Hershel Shanks
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
The definitive book on ancient Jerusalem! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review (BAR) Magazine, offers an unrivaled look into the ancient City of Jerusalem. His concise descriptions and beautiful pictures captivated this reader and helped me to finally understand the relationship between biblical narrative and archeological evidence in the capital of Israel. Famous sites ranging from Hezekiah's Tunnel, to the Western Wall, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to the Dome of the Rock are wonderfully elucidated within their historical context. If you are interested in the Bible, the history of Jerusalem, or Archeology in general, this book is a MUST!
Ancient and blessed, always in turmoil... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Hershel Shanks, editor of the magazine 'Biblical Archaeology Review', put together this wonderful volume on the archaeology of Jerusalem in honour of the 3000th anniversary of the establishment of the city by King David (a date of conjecture, to be sure, and with some variability even within the conjecture). In the introduction, Shanks states:'Through the archaeology of Jerusalem, one can learn about almost everything even remotely connected to the ancient Near East: from Bible and ancient history, art and architecture, burial practices, languages and scripts to geography, water supply systems, chronology, theology, pottery typology, archaeological methodology, warfare and daily life.'
Jerusalem is at or near the centre of three major faiths that have had profound and lasting impact not only on the city or region, but upon the entire world. Jerusalem has long been at an important crossroads in history--military expansion of major empires have had to go through the city; trade routes east and west have always been through or nearby the city -- indeed, Jerusalem has been conquered 23 times in its history. From the sack of the city Salem by King David (who had to conquer it three times before being able to hold it from the Jebusites) to the Moslem reconquest from the Crusaders, archaeological evidence is rich in diverse time periods.
This makes Jerusalem rather like the wall made of successive layers of wallpaper with subtle but distinct patterns--it is hard, when scrapping away layers, to discern accurately which layer belongs to which period.
The first chapter begins with Jerusalem before the Israelites. Despite the year 2000 celebrating the 3000th anniversary of the city, it has in fact a much longer history. Egyptian hieroglyph records show the existence of a city on the site of Jerusalem as early as 1850 B.C.E., called Rushalimum. Continuous occupation can be seen from various records (such as Armana letters) to the year Davidic conquests. However, yet other evidence points to even earlier settlement; pottery dating back to the Chalcolitic period, and architectural remains point to inhabitation as early as 3000 B.C.E., making this truly one of the oldest cities in continuous occupation in the world. From earliest times, Jerusalem has been a 'cosmopolitan' place; even the Bible attests to the fact that despite conquest, the Jebusites remained inhabitants alongside the Israelites. This of course give more credence to the idea of assimilation of the cities and tribal/pastoral groups in Canaan, as opposed to the military conquest idea which is high on glory and patriotic ideal, but short on archaeological evidence. Obviously, if Jebusites still held Jerusalem, Joshua could not have truly conquered the entire land.
Other articles explore the strongholds of Jerusalem, the possible tombs of David and other kings; intrigues about finding (and not finding) evidence of the first Temple, and the difficulties involved in working around presently-functioning holy sites; the Babylonian period of destruction, including preserved clay bullae, one of which bears the name of the prophet Jeremiah's scribe, dated to the proper time period; Jerusalem during the time of Herod and Jesus, including a discussion of the authenticity of 'holy sites' that are pilgrimage sites today; Roman destruction, Byzantine reconstruction, Moslem conquest, Crusader conquest, and Moslem reconquest.
This book has an extensive collection of beautiful photography, timelines, maps and charts. From collections of art and ruins to panoramic views including the beautiful Dome of the Rock, a magnificent piece of Moslem architecture which remains substantially unaltered since it was built 1300 years ago, standing on the site of the Temple mount; to recreations of architecture to textual analysis, this is a book that will treat the eyes and the mind with fascinating detail and general ideas about the sweeping history of this city, and with this, a greater sense of the history of the religions that have shaped the world.
This book was given to me as a gift from my friend Monty, and I continue to be grateful for it - a magnificent gift indeed.
Editorial Review:
A lavishly illustrated volume traces three thousand years of Jerusalem history from an archaeological perspective, describing the events that surrounded such objects as the bones of a crucified man and Babylonian arrows. 25,000 first printing.
