THE MOUNTAIN

OF THE LORD
Professor Benjamin Mazar
Assisted by Gaalyah Cornfeld
Professor D. N. Freedman, Consultant

Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Garden City, New York
1975
 Progress of work in 1970 near the pier (center) rising below
Robinson Arch (top. see details in Part

continuing process of repair and renovation. As a consequence, most of the remains of

the early period which have survived belong to the last days of the Monarchy, when
maintenance work ceased. Certain structures, solidly and attractively built on the terraces
at the top of the Ophel ridge, may be assigned to this period. There are remains of a
tripartite building whose sections are set off by pillars resting on bases, an architectural
style reminiscent of the latter phase of the Monarchy.

b. Identity of the Millo

One of K. Kenyon’s insights provides a basic foundation for understanding the
city plan of ancient Jerusalem: She identified the supporting walls and the terraces on the
eastern ridge with the Millo, a landmark of central importance in the Scriptures. It will
be discussed in Part IV: Remnants in the City of David. Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations,
reported in “Jerusalem: Excavating 3,000 Years” (1967), gave impetus to the archeological
study of the Ophel hill, the site of early Jerusalem. She defined more accurately the nature
of the site in the biblical period, and she helped to dispel a number of erroneous ideas
which had previously been taken for granted by the archeologists who preceded her. On
the other hand, her study of the Western hill is considerably less rewarding. Her small
digs in certain areas of Mt. Zion, the Muristan (near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
and other sites were compromised in large measure by her own acceptance of faulty
conclusions drawn by earlier scholars to the effect that the Western hill of ancient
Jerusalem had not been occupied at all in the days of the Judean Kingdom. Discoveries
in the past few years have shown this view to be in error. (See below, G,2: Expansion over
the Western Hill).

E. THE PRESENT ARCHEOLOGICAL

EXCAVATIONS SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF
THE TEMPLE MOUNT
After the Six Day War in 1967, the two parts of Jerusalem were reunited as a “city
which is bound firmly together.” New opportunities for the systematic exploration of the
ancient city were presented by this unexpected development. Therefore, on February 28,
1968, the author initiated extensive excavations south and southwest of the Temple
Mount on behalf of the Hebrew University and the Israel Exploration Society. This work
has been maintained and expanded without interruption until the present time, and is
scheduled to continue indefinitely into the future. (See details in Parts III, IV, Vand VI.)

32
 Professor Benjamin Mazar addressing an archaeological conference
held in October 1974 on the stairway leading up to the Hulda Gate.
To Professor Mazar’s right is Professor Yigael Yadin and Mr. M. Koi,
Minister of Tourism, to his left is Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister,
Seated at the far left of the dais is Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem

1. THE MAIN PURPOSE AND PLAN

The primary objective in the excavations was to lay bare the huge Herodian support-
ing walls of the Temple Mount: the Southern Wall throughout its entire length and the
southern half of the Western Wall. We also planned to clear the adjacent area, uncover
all architectural remains, and recover all significant artifacts dating from the time ol
Herod until the destruction of the Temple. We were largely successful in discovering the
major components of the Herodian complex, and have been able to reconstruct in all its
essentials the master plan of the area (see Part II, F: Herod’s Period).

2. THE OPHEL AND CITY OF DAVID

The plan of excavation, worked out by the author with the able assistance of M.
Ben-Dor, J. Abiram and a permanent staff, is also to conduct a systematic investigation
of the upper reaches of the Ophel hill as it descends southward from the Temple Mount,
and of the slopes of the City of David leading eastward to the Kidron valley and westward
to the Tyropoeon valley.
The organization and layout of the area as a whole, one of the main city centers for
many centuries, was determined to a great extent by the massive public building projects,
undertaken there thoughout the Herodian period and, centuries later, by the Arab
Ommayad rulers. Other important projects were also carried out in the Roman and
Byzantine periods, preceding the Arab Conquest. As a result of our excavations, it was
possible to assess properly the great changes that had taken place in the area from the end
of the Judean Monarchy (First Temple) until modern times (see Parts, III, IV, VandVI).

33
 3. IN THE STEPS OF HEROD’S ACHIEVEMENT

The basic aim of Herod and his architects was to enlarge the area at the top of the
Temple Mount. The slopes of the western valley (Tyropoeon) were filled in, then the top
of the Temple Mount was levelled and around it was erected a great belt of supporting
walls (see Part III, E, 1: Discovery Bears out Contemporary Ancient Writings). In the
process, they destroyed all the buildings that formerly had stood on the upper (northern)
part of the Ophel, obliterating almost all traces of any structures that could be attributed
to earlier times. Nevertheless, some isolated remains of the period of the First Temple
‫׳‬were found in situ, south of the Southern Wall. One of these survivals is a plastered
cistern located near the Eastern (Triple) Hulda Gate; it dates from the eighth-seventh
centuries B.C.

4. RECONSIDERING CERTAIN CURRENT THEORIES

The excavations have established certain basic facts, shedding new light on the data
handed down by Josephus, which, for the most part, were found to be accurate. A striking
example is the so-called Robinson Arch, which, as a result of the new excavations is now
seen to be a huge arch supporting a monumental stairway which ascended from the paved
street running along the Western Wall to the upper Western Gate leading into the Royal
Portico (see Part III, E, 2,a: The Royal Portico). Moreover, this arch was not part of a
causeway spanning the Tyropoeon valley, as mentioned above (cf. Charles Warren). This
discovery fits in perfectly with Josephus’ description of the four gates of the Western Wall
of the Temple Mount (Antiquities XV, 410). He states specifically that the descent from
the southernmost gate to the Tyropoeon valley was by “many stairs” (see Part III, F, 1 a:
The New Significance of the Robinson Arch).

5. THE UNEXPECTED COMPLEXITY OF THE SOUTHERN AREA

-The excavation of the area which faced the two gates of the Southern Wall, known
from the Mishna as the ’Hulda Gates,’ uncovered a variety of installations, and with
them a series of problems. We discovered that a paved street ran the whole length of the
Southern Wall, while beneath it were underground chambers with vaulted roofs. In
addition, two wide stairways led up to the gates. The more impressive of the two was 210
feet (64 m.) wide and led from a plaza below to the upper paved street and thence up to the
Western (Double) Hulda Gate. (See Part III, F,4, b: The Monumental Stairway.)

34
 F. THE PRESENT EXCAVATIONS
While the main digging was aimed at the Herodian remains, serious attention was
also given to the other periods of occupation in the areas uncovered, to thus record the
many major changes and developments which took place during the long history of the
city and its holy places. For example, after the terrible destruction of A.D. 70, nothing
was left standing except the remains of the supporting walls of the Temple Mount
platform. The adjoining areas were occupied only by army barracks for short periods,
beginning with the establishment of the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina by the
Emperor Hadrian.

1. LATER PROFILE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT AREA

Other developments, however, took place in Jerusalem proper as its population

increased spectacularly in Byzantine times (fourth-seventh centuries A.D.), particularly in
the latter part of this period. A new age was inaugurated by the Emperor Constantine
who built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; physical expansion and general prosperity
continued under his successors. In the light of our excavations, it is reasonable to infer
that some Roman buildings of the fourth century built near the Western Wall, were
destroyed by Jews in the turbulent days of Emperor Julian the Apostate who had
encouraged them to restore the ruined Temple (see Part II, H). Building in this area in the
Byzantine era was resumed, and reached its peak in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D.
These data, derived from the Temple area, and this profile complement and amplify the
picture and conclusions previously reached on the basis of earlier excavations conducted
in the Ophel hill and is also consistent with excavations conducted more recently on the
Western hill and Mount Zion.

a. The Byzantine Structures at the Foot of the Temple Mount

Many of the Byzantine structures we uncovered were well preserved, and testify to
the prosperity Jerusalem enjoyed in that period. Most of the Byzantine buildings were
either destroyed or abandoned in the Persian invasion of A.D. 614^j(See Part II, H:
Rebuilding Attempts.)

b. The Ommayad Compounds

A group of palatial structures uncovered during the course of excavations, bear
witness to a resurgence of building activity which took place close to the Temple Mount
in the heyday of Ommayad Arab rule (A.D. 660-750). West and south of the Temple
Mount walls, there was a large and well-planned cluster of great buildings, provided with
all amenities, as well as an extensive sewage system (see Part VI, C: The Early Moslem
Period).
In subsequent years, the area south of the Temple Mount was gradually abandoned.
Still later, the Crusaders walled up the two Hulda Gates situated in the Southern Wall.

35
 Λη oil press built on the bedrock of the
earliest level of habitation in the Mishneh
quarter of the Upper C ity, dating from the
late Judean Monarchy period
(eighth-seventh centuries B.C.)

2. EXPLORATION OF THE DIVIDED CITY BETWEEN 1948 1967

The progress of excavation slowed down considerably during the years of Jordanian
occupation. Nevertheless, resident Catholic scholars were responsible for a number of
notable discoveries in the area of the Notre Dame de Sion Monastery and the nearby
Bethesda Pools. On the basis of excavations at Bethesda since 1956, Father Pierre Benoit,
the eminent New Testament scholar at the Ecole Biblique, has shown that both pools
date back to Hasmoncan times, but were abandoned for many centuries, when the
higher ‘Israel Pool’ was carved out of the northern edge of the Temple Mount. Further-
more, the cave situated east of the Bethesda Pools was the only site that could be con-
nected with an early Christian tradition about the healing powers of its waters, as related
in John 5:2-4.

3. THE DISPUTED EXTENT OF THE ANTONIA

P. Benoit tried to demonstrate, moreover, that the lower ancient pavement within the
grounds of the Notre Dame de Sion Monastery (along the ‘Via Dolorosa’ and therefore
of special interest to pilgrims) could not be identified with the famous Lithostrotos
pavement of John’s gospel (19:13) nor with the actual court of the Antonia Fortress,
traditionally connected with Pilate’s Praetorium (see below, The True Site of Pilate’s
Praetorium). He proved that, instead, it had its origin in the Aelia Capitolina of Hadrian’s
time after A.D. 135, when the emperor erected a triumphal arch on a new pavement,
which covered the underground cistern (see Part VI, A, 8: Aelia’s Plan). P. Benoit also
challenged the generally accepted reconstruction of the Antonia; according to Father
Vincent, it extended over a wide area, spreading across the Via Dolorosa and reaching
into the precincts of Notre Dame. Rather, Benoit argued, the fortress was confined to a
less extensive area on the rocky scarp at the northwestern end of the Temple Mount,
within the grounds of the Arab Omariya school which occupies the site. During the same
period, the Franciscan archeologists had the good fortune to discover clusters of cave
tombs in the area of the Dominus Flevit church on the lower slopes of the Mount of
Olives. Among them was a group dating to the end of the Middle Bronze and Late
Bronze Age (16th-14th centuries B.C.), which contained a rich collection of pottery and
other artifacts.

G. INTERESTING DISCOVERIES IN THE

UPPER CITY
The scientific bodies of Jerusalem had, since 1969, expanded archeological explora-
tion of the hill within the Old City. The Jewish Quarter of the Old City which overlooks
the Temple Mount had been overrun by the Arab Legion during the fighting in 1948, and

36
 View of an excavated building of
the Hasmonean period, found in
the Upper City

all the major buildings, both civil and religious, had been destroyed. After the Six Day
War an elaborate plan was adopted to restore the Jewish Quarter in its entirety, and to
reconstruct its historic religious buildings. At the same time, a rare opportunity presented
itself to carry out excavations throughout the area, penetrating into the older strata, and
at the same time, preserving the quaint and charming structures above ground of the
medieval and later periods. Actual digging had to be restricted to areas which were not
encumbered by some buildings and other structures still standing gauntly along the
narrow twisting lanes. Excavations on the hill overlooking the Temple Mount were
conducted by Professor Nahman Avigad and his assistants and contributed greatly to our
knowledge of the western section of ancient Jerusalem, dating to the period of the
Judahite monarchy, which had been buried under accumulated debris for more than two
millennia. Substantial information was secured concerning the city, not only in the last
centuries before the destruction of the Temple, but also during the latter period of the
monarchy.

1. HEZEKIAH’S WALL

Totally unexpected and of the greatest importance was the discovery in the Jewish
Quarter of a section of a massive city wall 23 feet (7 m.) thick, when some of the founda-
lion layers made of large untrimmed stones came to light. It is attributed to King
Hezekiah and is described in PartIV, C, 2: Hezekiah’s Great Wall. It may also be noted
that it was during the reign of the same Judean king that the great underground
tunnel was constructed linking the Gihon spring to the Siloam Pool, and thus insuring a
constant supply of spring water for the city (PartIV,C, 1: A Remarkable Hydraulic
Engineering Feat).

2. EXPANSION OVER THE WESTERN HILL

It may therefore be assumed that from the time this city wall was built, the Mishneh
(second) Quarter grew steadily as an important part of the capital city. This may have
been the district in which King Jehoiakim built his new palace (Jeremiah22:13-14). No

37
 Large paving stones in the
Lithostratos, showing games,
carved by Roman soldiers

Plaster fresco fragments

bearing a depiction of a
menorah, found in a building
of the Herodian period in
the Upper City. It is the
earliest detailed representa-
tion of the Temple
candelabrum so far known

residences datino f‫״‬C d’scovere^ tbcre up to the present time, only private
of the First Te 1 Γ<ίs«a e e1£bJ;b‫־‬seventb centur’es B.C. and down to the destruction
evidence of theT ‫־‬ r Further excavation in this area has produced additional
XsZfth . 1 T’0n ΐ Urban 0CCUpati0n over the Western hill during the last
bevond fith Sever 1" M0narchy ‫ ך‬not onlY within the confines of the Mishneh, but also
undertaken h CM ° Peri°d were uncovered earlier in the excavations
Ruth Amiran thekCltadcl (see ab°ve D,2) and, in more recent years, by
Armenia Saint S SH1‫״‬e S’te’ by MaSen Broshi o‫ ״‬the Srounds of the
ChurcJ’Just outside the Zion Gate, and by a group of German
scholars at the Munstan near the Church of the Hni‫ ״‬q1 ‫ ״״‬l aj b urn.!,
,‫י‬ . ILn OI tne Holy Sepulchre. As a result of all these
from 1™‫ ״‬the
activities, r l and structural
ο... contours , ‘configurations ‫״‬r ancient, Jerusalem
■‫׳‬omigurations of ! ! are emerging
om long-standing obscurity and confusion (see Part II, F, 3 b)

3. THE PATRICIAN LIFE-STYLE

Excavations in this sector have shown that following the destruction in 586 B.C.
there was no new occupation of the Western hill before Hasmonean times (second and
first centuries B.C.). During that period there were extensive building operations, and by
the end of it a substantial community had settled there. It continued to grow and prosper
in the time of Herod the Great and his successors, right up to the final disaster in A.D. 70.
This proved to be a wealthy residential part of the city, characterized by spacious luxurious
houses filled with expensive furnishings of every kind. One of these private homes (close
to the ruins of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue) covered an area of approximately 2152
square feet (200 square meters), including its inner court, rooms, ovens, mikveh (ritual
bath) and cisterns, in a good state of preservation, along with a rich collection of objects.
It provides invaluable clues to the life-style of a patrician family in Herod’s time.
Another large two-story home (on Misgav Ladach Street) was severely damaged by
fire in the general destruction of A.D. 70 (see Part II, F, 5,a: Discovery of the House of
Kathros).

38
Recent archaeological investigation indicates that the ancient pavement (Lithostratos) underlying the Notre Dame de Sion Monastery along the
Via Dolorosa indeed formed part of the Roman garrison area near the Temple, but it cannot be identified with Pilate’s Praetorium mentioned in the
Gospel of John 19:13 (see below, G. 4: The True Site of Pilate’s Preatorium)

4. THE TRUE SITE OF PILATE’S PRAETORIUM

Of prime interest are the new data relating to Herod’s great palace and the vast
platform on which it stood. While remains of the Palace have been obliterated by later
reconstruction on the site, the excavations south of the Citadel nevertheless determined
that an elevated platform had been constructed there, similar in many respects to the
platform erected by Herod’s architects on the Temple Mount. Its dimensions were about
984-1149 feet (300-350 m.) from north to south and 198 feet (60 m.) or more from west
to east. To some extent the archeological evidence supports Josephus’ description of the
Palace in his book, The Jewish War (V, 175). In addition, it has helped to establish that
the palace served as the official residence of the Roman Procurators, and that here
indeed was Pilate’s Praetorium referred to in the story of the Passion of Jesus Christ (see
Part II, F, 3, a: Herod’s Palace).

5. CONCLUSION

With all the recent archeological activity in Jerusalem and its environs, the secrets of
the ancient city and its history have gradually been uncovered. Thanks to refinements in
the associated disciplines of stratigraphy and pottery chronology, not to speak of the
analysis of wall and gate and building construction, the meticulous classification of coins
and other artifacts, it is now possible to organize and interpret varied data even of the
most fragmentary kind in the continuing quest for a satisfying synthesis and recovery of
the life-experience of the city in all its multitudinous incarnations and historical phases.
At the very center of popular interest and scholarly research is the Temple Mount,
the appropriate target of the most massive archeological undertaking in this area in the
history of the discipline. For a number of years, the work has been carried on without
significant interruption, and the time is ripe for a comprehensive report on this activity:
the essential findings about the history of the sacred precinct, and especially the incredible
planning and achievements of Herod the Great in rebuilding the monuments, restoring
and redecorating the Temple and the approaches of the Temple Mount, in constructing
a panoply of service buildings and living quarters for all those who had official business,
duties and obligations in the Temple area.

39