Aerial overview of the Mount Zion dig site. Courtesy Mount Zion
Posted on 05/18/2016 1:29:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Just below the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, a team of archaeologists, scholars and students will soon be busy at work excavating one of Jerusalem's most important archaeological sites... a wealthy residential area that saw its heyday during the time of Herod and Jesus.
Directing the operation is Shimon Gibson, a British-born Israeli archaeologist and adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte... Referred to as the Mount Zion excavation because of its location in the sacred elevated area at the center of ancient Jerusalem near the historical Temple Mount, the work here is important because it is unearthing evidence of people who played out history in this place for thousands of years. It is set near a number of significant places in the history of this ancient city, such as the Praetorium where Jesus was tried before Pontius Pilate; the presumed location of the Last Supper of Jesus; the House of Caiaphas and those of other priestly families who lived during the time of Jesus; the large Nea Ekklesia of the Theotokos Church that Emperor Justinian commissioned in the 6th century and that was situated just above the site...
Some of the finds made in previous seasons include a plastered cistern, a stepped and plastered ritual bathing pool ('mikveh') with a well preserved barrel-vaulted ceiling, a chamber containing three bread ovens ('tabuns'), Early Roman pottery, lamps, stone vessels, murex shells, coins, Roman Tenth Legion stamped roof tiles, and what appeared to be a relatively rare and well-preserved, plastered bathtub. Gibson and Tabor suggest that what they are finding could be a wealthy neighborhood and, given the site's proximity to the location of the Herodian-built Second Temple known from the time of Jesus, possibly a community that included priests who served at the Temple.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
Aerial overview of the Mount Zion dig site. Courtesy Mount Zion
Tabor is one of the leaders of the dig who also has written extensively on the family and family connections of Jesus (The Jesus Dynasty) and who was involved in the study of the so-called Talpiot Tomb site and the ossowary that has (may have) the name James, the brother of Jesus, on it.
He’s also featured in the Smithsonian TV documentary on Masada. A very down to earth scholar. And I don’t say that just because he’s from my home town.
:’) That’s the guy.
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