reflections Remaking the City Archaeological projects of political import in Jerusalem’s Old City and in the village of Silwan
he authors of this article are Jordan, the Old City and its Walls organization called El’ad, a Hebrew members of ‘Emek Shaveh’, was nominated a World Heritage acronym for ‘To the City of David’ Tan organization of archae- Site in Danger in 1982 (UNESCO (Greenberg 1998: 8). The site is part ologists and community activists World Heritage Center website). of the ‘Jerusalem Walls National focusing on the role of archaeology This status expresses the cultural Park’ (Israel Antiquities Authority in Israeli society and in the Israeli– value of the city’s urban fabric and website), an area that was desig Palestinian conflict. We view ar- monuments, its extraordinary spir- nated as a national park in 1974 chaeology as a resource for building itual significance and its unique so- and includes other land adjacent to bridges and strengthening bonds cial composition, which is the result the Old City. The national park as a between different peoples and cul- of many centuries of history and whole is under the auspices of the tures, and we see it as an important cultural development. In addition, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, factor impacting the dynamics of Jerusalem is also at the heart of the but the specific site of ancient Jeru- the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Our Israeli–Palestinian political con- salem (City of David) in Silwan is fundamental position is that an ar- flict. Jerusalem is contested ground, managed by El’ad (Lidman 2011). chaeological find should not and and the past has become hostage In recent years, the site has been cannot be used to prove ownership to this contest, with each side try- visited by approximately 450,000 by any one nation, ethnic group, or ing to tell a story that excludes the visitors per year, including tens of religion of a given place. We believe other. Much of the archaeological thousands of soldiers and univer- archaeology tells a complex story activity connected to the political sity and high school students. that is independent of tradition, conflict is taking place right outside Ancient Jerusalem is a unique religious or otherwise, and that by the city walls, in an area which does archaeological site of global im- listening to this story and bringing it not have UNESCO World Heritage portance for three main reasons: to the wider public we can promote status: the mound of ancient Jeru- it is identified with the beginning values of tolerance and pluralism. salem. of habitation in Jerusalem and was Today, this part of ancient the capital of ancient Israelite king- Jerusalem is located in the vil- doms; it is located in a Palestinian The historical and religious lage of Silwan, on a slope south of village; and it is close to the Temple importance of the Old City of Je- the Temple Mount/Haram el Sha- Mount/Haram al-Sharif – one of rusalem and its surroundings (the rif, outside of the Old City Walls. the most politically and religiously ‘Historical Basin’) is internation- Silwan is home to approximately sensitive places in the Middle East. ally recognized.* As proposed by 40,000 Palestinians and since the All of these characteristics present 1990s, a few hundred Jewish set- great challenges to any research tlers (Peace Now website). The Jew- undertaken in the area, both from * The article is based on Emek Shaveh’s texts ‘Archaeology in the ish settlement is promoted by an an archaeological perspective and shadow of the conflict’ (2010) , in terms of the social and political ‘From Shiloah to Silwan’ (2011), antiquities’ (2013) and ‘Remaking implications of the work. ‘Jerusalem – Old City FAQ’ (2012), the city’ (2013). All are accessible Archaeological excavations are ‘From Silwan to the Temple as PDF-files on the Emek Shaveh tied to the political conflict in Jeru Mount’ (2012), ‘Another future for website. salem from two distinct aspects. Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 141 One is the appropriation of land to auspices of the Israel Antiquities displayed on a separate level in the be excavated, which can be inter- Authority (IAA), have taken place building. preted as a means of gaining control on the site 2003–5 and 2007–14. The archeological excavation over a certain place or area. The sec- In the past, the lot was part of the served to prepare the area for fu- ond is the focus on the past, which open areas used by the residents of ture building development on three can be seen as an instrument for Silwan. levels: 1) The deep excavation pre- appropriating the past to one par- In June 2013, the Antiquities pared the infrastructure and foun- ticular group and its historical nar- Authority began excavating the last dations for the future structure, rative. In this article we will discuss unexcavated area in the Givati Park- so that once permits are attained and exemplify these two aspects ing Lot. The excavation completely from the planning and construc- through the cases of the excavation consumes the parking lot that had tion committees, construction will at the Givati Parking Lot and the been there, and ultimately, the en- be able to begin immediately; 2) the tunnel excavations which have been tire parking lot area (some 5,000 public viewed the excavation as a carried out since the mid-2000s in m2) will be excavated. The goal of scientific archeological excavation, Silwan and in the Old City of Jeru- the archaeological excavation is to and overlooked the fact that the dig salem. prepare the ground for the con- was being used in order to advance struction of the planned tourist the political goals of El’ad and of The Givati Parking Lot centre known as the ‘Kedem Com- certain government bodies. Thus, The Givati Parking Lot is an open pound’. According to an official de- although the excavation in fact area at the north end of the village cision of the District Committee for contributed to the creation of the of Silwan, across the street from Planning and Building from June infrastructure of Jewish settlement the entrance to the Visitors Center 2014 (Yashar 2014), the five-floor in Arab East Jerusalem, the Israeli of the City of David archeological tourist centre is intended to occupy governmental authorities and set- park and at a distance of twenty some 15,000 m2 and include com- tlers were able to present their work metres from the walls of the Old mercial areas as well as a museum, as an exclusively scientific archeo- City. Salvage excavations, funded parking lot, lecture halls and more. logical excavation; 3) the archeo- by El’ad and conducted under the The archaeological remains will be logical findings themselves not only Emek Shaveh
The Givati Parking Lot excavation.
142 Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 deflected potential opposition, but underground connection between even aroused public sympathy and it and the City of David Visitor support for the excavation among Center, located across the street to the Israeli public. Over the years of the east, and an additional under- the excavation, the media reported ground connection to the Ritual extraordinary findings in the excav Bath Trail, located in the Ophel ex- ations, from the greatest cache of cavation area, immediately adjacent gold coins from the Byzantine era to the Old City Wall and ending just (ABC Science 2008), to a Second a few metres away from the Givati Temple period structure, which Parking Lot. The existing routes, some suggested was the palace of together with the planned routes, Queen Helena (Infolive.tv 2007). will establish the Kedem Center as These reports and others created an alternative to today’s main tour- public interest in the archeological ist entrance to the Old City, the excavation and its findings. Jaffa Gate. Although the archaeo- According to the plan, visit logical excavations at the Givati ors will use the centre as a start- Parking Lot uncovered finds from ing point for a variety of routes in a broad range of historical periods the village of Silwan and the Old (Ben-Ami and Tchehanovetz 2010), City. The excavations at the Givati the compound is expected to have Parking Lot are already connected a clear biblical focus. According to the Ophel/Davidson Center ex- to a government decision in May cavations and to the Shiloah Pool 2012, the possibility of establishing through a system of tunnels. Two a Bible museum called the ‘Shrine additional future projects relating of the Bible’ in the Givati Parking to the Givati Parking Lot are the Lot/Kedem Center in the village of Emek Shaveh
Archaeological excavations in the village of Silwan.
Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 143 Silwan is being considered (Proto- col of government meeting 2012). The government’s decision empha- sizes the political importance of the archaeological projects in Silwan and constitutes an additional ex ample of the close association be- tween the plans of the settlers and the government. The proposed building for the Givati Parking Lot overshadows the village of Silwan. The structure is anticipated to have a decisive influ- ence on the landscape, on the way in which the walls of the Old City are perceived and enter the public consciousness, the character of the space between the village of Silwan and the Temple Mount/Haram al- Sharif, and the village of Silwan it- self. Additionally, it is expected to have far-reaching implications for movement in the area, access to residents’ homes, and the develop- ment of the Silwan village. Along with the City of David Visitor Center, it will create a single tourist zone under settler and Israeli gov- ernmental control. Jerusalem underground The intensive interest in under- ground tunnels and channels, whether ancient or contemporary, turns the clock back some 150 ection of Barclay’s Gate (one of the era Jerusalem. Here too, the excav years. At that time, the first Europe- gates of the Temple Mount/Haram ations were conducted deep under- an archeologists in Jerusalem, aided al-Sharif) and north of there, at ground, far from the authorities’ by labourers from Jerusalem and its points that today constitute part view. Among the things discovered environs, dug deep into the heart of of the network of ‘Western Wall there were shafts, tunnels, and the Holy City in order to establish Tunnels’. He exposed an ancient channels – both naturally formed its ancient topography and the na- gate attributed to the temple com- and man-made – that have become ture of the structures adjacent to the plex of Herod (first century bce), known as Warren’s Shaft. Temple Mount. First and foremost which led to the Temple Mount it- For as long as Ottoman rule among them was Capt. Charles self (Warren 1876). Warren’s excav lasted in Jerusalem, excavations Warren, R.E. In order to avoid the ation project was also based on an continued in the shaft/gallery for- prying eyes of the Ottoman author- 1862 map documenting the wells mat. In 1894–7, the archeologists ities, Warren dug vertical shafts at and water systems on the Temple Fredrick Jones Bliss and Archibald some distance from the walls of the Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Campbell Dickie dug a sprawl- Temple Mount, and from there he In addition to the excavations ing system of channels and tun- continued to excavate in ‘galleries’ around the Temple Mount/Haram nels around Mount Zion and the – horizontal tunnels dug along the al-Sharif, Warren and his team Siloam Pool/Birket al-Hamra. Be- ancient walls. Warren dug along- dug in the adjacent village of Sil- tween 1909 and 1911, an exped side the Western Wall, from the wan, exposing important parts of a ition led by Montagu Brownlow area of Robinson’s Arch in the dir water system dating back to Bible- Parker renewed the investigation of
144 Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 Emek Shaveh
Silwan – view towards the Al-Aqsa Mosque. the ancient waterworks of Jerusa- which viewed archaeology as a tool archaeological finds, such as an an- lem, hoping to find a subterranean of Western imperialism aimed at cient Roman street ascending from passage from the Gihon Spring in undermining the Islamic presence the Shiloah pool northwards, forti- Silwan to the heart of the Temple in al-Quds (Jerusalem) and in the fication digs towards the centre of Mount, where, they hoped, they Haram al-Sharif. the hill around the structure by the would discover the treasures of the The practice of digging horizon- spring, and a dig at the centre of the Temple. Parker and his crew ex- tal tunnels underground fell into Silwan village, undertaken for the plored the Siloam Tunnel and War- disuse, and has not been considered purpose of cleaning out an ancient ren’s Shaft and dug new galleries a legitimate scientific archaeological drainage system. (Shalev-Khalifa 1999), but had to method for over a hundred years. It Digging tunnels in the name of abandon the excavation following was replaced by the stratigraphic archaeological research is less vul- the disclosure of their attempt to method, whereby digging is carried nerable to public criticism than an bribe some waqf guards in order to out vertically from the surface level excavation which is not undertaken dig under the Temple Mount itself. down into the ground. This method for research purposes, because the This series of excavations, con- affords a better understanding of former is justified to the public as ducted behind the backs of the au- the archaeological finds and the dif- a meansyof studying and learning thorities, thus served to reinforce ferent layers, and prevents unneces- about the history of a site. Excavat- two central narratives regarding sary damage and destruction. ing tunnels in the site of ancient the archaeology of Jerusalem. The In the Old City and the site of Jerusalem/Silwan places archaeo- Western, scientific narrative that ancient Jerusalem, archaeologists logical research at the cenere of identified the ‘real’ Jerusalem be- are reverting back to the practice the o-going territorial struggle in neath the surface, while viewing the of digging tunnels. Currently there Jerusalem, and benefits the settlers present inhabitants of the city as de- are several tunnels being dug in Sil- in two ways: first, because the finds graded, benighted remnants of the wan – some are dug continuously, they may discover increase public past who obscured the importance some intermittently. The excav interest and the number of visitors and destiny of the Holy City; and ations are taking place underneath to the area under their control, and the Muslim-Palestinian narrative, the village and in pursuit of specific second, because it allows them to
Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 145 present the subterranean ‘biblical’ Authority and the City of David site vironmental considerations. (New story to the public in a way that is present both the street segment and Life for Historic Cities 2013: 9) completely unrelated to the aggres- the sewage system as part of the sive and sometimes violent struggle street constructed during the Sec- 3. Sustainable conservation is for control currently taking place ond Temple Period (the period of ineffective (and even impossible) above ground. Roman Antiquity, i.e. between the without the agreement of the local The proliferation of under- first and second century bce). The residents. For the benefit of all ground spaces creates a physical authority and the site administra- parties, involvement of the local link between the village of Silwan tion even present this section of the residents must be encouraged, as and the Old City, and among vari- street and the sewage system as the well as collaboration with them, ous areas in the Old City. The two path that was tredden by pilgrims to the extent possible (New Life central axes of the underground on their way to the Temple Plaza. for Historic Cities 2013: 9). This routes are the Givati Parking Lot (City of David 2012) process can be facilitated by the and the Western Wall Plaza. The transfer of credible information, main tunnel excavated by the An- Emek Shaveh’s position providing residents with a response tiquities Authority originates at the The perspective informing Emek time, raising awareness of the Shiloah Pool (Birket el-Hamrah) Shaveh’s work is that the antiquities importance of the preservation of and passes nearby the Givati Park- are cultural property that belong to cultural heritage, and educational ing Lot excavations, ending at the the entire population, and in the and training programs (ICOMOS Old City. case of Jerusalem, they are of ex- 2011). Since 2007, the Antiquities Au- ceptional interest and importance, thority has been digging adjacent extending beyond the interests of The solution is to stop treating the to the Pool of Shiloah/Birket al- the two peoples in the conflict. Pro- past as an extension of faith and na- Hamra along a length of street dated tection of the antiquities in the His- tional mythology, and to reinstate to the first century bce, in other toric Basin is of international inter- the archaeological past as a univer- words, the Second Temple Period. est, and their preservation should sal human narrative; to conserve The street was initially documen- be treated as such. Consequently, significant remains from every tey during the nineteenth century our proposed plan is based on the period in the city’s history and to by the scholars Bliss and Dickie following principles, which draw allow all those living in and visiting (1898). The length of the stretch of from the international conventions Jerusalem to discover the memories road exposed is approximately for- in the realm of the preservation of most meaningful to them. ty meeres. Further down, at a level cultural heritage: higher than that of the previous Anna Veeder and Jonathan Mizrachi street, a covered drainage channel 1. The historical city is an expres- was exposed, taller than the height sion of the continuum of human References of the average man, and made out of cultures in time and space (New ABC Science 2008. ‘Byzantine stone. The channel passes beneath Life for Historic Cities 2013: 9). coin hoard found under Jeru- Wadi Hilweh Street in the village of Various civilizations have made salem car park’, ABC Science website, 24.12.2008,
146 Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 road from Shiloah Pool to the 4654, 20.5.2012, Development of Western Wall’, City of David: the City of Jerusalem, appendix Ancient Jerusalem, YouTube, 812, revised version,
Approaching Religion • Vol. 4, No. 2 • December 2014 147