View ancient treasures at Jerusalem’s new national archeology campus
The Israel Antiquities Authority’s brand-new digs are more than a museum. While checking out the exhibits, visitors can also watch the archaeological process unfold in real time
For hundreds of years beginning sometime in the third century BCE, gladiator games provided spectators in the Roman Empire with masses of gory entertainment. When Christianity became the rule of the Roman Empire in the fourth century CE, however, these games were considered too violent. In their place came chariot races, only slightly less bloody.
Chariot races had their fans, like Rome’s Emperor Justinian the Great. Of the four red, blue, green and yellow teams that dashed around hippodromes all over the Roman world, he consistently backed the blue.
So did a shopkeeper in the city of Scythopolis, known in Hebrew as Beit She’an, in the Land of Israel. He was so gung-ho that he hung a mosaic sign at the entrance to his shop with the Greek inscription: “For the Victory of the Blues.” His mosaic sign is on view on the top floor of Jerusalem’s brand-new National Campus for the Archeology of Israel.
When we decided to take a tour of the campus in preparation for an article, we assumed we would be strolling through a museum-type building full of unique ancient artifacts. Yet, although the top level of the campus showcases five mosaics never before put on public display (and a sixth, the Ein Gedi mosaic, that has been), this is not a museum, it is a place of work, says Israel Antiquities Authority archeologist Saar Ganor.
At the campus, visitors are offered a look behind the scenes at archeological finds from the time of excavation and at the labs where they are cleaned, restored, preserved, conserved, documented and finally revealed to the public.
World-renowned architect and urban planner Moshe Safdie, who designed, among other outstanding sites, the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Canada’s National Gallery and the Sikhism Museum in India, created the campus. Planned with archeological digs in mind, it placed the entrance on the top floor, shaded by canopies meant to resemble those coverings that shade excavations all over Israel. From here, it descends — just like an archeological site.
While the building took 12 years to complete, it was well worth the wait. Located across from the famed Israel Museum, next door to the extraordinary Bible Lands Museum, and within shouting distance of the Israeli parliament, the Hebrew University at Givat Ram and the new National Library, the campus roof (which is also the entrance) offers a stunning view of the entire area.
One of the largest mosaics ever uncovered in Israel was discovered during excavations in the city of Lod. But this beautiful late fifth-century mosaic was now located at a quarry, and so impossible to preserve. It is on display at the campus.
A third mosaic on display, from a sixth-century church, boasts several hexagrams, a combination of two equilateral triangles. We call the design the Star of David, and although we think of it as a Jewish symbol, it was used in antiquity as a decorative element in several different cultures.
Indeed, the Star of David, although apparently named for the Israelite king, wasn’t identified with Judaism until the Middle Ages, while the menorah — the seven-branched candelabra ritually kindled in the First and Second Temples — is actually considered the historic symbol of Judaism.
This particular sixth-century mosaic is unusually beautiful, and full of color with red, yellow, green and orange tiles.
The late archeologist Prof. Michael Avi-Yonah uncovered three mosaics from a sixth-century synagogue next to a Christian cemetery at Beit She’an. All are lovely, with figures representing the months of the Greek calendar.
A small fourth-century mosaic from Jaffa that is also on display was found next to an ancient burial cave. Written in Greek is the inscription “They were valiant, all those [buried] here.”
While there is almost always a story behind ancient mosaics, the sixth one on the campus’s top floor has a unique tale to tell. The story begins back in the seventh century BCE, when a group of Israelites settled in the Judean Desert at a place called Ein Gedi.
By a stroke of luck, they stumbled on the formula for a perfume so extraordinary that they were able to produce it, and sell it, for a fortune over the next 1,200 years. It is generally known as balsam oil, or afarsimon, the Hebrew word for persimmon.
According to Ganor, involved in a survey of the Judean Desert, the perfume was probably exported along a route archeologists have named “Afarsimon Road.” That’s because ongoing surveys have revealed a row of towers and guard posts leading from Ein Gedi to major cities in the Judean Hills.
Incredibly, the Israelites and their progeny kept the formula a secret. Even when they left Ein Gedi en masse in the wake of a terrible fire, it was never divulged. They may have been put off by knowing that God would curse them and their progeny forever should they reveal the formula. In fact, that is what may be written, in Judeo-Aramaic, on a synagogue mosaic from Ein Gedi created in the fifth century CE.
The next level down offers an introductory film, and below that level is the largest archeological library in the Middle East. It boasts 60,000 books containing all archeological research ever published in Israel and about Israel.
Also on this level: a changing display that Ganor calls the “Finding of the Month.” The current exhibit features a movie chronicling the discovery of a ship nearly 3,500 years old and describing the difficult and meticulous process of retrieving some of its antiquities.
Two very special amphorae — two-handled vessels for carrying liquids — are also on display. They were found in a sunken ship near Lebanon dating back over 2,000 years.
A few weeks ago the campus put some fascinating new artifacts in the exhibit: recently discovered seals used in Judea during the eighth century BCE.
Five laboratories on the lower levels include those for conservation and restoration of materials like pottery, metals, glass and organic matter such as fabrics, ancient plants, religious scrolls — including pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls and divorce documents.
Glass was first discovered in 4,000 BCE, but the process was difficult and the result extremely expensive. It entailed the prolonged heating of salt and sand in special furnaces. As a result, glass vessels of the period are only found in tombs of kings and pharaohs in Egypt.
During the Roman and Byzantine eras, raw glass production was a major industry in the Land of Israel. Indeed, Israel became the center of glass creation for the entire empire. It seems the sand on the Mediterranean coast contained the perfect combination of minerals needed for glass production.
The campus features an excellent glass exhibit. On display are vessels for eye shadow, perfume, a gorgeous blue vessel made by an ancient method of creating glass (without a blowing pipe) and items with glass covers. Their color is determined by the minerals in the sand.
Guided tours end with a hands-on experience that includes lots of stories, pieces of pottery and an 1,800-year-old wedding ring discovered only a few months ago by a child on a family hike in the Carmel Mountains. On it is a carving of Athena, the goddess of war.
Each year around 400 excavations take place in Israel — an enormous number considering the country’s small area. All artifacts from the excavations end up at the campus where, along with the biggest, most comprehensive archeological library in the Middle East, experts have use of the most sophisticated technological equipment available today for the preservation of ancient artifacts.
In a few years the campus’s two lower levels will contain a super-modern visitors center with multi-media programs and a vast quantity of artifacts discovered in Israel. At the moment, visitors have a wonderful preview of the exciting work done here, where items from the past are taken from the ground in preparation for their re-entrance into the present.
Guided tours are in English and Hebrew and must be reserved in advance (Hebrew link). Reservations can be made in English via email or by calling: +972 (0)52 214 9719.
Aviva Bar-Am is the author of seven English-language guides to Israel.
Shmuel Bar-Am is a licensed tour guide who provides private, customized tours in Israel for individuals, families and small groups.
