The words "Holy Jerusalem" in ancient Hebrew script were found on a rare silver half-shekel coin from the first year of the Great Revolt against the Romans, the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed Tuesday.

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The 2,000-year-old half-shekel coin, made of silver, from the days of the first revolt of the Jews against the Romans, was discovered in the Ein Gedi area of the Judean Desert. The coin, dated 66/67 CE, was discovered during the sixth year of a Judean Desert cave survey operation that the Israel Antiquities Authority is managing in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and an archaeology staff officer at the Civil Administration, aimed at reaching the archaeologists' treasures before the antiquities thieves.

Video: Al-Jazeera report denies Jewish connection to Temple Mount / Al-Jazeera

Recently, as part of the survey, examining every cave and crevice, the IAA inspectors reached a section of a cliff in one of the streams of the Ein Gedi area, when they noticed a coin made of silver sticking out of the ground at the entrance to one of the caves. One hypothesis is that the coin fell from a pocket of a rebel who went down to the desert during the rebellion – perhaps on route to nearby Ein Gedi. This could explain how the coin came from Jerusalem to the desert. The words "Holy Jerusalem" is inscribed in ancient Hebrew script on one side of the coin.

Yaniv David Levy, a researcher in the coin branch of the Antiquities Authority said, "You can see an inscription written in unvowelized Hebrew spelling on this coin from the first year of the rebellion. This may be proof of the process of formulating inscriptions when in later years of the rebellion, the inscription 'Holy Jerusalem' is written in plene spelling. Three pomegranates are displayed in the center of the coin, a familiar symbol on the Israeli pound, used by the State of Israel until 1980."

A goblet appears on the other side and above it the Hebrew letter Alef is inscribed, indicating the first year of the outbreak of the rebellion, as well as the inscription "Hatzi Shekel" [half shekel], indicating the value of the coin. The goblet was a symbol typical of the coins used by the Jewish population in the late Second Temple period. These coins were minted in values ​​of "shekel" and "half shekel" during the first rebellion against the Romans, which took place here in the Land of Israel, from 66 to 70 CE. This rebellion ended in the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Interestingly, in accordance with the commandment "Thou shalt not make for thee a graven image" in the Ten Commandments, the Jews engraved symbols taken from the world of plants on their coins, as well as themes inspired by religious objects of worship and sacredness. This, while the pagan population used things from everyday life on the coins, such as animals, and the faces of their emperors.

As part of an act of defiance and the creation of an internal rebellion economy, the Jewish rebels minted their own silver and bronze coins, engraved with Jewish motifs and symbols. It is assumed that the coins were minted in Jerusalem – and possibly even in the temple complex itself. With these coins, the rebels chose to use the ancient Hebrew script that was common hundreds of years earlier – during the time of the First Temple – and not the Greek script, which was used in the days of the Second Temple.

"Coins from the first year of the revolt, such as this coin that was discovered in the Judean Desert, are rare," added Levy. "During the time of the Second Temple, pilgrims used to raise a tax of half a shekel to the Temple. The accepted currency for paying this tax for almost 2,000 years was the Tyrian_shekel. When the revolt broke out, the rebels issued, as mentioned, these replacement coins which bore the inscriptions 'Israel shekel,' 'half shekel,' and a quarter shekel. It seems that the worship of the Temple continued even during the rebellion, and these coins were also used by the rebels for this purpose."

Amir Ganor, director of the Theft Prevention Unit at the IAA, said: "Finding a silver half-shekel coin from the first year in an organized archaeological project is a rare event in Israel, in general, and in the Judean Desert, in particular. The current discovery shows how important it is to survey the entire area of ​​the Judean Desert systematically and professionally. Every successful item discovered in the survey adds more information about the history of our nation and country. If the survey had not been carried out, the coin might have fallen into the hands of antiquities thieves and sold in the antiquities market to the highest bidder. During the six years of this operation, we have documented over 800 caves and discovered thousands of valuable and important finds."

Minister of Heritage Rabbi Amihai Eliyahu, said: "The exciting discovery brings further evidence of the deep and indisputable ties between the Jewish people and Jerusalem and the Land of Israel." The rare coin that was used, according to researchers, in the Second Temple period, goes back about 2,000 years and the inscription 'Holy Jerusalem' is engraved on it. The amazing find is another strong connection to our people's roots in the Land of Israel."

Eli Escusido, director of the IAA added: "The coin is a direct and touching evidence of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans – a turbulent period in the life of our people from 2,000 years ago, during which extremism and discord divided the people and led to destruction. We have returned here after 2,000 years of yearning, and the city of Jerusalem is back to being our capital, but there is nothing new under the sun – the disputes have not ended. Finding this coin reminds us all of our past, and why we must strive for agreement."

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Scholars have long maintained that Shabbat- and kosher-keeping Jews were poor fits for armies of the Roman Empire. But a new paper in Jewish Quarterly Review suggests that Jews could have served in large numbers. And not only could a Jewish soldier maintain observant practice at the time, but the Roman Empire tailored its military to accommodate a range of religious and cultural practices.

Video: Reuters / Israelis prepare for Passover amid tensions with Palestinians

"The adage 'An army marches on its stomach' is traditionally attributed to either Napoleon or Frederick the Great, yet it applies to all armies, including those of the Roman Empire – whose soldiers included Jews," Haggai Olshanetsky, a University of Basel postdoctoral fellow, wrote in the paper. (He did not respond to a query by JNS.)

The Roman military exempted Jews, who comprised an estimated 5% to 15% of the empire, from service in the later part of the first century CE But that appeared to be an exception, and Jews could otherwise be found among the empire's legions.

The paper suggests that Romans were aware that Jews, Syrians, and Egyptians had specific dietary restrictions, and an ostracon (potsherd) dated 96 CE records a military man writing to a colleague about collecting wheat to send "to the Jews."

"This ostracon is the only one to describe the sending of wheat to Jews, instead of the bread already issued to them or that was supposed to be issued to them," Olshanetsky wrote. The shard dates to a time that Josephus interpreted to parallel the Jewish month of Nissan, during which Passover occurs.

More research is required, but if this was the case, Olshanetsky thinks it demonstrates that the Romans "acknowledged and respected the demands of some Jewish holidays and that they were even ready to execute special tasks to allow for their observance."

'Accustomed to the lack of meat'

In his analysis, Jewish soldiers could have otherwise kept kosher year-round. Roman soldiers cooked their own meals, and although pig remnants have been found in relevant sites, beef was the most common meat. Mutton and deer were also common, as were chicken, goose, and duck – all kosher. Animals arrived alive, so Jewish soldiers could have ritually slaughtered the animals.

And the diet was largely the "Mediterranean triad" of bread, oil, and wine; many in the empire were also used to mostly vegetarian eating. "Jews, like others, were accustomed to the lack of meat," wrote Olshanetsky.

In later periods, soldiers received mutton (lamb) two-thirds of the time and pork the other third. "It presumably would have been easy for a Jewish soldier to trade his portion of pork for something else," per the article. "Moreover, it is possible that Jewish soldiers were exempted from receiving portions of pork, and received mutton instead, throughout the campaign."

Olshanetsky also thinks Jews and others with restrictive diets may have made their mark on Roman auxiliary units, which tended to be made up of noncitizens, like Jews and Egyptians. A decline in pork consumption began between the years between 40 CE and 70 CE

"It is possible that the Roman army enacted a new regulation allocating a smaller percentage of pork in the supply of the auxiliary compared to the amounts supplied to the legions," he wrote. "Such a directive would allow for an easy transition in the swapping of units, each of them consisting of individuals with different religious beliefs, without changing the already organized supply lines."

"If this was indeed the case, then it would mean that to keep a strong army, the Romans had to be cognizant and tolerant toward the needs of a very ethnically, religiously, and regionally diverse fighting force, and thus they designed the logistics and supply chain of the armies accordingly," he wrote.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Archaeological finds in Israel have shed light on life in ancient Yavne, a town in central modern-day Israel that served as the retreat for Jewish authorities after the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 CE.

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The excavation has unearthed ruins of a building with cups made of chalkstone, a material deemed appropriate for Jewish religious rites, pointing to the presence of the exiled Sanhedrin legislative assembly, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.

Cited by the Roman historian Josephus Flavius, Yavne served as focal point of Jewish activity. According to Jewish scripture, the Sanhedrin was reconstituted there with Roman consent.

"This is a direct voice from the past, from the period when the Jewish leadership salvaged the remaining fragments from the fall of the [Jerusalem] Temple," the IAA said in a statement.

Also discovered near the site was a cemetery with dozens of graves, including sarcophagi, and more than 150 glass phials placed on top of the tombs, which the IAA said were probably used to store fragrant oils.

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A large Roman-era sarcophagus dating to the 2^nd or 3^rd century CE excavated illegally at an unknown location in Israel has been returned to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

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Dr. Ofer Gruber, a veterinarian from Rehovot, received the sarcophagus from an antiquities collector who had passed away. Gruber contacted the IAA's Antiquities Robberies Prevention Unit so the artifact could be returned to the state.

The Robberies Prevention Union praised the doctor, and the IAA issued Gruber a certificate of merit.

At this point, the IAA thinks that the sarcophagus was stolen from an archaeological site.

"It's important to know that removing artifacts from their archaeological context does serious harm to the study of the find and the environment where it was discovered," the Robberies Prevention Unit noted.

IAA researchers plan to learn all they can about the sarcophagus and put it on display for the public some time in the future.

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An archaeological survey in the northeast of the Binyamin Region conducted by the Martin Szuz Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University has turned up two rare coins at two adjacent sites.

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One coin, discovered at Khirbet Jabaat, dates back to the Jewish revolt against the Romans and was minted in the year 67 CE. One side of the coin bears a depiction of a grape leaf and the Hebrew inscription "Herut Zion" (Freedom for Zion), while the other side is imprinted with a cup and the inscription "Year Two." The coin is the latest Second Temple-Era find unearthed at this site, which includes mikvehs, secret tunnels, stone vessels, and burial caves.

The second coin, excavated at a site in the cliffs of Wadi Rashash, caused significant excitement among the archaeologists.

Dr. Dvir Raviv, who is directing the survey, explained that the coin was the first tangible evidence that the area in question had been under the administrative control of Bar Kochba, and might even testify to the existence of a Jewish community in the region until 134-135 CE, despite the prevailing belief that all Jewish communities to the north of Jerusalem were razed in the great revolt of the 7^th decade CE and never resurrected.

One side of the coin from Wadi Rashash, which is believed to have been minted in 134-135 CE, is imprinted with a palm frond surrounded by a wreath, which itself is surrounded by the Hebrew inscription "LeHerut Yerushalayim" (To the Liberation of Jerualem). The other side depicts musical instruments, possibly a harp, and the name "Shimon" – the first name of the leader of the revolt against the Romans, Shimon Ben Kosevah, better known as Shimon Bar Kochba.

The Binyamin Regional Council and the grassroots heritage preservation organization Shomrim al Hanetzach (Preserving Eternity) said in response to the discoveries that the area is full of archaeological remains and antiquities, which are being robbed and destroyed by local Arabs. The council and the organization called on the government to adopt a national emergency plan to save the sites.

Binyamin Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz said: "We have a national obligation to preserve these precious finds that tie us to this place. The Israeli government must take responsibility for its heritage and prevent ethno-religious robberies and vandalism."

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The garum vats, some of the few to be discovered extant in the eastern Mediterranean region, were unearthed at a city-funded excavation in which young residents of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, outside Ashkelon, and pupils from the Makif Vav Middle School, next to the site, took part.

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Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the IAA explains the central place fish sauce – which had to be prepared outside of urban areas due to the stench it created – held in the ancient Roman diet.

"Historical sources refer to the production of special fish sauce that was used as a basic condiment for food in the Roman and Byzantine eras throughout the Mediterranean basin," Erickson-Gini said.

"This is a rare find in our region and very few installations of this kind have been found in the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient sources even refer to the production of Jewish [kosher] garum. The discovery of this kind of installation in Ashkelon evinces that the Roman tastes that spread throughout the empire were not confined to dress, but also included dietary habits," Erickson-Gini noted.

Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam called the recent finds "additional proof [that] Ashkelon is one of the most ancient cities in the world.

"The recent excavation … produces a combination of the city's rich past, its present development, and its future progress," Glam said.

Visitors curious about the culinary habits of the ancient Romans can visit the dig free of charge on Sunday, Dec. 22, the first day of Hanukkah.

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The ancient items revealed new information about the site, which has been identified as the first place where the Sanhedrin established itself in the Galilee. It turns out that the Jewish residents manufactured iron tools there a millennia and a half ago.

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The "community archaeology" project, which is open to youth and volunteers, has turned out to be a major Jewish site that included mikvehs, oil presses, and wine presses.

Over the Sukkot holiday this month, some 8,500 people took part in IAA activities nationwide. A family from the Lower Galilee were the ones who unearthed the Byzantine-era tools.

Yair Amitzur and Eyad Bisharat, the archaeologists overseeing the Usha excavation for the IAA, said that the country's collection of archaeological finds included only about 20 ancient hammers, six of which date to the Byzantine era.

"Ancient texts say that there was extensive glassmaking activity at the [Usha] site, and indeed that is turning up in the field in the form of wine goblets and beautiful chunks of glass. Now we find out that the residents of Usha also manufactured iron tools. A hammer, nails, and other iron artifacts we found are proof of this," the archaeologists said.

The sophisticated olive oil press and wine presses indicate that the tool manufacturing notwithstanding, the residents of ancient Usha were mainly farmers who raised olives and grapes. Next to the presses, the excavation has unearthed two mikvehs carved out of stone. The mikvehs boast stairs and plastered sides and are estimated to date from the Roman-Byzantine period, or the second century CE.

The mikvehs were placed next to the presses so that the Jewish residents could purify themselves before making the olive oil and wine in accordance with Jewish law.

Much of the work at the excavation has been carried out by youth and volunteers as part of an IAA initiative to interest the Israeli public in its heritage. This past year, over 15,000 young people and families have taken part in IAA activities at Usha and helped uncover the site's exciting past.

"The Jewish community at Usha in the Roman and Byzantine eras is mentioned many times in Jewish texts as the place where the institution of the Sanhedrin was re-instated after the destruction of the Temple and after the failed Bar Kochba Revolt of 135 BCE," Amitzur explains.

"The Sanhedrin was the main Jewish leadership, and its president was Shimon Ben Gamliel the Second and his son, Rabbi Judah Hanassi, who lived in Usha. Here, in Usha, the Sanhedrin sages made rules that allowed the Jewish people to recover from the war against the Romans and rebuild their community life in the Galilee. Jewish sources mention the Sanhedrin council in Usha, including Rabbi Yitzhak Nafha, who apparently made his living as a glassmaker.

"The many wine goblets and pieces of raw glass found at the site demonstrate that the residents of Usha were skilled in glassblowing and created table ware and delicate lighting tools. In addition, the mikvehs excavated at the site show that the Sanhedrin sages carefully observed laws of purity and impurity," Amitzur explained.

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The ancient road in the City of David, which was preserved under the ashes of the Roman sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE, was used by pilgrims to ascend from the Siloam Pool to the Second Temple, according to historical descriptions.

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According to research published on Tuesday in the Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, the more than 100 coins found beneath the ancient road prove it must have been completed between 31 and 40 CE, a period mostly covered by Pilate's governorship.

According to Dr. Donald Ariel, an archaeologist and coin expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, "Dating using coins is very exact. As some coins have the year in which they were minted on them, what that means is that if a coin with a date on it is found beneath the street, the street had to be built in the same year or after that coin had been minted."

To further narrow things down, Ariel explained that "statistically, coins minted some 10 years later are the most common coins in Jerusalem," and that because these coins are not found under the road, "the street was built before their appearance, in other words only in the time of Pilate."

He suggested the possibility that Pilate had the street built to reduce tensions between the Romans and the Jewish population. Although "we can't know for sure," he said, "these reasons do find support in the historical documents."

Although the excavation of the road began over a century ago following its discovery in 1894 by British archaeologists, over the past six years Israeli archaeologists from the IAA and Tel Aviv University uncovered 350 meters (1,148 feet) of the road as well as artifacts such as coins, cooking pots, complete stone and clay tools, rare glass items, a dais (a raised platform used for public announcements), and parts of arrows and catapults.

At a dedication ceremony for the unveiling of a section of the road in June, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the discoveries made at the site as a confirmation of Israeli sovereignty over the City of David.

Before hammering through the final bit of the wall covering the road at the ceremony, Friedman said: "Whether there was any doubt about the accuracy, the wisdom, the propriety of [US] President [Donald] Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, I certainly think this lays all doubts to rest."

The City of David Foundation, which plans to open the road to the public, funded the excavation and restoration.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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But Horovitz says that in recent years, archaeology has changed from a "servant" to a fully-enfranchised member of the family.

"Sometimes, it even demands precedence in telling the historical story by challenging the historically accepted approach," he says.

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The story of the Herodian road through the City of David – a path Jewish visitors took to the Temple 2,000 years ago – illustrates this point. While media reports this week focused on US Ambassador David Friedman and special envoy Jason Greenblatt participating in the event unveiling newly excavated sections of the road, the real drama to emerge out of the earth is an archaeological one.

For five years, Israeli archaeologists have been digging underground and beneath homes in the Silwan neighborhood of east Jerusalem to excavate the Herodian road, which runs for 700 meters (2,300 feet), from the Pool of Siloam in central Silwan to the slopes of the southern corner of the Western Wall. A total of 350 meters of the eight-meter-wide road have already been excavated. The rest of the project will take about five years to complete.

But it is already clear that the name "Herodian road" is misleading. King Herod never trod it, and apparently had nothing to do with its construction. Archaeological finds indicate that the road was constructed in 30-31 CE, whereas Herod died in 4 CE.

Archaeologist Moran Hajbi of the Jerusalem District of the Israel Antiquities Authority explains that the road was built after the time of Herod, under the auspices of the Roman governors of Jerusalem, "apparently in the time of Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who is known for crucifying Jesus."

Hajbi, along with his colleagues Ari Levi, Nahshon Zanton, and Dr. Joe Uziel, are excavating the "Pilgrim's Road" on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, where the biblical capital of King David was located. The site was also home to the administrative institutions of the Judean kingdom in the First Temple era.

'Traces of blackened seeds'

The archaeologists' discovery about the age of the Pilgrim's Road comes as no surprise. It is the latest in a series of archaeological finds in recent years, which match historical sources, and which teach us that the construction of the Temple Mount compound, with its immense walls, was completed in the time of Agrippa II, Herod's great-grandson. In other words: halfway through the first century CE, and some 45 years after Herod died.

The clearest proof of that was discovered by archaeologists Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich, who excavated a mikveh (ritual bath) at the foot of the Western Wall, not far from its southern end, that had been filled in with rubble and covered with large slabs of rock. A small section of the Western Wall was built over the covered mikveh, including Robinson's Arch.

When Reich and Shukron opened up the sealed mikveh, they found coins dating from the period of Roman Prefect Valerius Gratus, who lived 15 years after Herod's death and is known for ousting four Temple priests in his 11 years as governor. The coins brought down the widely held theory that Herod was solely responsible for the construction of the Temple Mount walls. Now it turns out that the Herodian – or Pilgrim's – Road is also of a later date.

This is not the only instance of archaeology intervening to discredit or confirm historical texts and beliefs. A few years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority reported that "traces of blackened seeds" and "rich botanical evidence" had been found beneath the thick layer of destruction that covered the Pilgrim's Road. For anyone who has the slightest familiarity with the history of Jerusalem in that period and the story of the revolt against the Romans and the destruction of the Temple, that discovery was an alarm bell. Hajbi says that the botanical evidence was discovered along a 15-meter (49-foot) stretch of the road, "burned and blackened, some of it in jugs, and with coins from the four years of the revolt alongside it."

Q: Who burned the food?

"We don't know. My colleagues Nahshon Zanton and Professor Ehud Weiss, an archaeobotanist from Bar-Ilan University, are looking into the question. I can't tell you anything more."

It's indeed a tantalizing mystery. It would appear that there are only two possible answers: Either the botanic traces – mostly wheat seeds – are the result of the Roman sack of the city, or the burned food is part of a picture we have from historical descriptions of zealots burning stocks of food as part of the civil war that engulfed Jerusalem at the time.

A little historical background: During the Great Revolt against Roman rule, during which the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the rebels split into three rival camps. Everyone was fighting everyone else: the rich vs. the poor, the moderates against the rebels. During the battles between Yohanan ben Levy, known as "Yohanan from Gush Halav," and Shimon bar Giora, grains and other staples that had been hoarded in expectance of the coming siege were deliberately burned. The Talmud's Tractate Gittin says that the storehouses were full of enough wheat and oats, oil and wood, wine and salt to last 21 years.

Why did the zealot rebels burn down the grain stores? There is no one answer. It could be because of a dispute over who owned them, but it could also be that one zealot group wanted to starve the moderates in Jerusalem into enlisting in their struggle against Roman rule.

At least two historical sources describe this self-inflicted destruction. The first comes from Book V of Josephus Flavius' "The Wars of the Jews," in which he describes how Yohanan treated Shimon and his people, and vice versa. The second source is the Roman historian Tacitus, who lived in the first century CE. He, too, describes the war between brothers and says that as part of the Jews' internecine war, grain stores were set alight.

Do the jugs of wheat discovered on the Pilgrim's Road bear testimony to the civil war that took place a few years before the Temple was destroyed, or are they the work of the Romans' attempts to quash the revolt? Time and research will tell.

Feeling the final moments

The IAA excavation of the ancient Pilgrim's Road has called another widely accepted belief into question. According to the writings of Yosef ben Mattiyahu (Josephus Flavius), the residents of the biblical City of David, which was also known as the "lower city," were poor. New evidence demonstrates that the people who lived there in that era were actually well-to-do. Joe Uziel, Ari Levy, Zanton, and Hajbi say that the "impressive" road that has been excavated, along with the buildings excavated alongside it, testify to the population of the time being well-off, in contrast to what was previously believed. Among the rubble of the ruined Temple, plenty of valuable objects have been found, including fragments of embellished stone tables. One was decorated with ornamental carvings on its sides and another round one, made of bitumen, was inlaid with colored stones. Jewelry and earthenware vessels and small bottles that were used to hold perfumes or oils were also discovered there. This "rich man's street," which was thought to be the home to the poor at that time, will soon be opened to the general public. Five or so years from now, one will be able to walk the same path that pilgrims coming to visit the Temple on the three major holidays – Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot – used to travel.

The pilgrims would purify themselves in the Siloam Pool to the south of the City of David, and walk up the stepped street until they reached the foot of the Temple Mount. Of the 350 meters of the road excavated thus far, some 250 meters are paved in stone, as was standard in large-scale construction throughout the Roman Empire. The missing 100 meters of paving, Hajbi believes, was either stolen or never completed.

Over the years, coins, cooking pots, earthenware and stone vessels, rare glass items, and even a grand podium used in public events have been unearthed along the road, as have arrowheads and ballista stones. For the first time in 2,000 years, it has been possible to reach out and touch what remains of the ancient city in its final moments, before it was razed, and almost feel the final battle between the Roman forces and the Jewish rebels who barricaded themselves in the lower city during the battle that ended with the destruction of Jerusalem.

The IAA is not the first to dig here. Archaeologists Frederick Jones Bliss and Archibald Campbell Dickie were the first to bring their shovels, in 1894-1897. They paid "baksheesh" (bribe money) to the local farmers, went down the shafts, and dug tunnels in every direction, exposing small sections of the Pilgrim's Road.

British adventurer Montagu Parker dug here, too, as did the well-known British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, when Jordan controlled the city. Kenyon unearthed another section of the Pilgrim's Road and even photographed the road's stone borders. But when IAA archaeologists reached the same point, the stones Kenyon had documented were nowhere to be found, having been stolen.

Decades after Kenyon, Reich, and Shukron excavated additional parts of the road, as well as the Herodian drainage tunnel that runs underneath it. Exciting finds from the Second Temple era were discovered in the tunnel: the sword of a Roman legionnaire in a leather scabbard; a clay fragment bearing a drawing of the Temple menorah, by some unknown person who had probably seen it for themselves; and a gold bell with a spiral end. The bell had been sewn onto a piece of clothing worn by a high-status resident of Jerusalem – possibly the High Priest himself.

'Our Colosseum'

The Pilgrim's Road, or the Herodian street, as many still call it, was used for only some 40 years. According to the archaeological evidence, it was built around 30 CE and destroyed in 70 CE, with the destruction of the Second Temple. For nearly 2,000 years it was buried beneath dirt and rubble. Until the archaeologists arrived.

Professor Benjamin Mazar located some parts of the path on the slopes near the southern part of the Western Wall. On top of the road rested stones of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount that the Romans smashed and threw downhill. Other parts of the road were uncovered in the Western Wall tunnels, near Warren's Gate, and even at the northern end of the tunnels.

Yuval Baruch, the archaeologist who oversees the Jerusalem District for the IAA, said that the current work continues the previous excavations of the road that began in the 19^th century. Baruch mentions that the early European and American researchers were the ones who determined that the biblical City of David sat on the eastern hill of Jerusalem. Since then, archaeological finds have consistently bolstered that discovery.

Israel Antiquities Authority Director General Yisrael Hasson, notes that the project to excavate the Pilgrim's Road is part of a complete plant to excavate and develop ancient Jerusalem that the government approved two years ago. The goals of the plan include "increasing the number of visitors to all ancient Jerusalem sites to some 3 million per year" and "creating direct physical links between the southern part of the ancient city and the parts within the walls."

The meaning is clear: This will create a path that will allow the public to walk up from the Siloam Pool along the Pilgrim's Road underground, and later on to reach the Western Wall plaza, then eventually come to the Western Wall tunnels to the north of the plaza.

Israel Prize laureate David Be'eri, director general of the City of David, is finding it hard to conceal his glee. Be'eri stresses that "in the Second Temple era, the Pilgrim's Road connected the masses of people who would come from all over Israel and the world on their way to the Temple."

Be'eri says that he expects in the near future the road will "connect millions of visitors and tourists who will walk on those very same stones."

"Two thousand years ago, the Romans thought they had brought an end to Jewish life in the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. Today, we're back at the very same place, as a free people in their country and their capital," he says.

Last Sunday, when the two southern sections of the Pilgrim's Road excavation were unveiled at a ceremony, one of the dignitaries present remarked, "Rome has the Colosseum, Egypt has the pyramids, and now Jerusalem has the Pilgrim's Road that so many traveled in the past, and many more will follow in the future." That might be a little pretentious, but it's not far off.

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