DOCSLIB.ORG

From Iraq to Syria to Egypt, One of the World's Great Religions Is Under Siege

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
From Iraq to Syria to Egypt, One of the World's Great Religions Is Under Siege SLOW ROLL ON AN AFRICAN CRISIS 10 | CHINA’S CONTROVERSIAL ZONE 18 | ERASING HATEFUL GRAFFITI 44 READ OUR DAILY EDITION ONLINE AT CSMONITOR.COM A Christian EXODUS From Iraq to Syria to Egypt, one of the world’s great religions is under siege. BY CHRISTA CASE BRYANT $4.00 DECEMBER 16, 2013 From Iraq to Syria to Egypt, Christians are under siege. How their faith sustains them – and how their decline is altering the region. COVER STORY COVER 26 From Iraq to Syria to Egypt, Christians are under siege. How their faith sustains them – and how their decline is altering the region. By Christa Case Bryant / Sta! writer BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK he pews at First Baptist Church of Bethlehem fill quickly as congregants stream in on a Sunday night, some with fancy purses, others with worn shoes and KFC takeout bags. Latecomers have to settle for plastic chairs in the T back. As the service gets under way, hands arc in the air as worshipers sing and thank God for a recent revival that drew more than 1,300 people to hear the message of the Bible – a testament to the theme of the sermon on this night: responding to the invitation of Christ. In a city heralded as the place where Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary, the church is something of a modern miracle. Founded in a two-bedroom apartment three decades ago by the Rev. Naim Khoury, First Baptist was bombed 14 times during the first intifada, struggled with financial difficulties, and is now facing a legal battle with the Palestinian Authority, which doesn’t recognize it as a church. Thousands of Christians in Bethlehem have faced similar political and economic strife over the past few decades, leading many of them to flee the city where Christianity’s central figure was born in a straw-filled manger. Christians, who once made up 80 percent of the population, now represent 20 to 25 percent. But First Baptist defies the trend. Its congrega- tion is 300 members strong – and growing. “We fought and fought to remain and not to hide what we believe,” says Mr. Khoury, who himself survived a bullet to the shoulder from an unknown sniper while in the church park- ing lot five years ago. “It’s time for them to realize that we are here. There’s no way for us to close down and go somewhere else.... We proved ourselves here by the help of the Lord that we are here to stay until the Lord comes back.” +NEXT PAGE AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS/FILE A Palestinian Christian lights a candle during a prayer at a Catholic church in the West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem. Economic and political strife have caused many Christians to flee the area in recent decades. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WEEKLY | December 16, 2013 27 +FROM PREVIOUS PAGE registered Iraqi refugees in neighboring coun- Khoury’s unflinching faith is something that CHRISTIANS NOW MAKE UP tries, according to the International Red Cross. more Christians may have to summon – not Today, fewer than 500,000 Christians remain in only here in the Holy Land but across the entire ONLY 5 PERCENT OF Iraq from a prewar population of 1 million to Middle East. Two thousand years after the birth THE POPULATION OF THE 1.4 million. of Jesus, Christianity is under assault more than Christians in Syria worry that the same thing at any time in the past century, prompting some MIDDLE EAST, DOWN FROM could happen in their country, where civil war to speculate that one of the world’s three great 20 PERCENT has led to a rise in militant groups, some affili- religions could vanish entirely from the region ated with Al Qaeda. Many worshipers who once within a generation or two. A CENTURY AGO. prided themselves on being part of one of the From Iraq, which has lost at least half of its safest Christian communities in the Middle East Christians over the past decade, to Egypt, which now face kidnapping or death. Muslim militants saw the worst spate of anti-Christian violence in to lobby for the preservation of these communi- are targeting Christian businesses as well. In re- 700 years this summer, to Syria, where jihadists ties, but some Muslim leaders as well. cent months, jihadists have carried out assaults are killing Christians and burying them in mass “The protection of the rights of Christians is on the town of Maaloula, where many residents graves, the followers of Jesus face violence and a duty rather than a favor,” declared Jordan’s still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. vitriol as well as declining churches and ecu- King Abdullah in September, speaking to dele- Athraa, a young Syrian mother, fled her vil- menical divides. Christians now make up only gates at a palace-sponsored conference on Arab lage on the Syrian-Iraqi border with her hus- 5 percent of the population of the Middle East, Christian persecution. “Christians have always band and two boys to escape the dangers. down from 20 percent a century ago. Many played a key role in building our societies and “We are expecting what has happened in Iraq Arab Christians are upset that the West hasn’t defending our nations.” to happen in Syria as well,” she says, speaking done more to help. in her modest Amman apartment, where suit- Though many Muslims grew up with Chris- As an evening breeze sweeps across the Jordanian cases teeter atop a run-down armoire. tian friends and colleagues, powerful political capital of Amman, dozens of Iraqi refugees file Before the uprising broke out in March 2011, and social forces have made such coexistence out of the Jesuit Fathers church, touching or experts estimated that Christians represented more difficult. As political Islam gains support, kissing the cross on their way out. 5 to 8 percent of Syria’s 22 million people. The Christians can no longer find refuge in a shared Among them is Mofed, an Arab Christian Syrian patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catho- Arab identity with their Muslim neighbors, but who recently fled the turmoil in his native lic Church recently suggested that as many as are instead increasingly marooned by an em- country. A year ago, Mofed (who, like other 450,000 of the 2 million Syrian refugees today phasis on religious identity. Calls for citizenship refugees, would only give his first name out of are Christians, though such figures vary widely with equal rights are punctuated with stories of fear of retribution) was running a photo shop in and are difficult to confirm. Islamist extremists demanding that Christians Baghdad. Then one day several men came into While Iraq and Syria have seen perhaps the convert to Islam or pay an exorbitant tax. And his store and gave him three options: become worst widespread violence against Christians, many Muslims are facing persecution them- Muslim; pay a $70,000 per capita tax (jizya) some of the most concentrated anti-Christian selves as the Arab upheavals of 2011 continue to levied on non-Muslims; or be killed, along with attacks this year have taken place in Egypt. ripple across the region and nations try to find his family. +NEXT PAGE an equilibrium between freedom and stability. “You pay, or get killed,” says his wife, Nuhad. “Whatever happens, it is going to be very “There is no in between. If you say, ‘OK, I’ll be- CHRISTA CASE BRYANT/THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR difficult to put it back together again,” says come Muslim,’ there is no problem. That is their Fiona McCallum, a scholar of Middle Eastern aim, to get you to change your religion, to be Christians at the University of St Andrews in Muslim.” Scotland. Mofed and Nuhad decided to exercise a To be sure, Christians have confronted dif- fourth option: flee their homeland, bringing ficult times before, from the killing of Jesus’ im- their three children along with them. Their de- mediate followers to the Mamluk oppression of cision is emblematic of what an estimated half Christians beginning in the 13th century to the million Christians have done since the US-led rise of Islamist militant activity in Egypt in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent 1970s. Warriors who came in the name of Christ brutal civil war there. During that time, Muslim have been responsible for egregious interreli- extremists have attacked more than 60 Chris- gious violence as well, such as during the First tian churches across the country. This includes Crusade in 1099, when Christians took over the 2010 Al Qaeda-linked strike on a mass at Jerusalem and massacred nearly all the city’s Our Lady of Salvation Church that killed 58 residents. worshipers. Whether today proves to be yet another ebb The proliferation of jihadist groups after the in the flow of Christian history or something fall of Saddam Hussein, coupled with the rise of more fundamental remains uncertain. But what political Islam, has made an already tense envi- is evident is that both Muslims and Christians, ronment even more unbearable for the coun- as well as the region’s other minorities, are try’s Christian community, which has been part likely to be significantly affected by a continued of Iraqi society for more than 1,900 years. While ‘We are expecting what deterioration. many Muslims have fled the turmoil in Iraq as Christians have traditionally run some of the well, Christians have been disproportionately has happened in Iraq to region’s top schools, been active members of represented, in part because of their above-av- happen in Syria....’ the merchant class, and brought a moderating erage means: Four years into the war, Christians – Athraa, a young mother who recently fled with her influence to society and politics.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2020-02-04 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike Brigham Young University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Pike, Dana M., "Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi" (2020). Faculty Publications. 3697. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3697 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Chapter 7 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike The greater the number of sources the better when investi- gating the history and culture of people in antiquity. Narrative and prophetic texts in the Bible and 1 Nephi have great value in helping us understand the milieu in which Jeremiah and Lehi received and fulfilled their prophetic missions, but these records are not our only documentary sources. A number of Israelite inscriptions dating to the period of 640–586 b.c., the general time of Jeremiah and Lehi, provide additional glimpses into this pivotal and primarily tragic period in Israelite history. The number of inscriptions discovered from ancient Israel and its immediate neighbors—Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Phoenicia—pales in comparison to the bountiful harvest of texts from ancient Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gold Plates and Ancient Metal Epigraphy
    THE GOLD PLATES AND ANCIENT METAL EPIGRAPHY Ryan Thomas Richard Bushman has called the gold plates story “the single most trouble- some item in Joseph Smith’s history.”1 Smith famously claimed to have discovered, with the help of an angel, anciently engraved gold plates buried in a hill near his home in New York from which he translated the sacred text of the Book of Mormon. Not only a source of new scripture comparable to the Bible, the plates were also a tangible artifact, which he allowed a small circle of believers to touch and handle before they were taken back into the custody of the angel. The story is fantastical and otherworldly and has sparked both devotion and skepticism as well as widely varying assessments among historians. Critical and non-believing historians have tended to assume that the presentation of material plates shows that Smith was actively engaged in religious deceit of one form or another,2 while Latter-day Saint historians have been inclined to take Smith and the traditional narrative at face value. For example, Bushman writes, “Since the people who knew Joseph best treat the plates as fact, a skeptical analysis lacks evidence. A series of surmises replaces a documented narrative.”3 Recently, Anne Taves has articulated a middle way between these positions by suggesting that 1. Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 58. 2. E.g., Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945); Dan Vogel, Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Epigraphy, Philology, and the Hebrew Bible
    EPIGRAPHY, PHILOLOGY, & THE HEBREW BIBLE Methodological Perspectives on Philological & Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Jo Ann Hackett Edited by Jeremy M. Hutton and Aaron D. Rubin Ancient Near East Monographs – Monografías sobre el Antiguo Cercano Oriente Society of Biblical Literature Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente (UCA) EPIGRAPHY, PHILOLOGY, AND THE HEBREW BIBLE Ancient Near East Monographs General Editors Ehud Ben Zvi Roxana Flammini Alan Lenzi Juan Manuel Tebes Editorial Board: Reinhard Achenbach Esther J. Hamori Steven W. Holloway René Krüger Steven L. McKenzie Martti Nissinen Graciela Gestoso Singer Number 12 EPIGRAPHY, PHILOLOGY, AND THE HEBREW BIBLE Methodological Perspectives on Philological and Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Jo Ann Hackett Edited by Jeremy M. Hutton and Aaron D. Rubin SBL Press Atlanta Copyright © 2015 by SBL Press All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permit- ted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, SBL Press, 825 Hous- ton Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA. Library of Congress has catologued the print edition: Names: Hackett, Jo Ann, honouree. | Hutton, Jeremy Michael, editor. | Rubin, Aaron D., 1976- editor. Title: Epigraphy, philology, and the Hebrew Bible : methodological perspectives on philological and comparative study of the Hebrew Bible in honor of Jo Ann Hackett / edited by Jeremy M.
    [Show full text]
  • Comptabilités, 8 | 2016 Economic Administration in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah (Ca
    Comptabilités Revue d'histoire des comptabilités 8 | 2016 Archéologie de la comptabilité. Culture matérielle des pratiques comptables au Proche-Orient ancien Economic administration in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (ca. 931 – 587 BCE): epigraphic sources and their interpretations Archéologie de la comptabilité. Culture matérielle des pratiques comptables au Proche-Orient ancien Administration économique dans les royaumes d’Israël et de Judah (env. 931-587 av. J.-C.) : sources épigraphiques et leurs interprétations Wirtschaftsverwaltung in den Königreichen Israel und Juda (etwa 931-587 v. Chr.): epigraphische Quellen und ihre Interpretation La administración económica en los reinos de Israel y Juda (hacia 931-587 a.C.): las fuentes epigráficas y sus interpretaciones Alexey Lyavdansky Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/comptabilites/2024 ISSN: 1775-3554 Publisher IRHiS-UMR 8529 Electronic reference Alexey Lyavdansky, « Economic administration in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (ca. 931 – 587 BCE): epigraphic sources and their interpretations », Comptabilités [Online], 8 | 2016, Online since 20 June 2016, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/comptabilites/2024 This text was automatically generated on 19 April 2019. Tous droits réservés Economic administration in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (ca. 931 – 587 BC... 1 Economic administration in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (ca. 931 – 587 BCE): epigraphic sources and their interpretations Archéologie de la comptabilité. Culture matérielle des pratiques comptables au Proche-Orient ancien Administration économique dans les royaumes d’Israël et de Judah (env. 931-587 av. J.-C.) : sources épigraphiques et leurs interprétations Wirtschaftsverwaltung in den Königreichen Israel und Juda (etwa 931-587 v.
    [Show full text]
  • And Type the TITLE of YOUR WORK in All Caps
    BURIAL PRACTICES, FUNERARY TEXTS, AND THE TREATMENT OF DEATH IN IRON AGE ISRAEL AND ARAM by RACHEL VIRGINIA KING NABULSI Under the Direction of RICHARD FRIEDMAN ABSTRACT This research encompasses two branches of evidence regarding the treatment of death and burial among the Iron Age cultures of Israel and Aram – the archaeological and the textual. The importance of this investigation lies in placing these groups in dialogue with one another, and in the comprehensive use of both archaeological and textual information. The archaeological aspect of this research begins by collecting archeological data from a large number of burial sites throughout both of the target territories. The range of this data extends from the time of the Late Bronze Age into the Persian period, but the primary focus is upon the Iron Age. The first section of the dissertation relates to each of these areas and what can be learned from a survey of sites over this period, with particular attention paid to commonalities and contrasts among the two cultural groups. The second half of this research encompasses the textual and inscriptional data. Textual data include inscriptions from coffins, tombs, and funerary monuments from the Iron Age through the Persian period in Israel and Aram. Another crucial aspect of this textual data is the text of the Hebrew Bible. The biblical text, particularly the narrative sections of the text, provides a great amount of material for understanding death in Iron Age Israel and Judah. iv INDEX WORDS: Israel, Judah, Aram, Hebrew Bible, death,
    [Show full text]
  • Contents of Chapter 3 the Mount of Olives – True Site of the Resurrection
    Contents of Chapter 3 The Mount of Olives – True Site of the Resurrection Introduction 3 Pater Noster Tomb Fits the Biblical Description of Yeshua’s Tomb 4 Near the Crucifixion Site “Outside the Camp”, “Outside the Gate” 5 Near the Crucifixion Site “Golgotha” 5 First-Century Tomb 5 Rolling Stone Tomb – Rare Type of Tomb in Jerusalem and Israel 6 Most Preferred Jewish Burial Site and Affordable by Wealthy Joseph of Arimathea 8 Gate of Heaven Above the Mount of Olives 10 In an Olive Orchard Garden 13 Qualifies as a New Tomb 15 Fits Description of Two Angels Inside the Tomb 15 Near Bethany Where Yeshua and His Disciples Resided During Passover 16 Near Tombs of Jerusalem Church Members at Dominus Flevit 17 Early Christians Associated Site with Messiah Yeshua and His Disciples 20 Why the Church of the Holy Sepulcher Tomb Cannot Be Yeshua’s Tomb 21 Not Located Near the Red Heifer Site Identified in Hebrews 13:11-13 22 Site of No Significance to Early Christians 22 Hadrian’s Selection of Venus Temple Site Fits Typical Roman City Plan, Not Deliberate Attempt to Conceal the Crucifixion Site 23 Church of the Holy Sepulcher Built on Pre-Existing Pagan Site Like Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem 25 Eusebius Does Not Document Alleged Dreams, Visions, and Discovery of “True Cross” Claimed to Authenticate Site 26 Site Too Unstable for Crucifixion 27 Tomb Fits the Design of Constantine’s Basilica (Church) 28 Questionable Whether Tomb Is Rolling Stone Tomb 28 Questionable Whether Tomb Is First-Century “New” Tomb 28 Claim of Empty Tomb Invalid as All
    [Show full text]
  • Israeli Archaeological Activity in the West Bank 1967–2007
    ISRAELI ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY IN THE WEST BANK 1967–2007 A SOURCEBOOK RAPHAEL GREENBERG ADI KEINAN THE WEST BANK AND EAST JERUSALEM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATABASE PROJECT © 2009 Raphael Greenberg and Adi Keinan Cover: Surveying in western Samaria, early 1970s (courtesy of Esti Yadin) Layout: Dina Shalem Production: Ostracon Printed by Rahas Press, Bar-Lev Industrial Park, Israel Distributed by Emek Shaveh (CPB), El‘azar Hamoda‘i 13, Jerusalem [email protected] ISBN 978-965-91468-0-2 CONTENTS FOREWORD 1 PART 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND EXCAVATIONS IN THE WEST BANK SINCE 1967 Introduction 3 Israeli Archaeology in the West Bank 3 Note on Palestinian Archaeology in the West Bank 7 Israeli Archaeology in East Jerusalem 8 Conclusion 10 PART 2. CONSTRUCTING THE DATABASE A. Surveys 11 Survey Motivation and Design 12 Survey Method 12 Definition of Sites 13 Site Names 14 Dating 14 Survey Database Components 15 B. Excavations 18 Basic Data on Excavations 19 The Excavation Gazetteer 20 Excavated Site Types and Periods 21 C. GIS Linkage and Its Potential 22 Case No. 1: The Iron Age I Revisited 23 Case No. 2: Roman Neapolis 26 Case No. 3: An Inventory of Mosaic Floors 26 D. Database Limitations 28 Concluding Remarks 29 References (for Parts 1 and 2) 30 PART 3. GAZETTEER OF EXCAVATIONS, 1967–2007 33 PART 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY 151 PART 5. INDEX OF EXCAVATED SITES 173 PART 6. DATABASE FILES (on CD only) FOREWORD The authors will be the first to concede that modern been subsumed in a particular view of Jerusalem’s political boundaries—the Green Line, the Separation significance in history.
    [Show full text]
  • What the Temple Mount Floor Looked Like As Published in Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2016 Frankie Snyder, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira
    What the Temple Mount Floor Looked Like As published in Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2016 Frankie Snyder, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira The Temple Mount Sifting Projecta has recovered more than a hundred geometrically cut and polished stone tiles known as opus sectile, from which we learn how Jerusalem’s majestic Herodian Temple Mount was paved. Opus sectile—Latin for “cut work”—is a technique for paving floors and walls in geometric patterns or figurative scenes using meticulously cut and polished polychrome stone tiles.1 These tiles were crafted and laid with such precision that there was Opus sectile expert Frankie Snyder is seen here with opus hardly space to insert a knife-blade between them. sectile tiles discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Photo: Temple Mount Sifting Project. Opus sectile floors were more prestigious than mosaic ones and were typically used in more important areas of buildings. Along with using frescoed walls, stucco decorations and elegantly carved columns, King Herod the Great (r. 37–4 B.C.E.) introduced this paving technique to Israel to decorate many of his palaces, including Masada, Jericho, Herodium and Cypros. The first-century C.E. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus comments about the pavements in Herod’s Palace in Jerusalem this way: “The interior fittings are indescribable—the variety of the stones (for species rare in every other country were here collected in abundance).”2 Similarly, about the Temple Mount he writes, “The open court [of the Temple Mount] was from end to end variegated with paving of all manner of stones.”3 In his early research at the Sifting Project, Assaf Avraham was able to identify specific paving tiles found in the Temple Mount material as being consistent with the opus sectile technique, and he suggested that some of these may be the paving stones to which Josephus was referring.4 Continued research has allowed us to distinguish the time period in which many of the recovered opus sectile tiles were crafted and to mathematically reconstruct possible floor patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • Jerusalem Forgery Conference Report Hershel Shanks
    B I B L I C A L A R C H A E O L O G Y S O C I E T Y SPECIAL REPORT Jerusalem Forgery Conference by Hershel Shanks With Abstracts by Conference Participants: Shmuel Ahituv André Lemaire Gabriel Barkay Alan Millard Chaim Cohen Ronny Reich Aaron Demsky Amnon Rosenfeld & Howard R. Feldman David Noel Freedman Hershel Shanks Edward Greenstein Andrew Vaughn Avi Hurwitz Ada Yardeni Wolfgang Krumbein Photo Analysis of James Ossuary Inscription Full Text of Comments by Gabriel Barkay Biblical Archaeology Society www.biblicalarchaeology.org T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. Jerusalem Forgery Conference Report Hershel Shanks Preface 3 Introduction 4 I. The James Ossuary Inscription 6 II. The Ivory Pomegranate Inscription 13 III. The Yehoash Inscription 16 IV. The Moabite Inscription 23 V. The Mousaieff Ostraca 24 VI. The Broader Issues 24 2. Appendix—Abstracts by Conference Participants Shmuel Ahituv 3 Gabriel Barkay 4 Chaim Cohen 5 Aaron Demsky 7 David Noel Freedman 12 Edward Greenstein 16 Avi Hurwitz 22 Wolfgang Krumbein 23 André Lemaire 24 Alan Millard 31 Ronny Reich 38 Amnon Rosenfeld and Howard R. Feldman 39 Hershel Shanks 41 Andrew Vaughn 44 Ada Yardeni 47 3. James Ossuary Photo Report 55 Gerald B. Richards 4. Comments by Gabriel Barkay, Full Version 78 R E P O R T JERUSALEM FORGERY CONFERENCE H E R S H E L S H A N K S 2 P R E F A C E On January 16, 17 and 18, 2007, the Biblical Archaeology Society convened a conference in Jerusalem to consider matters relating to the numerous inscriptions that have been recently alleged to be forgeries.
    [Show full text]
  • Opus Sectile Floors on Jerusalem's Herodian Temple Mount
    Frankie Snyder, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira Opus Sectile Floors on Jerusalem’s Herodian Temple Mount Frankie Snyder, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeolony, Bar-Ilan University 49* Opus Sectile Floorg oi Jerugalem’g Herodiai Temple Mouit Abstract The Temple Mount Sifting Project has recovered more than a hundred Herodian- era geometrically-cut and polished stone opus sectile tiles that once paved the Temple Mount precincts. Opus sectile—Latin for “cut work”—is a technique for paving floors and walls in geometric patterns or figurative scenes using meticulously cut and polished polychrome stone tiles. These floors were typically used in more important areas of villas and palaces, especially those areas where the owner would entertain his guests. Remnants of 2,000-year-old opus sectile floors can be found in the palaces of King Herod and his successors at Jericho, Masada, Herodium, Caesarea, Cypros, Machaerus, Banias and Tiberias. The finding of Herodian opus sectile tiles in the material from the Temple Mount indicates that these elegant floors were also used there. We have analyzed the size, shape, material, colors and craftsmanship of each tile and have compared them to those used in the opus sectile floors at Herodian palaces. By combining these archaeological parallels with basic geometry, research into historical sources and the study of geological materials, we have reconstructed a series of possible floor patterns that may have created the elegant flooring of Jerusalem’s majestic Temple Mount. 50* It appears that the opus sectile patterns and materials on the Temple Mount were “upgraded” from those used in the Herodian palaces.
    [Show full text]
  • The Burial of Jesus
    The Burial of Jesus Staff for this book: Kathleen E. Miller Sara Murphy Steven Feldman Susan Laden Cover: “Scenes from the Life of Christ: Entombment.” 15th century illuminated manuscript. Jean Colombe Pol de Limbourg. Photo by Erich Lessing Typesetting by Scribe, Inc. © 2007 Biblical Archaeology Society 4710 41st Street, NW Washington, DC 20016 www.biblicalarchaeology.org © 2007 Biblical Archaeology Society i The Burial of Jesus About the Biblical Archaeology Society The excitement of archaeology and the latest in Bible scholarship since 1974 The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit, nondenominational, educational organization dedicated to the dissemination of information about archaeology in the Bible lands. BAS educates the public about archaeology and the Bible through its bi-monthly magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, an award-winning web site www.biblicalarchaeology.org, books and multimedia products (DVDs, CD-ROMs and videos), tours and seminars. Our readers rely on us to present the latest that scholarship has to offer in a fair and accessible manner. BAS serves as an important authority and as an invaluable source of reliable information. Publishing Excellence BAS’s flagship publication is Biblical Archaeology Review. BAR is the only magazine that connects the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience eager to understand the world of the Bible. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest discoveries and controversies in archaeology with breathtaking photog- raphy and informative maps and diagrams. BAR’s writers are the top scholars, the leading researchers, the world- renowned experts. BAR is the only nonsectarian forum for the discussion of Biblical archaeology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Forgery, Illicit Trade and Looting of Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts and Antiquities
    UNKNOWN PROVENANCE: THE FORGERY, ILLICIT TRADE AND LOOTING OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ARTEFACTS AND ANTIQUITIES By DIRK PHILIPPUS CONRADIE Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject of BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR WILLEM S. BOSHOFF MAY 2016 ii DECLARATION I declare that “Unknown provenance: the forgery, illicit trade and looting of Ancient Near Eastern artefacts and antiquities” is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references, and that this work has not been submitted before for any other degree, at any other institution. Dirk Philippus Conradie Date: 21 May 2016 Student no: 49343165 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank the following persons for their respective contributions to this dissertation: Careen Conradie, for her unwavering motivation during the research and writing of this paper. Also for her recognition of my passion for archaeology and ancient studies, and supporting me in this. Vincent and Quinton for the interest they have shown in my progress. Professor Willem S. Boshoff, my supervisor, for the valuable knowledge and recommendations that he imparted while researching and writing this dissertation. Also for his support and advice given during the past few years of my studies in Biblical Archaeology at the University of South Africa. Chrisna Nel, for proofreading and editing this manuscript. James van Vuuren “Van”, for all his informative conversations. Mark Backhouse, for a basic crash course in formatting MS word documents. Gina and Jackson, my two canine companions of “questionable provenance”, who kept me company during the many long nights of research and writing.
    [Show full text]