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Barkay
church was later built on the same site (Fig. 1), north of
not
from
the city's northern gate (Fig. 2 ). The Dominican
far
Jerusalem,
fathers,who
purchased that area, conducted extensive archaeological excavations there from 1882
to death. A Crusader
for several years (Fig. 3), under the direction of P?re M. J. Lagrange, who summarized
his work in a comprehensive volume published in 1894.1 After the excavations were
completed, a new church was built over the Byzantine ruins. The ?cole Biblique
et Arch?ologique
built there.
Fran?aise
monastery
Over a century later, it transpires that many more significant remains had been
fathers. Since archaeological research was in its infancy
uncovered by theDominican
at the time, however, the excavators did not save the ceramic finds, being unaware
of their importance for dating purposes. In 1973 it became clear that two burial
caves, uncovered in 1885 in the courtyard of St. Etienne and dated incorrectly by
the excavators, are, in fact, the largest, most magnificent burial caves from the
to have been
period of the Judaean monarchy (eighth-seventh centuries B.C.E.)
preserved in this country.2 Other early remains uncovered
discussed in this article.
THE FINDS
An Egyptian Stele Fragment
A fragment of a small Egyptian stele (SE 17) was found in the excavations conducted
fathers in the area of the Byzantine church,3 and was published
by the Dominican
* A Hebrew version of thisarticle:El 21
(1990), pp. 94-106; English summary,p. 104*.
1 M.J. Lagrange: Saint Etienne et son sanctuaire ? J?rusalem, Paris, 1894.
2 G. Barkay and A. Kloner: JerusalemTombs from theDays of the First Temple, Biblical
Archaeology Review 12/2 (1986), pp. 22-39; G. Barkay, A. Kloner and A. Mazar: The
Northern Necropolis of Jerusalem during the First Temple Period, in H. Geva (ed.):
24
GABRIEL BARKAY
by P?re
V.
Scheil
in 1892.4 The
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
25
Fig. 2. Plan of St. Stephen's church and excavations of theDominican fathers.Note rectangular
n. 7], PL 77).
pitmarked C, where stele fragmentwas found (afterVincent and Abel [below,
GABRIEL BARKAY
26
relations.
Canaanite-Egyptian
The stele fragment under discussion was, however, mistakenly published among
the finds uncovered in excavations at Beth Shean. It is discussed in a report by
James on
at Beth Shean,8
as well
as
in an appendix
by Ward,9
fragment,with thekind permission of the late P?re P. Benoit O.P., inOctober 1977.
6 L.H. Vincent and A.M. St?ve: J?rusalem de l'ancient Testament, I-I, Paris, 1954-1956.
7 L.H. Vincent and F.-M. Abel: J?rusalem nouvelle, I?II, Paris, 1914-1926, pp. 772-804,
esp. p. 776, n. 3, PL 79:12.
8 F.W. James: The Iron Age at Reth-Shean, Philadelphia, 1966,p. 8, Figs. 98:3, 99:2.
9 W.A. Ward: The Egyptian Inscriptionsof Level VI (Appendix D),
p. 174 (inscriptionNo. F-2).
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
27
who points out that it differs from other Egyptian inscriptions uncovered at Beth
Shean, both in terms of material and quality of writing. The report also mentions
that the field record and field number of the fragment were missing and that the stele
fragment,which had apparently been discarded by the excavators, had not previously
//'
Ci
yww\
is
tr=?l
stele fragment (13.5 cm. high; c.12 cm. wide; 5 cm. thick) ismade of white,
chalky, porous stone, showing signs of peeling in certain places. The stele was
apparently inscribed on both sides; the inscription on the obverse is very fragmentary
The
and the one on the reverse is badly damaged. Part of the rounded top of the stele
was preserved in our fragment, and three vertical columns of carved hieroglyphs
can be seen below
it. Each
stele of Nubian
sandstone discovered
at Hazor
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
29
Scheil claimed that part of the rectangular ear of the Egyptian god Seth is visible
underneath the middle column of hieroglyphs, and that one can see part of a
bunch of three lotus flowers embedded in each other to the left of the segment.
scenes from Egyptian art suggest that the lotus flowers are part of a
dedicatory bouquet set before the deity.13
On the reverse there is a single incised sign (possibly the loop of an ankhl) and
a few remnants of two other hieroglyphic signs (Figs. 5, 6). Their identification is
Analogous
difficult, and no reading can be suggested. The facts that there are hieroglyphs on
the reverse and that this side was worked and smoothed so well constitute clear
evidence that the stele was free standing.
An Offering
Table
The Dominicans'
excavations
a spout-like channel attached to it. The channel led to a pit cut into bedrock,
lined with fieldstone masonry (Fig. 7:1-11). The stone slab is divided into three
fields by two shallow channels carved onto its surface (Fig. 8); they are connected
through two additional, perpendicular channels, from which yet another channel
led to the spout. Remains of three circular signs or imprints of three round objects
are visible on the stone slab, one in each field. Holes of two small nails are visible
in each circle. On the reverse of the stone slab there are two signs (Fig. 7:111),
?
?
as the
incorrectly, in my opinion
painted in red, which Vincent identified
Greek letters eta (or an oddly formed mu) and theta. He dated the installation
to the Byzantine period, claiming that itwas placed under the altar of the Byzantine
church and was used for ablution.14 Based on its position and form, there is no doubt
in my mind that the stone slab, which was discovered in situ, is earlier than the
church structure and was used for pouring some kind of liquid. No other installation
of this kind is known in the study of any of the known Byzantine churches. Indeed,
shortly after this discovery, scholars who had seen the stone slab in situ, such
as C. Mommert
and H. Lewis, argued, on the basis of its shape, that the slab
Scarabs, Scarab Impressions and a Stele Fragment, inA. Ben-Tor (ed.): Hazor III-IV,
Text, Jerusalem, 1989, pp. 344-345. Other Egyptian stelaewith the name of Osiris from
the Ramesside period were found in the cemetery of Deir el-Balalj, see R. Ventura:
Four Egyptian Funerary Stelae fromDeir el-Balafc,IEJ37 (1987), pp. 105-115.
13 See, e.g., E. Erman: Life inAncient Egypt, London, 1894 (repr.New York, 1971), p. 268.
14 Vincent and Abel (above, n. 7), pp. 774-775; see also photograph there, II, PL 79:8. This
stone slab was published earlier by Lagrange (above, n. 1), p. 136.
GABRIEL BARKAY
30
Fig. 7. Egyptian offering table in situ,with stone-lined pit, I) plan; II) section; III) signs on
under-side of table (afterVincent and Abel [above, n. 7]).
must be an Egyptian offering table15 of the htp type, known in Egypt from the
Old Kingdom until the Egyptian Late Periods and characterized by a 'd?versoir'
or spout, as well as channels and sub-channels. Lewis noted that the stone slab
was discovered
somewhat
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
31
of bread.
had a
spout aimed towards a stone-lined pit. Similar installations, albeit of a less impressive
temples. A stone-lined pit (L.2157),
shape, are known from Late Bronze Canaanite
one
was
at
the
St.
in the Canaanite
discovered
Etienne,
temple at Area
resembling
as
H of Hazor
the 'holy of holies'). A similar
(Str. Ib, Chamber 2123, defined
16 Lewis ([above,
Schick
as
'red polished
stone'.
According
to Lewis,
the
stone
was
found
at
lower
level, as the chancel screen of the Byzantine church was found to be built above it. See
ibid.,
section
in Fig.
5.
17 Ahmed Bey Kamal: Catalogue g?n?ral des antiquit?es ?gyptiennes du mus?e de Caire
(Nos. 23001-23256). Tables d'offrandes,Cairo, 1909;W.C. Hayes: The Scepter of Egypt,
I,New York, 1953, pp. 117, 336; L. Habachi: Tavole d'offerta,are e bacili da libagione .
22001-22067 (Catalogo delMuseo Egyzio di Torino, Serie Secunda-Collezioni II), Torino,
1977.
GABRIEL BARKAY
32
installation was
in Levels Vllb-VIIa
found
in the middle
of the chamber
of the Canaanite
temple
at Megiddo
(Structure 2048).18
To the best of my knowledge, only one Egyptian offering table has been found
in Israel: at Nebi Yunis, in the northern part of present-day Ashdod. This slab, of
polished sandstone, is divided into two cartouche-like fields, with shallow channels
around them. In the middle of each field there are two circles representing bread
loaves. A long Phoenician dedicatory inscription incised on one side of the slab
helped date the object to the end of the Persian or the beginning of the Hellenistic
period.19 Its shape is clearly Egyptian, and it continues a tradition whose roots
in Egypt date back to the third millennium B.C.E. There is some indication that
architectural remains may be associated with the finds discussed in this
article. In a report from Jerusalem, Schick referred to a red drum-shaped stone
excavations under the floor of
(granite? porphyry?), discovered in the Dominicans'
additional
This
18 Yadin et al
1948,p. 105.
19 The present location of this table,which was kept at theRussian Consulate in Jerusalem
untilWorld War I, is unknown, see M.J. Lagrange: Une inscription ph?nicien, RB 1
(1892), pp. 275-281; B. Delavault and A. Lemaire: Une st?le 'MOLK' de Palestine d?di?e
a Eshmun? R?S reconsid?r?, RB 83 (1976), pp. 269-283; C. Picard: Le monument de
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
33
more
elaborate
ones
in the LB
objects were
also
depth.24
compartments
from Gezer.
24 See R.A.S. Macalister: The Excavations ofGezer, III, London, 1912,PI. 224:14.
GABRIEL BARKAY
34
Two Alabaster
Vessels
Bronze Age II to the Late Bronze Age, and is known in Jerusalem from
at
the tomb
Dominus Flevit on the slopes of theMount of Olives, and also from
excavations in various parts of the country: Gibeon, Megiddo, Tel Beit Mirsim, the
theMiddle
other alabaster
vessel
is an
(SE19)
It is a globular
O.P.
The
stele
fragment
was
redrawn
by R.
Barkay
and A.
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
35
el-L?z
(K?midi),
in Lebanon.29
A Stone Statuette
In 1975, a small statuette was
27 Classified by Clamer ([above, . 26], p. 171,Pl. 10) as Type E2a. See also O. Tufnell et
al: Lachish II, The Fosse Temple, Oxford, 1940, p. 64, PI. 26:6, although this vessel is
of green Egyptian serpentine stone.The Lachish reportmentions furtherexamples of this
vessel found inEgypt.
28 V. Hankey: A Late Bronze Age Temple at Amman: II. Vases and Objects Made of Stone,
Levant 6 (1974), pp. 166-167, Fig. 2:17-28, made of calcite or serpentine.
29 Ibid., p. 172 (under No. S16); R. Hachman: Fr?he Ph?niker im Libanon, 20 Jahre
deutsche Ausgrabungen imK?mid el-L?z, Mainz am Rhein, 1983, pp. 52, 53, 131, 133
(Nos. 31, 35). In that excavation, parallels of the alabaster bottle-jar fromJerusalemwere
also excavated. See ibid., pp. 35,134 (Nos. 37-38).
GABRIEL BARKAY
36
seated on a chair; the head and the upper part of the body are missing. The figure
a long garment reaching down to the ankles, emphasizing the leg muscles
and knee contours. The arms, not preserved, were probably stretched forward and
wears
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
of its shape;
IN JERUSALEM?
37
or
Ptah.30
seated, headless figure. According to the scale accompanying the published drawing,
the figurine is about 9 cm. high. The hands seem to rest on the knees, suggesting
a deity seated on a chair. Most of the finds unearthed in Area
17 were from
the Roman, Byzantine and Early Arab periods. Based on the raw material and
general impression from the drawing, one might tentatively suggest that the object is
much earlier than the context inwhich itwas discovered. Although I have not seen it,
nor have any photographs been published, it can be reasonably assumed that this is
yet another Late Bronze figurine of Egyptian origin.31
An Egyptian-style Capital
In his publication of the Egyptian inscribed stele fragment, Scheil wrote that
Egyptian-style capitals were also uncovered. Since they were not published, it is
?
?
is now
not known how many were found.32 A capital
possibly one of these
near
on
entrance
a
the
the Garden Tomb premises
low stone fence
built into
to the garden (Figs. 16, 17), apparently found by members of the Garden Tomb
Association, whose premises are just south of the buildings of the Dominican
fathers.33 Judging from the capital's shape, it does not belong to the rich collection
R.
Giveon
(Institute
of Archaeology,
Tel Aviv
University),
who
considered
the
figurine to representPtah.
31 See J.W. Crowfoot and G.M. Fitzgerald: Excavations in theTyropoeon Valley, Jerusalem
1927,Annual of thePalestine Exploration Fund 5 (1929), p. 93 (note), PL 16:29.
32 Scheil (above, n. 4), p. 116. Several Egyptian-style column capitals were unearthed in
contexts of LB temples in Palestine: at Beth Shean, Megiddo and Lachish. See A.
Rowe: The Four Canaanite Temples at Beth Shean, I, The Temples and Cult Objects,
Philadelphia, 1940, pp. 8, 16; Pis. 26:20; 52 A:4; James (above, n. 8), p. 17,Fig. 95:4; A.
38
GABRIEL BARKAY
is about 80 cm. (VA cubits?). It ismade of local limestone; the few pock holes and
veins that are visible on its face are part of the lithological formation
out of which the stone was hewn. The composition of the stone is reminiscent of that
dark-coloured
of the Turonian
base is flattened and smoothed, and appears to be finished; itdoes not seem to have
any marks of chiselling. In this it differsmarkedly from the capitals made after the
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
39
are modelled
between the large ones, each with a protruding central ridge. The
a
12 cm. high, above the leaves. The shape of the
has
faceted abacus,
capital
of
resembles
ancient Egyptian architecture. Many are known in
palm capitals
capital
Egypt from the New Kingdom period; the closest to our type, from Soleb, is dated
to the 19th dynasty (Fig. 18).34
34 L.
Borchardt: Die
Pflanzenornaments),
?gyptische Pflanzens?ule
Berlin,
1897, pp.
(Ein Kapitel
46-49.
GABRIEL BARKAY
40
The
(with the exception of the limestone offering table or altar) is recorded from there.
In LB tombs excavated in Jerusalem, the number of Egyptian objects is relatively
and Cypriote imports.35
limited, particularly in light of the abundance ofMycenaean
It could be argued that these finds originate from a Late Bronze tomb which was
far from the city's borders, similar to that at Nahalat Ahim,36 west of Jerusalem,
or the tomb excavated on the grounds of the 'Government House'
(today the UN
Headquarters).37
Flevit on the
in Jerusalem, El
object of Egyptian
fromMycenae and
(see Sailer [above,
n. 26]), theEgyptian finds are also limited,compared toAegean and Cyprus imports.
36 Amiran (above, n. 35).
37 D.C. Baramki: An Ancient Cistern in the Grounds of Government House, Jerusalem,
QDAP 4 (1938), pp. 165-167. The identification as 'cistern' should be abandoned in
lightof a tomb with similar plan discovered at Dominus Flevit, see B. Bagatti and J.T.
Milik: Gli scavi del Dominus Flevit, Jerusalem, 1958.
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
41
At this stage, the finds described above can tentatively be associated with an
isolated Egyptian temple located on the main road leading north about 1 km.
from Late Bronze Age Jerusalem, similarly to the Late Bronze temple discovered
near the Amman airport, which does not have any LB settlement remains near
it. In my opinion, it is not likely that the finds were brought to the area north
of Damascus Gate in soil from the City of David, since there is no evidence of soil
such distances in ancient times. They seem to be related to the
being moved
architectural elements discovered
venture to say that this activity can be dated to the 19th dynasty, since
took a greater interest in the central hill country of Canaan during
the reign ofMerneptah
(1212-1202 B.C.E.). Papyrus Anastasi III mentions a fort of
I would
the Egyptians
Merneptah near Sar-ram,38 which has been identified with Salem (cf. Gen. 14:18;
Ps. 76:3).39 Another section mentions the arrival of an Egyptian officer from the
area. These have been associated
'Wells of Merneptah'
located in the mountainous
waters
with Me-Nephtoah
of Nephtoah') mentioned in Joshua (15:9, 18:15),
('the
located north-west of Jerusalem. This is essentially the only evidence of Late Bronze
part of the ear of the god Seth on the stele. Seth played a major role during the
19th dynasty: he was popular during the Hyksos period, but did not appear on
any of themonuments of the 18th dynasty. The name of Seth is also incorporated in
the name of the founder of the 19th dynasty, King Seti I.
finds presented here clearly belong to the Late Bronze Age city-state of
Letters in the El-Amarna
archives written by Abd-Hepa,
King of
Jerusalem (Nos. 285-291), show that during that period, in the 14th century B.C.E.,
The
Jerusalem.
38 J.B. Pritchard (ed.): ANET, p. 258. In a preliminary report on the excavations at St.
?tienne, itwas mentioned that theDominican fathersbelieved the place 'firstserved as a
fortress (or barracks) of an army that came from Sudan in Egypt(?)\ See L. de Vaux:
D?couvert r?centa J?rusalem,Revue Arch?ologique, 1886,p. 371, who did not explain to
GABRIEL BARKAY
42
there
there was only a small Egyptian garrison stationed in Jerusalem.41 Moreover,
is no basis for dating the above-mentioned
finds to the El-Amarna
period, as
the Egyptians showed little interest in the hill country and engaged in minimal
41 W.L.
Moran:
there was
The Amarna
an Egyptian
tetters,
Baltimore
London,
1992, pp.
325-334.
once
N. Na'aman:
it as 'typical Byzantine', although without bringing any parallel to support his claim.
He accepts Vincent's identificationof the stone altar with sunken compartments (Fig.
9) as a Byzantine reliquary, against without substantiatinghis claim. He regards the capital
(Figs. 16-17) as Byzantine. Even Wimmer's inaccurate reconstructionof the capital differs
from all column capitals known from the site of St. Etienne or from any of the numerous
other Byzantine sites in Jerusalem.Wimmer ruled out the possibility that the assemblage
of finds presented here might be remains from a LB Egyptian temple, but did not offer
any alternative explanation for the presence of these finds, some of which are clearly
Egyptian.
LB EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
IN JERUSALEM?
43
again, Jerusalem has proven to be full of surprises, and more will surely be revealed
as additional investigations are undertaken.43
43 Following the lecture that served as the basis for this article, the late Zvi Ilan published
an article in theHebrew daily newspaper Davar (29May 1981), inwhich he mentioned a
large clay scarab (9x5 cm.), shaped like a human head, thatmight be connected with
the finds discussed here. According to R. Giveon, the scarab is authentic and the name
engraved on its base could refer to Seti I or Seti II. The scarab, kept in the collections
of theCatholic school at St. Paul's hospice, between Damascus Gate to the south and
the premises of theDominican fathers to the north,was reported to have been unearthed
when the foundations of St. Paul's hospice were being dug, but the excavators, Schoeneke,
Dunkel and Schick, did not mention the scarab. See L. Schoeneke: Ein Felsblock mit