Biblical Archeology 101
Review
•
Quick review…
Last time we went
over some of the
differences between
archeology,
paleontology and
anthropology.
Biblical Archeology 101
Review
2. You also now know
there’s various kinds of
archeology (I.E. historical,
prehistorical, Near
Eastern, Syrio-palestinian
and Biblical archeology .
3. You know there’s
different methods like the
“pit” and “tunnel”
methods.
Biblical Archeology 101
Review
4. You know who Captain
Charles Warren was
and what effect he
had on Biblical
Archeology.
5. And lastly you know
what Hezekiah's
tunnel is.
Captain Charles Warren
Biblical Archeology 101
•
I want to finish up
now with one more
bit of information on
the tunnels under
Jerusalem because it
directly relates to
what happened at
Masada and then
we’ll begin our virtual
tour of Masada.
Biblical Archeology 101
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I have one more short
clip which shows
another tunnel which
was recently found
under Jerusalem.
Please show clip one.
Hezekiah's tunnel
Biblical Archeology 101
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So we can see from
that video how the
Zealots and others fled
from Jerusalem in 70
AD.
It is very likely that
many of those Zealots
eventually made it to
Masada.
Biblical Archeology 101
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Let’s get our bearings
now and see what
that looks like on a
map…
Biblical Archeology 101
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Show Tel
Aviv,
Jerusalem,
Qumran, Ein
Gedi, and
Masada.
Now lets
look at this
same map
with a
legend.
Biblical Archeology 101
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So you can
see it’s only
about 10
miles (approx
20
kilometers)
from
Jerusalem to
the Dead Sea
then another
20 miles to
Masada.
Not far at all!
Biblical Archeology 101
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Let’s look at the area on Google Earth.
Biblical Archeology 101
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This area is a vast
wilderness. In fact
we call it in Hebrew…
‫מדבר יהודה‬, Midbar
Yehuda, the Judean
desert.
Let’s take a drive
down the road from
Jerusalem to the
dead sea… video of
road to dead sea)
Biblical Archeology 101
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Very little lives
out there in the
area of Masada.
The Dead Sea is
full of salt, 5
times saltier
then Salt Lake in
Utah.
(Show dead sea
swimming demo
clip)
Biblical Archeology 101
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So there is no
fish that live in
the Dead Sea
The water is not
drinkable.
The mud from
the Dead Sea is
good for the skin
though.
Biblical Archeology 101
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Very few things
can survive in
that area.
But there are a
couple things.
One of those
things is the…
Biblical Archeology 101
•
The Rock Rabbit
Biblical Archeology 101
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Here’s another
picture.
Not very cute
like other
rabbits but
that’s because
it’s not really a
rabbit at all.
In Hebrew we
call it “Shafan”.
Biblical Archeology 101
•
In some English
Bible
translations it’s
called the
“coney” and at
other times
“rock badger”
because the
translators had
no idea what a
shafan was.
Biblical Archeology 101
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This is the
English Coney.
It’s just another
word for rabbit.
The shafan
however isn’t
even related to
the rabbit.
Biblical Archeology 101
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But it’s a very hardy animal and the Bible talks
about it in Proverbs 30:26…
26. The coneys, a species with little power, yet
they make their home in the rocks. (CJB)
Better then some other translations…
26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs.
(English Standard Version)
That’s confusing… is it a badger or a people???
Biblical Archeology 101
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You can understand
how a non Hebrew
speaking western
theologian might
read this translation
and then build an
entire idea based
completely on a false
presumption.
Biblical Archeology 101
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Another animal that
lives in that area is
the ibex.
In Hebrew it’s called
the Azel.
In English translations
it’s often called the
“wild goat”.
Biblical Archeology 101
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We read about it in Psalms 104:18
18 The high hills are for the wild goats; The
cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers
(shafanim). KJV
Biblical Archeology 101
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Both of these animals
are hardy animals,
they can live in harsh
areas.
It is not a hospitable
place for humans.
That’s what makes
Masada all the more
remarkable.
Biblical Archeology 101
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It’s important to
understand the
conditions of that
area so we can better
understand Masada
itself.
I think the movie we
saw certainly helps
get that across.
Biblical Archeology 101
•
Now we’ve
seen the
surrounding
area, lets
look around
the base of
Masada.
Biblical Archeology 101
A- Circumvallation wall,
perimeter 2 miles, 6 feet
tall, with towers at intervals
of about 200 feet.
B- Roman Headquarters
Camp.
C- East Camp
D- Guardposts
E- Enlarged outposts or
camps within the wall
F- Camp followers
area (merchants and
brothel)
x
x
x
Another shot.
Also showing
the snake
Trail.
Here’s a closer shot of the roman headquarters camp.
Here’s the other camp,
it’s been reconstructed a
little.
Here it is a little closer
And then of course there’s the ramp. Good shot showing how long it is.
Another shot showing how wide the ramp is.
Me in front of the Great Pyramid. Not much bigger.
Back to this
picture and you
can see how
small the ramp
is compared to
the mountain.
The top of
Masada is 1800
ft x 900 ft
•Now we’re
about to get
onto the cable
car and go up
to the top of
Masada (290
meters)…
(cable car
video)
•Now that
you’ve arrived
and you walk
up the ramp
to the
entrance, you
can see the
top cable car
station
•And this is
the
entrance to
Masada.
Biblical Archeology 101
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Now, lets look at
Masada itself.
We get up to the top
and here’s what we’ll
see.
(show 360 view from
top of Masada)
Here’s the floor plan…
Here’s the floor plan of
Masada. We’ll be going
through these (pretty
much) one by one.
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Not much
to say
about the
Eastern
gate but
right next
to it is our
first
example of
a casemate
wall.
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What is a casemate wall?
A casemate consisted of two thinner, parallel
walls with empty space between them.
It was faster and cheaper to build, and
afforded the inhabitants extra living space in
crowded cities (Masada often had a lot of
people there)
During times of war, the space could be
quickly filled with dirt and stones to create a
thicker, solid defensive wall.
•
Here is one
of those
casemates
at Masada.
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Why is that significant? Because we see it
mentioned in the Bible as well.
Rahab the madam lived in a casemate in
Jericho…
She let the Israelite spies down by a rope
through the window, for her house was built
into the city wall, so that she lived in the
wall. (Joshua 2:15, ESV)
x
• There are a lot of
buildings at Masada.
• Where did all the rock
come from?
• Right here as well as
from the many
cisterns.
• How much building
was actually done?
• Let’s look at it…
Remember how big this area is…
Remember
how small
the ramp
looks here.
You can
see better
here how
far back it
goes.
The north palace is
magnificent.
We see some
structure and paint
that have been
preserved.
Many of the
columns and walls
were plastered.
King Herod knew
how to live and he
knew how to
entertain his
guests.
There are designs
and mosaics all
over the Palace
areas.
Like this one.
There was also
a large dinning
room area
where they
would have had
tricliniums set
up
Typical triclinium.
Herod was a roman
at heart, this is not
how the typical
Jews ate in Israel.
They ate from a
round table with
mats that shot out
like spokes on a
wheel.
x
Inside one of the store rooms
• In the movie we watched,
they said they had lots of
food… they weren’t kidding.
• There were 15 storehouses
built on Masada and each
held a different commodity.
• This was attested to by
different storage jars and
inscriptions on jars in the
rooms.
• Wine bottles sent to Herod
from Italy were found there.
x
You can see the
columns they
made in order
to support
a second floor
The heat was
piped under
the floor and
through the
pipes on the
side.
It gets cold in
the desert at
night, so these
hot steam
baths were
very nice in
the evenings.
These baths were similar to Turkish
baths.
They’re called a caldarium The warm air
of the caldarium had a purpose: heat
releases dirt from the pores of the skin,
making it easier to remove.
Each bather was rubbed all over with
olive oil, then used a strigil or scraper
to remove the dirt. After this, the bather
went to the frigidarium or cool room, or
plunged into a swimming pool before
getting dressed again.
There were different
kinds of strigils…
Actual oil jar
and strigil.
In other parts
of the bath
complex you
can find
original
murals.
x
Herod did not
build a
synagogue at
Masada, this
was a later
conversion
done by the
Zealots.
It was originally
a stable that
Herod had built.
original
reconstructed
reconstructed
Notice how the steps
go all the way around
in a U shape, this was
a typical style for
Synagogues in the
First Century, it faced
towards Jerusalem
and is a perfect
example of how
Messianic
Synagogues
should be built today!
This
Synagogue at
Masada is
one of the
oldest
Synagogues
ever to be
found in
Israel.
original
This
Synagogue at
Gamla (near
the Galil) is
also u
shaped
• This is also
how the
Sanhedrin
was set up.
• This synagogue in
Masada was found
in the first season of
Yigael Yadin’s
excavations.
• No Second Temple
period synagogues
were known at the
time.
• Many coins from
the Jewish Revolt
were found here.
• An ostracon was
found on the floor
with inscription,
“priestly tithe.”
Ma’aser Cohen
• The
back
room
served as
a genizah.
• Let’s talk
about the
genizah for a
moment.
• Genizah
means
"storage";
plural: genizot
‫גניזה‬
• The genizah is the storeroom or depository in a
synagogue (or cemetery),
for worn-out Hebrewlanguage books and papers
on religious topics that
were stored there before
they could receive a proper
cemetery burial.
Genizah burial
• It is forbidden to
throw away writings
containing the name
of G-d (even personal
letters and legal
contracts could open
with an invocation of
G-d).
• This also included the
periodic solemn
gathering at the genizah
where the writings were
then buried in the
cemetery or “Beit
Chayyim."
• Synagogues bury the
contents of their genizot
every seventh year.
• Show genizah video.
• There are other
famous genizot.
• The Cairo genizah for
one… The Cairo Genizah
is a collection of almost
300,000 Jewish
manuscript fragments
found in the Genizah or
storeroom of the Ben
Ezra Synagogue in Cairo,
Egypt.
Entrance to the
genizah in Cairo
•The importance of
these manuscripts
became known in
the 1700’s but it
wasn’t until the late
1800’s that they
were retrieved and
studied.
Solomon Schechter studying
documents from the Cairo
Geniza in 1895.
• The only literary
discovery more
important then this
was the discovery
of the Dead Sea
Scrolls.
• That’s how
important this find
was.
Qumran
• The materials
include a vast
number of books,
most of them
fragments, including
several incomplete
manuscripts of Sirach
as well as works from
The RamBam and
even Karaite
documents.
Karaites
• So it’s
importance
spanned Judaism
across all lines.
• Unfortunately,
most of the
Christian world has
never heard of the
Cairo Genizah.
• At the entrance of the genizah in
Masada there is something else to
note.
•There’s a place where they kept the
Torah
• Things were so
well preserved
there they even
found some
braided hair.
Hair and comb found
at Masada
• Also found
were some
sandals.
• This is one
from a child, a
woman and a
man
• And just as
Josephus wrote in
his story of the
men casting lots
with the names of
the men on them…
• Eliazer ben Ya'ir’s
was found in
Jerusalem.
x
• What is the
Byzantine period?
•In Biblical
archeology we
refer to various
time periods
ranging from the
Early Bronze period
to the Roman
period.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Originally a Church
but converted into a
Mosque
•This is what that looks like…
“Bronze age”: 3,200-1,200 BCE
Early Bronze (EB) Age = 3200-2200 BCE
Middle Bronze (MB) Age = 2200–1550 BCE
MB I (formerly MB IIA) = 2200–2000
MB II (formerly MB IIA) = 2,000-1,750
MB III (formerly MB IIC) = 1750–1550
“Late Bronze” (LB) Age = 1550–1200 BCE
LB I = 1550–1400
LB II = 1400–1200
“Iron Age”: 1200-586 BCE
Iron I = 1200–1000
Iron IIA = 1000-930
Iron IIB = 930-721
Iron IIC = 721-586
Babylonian period: 586-539 BCE
Persian period: 539-332 BCE
“Hellenistic period” = 332-63 BCE
Early Hellenistic = 332-198
Late Hellenistic = 198-63
Roman period: 63 BCE-324 CE
• After the Roman period
there is another period we
study called the Byzantine
period.
• This period starts with the
Emperor Constantine.
• If you want to know
where a whole bunch more
of Christian doctrine came
from, study Constantine.
•So what does the
Byzantine period have to do
with Masada?
•Well, after the Zealots
took their own lives at
Masada, years later Masada
was inhabited once again.
This time by the
Byzantine monks in
the 4th century.
They are still
around in various
parts of the world.
Byzantine monk
in France
•So, the monks made some
of their own additions to
Masada including this gate
and they even made their
own church in Masada
Byzantine West Gate
•This is the entrance to the
Byzantine Church.
•This is the nave of the
Church.
•When you get in you
look down to the floor
and you see this…
x
•There are also Mikvas
in Masada that were
built by the Zealots.
•This is the view from one…
•Here’s another Mikva.
x
•Here’s just one
of the cisterns at
Masada.
•The Zealots at
Masada had
plenty of water
to spare.
•Also in this
area you’ll find a
pigeon coup.
•Why in the
world would
they need
pigeons?
• For one they
would eat them,
pigeons are also
called squab
when they’re
young.
• They Zealots also
used their guano
for fertilizer and
it’s possible that
King Herod used
them as carriers.
• So now we’re
coming to the close
of our tour.
Remember this
information because
we’ll be using some
of it to build on
other archeological
classes and virtual
tours of the Land of
Israel but…
• before we end,
we have to get
back to our tour
bus so I want to
show you a little
of what
•that looks like
close up…. Via
bicycle! (Show
bike video)