this place included a reception hall with plastered walls. The plaster was molded as an imitation of the retaining walls of the Temple Mount (the Western Wall being part of them). The owner no doubt was inspired by the great stone work of the nearby temple, and desired to imitate it in his own home. The ceiling of this hall was decorated with molded stucco work; other walls in the building were painted with colorful frescoes. Colorful and delicate mosaic floors were also found in this house. All these architectural decorations were made in the style common during the last half of the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. in Rome, and known to us from the houses in Rome itself and in Pompeii. It appears that during the time of Herod the Great and his successors, the upper class in Jerusalem imitated the Roman way of life to the last detail. However, care was taken not to contradict the Jewish law in any aspect. Thus, the drawings did not include any pictures of humans or animals. The Jewish way of life as expressed in written sources was clearly evidenced in the typical Jewish ritual baths found in every house in the Jewish Quarter. According to Jewish law, the bath was intended to be filled with rain water, which was mixed with other water, purifying the other water.
Elaborate objects were in use in this quarter. Various stone vessels were in use in Jerusalem during this time, since they were considered always "clean" ritually. Elaborate local pottery as well as imported pottery originating in Italy indicate the high level of life in the city. Among the elaborate objects was a beautiful and rare glass jug made by one of the most well known glass makers of the time, who probably lived in Sidon. Elaborate single-footed stone tables, similar to Roman tables of the time, were in use. A stone sun clock was also found here.
The size of the main house in this complex and its elaborate decorations indicate the importance of the owners. No doubt it was one of the richest families in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, we cannot identify the family, as was possible in the nearby "Burnt House." Like the other houses in the Upper City of Jerusalem, this house too was destroyed by heavy fire on the 8th of Elul in A.D. 70, when the Roman troops invaded the area, about a month after the conquest of the Temple by Titus.
Visitors can now stroll among the preserved remains in a most impressive underground archaeological museum. Showcases full with exceptional finds, large pictures and maps, a slide show, and a bookstore complete the picture. The preservation and the way the remains are exhibited are a magnificent example of archaeological preservation which has turned this site into a jewel in the crown of archaeological sites in the Holy Land.
