Jerusalem

Abstract

The limited excavations at Saflulim demonstrate that, together with Rosh Horesha, it functioned as some form of Negev Late Natufian residential basecamp or, more plausibly, aggregation site, with substantial and durable architectural features present. Together they represent a single site complex forming, by far, the largest Natufian (and indeed Epipalaeolithic) site documented in the Negev to date. Without doubt this is in large measure accounted for by the particular phytogeographic location of the site in the highest reaches of the central Negev Highlands during a period when environmental conditions were more favourable and a wider array of vegetal resources were available than at present.

The recovered assemblages increase the data base for ongoing technological, typological, stylistic and functional comparative studies of the Late Natufian in the Negev. In particular they should provide some indications as to the degree of variability between different types of site in the various phytogeographic zones within the region. Though not entirely conclusive, the newly acquired data appear to bolster the likelihood that previously reported assemblages from the adjacent site of Rosh Horesha are at least partially mixed.     

Early Helladic Sealings from Geraki in Lakonia, Greece

In 1997, excavations conducted by the University of Amsterdam at Geraki (Lakonia) led to the discovery of a group of clay sealings amid burnt debris dating to Early Helladic IIB. The unexpectedness of finding clay sealings of such early date at this relatively unknown, inland site has prompted this preliminary report.     

The Archaeological Heritage of the Jerusalem Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion

Abstract

Ever since the purchase of land in 1848 for the establishment of the Jerusalem Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion, the south-western brow of the hill has attracted the attention of scholars. Initiated by the discovery of a series of rock-hewn steps in a scarp that was traced for over 200 metres and thought to be the line of Jerusalem's ancient fortifications, archaeological investigation within the confines of the cemetery continued for some 150 years. In this paper, the results of a century and a half of excavations are summarized and synthesized, providing important evidence regarding the development and chronology of Jerusalem's fortifications from the Iron Age to the Ayyubid Period. Also, the idea of an Essene Quarter on Mount Zion during the Second Temple Period, based on the discovery of a gate believed to be Josephus' 'Gate of the Essenes', is re-examined in light of the rest of the archaeological evidence from the cemetery.     

Adventus in Jerusalem: the Palm Sunday celebration in Latin Jerusalem

Themes of continuity and innovation in the rituals of the church of Jerusalem in the early twelfth century, following the crusader conquest of the city, are examined with a focus on the Latin Palm Sunday procession. Based on the Ordinal of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was produced for the use of the patriarch and the religious community of the Holy Sepulchre, and which contains the yearly ritual cycles and major processional celebrations, the study reveals the original characteristics of the Jerusalem liturgy, as well as its components incorporated from pre-crusade practice. It speculates on the earliest organisers of the liturgy, their identity and the sources of their inspiration, as well as the orientations of the early monastic community in Frankish Jerusalem.