Notable Contributions to the History of Jerusalem in 2024
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I want to try something new at the end of 2024 that I hope will become an annual tradition and reflect on some notable contributions to Jerusalem’s history over the last 12 months. I realize the inherent risk of unintentionally snubbing someone’s work, yet I feel it is important to recognize the wealth of material on Jerusalem that we have been able to enjoy this year. If something should have been included that was not, I apologize in advance. Feel free to mention such works in the comments. The list is deliberately not numbered, so the order implies nothing about the significance of the contribution. It was frankly exciting to look back on new publications, digital media and digital humanities projects, and on-the-ground efforts in Jerusalem that have given us so many new windows into the history of the city in 2024. I hope you enjoy reading this list as much as I did writing it.
New histories
This year featured several new books on the history of Jerusalem. Perhaps the most popularly known will be Jerusalem through the Ages by Jodi Magness (see her interviews and a recording of the book launch at the Albright Institute). The book explores the archaeology of Jerusalem from the most ancient city through the biblical period, and from the Late Roman Period to the Crusades. There is also a short chapter about the beginning of the British Mandate and an appendix with some suggestions for walking tours of the city.
Two other books focus on specific periods in the city’s history, beginning with Jerusalem in the Second World War by Daphna Sharfman (listen to an interview about her book here). The study explores wartime issues in Jerusalem but also devotes a section to aspects of the city’s social history during what must have been a strange series of years, including a chapter on hotels, cafés, cinemas, and tourism. The other work is Frankish Jerusalem by Anna Gutgarts. This book explores how the city was transformed under Crusader rule in the 12th century CE with a focus on the socio-economic factors that supported the growth of Frankish Jerusalem. Her study examines many medieval property records relating to the city and its hinterland.
Street art on social media
A Facebook group titled “The Stone Book of Jerusalem” appeared this August and has made a unique contribution to the city’s history in a corner of social media. The page is curated by Michael Korol and Michael Chernin and aims to highlight epigraphy and graffiti found on Jerusalem’s streets. Posters must upload clear photos of a text, describe its location, provide a translation, and can give any other details they find relevant. The posts highlight a wide array of inscriptions that were made by Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others, in many languages, from the very powerful (e.g. Suleiman the Magnificent) to nameless pilgrims. With over 600 followers, people are clearly interested to engage with Jerusalem’s many street texts. Posts appear in Russian, but readers can easily use the “translate” feature, even if some information will be lost in the translation. If you have a Facebook account, this is a conversation I’m sure you will be interested to follow.
First major radiocarbon study
The first major radiocarbon study of Jerusalem was published this spring by 14 scholars who collaborated on the mammoth project. The 103 organic samples that form the basis for the study were recovered from four different excavation areas on the slopes of Jerusalem’s Southeastern Hill. This study aims to overcome a major difficulty known as the Hallstatt Plateau, which complicates the use of radiocarbon dating during part of the Iron Age II Period. The authors arrive at a number of conclusions that, generally speaking, support earlier dates for several aspects of Jerusalem’s historical development. Publication of the study sparked popular media coverage (eg HA | ToI | JP | BAR | ArchMag | JNS), as well as both informal and formal responses by scholars. I wrote a short summary of the study’s components and claims (with a small critique) here. This monumental study will certainly draw future responses from scholars and become the point of reference for radiocarbon work in Jerusalem.
Excavation reports
Several new final reports on excavations in Jerusalem appeared this year. Up first is a new report about an old excavation. Final Report of Excavations on The Hill of The Ophel by R.A.S. Macalister and J. Garrow Duncan 1923–1925 by Garth Gilmour explores material unearthed over 100 years ago that is stored in the archives of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The report explores pottery, small finds, incense burners, and a pottery sherd with two incised figures that Gilmour interprets as relating to YHWH and Asherah. See also my reflections on these excavations published in two parts.
Archäologie in Jerusalem edited by Dieter Vieweger includes a series of studies (in German) which are based on excavations carried out by the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (GPIA) between 2009 and 2023 (a preliminary report on some of their excavations in English is available here). The book explores the excavations in the context of questions about key historical and archaeological issues in Jerusalem, such as the layout of the Church of Holy Zion, the path of the southern Iron Age wall, and the location of Golgotha. As far as I know, all of GIPA’s excavations have been backfilled, including most recently those in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion.
The Southern Wall and Corners of the Temple Mount: Past, Present, Future, edited by Yuval Baruch, Ronny Reich, Moran Hagbi, and Joe Uziel is the third book in the Ancient Jerusalem Publications series by Eisenbrauns. It contains 38 chapters by 36 contributors that relate to excavations along the southern wall of the sacred enclosure. Part 1 of the book explores the topography and history of research in the area. Parts 2 and 3 cover studies of wide-ranging topics from the southern retaining wall itself to finds at its base in periods from the Iron Age to medieval times.
Excavations in the Holy Sepulcher
Several years ago, the three major communities who worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Resurrection) agreed to perform excavations throughout the church in tandem with the renovation and strengthening of the building’s floor. Excavations were carried out strategically to avoid disrupting the flow of visitors or sacred rites. Many preliminary reports have been issued, both by the church communities themselves and pop media outlets. This year saw journal publications covering the 2022 and 2023 excavations, as well as two short updates in August and November about excavations that took place in 2024. A number of videos describing updates from the excavations were also released this year. We will await more details in 2025, as well as the completed renovation of the church’s floor.
Conferences and displays
This year played host to a number of conferences and displays relating to the archaeology and history of Jerusalem. The City of David Studies of Ancient Jerusalem (CDSAJ) conference took place on September 4, and the New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and Its Region conference (NSAJR) was held on October 31. Both conferences are annual, and the papers are published. Authors will typically share their individual papers from either conference if contacted. While the CDSAJ papers are available for purchase on site, they are unfortunately not listed for sale online. Only 11 of 16 NSARJ volumes are currently available online. Volume 14 (2021) is free on JOSTOR, and some of the previous years’ papers are available on Academia (here are some articles from the 2022, 2023, 2024 conferences). Abstracts from the 2024 American Schools of Overseas Research (ASOR) annual meeting are available here. They included three sessions dedicated to “Jerusalem and the Archaeology of a Sacred City.”
The Yad Yizhak Ben Zvi Institute and Israel Antiquities Authority held a conference on Jerusalem from July 30-August 2, and lecture recordings (mostly in Hebrew) are available on their Youtube channel (the conference schedule is available here). A two-day conference hosted by Dormition Abbey Church in November highlighted aspects of Willibald’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1300 years ago (this video shares some details). Lastly, an exhibition titled “Along the Symbols,” which opened on June 20 at the Jerusalem House of Quality, explored heraldic symbols used during the British Mandate (more info here).
Honorable mention
Because this is my first year-end list, I want to briefly recognize some outstanding contributions to Jerusalem’s history that appeared in recent years. There were many, and below are just a few highlights. For more, see my archive of new publications and media on Jerusalem.
The Maghrebi Quarter app was released in tandem with the Open Jerusalem conference in June 2023. Situated at the foot of the Wailing Wall, the Mughrabi neighborhood was forcibly evicted and hastily demolished after the Six Day War in June 1967 to create the Western Wall Plaza. The app recreates the 800-year-old quarter using available sources. Users can navigate the neighborhood from a bird’s eye view or on foot while interacting with various points of interest. The app is free.
The Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast with Roberto Mazza has featured numerous guests discussing aspects of Jerusalem. The episodes mainly cover the Ottoman Period to modern times, but there are few that explore older periods. The archive is a trove of specialty (and often personal) knowledge of life in Jerusalem over the last few hundred years.
As part of the Virtual Illés Initiative directed by Maryvelma Smith O’Neil, digitalization of the incredible relief created in 1873 by Stefan Illés was carried out in 2019. In collaboration with others, she and Andrew Yip later released a free desktop app that allows users to explore the virtual relief by hovering above it or walking the terrain. Users can also view and read descriptions of historical photos which act as landmarks across the digital landscape, as well as overlay 19th and 20th century maps on the virtual model.
The facade of a large rock-cut moat was uncovered along the eastern limits of the Givati Parking Lot Excavations and published by Yuval Gadot, Efrat Bocher, Liora Freud, and Yiftah Shalev in October 2023. Utilizing data from other nearby digs, they argue that the moat extended across the hill from the Central Valley to the Kidron Valley. They interpret the moat as an ancient defensive barrier that divided the royal quarter to the north from the residential quarter below. Though they leave open the possibility that it may have functioned as the northern border of the city, they view this as an unlikely option. Their discovery was picked up in a number of pop media outlets (IAA | HA | BAR | ToI | JP | Livescience | AJ | ArchNews | IHY | JBN | JNS | LBV). Yiftah Shalev also gave an interview about the moat here. I wrote a summary of their article here.
Several important museums in Jerusalem were recently renovated, most of them during the COVID pandemic, and have now reopened:
The Helen and Edward Mardigian Armenian Museum of Jerusalem reopened in 2022. It highlights the historic Armenian presence in the Holy Land and the Armenian Genocide during World War I. A Byzantine mosaic floor from an Armenian church that was discovered in 1894 is displayed prominently in the museum (see also here).
The Davidson Center reopened its remodeled museum, located in the basement of an 8th-century CE Umayyad Palace, in March 2023 (see also ToI | JP | FoIAA | YNET | i24).
The new “Saller Wing” at the Terra Sancta Museum on the Via Dolorosa was opened to the public in May 2023. It features artifacts from Bethlehem, Cana, Tabgha, the Crusader Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, ossuaries from tombs at Dominus Flevit, and impressive pieces from the Holy Sepulcher.
The Tower of David Museum opened in October 2023. Renovations include digital presentations, wheelchair accessibility, and a café. Stefan Illés’s model of Late Ottoman Jerusalem has been restored and thankfully moved from the basement of the museum to a main gallery. See writeups here, here, here, here, and here.
The Wohl Museum was the last of these museums to reopen, inviting visitors about a month ago.
That’s a wrap on 2024! Looking forward to more over time coming year.
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