Student Reader's History Notes » Jerusalem

Ketef Hinnom

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:30:58 +0000

Ketef Hinnom is a site near Jerusalem that contains several burial chambers. A particularly bratty intern was given the task of examining a burial chamber that had already been fully excavated. She brutishly attacked the floor and broke through it, revealing that it was in fact a roof that had fallen to the ground. Beneath the roof, she unearthed the earliest Torah texts ever found: the ~600 BC Ketef Hinnom Amulets, two silver scrolls each containing a blessing from Num. 6:24–26.

Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Num. 6:24–26)

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Hezekiah's Tunnel

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:38:24 +0000

In anticipation of a siege by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Judean king Hezekiah constructed a tunnel to bring water into Jerusalem from the Gihon Spring. The Siloam Tunnel Inscription, an ancient graffiti in Hezekiah’s Tunnel, reads as follows:

Siloam Inscription, Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Image by Clancy 2009/08/29.

“[...when] (the tunnel) was driven through. And this was the way in which it was cut through: While [...] (were) still [...] axe(s), each man toward his fellow, and while there were still three cubits to be cut through, [there was heard] the voice of a man calling to his fellows, for there was an overlap in the rock on the right [and on the left]. And when the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed (the rock), each man toward his fellow, axe against axe; and the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir for 1200 cubits, and the height of the rock above the head(s) of the quarrymen was 100 cubits.” ¹

1Shanks, Hershel. 2008. Sound Proof: How Hezekiah’s Tunnelers Met. Biblical Archaeology Rreview 34:05, Sep/Oct 2008. link

House of the Bullae

Levi Clancy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:37:13 +0000

The House of the Bullae, was a Iron Age public building in Jerusalem that was destroyed during the Babylonian campaigns of 587 and 586 BC. The House of the Bullae has yielded almost 50 very well-preserved bullae with Hebrew lettering (they were fired during the Babylonian destruction). Two of the names amidst the bullae are attested in the Old Testament: Gemaryahu son of Shafan, a high official from the court of Judean king Jehoiakim (Jereiah 36:10,11-12,25); and Azaryahu son of Hilkiyahu, a high priest (1 Chronicles 9:10). Since these bullae correlate to the Babylonian conquests and persons in the Old Testament, they are one of Jerusalem’s most valuable discoveries. (link)

Ramat Rahel

Levi Clancy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Just a few miles south of Jerusalem is Ramat Rahel, a site open for excavation. Ramat Rahel was likely a fortress or governor-style residence. It had balustrades crowned by a palmette/proto-aeolic capitals, a Phoenician influence indicative of royal architecture. Also, Ramat Rahel has yielded lmlk seals from Judean king Hezekiah (8^th century BC), thus implying that Ramat Rahel may have been an Israelite administrative center. There was a tinge of Egyptian influence as well.