Conservation work carried out at the Western Wall, Jerusalem (Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
A view of the Western Wall plaza while conservation work is carried out (Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Inspectors have carried out a biannual safety inspection and maintenance of the Western Wall, with rabbis overseeing the injection of preservation materials into the corroding stone, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
“We have an ‘identity card’ for each of the hundreds of stones in the plaza and monitor dozens of features,” said Yossi Vaknin, head conservator for the IAA at the Western Wall.
“We do not drill into the stone, but delicately inject dissolved stone into the gaps and fissures… It is the best possible method of ‘healing’ the stones and the ultimate defense against weathering for the most important stones in the world,” he said.
Israel Antiquities Authority excavations at the Byzantine church. (Yoli Schwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
Beit Harel pre-military program students washing finds at the Beit Nattif archaeological excavation. (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)
High school pupils at the Israel Antiquities Authority excavation of the earliest soap factory in Israel, in Rahat, a Beduin city in the Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
IAA archaeologist Dr. Lior Weisbrod with tiny fossils of rodents from the excavation. (Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Since most archaeologists had to hang up their shovels during pandemic-stricken 2020, they suddenly had time to work on their research and there’s a plethora of publications to prove it.
The Tablet December 23, 2020
Photo of the excavation of a Byzantine Church in the Garden of Gethsemane carried out jointly by the Israel Antiquities Authority and students from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. (Photo: Yaniv Berman/Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.)
By Charles Collins
(CRUX) A ritual bath dating to the time of Jesus has been uncovered on the Mount of Olives at the site tradition says is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus experienced the Agony in the Garden before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
Gethsemane means “oil press” in Hebrew, which archeologists said might explain the find.
“According to the Jewish law, when you are producing wine or olive oil, you need to be purified,” said Amit Re’em of the Israel Antiquities Authority during a press conference on Dec. 21.
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The cavity in the rock would later be identified as a Jewish ritual bath dating to around 2,000 years ago – about the time Jesus was active in the area, according to Christian tradition.
The bath was found by archaeologists working with the antiquities authority and scholars from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, a Franciscan research institute near the modern Church of Gethsemane.
Construction on that church began in 1919 and took five years. During the process the builders discovered remains of a previously unknown ancient Byzantine church dating back about 1,500 years, and a later Crusader church.
“The discovery of this bath, unaccompanied by buildings, probably attests to the existence of an agricultural industry here 2,000 years ago, possibly producing oil or wine,” archaeologist Amit Re’em, the director of site excavation, explained. He added, “The discovery of the ritual bath probably confirms the place’s ancient name, Gethsemane.”
Site researchers say the baths likely had a dual purpose, however. Workers in the olive groves would have used them, but they also were likely used by those who planned to visit a nearby Jewish temple on an adjacent hill, and by visitors who came to the garden to pray.