Palestine Exploration Fund and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land (Conference Booklet)

1 PEF AND THE EARLY EXPLORATION OF THE HOLY LAND |

Welcome from the Conference Chairs

Dr. Anat Kidron

Dr. David Gurevich

Welcome to the "PEF and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land" Conference!

The Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) is the oldest exploration society of the Levant. Since its establishment in 1865, PEF scholars have engaged in pioneering exploration of the Holy Land. They studied geography, archaeology, history, sociology and even zoology of the region. This year, the PEF marks 150 years since its establishment. Hence, there is a scholarly need at this point, to evaluate the achievements. It is also necessary to discuss the methodological sides of the PEF’s early scholarship and to explore the future directions of the archaeological research. The Conference aims to offer these unique opportunities.

We are pleased that the Conference drew significant attention amongst the members of the scholarly community in Israel, Europe and North America. During the two days of the Academic Program, the attendees will be exposed to innovative works on the beginning of the PEF enterprise in the Holy Land. Special attention will be devoted to Jerusalem. Moreover, the Conference will offer an opportunity to study the most recent developments in archaeology and history related to the region. We would like to thank the Gottlieb Schumacher Institute and the Zinman Institute of Archaeology for their support of the Conference under the auspices of the University of Haifa. Our gratitude is also extended to the PEF office in London.

We are confident that the Conference will provide a venue for establishing an academic cooperation between scholars of different countries. We are most honored to welcome you to Haifa!

Dr. Anat Kidron Co‐Chair, PEF and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land Academic Director, Gottlieb Schumacher Institute For the Research of

the Christian Presence in Palestine in the Modern Era, University of Haifa

Dr. David Gurevich Co‐Chair, PEF and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land Fulbright Post‐Doctoral Fellow, Harvard University Post‐Doctoral Fellow, Ben Zvi Institute and Institute of Archaeology,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2 | HAIFA, DECEMBER 20-21, 2015

Welcome from the Academic Committee of the Conference

Dr. Yaron Perry

Prof. Ronny Reich

Prof. Shimon Gibson

"Palestine is thus brought home to England" stated Claude Reinier Conder in the introduction to the book 'Tent Work in Palestine', which he wrote in order to make the Survey of Western Palestine more accessible to the general public. That gifted member of the PEF added concerning Palestine: "the student may travel, in his study, over its weary roads and rugged hills without an ache, and may ford its dangerous streams, and pass through its malarious plains without discomfort". Conder may have anticipated in the 1870s that in time, the roads would not be that weary, the streams not that dangerous and Malaria would vanish. He could not, however, have foreseen that his life’s task, the maps of the Western Palestine Survey, would become accessible to anyone who should wish to see them, by the mere push of the smart phone button. In the early 1870s, during the survey of Northern Palestine, the members of the PEF expedition resided in the home of the Schumacher family in the German Colony near Haifa. Gottlieb Schumacher, a young boy at the time, grew up to be a scholar that his articles were published in the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement. Today, the Schumacher institute named after him is pleased to host the international conference of 150 years of PEF activities in the Holy Land. As the Academic Committee, it is our pleasure to welcome the scholarly community members to Haifa. We wish all of us a fruitful conference. Dr. Yaron Perry Head, Gottlieb Schumacher Chair and Institute for the Research of the

Christian Presence in Palestine in the Modern Era, University of Haifa Prof. Ronny Reich The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa Prof. Shimon Gibson History Department, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Dr. Anat Kidron Academic Director, Gottlieb Schumacher Institute for the Research of

the Christian Presence in Palestine in the Modern Era, University of Haifa

Dr. David Gurevich Fulbright Post‐Doctoral Fellow, Harvard University Post‐Doctoral Fellow, Ben Zvi Institute and The Institute of Archaeology,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem


Welcome from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology

Prof. Mina Weinstein‐Evron

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the PEF and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land conference, highlighting the contribution of the Palestine Exploration Fund to the research of and vast knowledge about the history of Palestine and the Land of Israel.

First an invaluable source of detailed and vivid accounts of sites and landscapes in the Holy Land, and later a vital driving force of some of the first, most important excavation projects in the region ‐ the historic and archaeological material gathered by PEF‐supported pioneering endeavors proves, still today, an invaluable source of archival information.

From my own experience with archive material regarding the first excavations in the prehistoric caves of Mount Carmel, which were to become one of the most prominent sites of human evolution in the world (inscribed as a World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 2012), I can vow first‐hand to how such information, especially when integrated with later works and intimate reconnaissance of the sites, is crucial for a better understanding of sites, their unearthing and the evolving interpretive schemes. In the case of el‐Wad cave that was promptly published by Dorothy Garrod, one of the great archaeologists benefiting from the auspices of the PEF, this research surprisingly provided not only new insights but also vital primary data so far ignored, which of course added to the value of the renewed portrayal of the site.

One of the Outstanding Universal Values of the Mount Carmel Caves is the history of archaeological and anthropological research, continuing from the first excavations in 1928 to the present, echoing every development in scientific discourse. A close scrutiny of the field notes, photographs and drawing of the very first researchers, Charles Lambert and Dorothy Garrod, designates us, the current researchers, as one link in a long chain of scientific enquiry into this unique piece of land at the heart of humanity's common heritage.

I wish us all a fruitful and memorable meeting.

Prof. Mina Weinstein‐Evron Director, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa Relevant sources:

Garrod, D.A.E and Bate, D.M.A. 1937. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel. Vol. I., Excavations at the Wadi

Mughara. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Weinstein‐Evron, M. 2009. Archaeology in the Archives: Unveiling the Natufian Culture of Mount Carmel.

ASPR, American School of Prehistoric Research Monograph Series. Boston: Brill.


CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

December 20, 2015 (Sunday)

venue: The Auditorium, Hatter Student Building, University of Haifa

8:45 9:30 Registration & Refreshments.

9:30 10:10 Welcome Notes Anat Kidron and David Gurevich, Chairs of the Conference Mina Weinstein‐Evron (Director, Zinman Institute of Archaeology) David M. Jacobson (Executive Committee, PEF and Editor, PEQ)

10:10 11:15 Plenary Address David M. Jacobson (PEF and UCL)

[P1] "George Grove and the Establishment of the Palestine Exploration Fund"

Shimon Gibson (University of North Carolina at Charlotte),

[P2] "A Reassessment of the Achievements of PEF Explorations in Jerusalem by Wilson and Warren in the Light of Recent Archaeological Excavations"

11:10 11:30 Break

11:30 13:00

Session 1: History and Evaluation of the PEF Scholarship.

Chair / Respondent: Shimon Gibson (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)

Simon Dorso (French Research Centre in Jerusalem (CRFJ)), Chloe Rosner (French Research Centre in Jerusalem (CRFJ)),

[1A] "The PEF : A British Archaeological Laboratory in the Holy Land"

Haim Goren (Tel‐Hai College), Ruth Kark (Hebrew University of Jerusalem),

[1B] "Pioneering British‐Holy Land Exploration: The Palestine Association, the RGS and the PEF"

Roy Marom (Tel‐Aviv University),

[1C] "A Re‐appreciation of 'Tent Work in Palestine' as a Source for the Social History of the Holy Land in the Late Ottoman period"

13:00 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 15:30 Session 2: PEF and Jerusalem

Chair / Respondent: Orit Peleg‐Barkat (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)


Doron Ben Ami (Israel Antiquities Authority), Yana Tchekhanovets (Israel Antiquities Authority),

[2A] "Crowfoot and Fitzgerald as Pioneers in the Archaeological Research of Aelia Capitolina"

David Gurevich (Harvard University, Ben Zvi Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem), [2B] "The Northern Aqueduct of Jerusalem"

Yehiel Zelinger (Israel Antiquities Authority), [2C] "In the Footsteps of Bliss and Dickie on the Slopes of Mount Zion"

15:30 16:00 Break

16:00 17:30

Session 3: New Studies on Sites Explored by the PEF Chair / Respondent:

Ayelet Gilboa (University of Haifa) Erez Ben‐Yosef (Tel‐Aviv University), Thomas E. Levy (University of California, San Diego),

[3A] "A 'Small Town' Discovered Twice: A Forgotten Report of Major H. H. Kitchener"

Itzhaq Shai (Ariel University), Haskel J. Greenfield (University of Manitoba), Jeffrey R. Chadwick (Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center), Eric Welch (University of Kansas), Jill Katz (Yeshiva University), Aren M. Maeir (Bar‐Ilan University),

[3B] "Bliss and Macalister’s Fortification System at Tell es‐Safi/Gath a Century Later: A New Dating "

Gerald Finkielsztejn (Israel Antiquities Authority), Emmanuel Nantet (Université du Maine, Le Mans),

[3C] "The “Greek” City of Maresha (Tell Sandahannah): Past Studies and New Goals"

Chaim Ben David (Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee),

[3D] "Roman Roads in the PEF Survey"

17:50 18:15 Departure to the reception

18:15 20:30 Evening Reception (for Chairs and Contributors)


December 21, 2015 (Monday)

venue: Observatory ("Mitzpor") 30th floor, Eshkol Tower, University of Haifa

9:00 9:30 Reception and Refreshments

9:30 11:00 Session 4: PEF Methods of Research

Chair / Respondent: David Gurevich (Harvard University, Ben Zvi Institute and Hebrew University Of Jerusalem) Sveta Matskevich (Hebrew University of Jerusalem),

[4A] "The Role of PEF in Setting Up Archaeological Draughtsmanship in the Levantine Archaeology"

Moti Haiman (Israel Antiquities Authority),

[4B] "From Palmer to GIS – Two Survey Methods in Trail"

Samuel Wolff (Israel Antiquities Authority), [4C] " R. A. S. Macalister’s Field Methodology at Gezer"

11:00 11:30 Break

11:30 13:00 Session 5: "Seeing is Believing"

Chair / Respondent: Anat Kidron (University of Haifa)

Rehav (Buni) Rubin (Hebrew University of Jerusalem),

[5A] "Relief Maps in the Collections of the Palestine Exploration Fund" Edna Barromi Perlman (University of Haifa),

[5B] "Is this Land Mine? What Should it Look Like? Landscape Photography in Palestine and Israel "

Frankie Snyder (Bar‐Ilan University), Gabriel Barkay (Bar‐Ilan University), Zachi Dvira (Bar‐Ilan University),

[5C] "Reconstruction of Crusader Floors in the Dome of the Rock Based on Picturesque Palestine Illustrations and Finds from the Temple Mount Sifting Project"

13:00 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 14:30 Special Event Amir Freundlich and Tommer Grossberger (Schumacher House in Haifa), "Demonstration of Kitchener's Sundial"


14:30 16:00 Session 6: PEF People and Beyond

Chair / Respondent: Ronny Reich (University of Haifa)

Kevin Shillington (Independent scholar, UK),

[6A] "Who was Charles Warren? : An Examination of his Early Life, Career and Motivation"

Aharon Tavger (Ariel University), Chris Mckinny (Bar Ilan University),

[6B] "From Lebonah to Libnah: Historical Geographical Notes on the Toponomy of Two Homonymous Towns"

Daniella Talmon‐Heller (Ben‐Gurion University of the Negev),

[6C] "The ruins of Ascalon and the celebration of 'Wednesday of Ayyub' as described by Nuʿman al‐Qasatli of the Survey of Western Palestine, and beyond"

16:00 16:30 Break

16:30 17:30 Plenary Address Ronny Reich (University of Haifa),

[P3] "F.J. Bliss and A. Dickie's excavations in the City of David and the Tyropoeon Valley, 1894‐1897: An Evaluation in the Light of the New Excavations"

17:30 18:00 Closing remarks

Notes

� Each speaker will be privileged with 20 minutes to present his/her topic.

� A short response of the Chair and a discussion (up to 20 minutes) will be facilitated in the end of each session.

� Possible modification to this schedule may be introduced by the Organizing Committee. The above schedule is updated for December 14, 2015.



ABSTRACTS

[P1] "George Grove and the Establishment of the Palestine Exploration Fund"

David M. Jacobson

The PEF is the oldest learned society devoted to the study of the southern Levant, based on scientific and non‐sectarian principles. It inaugural event was a meeting convened in the 14th century Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1865 at the initiative of George Grove and with the support of the liberally‐minded Dean of the Abbey Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. This paper describes the background to the establishment of the PEF and the important roles undertaken in its realisation by remarkable Victorian luminaries, in particular George Grove and James Fergusson, who are now hardly given a mention in the annals of archaeology. The focus of the PEF in survey work during its early years will also be explained.

[P2]

"A Reassessment of the Achievements of PEF Explorations in Jerusalem by Wilson and Warren in the Light of Recent Archaeological Excavations"

Shimon Gibson

The PEF is now marking its 150th anniversary. It has an enormous archive of photographs, letters, drawings and maps, mostly dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, with thousands of items in each one of the categories. After providing a background on the founding of the PEF and its history, the lecture goes on to reassess the relevancy of Charles Wilson and Charles Warren’s explorations in Jerusalem, in terms of current scholarly concerns and the needs of scientific archaeological projects working in the city today. In other words, the lecturer will attempt to answer a frequently‐asked question that is put to him, as to whether modern scholarly research might in some way benefit from the study of “old” (and possibly outdated) materials stored in the PEF archive. The goal of this lecture is to demonstrate emphatically the continued importance and usefulness of the PEF archives for all branches of modern archaeological research in Israel, and particularly for the study of ancient Jerusalem. The once‐prevalent view that an examination of the PEF materials might bring to light a few unknown details here and there on a given research topic but nothing more, is shown to be mistaken. The lecture will illustrate this through an examination of the specific archival materials relating to the work of Wilson and Warren in Jerusalem, notably in regard to the Temple Mount, Wilson’s Arch, Robinson’s Arch and the Kidron Valley tunnels. The lecturer will show that these archival materials are just as relevant for today’s scholarship and archaeological interpretation, as they were for researchers working on the same subjects more than 100 years ago.


[P3]

"F.J. Bliss and A. Dickie's excavations in the City of David and the Tyropoeon Valley, 1894‐1897: An Evaluation in the Light of the New Excavations"

Ronny Reich F.J. Bliss and A. Dickie excavated on behalf of the PEF, on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem, in the years 1894‐1897. With this act, the Fund has renewed its activities in the city which were halted after the groundbreaking excavations of Captain C. Warren in 1867. The excavators directed their activities to Mount Zion, to the Tyropoeon Valley and to the southern part of the south‐eastern hill, identified with the City of David, with the aim to locate the southern city walls of Jerusalem . The excavations made some important discoveries, among which should be mentioned city‐walls of the Second Temple period, as well as from the Byzantine period; the main street of the city, paved in stone, with the main drain under it, from the Second Temple period, along the Tyropoeon Valley; the Siloam Church and parts of the Byzantine Pool of Siloam on the southern tip of the City of David, and additional discoveries.

The author of this paper has conducted excavations in the City of David and in the Tyropoeon Valley to the west of it in the years 1995‐2010. Some of the excavation areas were located adjacent to those covered by Bliss and Dickie, and some even congruent to them. At a distance of ca. 120 years, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate Bliss and Dickie's work, discoveries and conclusions in the light of the new discoveries and conclusions.

[1A]

"The PEF : A British Archaeological Laboratory in the Holy Land" Simon Dorso and Chloe Rosner

The PEF, which is usually identified with its significant activities in the fields of geography and cartography or associated with the military intelligence, is also recognized as a leading institution for the development of archaeology in the Levant. The aim of this paper is to offer an analysis of the diverse archaeological fieldworks, interrogations and research interests of the PEF from its early surveys to the campaigns led by T. E. Lawrence, shortly before the First World War, and their later impacts. This will enable to assess whether or not, the activities and reflections of the PEF laid the foundations for the emergence of archaeological research in Palestine. A more detailed approach of the different actors will allow us to determine the prominent role played by the members and associates of the PEF within the international network of scholars investigating Palestine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Relying on archival material, scientific journals and recent biographies, the paper will measure the influence of the PEF on both a methodological and institutional level. The paper will examine the weight and importance of heritage of the PEF during the British Mandate and in the modern State of Israel, but also attempt to evaluate the PEF’s scientific influence on different institutions such as the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem and the Mandatory Department of Antiquities.


[1B]

"Pioneering British‐Holy Land Exploration: The Palestine Association, the RGS and the PEF"

Haim Goren and Ruth Kark

This paper discusses a unique pioneering British Association established in London in 1805. The short‐lived Syrian Society/Palestine Association adopted the model of the African Association (founded by Sir Joseph Banks in 1788 for the promotion of travel and discovery in Africa), for the “philosophical, physical and biblical” study of Palestine/the Holy Land. This was the predecessor of two important British scholarly societies: the Royal Geographical Society (founded in 1830) and the PEF (founded in 1865).

We first consider the historical, religious and scientific context, following the Napoleonic Wars in the Ottoman Empire, the advance of science including Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the revival of religious beliefs and Biblical studies in Britain. Based on the study of primary sources we then analyze the stated objectives of the Association, its founders, structure, mode of operation, accomplishments, interrelations with consuls, traders, bankers and organizations, and possible reasons for its failure. We will discuss its closure, the transfer of its funds to the RGS in 1834, and the connection to the establishment of its “daughter in spirit” ‐ the PEF ‐ in 1865.

[1C]

"A Re‐appreciation of 'Tent Work in Palestine' as a Source for the Social History of the Holy Land in the Late Ottoman period"

Roy Marom

The early scholarship work of the PEF is the most important contribution of western explorers to the study of the Holy Land in the 19th century. The PEF is distinguished from previous exploration projects by its systematic and all‐inclusive approach to the study of the land, its people, its flora and fauna, its topography and hydrology. The PEF's most enduring legacy is the Survey of Western Palestine (SWP, 1881‐1883) and its accompanying maps. A lesser‐known product is C.R. Conder's two‐volume travelogue "Tent Work in Palestine: A record of discovery and adventure" (1878) which contains accounts of places, people and incidents otherwise unmentioned in the SWP. While the surveyors of the PEF wished to uncover the hidden past of the Land of the Bible, they have no less importantly captured a snapshot of the embracing changes that the Land experienced during the Late Ottoman period. Thus, due to the paucity of accessible native sources, both archeologists and historical geographers have long acknowledged the scholarship of the PEF as a staple for their craft. More recently, however, in the aftermath of Edward Said's "Orientalism" (1978), many historians of the Middle East chose to shun these sources as irreparably biased. My lecture will re‐assess the potential contribution of oft‐neglected "Tent Work" to the study of the social history and material culture of the Holy Land. By combining this source with


native sources, I will demonstrate its contribution to ongoing regional research on the material and social history of the coastal plain in the Late Ottoman period.

[2A]

"Crowfoot and Fitzgerald as Pioneers in the Archaeological Research of Aelia

Capitolina" Doron Ben Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets

During the excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley in Jerusalem, carried out by the PEF under the direction of J.W.Crowfood and G.M.Fitzgerald in 1920‐s, a whole stratum defined by excavators as “Byzantine Low Layer” was discerned. The stratigraphical setting of the structures, their orientation, architectural characteristics and décor and the rich finds assigned with this stratum have close parallels in the recently exposed peristyle building in the Givati parking lot excavations located only a few dozen meters to the north. Apparently, both complexes belong to the Late Roman well‐planned residential quarter of Aelia Capitolina, destroyed by the 363 CE earthquake. The reassessment of Crowfood and Fitzgerald work in light of modern research clearly shows that they were the first to define the remains of the Late Roman living quarters of the city expanding to the south in the late 3rd ‐ early 4th centuries CE.

[2B]

"The Northern Aqueduct of Jerusalem"

David Gurevich

The Northern Aqueduct of Jerusalem was discovered in 1871 by C. Schick. The discovery was published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly by C. Wilson. This aqueduct is known also as the "Damascus gate channel" or as the "Hasmonean aqueduct". Schick's surveyed section is located under houses of the Muslim quarter in the Old City today. Its starting point was situated outside the Damascus gate, from where the rock‐cut channel descended gently to the south‐east, until the conduit was intersected by the western wall of the Temple Mount. The upper fragment of this aqueduct (north to the Twin pools in Sisters of Zion convent) is inaccessible today. In January 2015, the author of this paper discovered unpublished materials in the PEF archives regarding the aqueduct. These include maps, plans and reports on probe excavations which were conducted by Schick in his attempt to trace the continuation of the aqueduct. According to the well‐accepted scholarly view today, the aqueduct collected run‐off water near the Damascus gate. However, the above materials reveal that the aqueduct started further outside the Old City. This paper aims to discuss the new available data. The analysis will define the suspected geographic territory for aqueduct's source, through the integration of the archival data, modern archaeological surveys and application of GIS methods.


[2C]

"In the Footsteps of Bliss and Dickie on the Slopes of Mount Zion" Yehiel Zelinger

In recent years, the National Parks Authority of Israel has been creating a park and walkway in the Hinnom Valley and on the slopes of Mount Zion, as part of the grander scheme of the “green belt” National Park that is established around the Old City of Jerusalem. As part of these activities, the Israel AntiquitiesAuthority has been conducting excavations on the southern slopes of Mount Zion, concentrating particularly on the line of the ancient city fortifications in this area, from the Second Temple and Byzantine periods, in the area where the famous British explorations were conducted by F. J. Bliss and A. Dickie, between 1894‐1897, on behalf of the PEF. The lecture will deal with the archaeological remains that have been uncovered and their dating, as well as with the signs of the underground tunneling that was made by Bliss and Dickie. [3A]

"A 'Small Town' Discovered Twice: A Forgotten Report of Major H. H.

Kitchener"

Erez Ben‐Yosef and Thomas E. Levy

This presentation revisits the contribution of the PEF to the study of the ancient copper mines of Faynan, Jordan. It reveals that it was a PEF expedition that first reported unnamed smelting remains in the northern part of the Faynan region, and that these remains are in fact the site of Khirbat al‐Jariya. This remote and secluded copper production site had been forgotten for more than 50 years, until it was rediscovered by the American archaeologist Nelson Glueck who was unaware of the previous PEF report. The PEF report and the associated map facilitated recent work of the Edom Lowland Regional Archaeology Project (ELRAP) of the University of California, San Diego. As part of this project, a systematic survey of ancient roads took place (2007) and Khirbat al‐Jariya itself has been surveyed and excavated (2002, 2006, 2014). Thus, exploration of the region continues more than 130 years after the pioneering survey of the PEF, whose importance only now gets appropriate recognition.

[3B]

"Bliss and Macalister’s Fortification System at Tell es‐Safi/Gath a Century Later: A New Dating "

Itzhaq Shai, Haskel J. Greenfield, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Eric Welch, Jill Katz

and Aren M. Maeir

In 1899, F.J. Bliss and R.A.S. Macalister carried out three short seasons of excavations at Tell es‐Safi, as part of the PEF regional project in the Shephelah region. Preliminary reports were published in the Palestine Explorations Fund Quarterly Statement in 1898‐1900 and the final report of the project was published in 1902. One of the highlights of this excavation was the city wall. In his diary, Bliss noted that this fortification was exposed on the surface at several points, and they determined that it should be assigned to the “Jewish Period”.


In this paper, we will present our understanding of the dating of these findings after twenty years of excavations by the Ackerman Family Bar‐Ilan University Expedition to Gath in comparison to the results and interpretations of the PEF expedition. Portions of the city wall excavated by the PEF expedition were uncovered in two of the excavation areas of the current archaeological project. The up‐to‐date excavation and analytic methods enable us to propose a revised dating of the fortification: it was first built during the Early Bronze Age III, and was reused and continued to function until the Iron Age II. This new dating and interpretation emphasizes the urban nature of the site during the Early Bronze Age III and reflects the role that Tell es‐Safi/Gath played in the Shephelah region in this period, but also, for the first time, provides concrete evidence of the fortified nature of the site over an extended period of time.

[3C]

"The “Greek” City of Maresha (Tell Sandahannah): Past Studies and New Goals" Gerald Finkielsztejn and Emmanuel Nantet

Studies of the features and finds uncovered in the Bliss‐Macalister 1900, Kloner 1972‐2000 and Stern‐Alpert 2001‐2015 excavations in Maresha contributed to show that it is the best case‐study for the understanding of the population, production, trade and administration of a Greek‐style Hellenistic Southern Levantine city. The structure of the acropolis fortification was analyzed. Lower City insulae with dwellings and shops, connected to subterranean cisterns, oil‐presses, columbaria and shrines, display a sophisticated town planning and wealth deriving from trade, evidenced by its plethoric local and imported pottery. Inscribed weights, ostraca and coins contributed to clarifying the chronology of the site, but also the wider administration policy of the Seleucids in the conquered Southern Levant. An international project intends to refine these (partly published) results and prospect new ones. Geophysical and traditional surveys of the ‘Upper City’ would allow adjust the plan of 1900, in order to explore the large ‘residence’ and the ‘plaza’, probable centers of the administration, the dwellings with miqvaot, and dig a refined stratigraphical pit to the bedrock. The Lower city should be surveyed to detect specialized non‐dwelling areas: agora(s), shrines and production units. The pottery corpus should be reactivated and specific forms studied in a wider perspective. Restoration for preservation and display appears a requirement. Specialized scholars and teams shall progressively join this project dedicated to a great but neglected Israeli archaeological site.

[3D]

"Roman Roads in the PEF Survey" Chaim Ben David

Over 20 highways were built in the province of Judaea/Palestine between ca. mid 1st CE to mid 4th centuries CE, totaling in about 1000 Roman miles of paved roads. This communication network is the most important construction project of the Imperial administration in the province. Though constructed originally for military and administrative purposes, this network had also far‐reaching implications for the local population of the province. Hence, this network has a central place in understanding the history of Roman Judaea/Palestine in many respects, such as: administration; army presence; geographical‐history; economy; mobility; or urbanization.


Exploration of the Roman road‐network began with the mapping activity of the PEF in the 1870s’. The survey noted paved sections, ancient side walls and milestones. The surveyors marked on the maps 16 Roman roads. The paper will follow these roads, evaluate the contribution of the PEF survey to the research of Roman roads and will present the 'milestones' of the modern research since then.

[4A]

"The Role of PEF in Setting Up Archaeological Draughtsmanship in the Levantine Archaeology"

Sveta Matskevich

The PEF played a significant role in early archaeological investigations of the Levant. A rarely acknowledged aspect that the PEF performed in this period, however, is how it played a key‐role in setting the standards of the organization and recording of archaeological excavations that went far beyond the antiquarian tradition, and serve us till today. The first pieces of the mosaic called 'archaeological recording method in the Levant' were brought in and applied at the first excavations and surveys conducted in the late 19th and early 20th century by the European explorers of the Holy Land. In this study, I analyzed recording methods, especially drafting and surveying, used by the first projects undertaken by the PEF in the Levant. Based solely on original material from excavation reports, biographies and archives, I was in a position to reconstruct the formation process of archaeological draughtsmanship in the Levant. This investigation reveals a rapidly changing strategy within the PEF's activities in the Holy Land, driven by rivalling European countries that created the ideal conditions for borrowing and testing new methods. While the excavations of the Classical sites in Greece and Italy as well as the first surveys of the Mesopotamian monuments, were in terms of the graphic record exclusively architecturally oriented; the pioneer explorers of the Levant associated with the PEF, combined various approaches which led to the creation of a new school of archaeological drafting. The projects initiated by the PEF and later BSAJ shaped graphical and geospatial recording methods for the next century.

[4B]

"From Palmer to GIS – Two Survey Methods in Trail"

Moti Haiman This paper discusses how an archaeological site is documented as a unit in spatial manipulation in archaeological survey, mainly in the desert. About 30,000 archaeological sites have been documented in Israel since PEF's Survey of Western Palestine. An examination of various surveys reveals two general methods of data collection and analysis:

The first method, which was used before the surveys applied the pottery collection, characterizes the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite technological and conceptual limits, those early surveys intended to display sites in high‐resolution, focusing on the


variety of features on‐site and on their morphological and functional parameters (for instance, the surveys conducted by Palmer, Woolley and Lawrence). The second method, influenced by the introduction of pottery acquisition in the first half of the 20th century, neglected the morphological aspect of the features. Hence, a "site" turned to be a point representing the location where pottery has been collected (for instance, the survey by Glueck and the Israel Survey project (since 1964)).

The introduction of the GPS/GIS system in the Israel Antiquities Authority in 1995, provided a new tool that enabled massive documentation of survey findings. It allowed to switch from the representation of a site as a point on a map, to the documentation that encompasses every visible feature. Thus, this method introduced a crucial change in redefining the term "archaeological site" as a unit in spatial‐archaeological enquiry. Interestingly enough that in this innovative high‐resolution documentation, were adopted the former methods of features' manipulation which were applied already more than a century ago.

[4C]

"R. A. S. Macalister’s Field Methodology at Gezer" Samuel Wolff

From 1902–1905 and 1907–1909, R. A. S. Macalister excavated at Tel Gezer (Tell Jazar), a 33 acre mound located in the northern Shephelah region of Israel, on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund. This was the largest and longest project ever undertaken by the PEF in Palestine. The expedition’s field methodology, which in many respects was groundbreaking for its time—grid, photography, surveying—and auxiliary subjects—relationship of the site to its surroundings, ethnographic studies of local villagers—will be discussed in this paper, as will its ultimate contributions and losses to modern scholarship. While much of this discussion will be based on articles that recently appeared in a Macalister retrospective (S.R. Wolff, ed., Villain or Visionary: R.A.S. Macalister and the Archaeology of Palestine, PEF

Annual 12, 2015), some of these topics will be further developed in the present paper.

[5A]

"Relief Maps in the Collections of the Palestine Exploration Fund" Rehav (Buni) Rubin

The archives of the PEF in London contain diverse collections of books, documents, photographs, and maps. They were collected by the researchers and staff of the Palestine Exploration Fund, both during their journeys to the Middle East and in Great Britain. These collections include a group of three‐dimensional objects that should be divided into two groups: relief maps and models of structures and sites in Palestine. My paper, which will be dedicated to the relief maps, is based on a survey that was carried out as part of a large‐scale research project on relief maps and models of the Holy Land. The maps will be described in three sections: the Temple Mount; relief maps of Jerusalem; and relief maps of Palestine. I will describe each of these objects; and will attempt to identify their date, maker, and the circumstances of their making. They will be presented according to the site which they represent. In addition, I will try to identify who was standing behind


each and every one of them; what were the sources for their compilation; and what were the aims and impact of these relief maps as artifacts presenting Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

[5B]

"Is this Land Mine? What Should it Look Like? Landscape Photography in Palestine and Israel"

Edna Barromi Perlman

The landscape in Israel / Palestine / the Holy Land has been used and abused by photographers since the invention of photography. Photographers have created images of the land that served agendas of power struggles, representing a claim of stronghold over the land. Christian missionaries, Western tourist photographers and local Palestinian photographers, created images of the landscape and of its inhabitants. Jewish Zionist pioneers came to Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century aspired to build a homeland for the Jews. Their photographs of the landscape were influenced by styles of documentation that were promoted in pre‐state Israel, by the Zionist institutions, as a form of propaganda, for the purpose of fundraising and to promote the Zionist cause. New visions of the land and landscape were created, reflecting visions of modernity and technology, brought about by the pioneers. The study will explore photographs created in Palestine from the 19th century and the PEF collection of photographs. It will analyze the style, content, composition and technological aspects of the photographs in relation to their effect on forms of presentation of local inhabitants in the local scenery. It will present landscape photographs created by and for Zionist institutions. The aim is to discover to what extent photographs served as a means for moral appropriation and entitlement over the land by different institutions and powers. The presentation includes work of current Israeli artists, existing and creating in a state of response to these forms of representation, either by creating work that endorses, denies or responds to past legacies.

[5C]

"Reconstruction of Crusader Floors in the Dome of the Rock Based on Picturesque Palestine Illustrations and Finds from the Temple Mount Sifting

Project" Frankie Snyder, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira

Long before the convenience of cell‐phone cameras, before Nikon, Canon and Kodak, talented artists meticulously sketched pictures of late 19th century Palestine. The lavishly illustrated Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt edited by Sir Charles W. Wilson features 600 sketches by artists John Douglas Woodward and Harry Fenn reproduced in 40 steel and 560 wood engravings depicting ancient sites and native customs. The detailed accuracy of their sketches provides information pertinent to archaeological research even today.

The precise location of in‐situ remains of a Crusader‐era opus sectile floor in the Dome of the Rock was identified by studying a detailed engraving published in Picturesque Palestine. Opus sectile tiles recovered at the Temple Mount Sifting Project indicated floors similar to


11th‐12th century floors in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had been constructed by the Crusaders in Temple Mount buildings, but their original locations were unknown. With extremely limited access to the Dome of the Rock by archaeologists, combined with the fact that the stone floors are covered by carpets and scatter rugs, the engraving provided extremely valuable information otherwise unavailable to researchers.

This paper will discuss the connections between the earliest image of the opus sectile floors in Wilson’s book, early 20th century reports by Ernest Richmond, recent photographs published in a dissertation written at the University of Amman about the Dome of the Rock, similar Crusader‐era floors in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and opus sectile tiles found at the Sifting Project.

[6A]

"Who was Charles Warren? : An Examination of his Early Life, Career and Motivation"

Kevin Shillington

Charles Warren is a prominent figure in the early history of the PEF. A young Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers, he arrived in Ottoman Palestine in 1867 with three NCOs and £300 of PEF funds in his pocket. He was set a number of archaeological goals by a committee in London who had little or no understanding of the conditions under he would have to work. But Warren more than rose to the challenge. In just over three years undertook an enormous amount of work under very difficult physical, political and economic circumstances. At the same time he surveyed and recorded everything he excavated and ultimately produced an atlas of drawings that still form the baseline for today’s archaeologists. The story of how Warren and Corporal Birtles tunneled down to bedrock under the Old City, and paddled through sewage lit only by a candle, is well known to modern archaeologists. What is less well known is ‘Who exactly was Charles Warren’? What was it that made him so good at his job – a man who understood basic principles of archaeology way ahead of his contemporaries? And why did he accept the PEF’s commission when colleagues warned him that the PEF had no money and he would be heading up a career backwater? I am a professional historian who has embarked upon a full‐length biography of Charles Warren and in this paper, by looking at his life over the years before his arrival in Jerusalem, I propose to answer those questions.

[6B]

"From Lebonah to Libnah: Historical Geographical Notes on the Toponomy of

Two Homonymous Towns" Aharon Tavger and Chris Mckinny

There are three instances of toponyms based on לבנ (Hebrew – “white”) in the Bible. These include Libnah/Laban of the wilderness Sinai wanderings (Num. 33:20; Deut. 1:1), Lebonah of Ephraim (Judg. 21:19), and Libnah of the Judean Shephelah (e.g. Josh. 10:29‐31). Notably, the latter two are possibly preserved in toponyms that were mentioned in the Medieval and Ottoman periods. These toponyms were recorded with varying spellings in such cartographic


projects as Benjamin of Tudela’s Itinerary (late 12th century CE), Van De Velde’s Map of the Holy Land (1858), Warren’s unpublished Reconnaissance of the Plain of Philistia (1867), and Conder and Kitchener’s Survey of Western Palestine (1890). Using these and other sources as a foundation for our discussion, we will analyze the etymology and site identifications of Lebonah of Ephraim and Libnah of the Shephelah in connection with their occurrences in the various post‐biblical sources with the purpose of understanding the linguistic development of the לבנ toponyms from the biblical period to pre‐modern times.

[6C]

"The ruins of Ascalon and the celebration of 'Wednesday of Ayyub' as described by Nuʿman al‐Qasatli of the Survey of Western Palestine, and beyond"

Daniella Talmon‐Heller

The celebration of Arbaʿat Ayyub (Wednesday of the Prophet Job) by the ruins of Ascalon in April 1875 was described by the little known Syrian team member of the PEF Survey of Western Palestine, Nuʿmān al‐Qasāṭlī (1855‐1920). He observed groups of men, women and children descending, singing, to the sea shore, to bathe during the night. On the following day, he observed a ziyara to Maqam Shaykh ʿAli al‐Muntar. In his description of the nearby ruins of Ascalon, he mentions Maqam al‐Shaykh Muhammad al‐Mawsili (whom locals identified as a wondrous warrior of Saladin), located on the eastern side of Ascalon. The editors of the 2009 edition of Qasatli's memoirs offer a correction, suggesting in a footnote that the Maqam is actually Mashhad Ra's Husayn. I suggest a long‐durée perspective on the site and on the celebrations, based on a detailed new research of the vicissitudes of this mausoleum in honor of the head of the martyr Husayn (Muhammad's grandson), from its foundation in 11th century Ascalon till its symbolic reconstruction in the 21st century.


SPECIAL EVENT

14:00, Monday, December 21, 2015

Kitchener’s Sundial In Palestine

Tommer Grossberger, Amir Freundlich and John Davis1

Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850–1916) is very well‐known to most people as the face on the famous World War One recruiting poster ‘Your Country Needs You!’. What is generally not known is that, long before he was a very senior British Army Officer, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and, when serving in Palestine, he presented a unique sundial to his host, the Schumacher family in Haifa. The sundial still exists, but only recently its mechanism was discovered.

Background In 1874, at the early age of 24, Kitchener was made joint leader with another officer (Claude Conder) of the Palestine Exploration Fund to a mapping‐survey of the Holy Land, later to be known as the Survey of Western Palestine.

During the Survey, the surveyors were hosted by Jacob Schumacher at his house in the Templar colony in Haifa. Schumacher, an architect and stone mason, was one of the founders and planners of the colony, and served as the U.S. consular agent in Haifa. Schumacher’s son, Gottlieb, later an eminent engineer, architect and archeologist, was only 16 at that time. One can imagine the impact of the surveyors on the young man, soon to be one of Palestine’s greatest surveyors and researchers in his own right.

In 1875, before a brief return to England, Lieutenant Kitchener gave Schumacher an east‐west sundial, made of two back‐to‐back brass plates and a small aperture in each, designed to let a fine and accurate ray of light fall onto the plates, marked with the hours of the day and incorporating a split analemma designed to show the local Civil Time. The sundial was documented in word and painting, and appears on maps of Haifa, but was not photographed at that time.

Jacob Schumacher died in 1891. Gottlieb Schumacher, who joined the Ottoman army in the First World War as an engineering officer, was refused to return to Palestine after the war and stayed in Germany. During that time, the sundial was knocked down. In 1924 the British government finally agreed to let Schumacher return to Palestine, but he was in bad health and he died in 1925. In that year the sundial was put back in its place, now carrying a marble plate commemorating Lord Kitchener on its rebuilt structure.

In 1948, after most of the Templars left or were deported from Israel, the house was leased to an Israeli family, who kept the sundial but never inquired about its use or the way it operates.

In 2015, during a documentation process of the Schumacher house, the sundial was studied in detail and its features drawn, as described below.

1 Dr. John Davis, member of the British Sundial Society and editor of the Society Bulletin.


CONTRIBUTORS

Name Affiliation e-mail

Barkay , Gabriel Bar-Ilan U. [email protected]

Barromi Perlman, Edna U. of Haifa [email protected]

Ben Ami , Doron IAA [email protected]

Ben David , Chaim Kinneret College [email protected]

Ben-Yosef , Erez TAU [email protected]

Dorso , Simon CRFJ [email protected]

Dvira , Zachi Bar-Ilan U. [email protected]

Levy, Thomas E. UCSD [email protected]

Finkielsztejn , Gerald IAA [email protected]

Gibson, Shimon UNC at Charlotte [email protected]

Gilboa, Ayelet U. of Haifa [email protected]

Goren , Haim Tel-Hai College [email protected]

Gurevich, David Harvard U., Ben Zvi I., HUJI [email protected]

Haiman , Moti IAA [email protected]

Greenfield , Haskel J. U. of Manitoba [email protected]

Jacobson, David M. PEF and UCL [email protected]

Kark , Ruth HUJI [email protected]

Katz, Jill Yeshiva U. [email protected]

Kidron, Anat U. of Haifa [email protected]

Maeir , Aren M. Bar Ilan U. [email protected]

Marom, Roy TAU [email protected]

Matskevich , Sveta HUJI [email protected]

Mckinny , Chris Bar Ilan U. [email protected]

Nantet , Emmanuel U. du Maine [email protected]

Peleg-Barkat, Orit HUJI [email protected]

Perry, Yaron U. of Haifa [email protected]

Chadwick , Jeffrey R. Bringham Young U. [email protected]

Reich, Ronny U. of Haifa [email protected]

Rosner , Chloe CRFJ [email protected]

Rubin , Rehav (Buni) HUJI [email protected]

Shai , Itzhaq Ariel U. [email protected]

Shillington , Kevin [email protected]

Snyder , Frankie Bar-Ilan U. [email protected]

Talmon-Heller , Daniella Ben-Gurion U. [email protected]

Tavger , Aharon Ariel U. [email protected]

Tchekhanovets , Yana IAA [email protected]

Welch , Eric U. of Kansas [email protected]

Wollf, Samuel IAA [email protected]


NOTES

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Palestine Exploration Fund and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land (Conference Booklet)

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