Extensive New First Temple Period Remains Unearthed in Jerusalem

Findings include what could be the largest haul yet of pottery fragments from the time of Jerusalem's First Temple

Archaeologists, students and volunteers have unearthed archaeological remains that will shed additional light on the occupation of ancient Jerusalem's royal precinct of the time of the Israelite and Judahite kings, going back to the 10th century BCE.

Under the direction of Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, painstaking excavation by a team of archaeologists, including a group from the Herbert W. Armstrong College in the U.S., has revealed extensive architectural elements, including floor layers and walls, that suggest at least one very large structure of yet-to-be-determined function. This, after weeks of excavating through layers containing artifacts, architectural elements and other features representing later periods of occupation, including those of the Byzantine and Second Temple (Herodian) periods.
"Now", says Mazar, "all over the place we have Iron Age (1300 - 600 BCE ) floor layers, we have alot of Iron Age pottery, 10th century BCE pottery......I think it's the richest assemblage we have ever had from the 10th century until now in Jerusalem."
Like the other structures within the vicinity, a building of possible monumental proportions may be emerging. As she stood above looking down at the excavation area spread out below her, she speaks to a small group of observers standing next to her, sharing her vantage point. "We have these large walls that show that this was a very large structure -- it's huge."

The new finds are consistent with the spectacular finds already uncovered in previous excavation seasons in this, the "Ophel" area of old Jerusalem, just below and south of the current Temple Mount where the ancient Jewish temple once stood and where today stands the al-Haram ash-Sharif (Dome of the Rock) and the al-Aqsa mosques, both sacred to Islam and long-time landmark features of old Jerusalem. Previous excavations have uncovered not only finds dated to the Second Temple, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, but also what Mazar and others suggest may be the remains of structures attributed to builders during the period of King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. These remains include a section of a massive wall of large, well-dressed stones 70 meters long and 6 meters high. Also uncovered with the wall was a structure interpreted as an inner gatehouse, a royal structure adjacent to the gatehouse, and a section of a corner tower 8 meters long and 6 meters high, built of carved stones.
More information about the ongoing excavations in Jerusalem's Ophel can be obtained by going to the website, The Key to David's City.
(Photo, Top Left: Remains considered by Eilat Mazar to be a Solomonic royal structure, excavated in the Ophel during previous seasons. Photo courtesy Shmuel Browns)
 http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/september-2012/article/extensive-new-first-temple-period-remains-unearthed-in-jerusalem



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