After the 586 BCE destruction of Jerusalem, the city lay mostly in waste for some 70 years until the return of Jews to the city, as described in the Bible. After that, Jerusalem reaches its peak in the late Second Temple period, roughly 2,000 years ago, beginning in the time of King Herod and continuing into the period of the rule of the Roman procurators. In 66 CE, the Jews rebelled against the Romans in the First Revolt, and Jerusalem is eventually destroyed four years later after a long siege.
Uziel said that the physical archaeological remains of the 586 BCE destruction characterize a different conquest than what occurred some 500 years later. “It’s not that everywhere that we excavate we find these huge destruction levels, these huge burnings, these huge stone collapses with vessels, and so on and so forth — what we typically find at archaeological sites where we’re excavating destruction,” said Uziel.
But at several spots in the City of David, archaeologists have found very clear evidence of the 586 BCE destruction.
“Now, people may be wondering, ‘How can you date it so perfectly well?'” he joked. In this case he looks to the historical record, as well as securely dated artifacts to use in comparison to what is being uncovered. For example, the administrative stamps and types of storage jars and other pottery.
“We are more and more moving towards using ‘hi-tech finds’ I’ll call them, or what I’ll call archaeological sciences,” said Uziel, including evidence for carbon dating that is taken in the field.
“When we take a look across a broad level of Jerusalem, we have these nodes of destruction, but then we have the next room over, which doesn’t show signs of destruction,” said Uziel. He said the IAA and Tel Aviv University are working on a joint project to understand better what exactly happened during the destruction using advanced sciences.
“Could this be something that micro-archaeology solves for us? For example, is it destruction that we just don’t see? Or is it really destroying specific spots? Or is it an issue of what was in the room that caused the destruction?
“In other words, you have the Babylonian army running through the city and if there are jars of olive oil, for example, and one of them threw his torch into that room, then it would go up in flames. But, if there was nothing in the room, then the torch would burn out and that would be the end of it,” he said.
In the lengthy discussion, Uziel also examines Second Temple-period evidence of bustling Jewish life and the monumental mega-building that occurred before the eventual Roman conquest, such as the
breath-taking stepped street that was likely built by Pontius Pilate. He also speaks about the new archaeological techniques used in a
recent study of Wilson’s Arch and the challenges involved.
In addition to a large new section of the Western Wall, the Wilson’s Arch excavations also offered up a Roman public theater-like building that is much smaller than those theaters found in Caesarea and elsewhere. It was built in the confines of Wilson’s Arch, holding a crowd of circa 200 people.
“The Jews were no longer living in Jerusalem, but still hoping to return, as they did after the destruction of the First Temple and some 70 years later returned. Here, we’re 60 years following the destruction of the Second Temple and Jews are living in the area of Jerusalem, and I believe — and of course I can’t interview them — but I believe they still had hopes in their hearts that they would be allowed and able to come back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. And all of a sudden it’s becoming this Roman colony,” he said. The Roman rebuilding of Jerusalem may have been a factor that led to the eventual Bar Kochba Revolt, he said.
