Evidence of Greeks on the Temple Mount

It’s all Greek to Me

There are donuts EVERYWHERE and we are getting in the holiday season! As Channukkah approaches, we wanted to share with you one of our important finds relating to the Greeks on the Temple Mount. At the beginning of the project, we found a handle from an amphora that was stamped by an official from the Greek Island of Rhodes. This unique find from our sifting dates to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes IV and constitutes a direct link to the Greco-Seleucid regime.

Coin bearing the image of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the villain of the Channukkah Story. Found by the Sifting Project

The Amphora handle is stamped with a round Rhodian stamp showing the Rhodian Rose and surrounded by the Greek legend  Ἐπὶ Θεαιδ̣[ήτου Ὑ]ακινθίου” – “during [the reign of the eponym] Theaidetos, [in the month of] Hyakinthios.” Theaidetos received one of the highest honors bestowed upon a government official, and the year was named after him. Because each official had the position of Eponym for only one year, dating artifacts marked with these symbols becomes very precise (though not perfect). Gerald Finkielsztejn dates Theaidetos to somewhere between 175-170 BCE which is  during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who looted the Temple treasury and introduced pagan worship to the Temple Mount.

Rhodian Amphora Handle found by the Sifting Project

About 1200 stamped amphorae handles have been found in excavations in Jerusalem, but this is the only one found within soil from the Temple Mount. (We have found other non-stamped amphora handles.) Our research on this handle indicates that it may be related to the founding of the Akra fortress, the headquarters of the Seleucid garrison, which was constructed not far from the Temple Mount shortly after the date on the amphora handle. The amphora, which was used for the import of non-kosher wine from the Island of Rhodes, could have served the non-Jewish residents of the Akra. It is interesting that although many of these stamped Greek amphorae handles have been found in Jerusalem, most sites dating to that period having at least a few, we have only found 1 in the last 12 years of sifting. This shows a lesser Greek influence on the Temple Mount itself, despite Antiochus’ idolatry on the Temple Mount.

Akra

Bust of Flavius Josephus

There is much debate in archaeology about where exactly the Akra was located. Both Macabees and Josephus talk about the fortress, but neither details its exact location. What we do know is that Antiochus IV Epiphanes built the Akra in 168 B.C. as a fortress for his Macedonian garrison from which the Jewish population could be controlled. Josephus records that it “commanded or overlooked the Temple.” In Antiquities 12.252, he writes that Antiochus:

“… built the Akra in the Lower City; for it was high enough to overlook the Temple, and it was for this reason that he fortified it with high walls and towers, and stationed a Macedonian garrison therein. Nonetheless there re­mained in the Akra those of the (Jewish) people who were impious and of bad character, and at their hands the citizens were destined to suffer many terrible things.”

It is important to remember that at that time, the Temple Mount was much smaller that that which we know today. The Second Temple, in its earliest form at the time of Nehemia through the Hellenistic period had a smaller, square shape. It wasn’t until Herod enlarged the platform and renovated the Temple around 20 BCE that the Temple Mount took the form that we know it in today.

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Islamic History Recorded

Staff Spotlight: November

With the Nuba Inscription still fresh in our minds, this month’s Staff Spotlight lands on Peretz Reuven!

Originally from Haifa, Peretz is our expert in the Islamic period pottery and artifacts. He originally got interested in the Islamic period while at Hebrew University. He began with Arabic and Islamic history, added in a bit of archaeology, and the rest is history. He has studied under some of the most widely published scholars, including Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, Rachel Milstein, and Hava Lazarus-Yafe. Now he works on many excavations and research projects across Jerusalem and Israel.

Large Ophel Medallion

Peretz was working on a project with Dr. Eilat Mazar documenting all the walls of the Temple Mount, and researching and publishing the large ophel medallion when he met our director, Zachi Dvira. Zachi invited him to join our project, and now Peretz is researching all of the Early Islamic period pottery found by the Sifting Project. He is also planning to use his experience in researching architectural elements from the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods to research the architectural elements found in our sifting.

Islamic period pottery

Islamic period pottery

Islamic period pottery

The Early Islamic period assemblage from the Sifting Project is very rich in materials. We have a lot of ceramic vessels, many of which are glazed and elaborated. Though most of them are locally made, some were imported from Persia, Egypt, or parts of Europe. We can see that there was a lot of activity on the Temple Mount during that time period, but what is interesting is that many of the vessels are ordinary. For example, we have many cooking vessels and fragments of pipes. Peretz would not say that these vessels represent daily life, for example people coming and eating in an ordinary way, since the Temple Mount is a holy place. Rather, we are familiar with people coming to make celebrations on the Temple Mount as a part of Muslim fests and holidays. There were also people, such as guards, who stayed on the Temple Mount overnight, and our assemblage could represent their daily lives.

Cut mother-of-pearl inlays which may be from the Dome of the Rock

Peretz does not have a favorite artifact among those that he is researching for the Sifting project because there are too many to choose from that are really interesting. Some artifacts are connected to the building of the Dome of the Rock or to the artists who made the mosaics adorning the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. For example, Peretz is excited by the large amount of mother of pearl inlay found by the project. Many of these inlays might come from the dismantling and discarding of the mosaics over the years.

Gilded glass mosaic tesserae from the Early Islamic Period removed from the Dome of the Rock exterior walls during later renovations.

The buildings of the Temple Mount have mosaics inside and out. Some were dismantled during renovations while others were replaced because they were disintegrating or suffering from the elements. For example, all the outer surface of the Dome of the Rock was covered with delicate mosaics unlike the ceramic mosaics that we have today. In the 1500s, during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, all the outer paneling of mosaics were taken off the Dome of the Rock and thrown away. Most likely, some of what we are finding today is from that period. Between dumping and the stories of people cutting off the mosaics and selling or collecting them, it is really nice that some of these artifacts have survived.

In addition to working with the Sifting Project, Peretz has just finished publishing his research on the Islamic period ceramics found in the Givati Parking Lot in Jerusalem and is now working on publishing his research on the Islamic material from the Western Wall tunnels and the Kotel. With Assaf Avraham, he just published his research on the Nuba Inscription. Peretz said that he has always been interested in the connection between Islam and Judaism. He and Assaf decided to do some research on the topic, and during that research Assaf found out about the interesting inscription in Nuba. They decided to do some additional research on the inscription and the results were definitely interesting. Check out the video they published on their finds.