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  • Period
    • Prehistory3000000 BCE - 5001 BCE
    • Antiquity5000 BCE - 399 CE
    • Middle Ages400 CE - 1500 CE
    • Age of Reason1500 CE - 1879 CE
    • Modern Times1880 CE - 1980 CE
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  • he
  • Login
  • Register
  • Period
    • Prehistory3000000 BCE - 5001 BCE
    • Antiquity5000 BCE - 399 CE
    • Middle Ages400 CE - 1500 CE
    • Age of Reason1500 CE - 1879 CE
    • Modern Times1880 CE - 1980 CE
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
    • English subscription
  • News
  • Past Issues
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
  • Holidays Archive
    • Holidays Archive
    • Festivals of Tishrei
    • Hanukkah
    • Tu BiShvat
    • Purim
    • Pesach
    • Holocaust
    • Independence Day
    • Lag baOmer
    • Jerusalem Day
    • Shavuot
    • Tisha B’Av
  • en
  • he
  • -3000000
  • -2900000
  • -2800000
  • -2700000
  • -2600000
  • -2500000
  • -2400000
  • -2300000
  • -2200000
  • -2100000
  • -2000000
Prehistory
  • -1900000
  • -1800000
  • -1700000
  • -1600000
  • -1500000
  • -1400000
  • -1300000
  • -1200000
  • -1100000
  • -1000000
  • -900000
Prehistory
  • -800000
  • -700000
  • -600000
    • 500000 BCE :

      Flints Galore
  • -500000
    • 500000 BCE :

      Flints Galore
  • -400000
  • -300000
  • -200000
  • -100000
    • 60000 BCE :

      Not Just Cave Dwellers
    • 20000 BCE :

      Rhinos in Samaria
    • 7000 BCE :

      Masking Death Prehistoric City
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
    • 1150 BCE :

      Where did the Philistines come from?
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
    • 750 BCE :

      Which Isaiah? How many clerks ?
    • 650 BCE :

      Temple Off the Mount
    • 590 BCE :

      Stamped by the Mayor
    • 586 BCE :

      Signs of Destruction
    • 516 BCE :

      Who are You, Samaritans?
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
    • 167 BCE :

      A Brief History of the Hasmoneans
    • 164 BCE :

      Pools and Palaces
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
    • 150 BCE :

      Telltale Tremor
    • 141 BCE :

      Cast a Giant Shadow
    • 110 BCE :

      A Dig Full of Holes
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
    • 18 BCE :

      Paving the Past
    • 0 BCE :

      Nabateans in the Bible Lords of the Desert Pilgrim City
  • 0
  • 100000
  • 200000
Prehistory
  • -5000
  • -4980
  • -4960
  • -4940
  • -4920
  • -4900
  • -4880
  • -4860
  • -4840
  • -4820
  • -4800
Antiquity
  • -4780
  • -4760
  • -4740
  • -4720
  • -4700
  • -4680
  • -4660
  • -4640
  • -4620
  • -4600
  • -4580
Antiquity
  • -4560
  • -4540
  • -4520
  • -4500
  • -4480
  • -4460
  • -4440
  • -4420
  • -4400
  • -4380
  • -4360
Antiquity
  • -4340
  • -4320
  • -4300
  • -4280
  • -4260
  • -4240
  • -4220
  • -4200
  • -4180
  • -4160
  • -4140
Antiquity
  • -4120
  • -4100
  • -4080
  • -4060
  • -4040
  • -4020
  • -4000
  • -3980
  • -3960
  • -3940
  • -3920
Antiquity
  • -3900
  • -3880
  • -3860
  • -3840
  • -3820
  • -3800
  • -3780
  • -3760
  • -3740
  • -3720
  • -3700
Antiquity
  • -3680
  • -3660
  • -3640
  • -3620
  • -3600
  • -3580
  • -3560
  • -3540
  • -3520
  • -3500
  • -3480
Antiquity
  • -3460
  • -3440
  • -3420
  • -3400
  • -3380
  • -3360
  • -3340
  • -3320
  • -3300
  • -3280
  • -3260
Antiquity
  • -3240
  • -3220
  • -3200
  • -3180
  • -3160
  • -3140
  • -3120
  • -3100
  • -3080
  • -3060
  • -3040
Antiquity
  • -3020
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
  • -3000
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
  • -2980
  • -2960
  • -2940
  • -2920
  • -2900
  • -2880
  • -2860
  • -2840
  • -2820
Antiquity
  • -2800
  • -2780
  • -2760
  • -2740
  • -2720
  • -2700
  • -2680
  • -2660
  • -2640
  • -2620
  • -2600
Antiquity
  • -2580
  • -2560
  • -2540
  • -2520
  • -2500
  • -2480
  • -2460
  • -2440
  • -2420
  • -2400
  • -2380
Antiquity
  • -2360
  • -2340
  • -2320
  • -2300
  • -2280
  • -2260
  • -2240
  • -2220
  • -2200
  • -2180
  • -2160
Antiquity
  • -2140
  • -2120
  • -2100
  • -2080
  • -2060
  • -2040
  • -2020
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
  • -2000
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
  • -1980
  • -1960
  • -1940
Antiquity
  • -1920
  • -1900
  • -1880
  • -1860
  • -1840
  • -1820
  • -1800
  • -1780
  • -1760
  • -1740
  • -1720
Antiquity
  • -1700
  • -1680
  • -1660
  • -1640
  • -1620
  • -1600
  • -1580
  • -1560
  • -1540
  • -1520
  • -1500
Antiquity
  • -1480
  • -1460
  • -1440
  • -1420
  • -1400
  • -1380
  • -1360
  • -1340
  • -1320
  • -1300
  • -1280
Antiquity
  • -1260
  • -1240
  • -1220
  • -1200
  • -1180
  • -1160
    • 1150 BCE :

      Where did the Philistines come from?
  • -1140
  • -1120
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
  • -1100
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
  • -1080
  • -1060
Antiquity
  • -1040
  • -1020
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
  • -1000
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
  • -980
  • -960
  • -940
  • -920
  • -900
  • -880
  • -860
  • -840
Antiquity
  • -820
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
  • -800
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
  • -780
  • -760
    • 750 BCE :

      Which Isaiah? How many clerks ?
  • -740
  • -720
  • -700
  • -680
  • -660
    • 650 BCE :

      Temple Off the Mount
  • -640
  • -620
Antiquity
  • -600
    • 590 BCE :

      Stamped by the Mayor
    • 586 BCE :

      Signs of Destruction
  • -580
  • -560
  • -540
  • -520
    • 516 BCE :

      Who are You, Samaritans?
  • -500
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
  • -480
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
  • -460
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
  • -440
  • -420
  • -400
Antiquity
  • -380
  • -360
  • -340
  • -320
  • -300
  • -280
  • -260
  • -240
  • -220
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
  • -200
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
  • -180
    • 167 BCE :

      A Brief History of the Hasmoneans
    • 164 BCE :

      Pools and Palaces
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
Antiquity
  • -160
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
    • 150 BCE :

      Telltale Tremor
    • 141 BCE :

      Cast a Giant Shadow
  • -140
  • -120
    • 110 BCE :

      A Dig Full of Holes
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
  • -100
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
  • -80
  • -60
  • -40
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
  • -20
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
    • 18 BCE :

      Paving the Past
    • 0 BCE :

      Nabateans in the Bible Lords of the Desert Pilgrim City
  • 0
  • 20
    • 40 CE :

      Wanton Destruction on a Calamitous Scale Golden Nostalgia
  • 40
    • 40 CE :

      Wanton Destruction on a Calamitous Scale Golden Nostalgia
    • 44 CE :

      King’s Canopy in Shilo
Antiquity
  • 60
    • 62 CE :

      The Pilgrims’ Progress
    • 66 CE :

      Don’t Call Me Joseph Dead Sea DNA
    • 67 CE :

      Romans on the Roofs of Gamla
  • 80
  • 100
  • 120
    • 130 CE :

      Backs to the Western Wall
    • 132 CE :

      Bar Kokhba in Jerusalem
  • 140
  • 160
  • 180
    • 200 CE :

      Bathing Rabbis
  • 200
    • 200 CE :

      Bathing Rabbis
  • 220
  • 240
    • 250 CE :

      Trio in Togas
  • 260
Antiquity
  • 280
    • 300 CE :

      Washed Out by the Rain
  • 300
    • 300 CE :

      Washed Out by the Rain
  • 320
  • 340
    • 350 CE :

      זה השער
  • 360
  • 380
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 400
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 420
  • 440
  • 460
  • 480
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
Antiquity
  • 400
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 410
  • 420
  • 430
  • 440
  • 450
  • 460
  • 470
  • 480
  • 490
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
  • 500
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
Middle Ages
  • 510
  • 520
  • 530
    • 539 CE :

      Georgians in Ashdod
  • 540
  • 550
  • 560
  • 570
  • 580
  • 590
  • 600
  • 610
Middle Ages
  • 620
    • 630 CE :

      The Fire of Faith
  • 630
    • 630 CE :

      The Fire of Faith
  • 640
  • 650
  • 660
  • 670
  • 680
  • 690
  • 700
  • 710
    • 717 CE :

      What’s a Jewish Menorah doing on early Islamic coins and vessels ?
  • 720
Middle Ages
  • 730
  • 740
  • 750
  • 760
  • 770
  • 780
  • 790
    • 800 CE :

      Whose Head is it Anyway? Potter’s Treasure
  • 800
    • 800 CE :

      Whose Head is it Anyway? Potter’s Treasure
  • 810
  • 820
  • 830
Middle Ages
  • 840
  • 850
  • 860
  • 870
  • 880
  • 890
  • 900
  • 910
  • 920
  • 930
  • 940
    • 950 CE :

      Cave of Revenge
Middle Ages
  • 950
    • 950 CE :

      Cave of Revenge
  • 960
  • 970
  • 980
  • 990
  • 1000
  • 1010
  • 1020
  • 1030
  • 1040
  • 1050
Middle Ages
  • 1060
  • 1070
  • 1080
  • 1090
    • 1096 CE :

      Heroes on the Walls of Haifa
    • 1099 CE :

      Heroes on the Walls of Haifa
  • 1100
  • 1110
  • 1120
  • 1130
  • 1140
  • 1150
  • 1160
Middle Ages
  • 1170
  • 1180
    • 1187 CE :

      Locking Horns at the Battle of Hattin
  • 1190
  • 1200
  • 1210
  • 1220
  • 1230
  • 1240
  • 1250
  • 1260
  • 1270
    • 1280 CE :

      Z-rated: For Forties Plus
Middle Ages
  • 1280
    • 1280 CE :

      Z-rated: For Forties Plus
    • 1286 CE :

      Mystery of the Zohar Zohar Unzipped
  • 1290
    • 1300 CE :

      Ancient Ring in the Flowerbed
  • 1300
    • 1300 CE :

      Ancient Ring in the Flowerbed
  • 1310
  • 1320
  • 1330
  • 1340
  • 1350
    • 1354 CE :

      Ready for Elijah
  • 1360
  • 1370
  • 1380
    • 1390 CE :

      Divinely Plagued
Middle Ages
  • 1390
    • 1390 CE :

      Divinely Plagued
  • 1400
  • 1410
  • 1420
  • 1430
  • 1440
  • 1450
  • 1460
  • 1470
    • 1475 CE :

      A Widow in Print
  • 1480
  • 1490
    • 1496 CE :

      Once Bitten, Twice Shy – Portuguese Jewry
Middle Ages
  • 1500
    • 1501 CE :

      Portuguese Messiah at the Stake
  • 1510
    • 1520 CE :

      Salonika’s Mystic Quartet
  • 1520
    • 1520 CE :

      Salonika’s Mystic Quartet
    • 1526 CE :

      Who Was David Ha-Reuveni?
  • 1530
    • 1533 CE :

      Kabbalists in Salonika
  • 1540
  • 1550
  • 1560
  • 1570
  • 1580
  • 1590
  • 1600
Age of Reason
  • 1610
  • 1620
    • 1630 CE :

      The Price of Dissent
  • 1630
    • 1630 CE :

      The Price of Dissent
  • 1640
  • 1650
  • 1660
    • 1667 CE :

      Was ‘The Jewish Bride’ Really Jewish? Messianic Mania
  • 1670
    • 1675 CE :

      Topsy Turvy
  • 1680
  • 1690
    • 1700 CE :

      Newton’s Fourth Law In the Service of the Czar Haman’s Pockets Trying to Belong
  • 1700
    • 1700 CE :

      Newton’s Fourth Law In the Service of the Czar Haman’s Pockets Trying to Belong
  • 1710
Age of Reason
  • 1720
  • 1730
  • 1740
  • 1750
  • 1760
  • 1770
  • 1780
    • 1790 CE :

      Groping for Truth
  • 1790
    • 1790 CE :

      Groping for Truth
  • 1800
    • 1806 CE :

      Napoleon’s Jewish Court
  • 1810
    • 1812 CE :

      Red Rose of Petra
  • 1820
    • 1827 CE :

      A Soul Divided
Age of Reason
  • 1830
    • 1832 CE :

      Blackface Minstrel Shows
    • 1840 CE :

      With Thanks from Damascus
  • 1840
    • 1840 CE :

      With Thanks from Damascus
    • 1842 CE :

      Charlotte Rothschild – First Jewish Female Artist
    • 1845 CE :

      The Angry Convert
    • 1848 CE :

      Jewish? French? Italian!
    • 1850 CE :

      Matza – More Than Just Crumbs
  • 1850
    • 1850 CE :

      Matza – More Than Just Crumbs
    • 1852 CE :

      Mum’s the Word Mum’s the Word
    • 1860 CE :

      Written Off
  • 1860
    • 1860 CE :

      Written Off
    • 1868 CE :

      Hungarian Schism
    • 1870 CE :

      A Man unto Himself The Kaiser’s Cap
  • 1870
    • 1870 CE :

      A Man unto Himself The Kaiser’s Cap
    • 1873 CE :

      Boy Wonders
    • 1875 CE :

      The Many Faces of Maurycy Gottlieb Shtreimel Variations: The History of a Hat
    • 1877 CE :

      Off the Boat
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
  • 1880
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
    • 1881 CE :

      The Jewish Girl who Set the Wild West Ablaze
    • 1882 CE :

      When Etrogim Briefly Grew on Trees
    • 1883 CE :

      Kafka – Too Short A Story
    • 1884 CE :

      The Original Zionist Congress
    • 1886 CE :

      Place in the Sun
    • 1887 CE :

      Marc Chagall – the Surrealist Jew
    • 1889 CE :

      New York – A Community in Flux
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
  • 1890
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
    • 1892 CE :

      When Shakespeare Spoke Yiddish
    • 1894 CE :

      Herzl’s Psychodrama Egypt’s Jewish Molière The Too Jewish Missionary
    • 1895 CE :

      Zionist with Cello
    • 1897 CE :

      The Jewish Father of French Impressionism The Congress that Founded the Jewish State The Pied Piper of Yom Kippur
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
  • 1900
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
    • 1906 CE :

      The Saga of a Budapest Family Sukka
    • 1908 CE :

      The Jewish American Secret Police
    • 1909 CE :

      black wedding
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
  • 1910
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
    • 1913 CE :

      Planting Seedlings Mark Gertler – Nothing but Art
    • 1914 CE :

      Did Jew Know? Tomorrow’s War Ticket to Riches
    • 1915 CE :

      Albert Einstein’s Quantum Leap Forgotten Jews of Bisan
    • 1916 CE :

      Amedeo Modigliani – Jewish Expressionism
    • 1917 CE :

      The Gateway The Viscount of Megiddo Return of the Spies Guard Down Long Before Balfour
    • 1918 CE :

      Luboml City Post Dying in Vain
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
  • 1920
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
    • 1921 CE :

      Make Art, Not War
    • 1924 CE :

      God Save the Dutch Queen It Takes a (Hasidic) Village
    • 1927 CE :

      Painter of Jerusalem Breaking the Sound Barrier No Business Like Show Business
    • 1929 CE :

      Painting Propaganda
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
  • 1930
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
    • 1933 CE :

      Haifa and Salonika – the Jewish Ports
    • 1935 CE :

      Gefilte Jazz
    • 1936 CE :

      Megilla with a Secular Twist
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
Age of Reason
  • 1880
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
    • 1881 CE :

      The Jewish Girl who Set the Wild West Ablaze
    • 1882 CE :

      When Etrogim Briefly Grew on Trees
    • 1883 CE :

      Kafka – Too Short A Story
    • 1884 CE :

      The Original Zionist Congress
    • 1886 CE :

      Place in the Sun
    • 1887 CE :

      Marc Chagall – the Surrealist Jew
    • 1889 CE :

      New York – A Community in Flux
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
  • 1890
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
    • 1892 CE :

      When Shakespeare Spoke Yiddish
    • 1894 CE :

      Herzl’s Psychodrama Egypt’s Jewish Molière The Too Jewish Missionary
    • 1895 CE :

      Zionist with Cello
    • 1897 CE :

      The Jewish Father of French Impressionism The Congress that Founded the Jewish State The Pied Piper of Yom Kippur
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
  • 1900
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
    • 1906 CE :

      The Saga of a Budapest Family Sukka
    • 1908 CE :

      The Jewish American Secret Police
    • 1909 CE :

      black wedding
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
  • 1910
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
    • 1913 CE :

      Planting Seedlings Mark Gertler – Nothing but Art
    • 1914 CE :

      Did Jew Know? Tomorrow’s War Ticket to Riches
    • 1915 CE :

      Albert Einstein’s Quantum Leap Forgotten Jews of Bisan
    • 1916 CE :

      Amedeo Modigliani – Jewish Expressionism
    • 1917 CE :

      The Gateway The Viscount of Megiddo Return of the Spies Guard Down Long Before Balfour
    • 1918 CE :

      Luboml City Post Dying in Vain
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
  • 1920
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
    • 1921 CE :

      Make Art, Not War
    • 1924 CE :

      God Save the Dutch Queen It Takes a (Hasidic) Village
    • 1927 CE :

      Painter of Jerusalem Breaking the Sound Barrier No Business Like Show Business
    • 1929 CE :

      Painting Propaganda
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
  • 1930
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
    • 1933 CE :

      Haifa and Salonika – the Jewish Ports
    • 1935 CE :

      Gefilte Jazz
    • 1936 CE :

      Megilla with a Secular Twist
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
  • 1940
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
    • 1942 CE :

      Flowing But Not Forgotten All-American Rebbe
    • 1943 CE :

      Fight for the Spirit Spark of Rebellion Drawing for Dear Life
    • 1945 CE :

      Damned If You Do Lights, Camera, Zionism!
    • 1946 CE :

      Escape Room
    • 1947 CE :

      United Nations Vote – 29 November 1947
    • 1948 CE :

      Posting Independence The Battle on the Hill Sky-Heist Scent of Freedom The Best Defense Cable Car to Jerusalem
    • 1949 CE :

      Shmuel Zanwil Kahane and the Legend of the Holy Ashes
    • 1950 CE :

      Lost in Eilat Eilat’s Treasures Strength in Numbers The Shrine on the Mountain Voice Behind the Iron Curtain
  • 1950
    • 1950 CE :

      Lost in Eilat Eilat’s Treasures Strength in Numbers The Shrine on the Mountain Voice Behind the Iron Curtain
    • 1951 CE :

      Curator or Creator
    • 1952 CE :

      The Night of the Murdered Poets
    • 1955 CE :

      The Hitchhikers’ Guide to Jew York
    • 1957 CE :

      Shmuel Zanwil Kahane’s Map of Holy Sites
    • 1960 CE :

      Jewish as Can Be
  • 1960
    • 1960 CE :

      Jewish as Can Be
    • 1967 CE :

      1967 Declassified Comments Through Lions’ Gate De-Classified Comments New Life in Jerusalem’s Old City
  • 1970
    • 1973 CE :

      Faith Under Fire
  • 1980
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Paving the Past

Limestone or Marble?
Stone of Many Colors
Challenging the Imagination
Saved from the Rubble
By: Assaf Avraham

If Jewish sources are anything to go by, Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem was one of the most magnificent edifices ever built. After years of painstaking archaeological research, sifting through rubble illegally removed from the Temple Mount, we can now reconstruct the tiled floor of the Temple courtyard and judge whether – at least at ground level – the sages were right

Limestone or Marble?

As a Jew trying to tell the history of his people to a non-Jewish audience, Josephus, the Jewish historian of the Second Temple period, was clearly in a delicate position. At the very beginning of The Jewish War, Josephus testified:

In these circumstances, I – Josephus, son of Matthias, a Hebrew by race, a native of Jerusalem and a priest, who at the opening of the war myself fought against the Romans and in the sequel was perforce an onlooker – propose to provide the subjects of the Roman Empire with a narrative of the facts, by translating into Greek the account which I previously composed in my vernacular tongue and sent to the barbarians in the interior. (Josephus, The Jewish War, I, Loeb Classical Library [hereafter LCL], p. 3,)

Modern researchers’ interface with ancient texts is always fraught, as the authors frequently interwove fact and fiction in their “histories.” Josephus Flavius – who adopted the name of his Roman patrons, Vespasian’s Flavian dynasty – is an extreme case. It sometimes seems as if criticism of the turncoat Jewish historian has only sharpened over time.

As an archaeologist, I couldn’t ignore the challenges posed by Josephus’ breathless descriptions of Judea. Most glaring was his reference to the marble used in Herod’s construction projects. Six times, Josephus refers to marble structures – in Banias, Herodium, Antioch, Hebron, and Jerusalem. Yet excavations of Herodian sites have unearthed no marble. My inescapable conclusion: Josephus had amateurishly mistaken local limestone for marble. Indeed, in his later writings, Josephus no longer mentions marble. In Rome, apparently, he learned the difference between various types of stone.

Nevertheless, I found myself wondering whether there might not be some measure of truth in Josephus’ accounts. Marble was imported into Herod’s Judea, but it was reserved for opulent colored floors, tiled using a method known as opus sectile.

In Latin, opus means “work,” and sectile, “cut” or “divided.” In opus sectile, then, large stone slabs of various colors are cut in geometric shapes and combined to form patterns. The technique first appeared in the Hellenistic world in the fourth century BCE, mostly in fairly simple designs. These became more complex, sometimes including plant or animal shapes. Opus sectile graced lavish residences and public buildings, especially baths, from the Roman period onward. As the most expensive flooring available, it was clearly a status symbol.

Herod, a well-known admirer of Roman architecture, invested heavily to bring opus sectile to Judea. Importing marble and other types of stone from all over the Roman Empire, he included these geometric patterns in his palaces around the Holy Land. Though most of the stone has been stolen and the floors haven’t survived, you get the idea from the small sections still remaining and from impressions in the plaster. Examples have been found in Herod’s third palace in Jericho, in the bathhouses at Masada, Herodium, and Cypros, in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, and even in Jordan, in the bathhouse at Machaerus and in a room in the Dead Sea oasis of Callirrhoe. Opus sectile is also visible in the remnants of a manor in Zikhron Yaakov as well as in a structure in Banias.

Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey, a 2013 exhibition at the Israel Museum, showcased the monumentality and opulence of Herod’s building projects, including this reconstruction of an opus sectile floor Photo: Eli Posner, courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey, a 2013 exhibition at the Israel Museum, showcased the monumentality and opulence of Herod’s building projects, including this reconstruction of an opus sectile floor

Stone of Many Colors

Suddenly these fragments began forming a pattern of their own. Excavating the Ophel area south of the Temple Mount, Prof. Benjamin Mazar came across an inscription in Greek, though one corner was missing. Dating from 17 BCE, the twentieth year of Herod’s reign, the find was essentially a donor’s plaque, recording the donation of stone flooring by a native of Rhodes:

In the twentieth year [of Herod’s reign], in the high priesthood of [x], Paris son of Akson [who dwells/is in] Rhodes [donated] for the floor tiles [x sum of] drachmas. (Benjamin Isaac, “A Donation for Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem,” Israel Exploration Journal 33, [1983], p. 86)

Discovered by Prof. Benjamin Mazar in the Ophel excavation by the Old City’s Dung Gate, this Greek inscription commemorates a donation of flooring for the Temple Mount Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Discovered by Prof. Benjamin Mazar in the Ophel excavation by the Old City’s Dung Gate, this Greek inscription commemorates a donation of flooring for the Temple Mount

Josephus described the magnificent floor adorning the courtyard of the Temple Mount: “The open court was from end to end variegated with paving of all manner of stones” (Jewish War, V, LCL, p. 257). This depiction strengthens Prof. Benjamin Isaac’s assumption that the donation pertained to this flooring. But did the floor feature opus sectile tiling or something a little less exotic, such as the plain but well-crafted flagstones used to pave open streets in Herodian Jerusalem?

The Greek word Josephus applied to the flooring was ποικίλος, meaning colorful patchwork. In Henry St. John Thackeray’s translation of The Jewish War for Harvard University Press, published in 1927, he renders this adjective as “variegated with all manner of stones.” Josephus used the same Greek term to describe the floor of the bathhouse in Masada:

The fittings of the interior – apartments, colonnades, and baths – were of manifold variety and sumptuous; columns, each formed of a single block, supporting the building throughout, and the walls and floors of the apartments being laid with variegated stones. (ibid., VII, LCL, p. 587)

Yigael Yadin’s 1963–5 excavations of Masada’s large bath house uncovered colorful stone pieces still in position as part of the original floor. This exciting confirmation of Josephus’ description suggests that by the Greek ποικίλος, he meant opus sectile. The method had clearly impressed him.

The Temple courtyard’s grandeur is also extolled in later Jewish sources. The Talmud discusses Herod’s immense building projects in Jerusalem, including his use of high-quality marble:

Whoever has not witnessed the rejoicing at the place of the water-drawing has never seen rejoicing in his life. Whoever has not seen Jerusalem in its splendor has never seen a beautiful city in his life. Whoever has not seen the Temple fully reconstructed has never seen a glorious building in his life.

Which Temple? Abaye, or perhaps Rabbi Hisda, replied, “This refers to the one built by Herod.” Of what did he build it? Rabba replied, “Of white and gray marble.” Some say, “With white, black, and gray marble.” He made one row protrude and inset the next, in order to provide a hold for the plaster. He intended at first to overlay it with gold, but the rabbis told him, “Leave it alone. It is more beautiful as is, for it resembles the waves of the sea.” (Sukka 51b)

Perhaps it was the colorful stone floor of the courtyard that lingered in rabbinic memory after the Temple’s destruction, morphing into a description of the sanctuary itself.

Volunteers and archaeologists sift through buckets of dirt in Zurim Valley Courtesy of the Temple Mount Sifting Project

Volunteers and archaeologists sift through buckets of dirt in Zurim Valley

Challenging the Imagination

I recorded my conclusions in a paper for the Hebrew University’s Archaeology Department in 2006. I was working at the time at the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Under the direction of Dr. Gabriel Barkai and Zachi Dvira, volunteers have been sifting through the thousands of tons of earth illegally removed from the Temple Mount in 1999 by the Islamic Movement.

Chunks of black stone were already noted in initial evaluations of the heaps of dirt brought to the Zurim Valley National Park; the stone came from bitumen rock, rich in organic material. These modern-looking fragments were at first presumed to be recent construction waste. But when complete, measurable pieces surfaced, it became apparent that some of their dimensions matched those of stone used for opus sectile at other Herodian sites.

Could these finds be remnants of the stone floor of the Temple courtyard, just as Josephus had described it? I presented my hypothesis at a conference at Bar-Ilan University in 2007.

Comments followed thick and fast, critical as well as complimentary: maybe Josephus’ descriptions were exaggerated, and my conclusions even more so? The late Prof. Ehud Netzer, who discovered Herod’s tomb and theater at Herodium, objected that opus sectile was unlikely to have been used in any open space, certainly not the Temple court. But Netzer himself had uncovered an out-door area paved with opus sectile outside Herod’s third Jericho palace. He had suggested that this space had been part of a building with a high ceiling. Yet the gaps between the columns supposedly supporting such a ceiling were thirteen meters wide, rendering this theory implausible. Rather, the Jericho floor was probably part of a courtyard surrounded by pillars.

Jericho was central to Herod’s administration and his kingdom’s economy, and he built three palaces there. Impressions left in a floor in the third palace show that it was originally tiled with stone and marble in opus sectileCourtesy of the Jericho Palaces Excavations Expedition, from the bequest of Ehud Netzer

Jericho was central to Herod’s administration and his kingdom’s economy, and he built three palaces there. Impressions left in a floor in the third palace show that it was originally tiled with stone and marble in opus sectile

As Herod’s Temple Mount included the largest temenos, or sacred courtyard, in the Roman world of his time, he may well have challenged contemporary imaginations by paving the plaza with opus sectile, generally reserved for much smaller spaces.

Saved from the Rubble

Initially highly speculative and barely supported by facts on the ground, my thesis  now appeared to be substantiated by a solid body of evidence. Thousands of fragments of colored stone tile emerged from the sifting project over the years.

In 2007, new immigrant Frankie Schneider joined the effort. Though she had no archaeological background, Schneider proved to be a first-class researcher, having spent most of her life in the fields of statistics and mathematics. Analyzing measurements and angles, she produced a “best-guess” mock-up of the geometric floor patterns decorating the Temple courtyard.

Schneider published her results in 2016, comparing shapes found in the Zurim Valley excavation with designs occurring elsewhere in the Roman Empire at this time. Her reconstruction received broad press coverage both in Israel and well beyond.

Adding it up. Statistician and mathematician Frankie Schneider with her mock-up of Temple floor designs, based on finds from the Temple Mount Sifting Project Photo: Hillel Richman

Adding it up. Statistician and mathematician Frankie Schneider with her mock-up of Temple floor designs, based on finds from the Temple Mount Sifting Project

The conclusions drawn regarding the Temple flooring have sparked further research into opus sectile at other Herodian sites, including Cypros and Herodium. The pinnacle of our work came in 2012, when Schneider and I were consulted on the monumental Israel Museum exhibition Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey. We helped reconstruct an entire Herodian floor, an unforgettable experience marked by singular enthusiasm on the part of all involved. It felt as if we were bringing the dead to life. Hundreds of thousands viewed that exhibition, including its colorful opus sectile floor. Exuding wealth and power, it exemplified the architectural magnificence that Herod, king of Judea, had sought to achieve.

Josephus, it turns out, left us not only the most dramatic living testimony regarding the events of the Great Revolt, but careful descriptions – accurate in far greater detail than researchers ever dreamed – of the backdrop against which they took place. They allow us to recreate some aspects of late Second Temple architecture with reasonable certainty, restoring an integral part of Israel’s cultural heritage – and the world’s – hopefully never to be lost again.

Reconstituted opus sectile floor from a late Roman structure in CaesareaPhoto: Bukvoed

Reconstituted opus sectile floor from a late Roman structure in Caesarea

Antiquity

18
BCE
By: Assaf Avraham

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