The
excavations of 2005 and
2006 at the
Garden Tomb, in
Jerusalem, did
not completely confirm
the findings as stated
by the late Ronald E.
Wyatt during his
periods of excavation
during the years 1979
to 1989. We no longer
have the personal
account of Ronald
Wyatt to help guide
us. For these reasons,
until further
research, the Ark of
the Covenant materials
presented by Wyatt
Archaeological
Research prior to 2005
have been removed from
circulation.
...Dr.
Jerome Niswonger and
Eric Lembcke
As
per the unanimous
decision of the Board
of Directors,
Wyatt Archaeological
Research
Mary Nell Wyatt Lee
Eric Lembcke
Jerome Niswonger
Richard Rives
Click
here to go to home
page
for latest information
August
2006
Ark of the Covenant Excavation Reveals
Plastered Enclosure
12,000
Gallon Cistern?
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Excavations
just completed in
Jerusalem revealed what
appears to be a 12,000
gallon Byzantine
cistern. A
circular plastered
enclosure measuring
approximately sixteen
feet in diameter and
approximately ten feet
in height was partially
excavated. The
cistern having walls as
much as six feet in
thickness adjoins an
un-plastered circular
room which surrounds the
crevice which Ron Wyatt
associated with the
crucifixion site.
A
date has not been
established for the
un-plastered room and at
this time archaeologists
are uncertain as to it's
function. Quoting one
investigator: "I am
perplexed. I have
never seen anything
exactly like this."
The
photo at the top is a
view of the excavation
from the surface some
thirty feet above.
At the bottom and right
side of the picture
steel shoring frames are
visible.
At
right-center the
un-plastered circular
room surrounding the
"crevice" and
"cross hole"
area can be seen.
Removal of the
overburden, by way of
the recent excavations,
made it possible to
reveal and define the
circular nature of the
room. In the past
only portions of the
walls could be seen on
each side of the
"crevice" and
"cross
hole."
A steel drilling
platform which was
employed in the
excavation is seen in
the center of the
room.
In the lower
left an excavation
opening is seen which
leads into the
cistern. This
opening was created as a
result of the recent dig
and is in addition to an
2005 opening through a
six foot thick cistern
wall that is built on
bedrock.
The
elevation of the
bedrock under the
cistern wall gets
higher as it extends
to the north toward
the cliff face. The man
made portion of
the cistern wall is
five or six feet high
where we cut through
last year. Near
the cliff face the
bedrock is at a much
higher elevation
requiring less
construction.
It
is interesting to note
that we find the
remains of a plastered
floor at the elevation
of the cistern rim.
The wall of the
circular room
surrounding the
"cross hole"
and
"crevice"
seems to have been
slightly higher than
that of the cistern,
as it extends
above the plastered
floor by about
eighteen inches.
It
is also
interesting to note
that the "cross
hole" and
"crevice" is
located in the center
of the unidentified
circular room.
At the
top-center sand bags
cover a portion of a
stone stairway.
The lower portion of the
stairway is missing and
seems to have been
unintentionally removed
by Ron Wyatt as he
originally entered the
area. Working
underground and in a
confined area it would
have been impossible for
Ron to have recognized
the nature of the stones
that had to be removed
for access.
Projecting down the
existing stairs, the
indication is that the
stairway would lead into
the cistern along it's
Northern walls.
The
second image is an
overlay of the 2005
excavation along with
the outline of the
position of the circular
walls as revealed by the
recent excavation.
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BACK FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
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OFFICIAL
REPORT
ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES
AUTHORITY |
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The Glass Finds
Natalia Katznelson
A
few fragments of
glass vessels were
found, including
the unique
cylinder seal from
the eighth-seventh
centuries BCE. The
seal was made of
transparent,
colorless glass,
which is quite
rare in such an
object; it bears a
wheel-cut pattern,
depicting a cultic
scene. A wide
perforation in the
center of the
cylinder may
indicate its
secondary use as a
bead. The other
finds consisted of
three fragments of
vessels on bases
with a thick wound
trail along the
edge (Figs.
4:1–3; 5), which
belong to a
well-known type of
conical beakers or
lamps from the
fourth century CE.
However, variants
of beakers/lamps
with similar bases
are rare in
excavated
assemblages in the
country. Other
fragments, also
dating to the
Roman period
(second–fourth
centuries CE),
included a beaker
(Fig. 4:4), a bowl
(Fig. 4:5) and a
jug with a ribbed
handle.
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During
August 2005 a
trial excavation
was conducted
within the Garden
Tomb compound,
north of the
Damascus Gate
(Permit No.
A-4549*). The
excavation, on
behalf of the
Antiquities
Authority and
funded by two
foundations from
the United
States––the
Wyatt
Archaeological
Research (WAR) of
Tennessee and the
Biblical
Archaeology
Foundation (BAF)
of Texas––was
directed by Y.
Zelinger, with the
assistance of V.
Pirsky
(surveying), I.
Berin (drafting),
T. Sagiv
(photography), N.
Katznelson (glass
finds), T. Ornan
(cylinder seal),
D.T. Ariel
(numismatics), C.
Hersch (glass and
pottery drawings),
as well as
volunteers from
around the world.
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The
excavation was
conducted south of
a natural bedrock
outcrop that was
identified by
General C. Gordon
in 1883 as
Golgotha
(Fig.
1). During the
1980s, R. Wyatt
excavated several
underground
chambers at the
site. The current
excavation cleaned
and documented the
former chambers
and additional
chambers were
excavated.
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The underground
complex was
entered by way of
a narrow natural
shaft (L100;
1.0–1.2 m; Fig.
2), descending 5 m
deep and opening
into an
irregular-shaped
chamber (L101, 2
×
3 m, 2.8 m high).
A narrow opening
(0.65
×
1.00 m) was
breached in the
southern wall of
the chamber,
leading into a
rock-hewn
corridor, aligned
east–west. The
passage westward
was blocked by the
collapse of earth
and stones;
eastward, it led
into a circular
building (L102;
diam. 3 m) whose
walls were built
of fieldstones
(0.3–0.4 m wide)
and were founded
on the steps of an
ancient quarry,
which descended
vertically c. 2.5
m southward. The
building’s
function was not
ascertained due to
the limitations of
the excavation. It
was probably part
of a residential
structure or an
industrial
installation. The
soil fill in L102
yielded an
extremely worn
coin that dated to
the Umayyad period
(697–750 CE; IAA
101943). Most of
the potsherds from
the fill in L102
dated to the Hellenistic–Byzantine
periods––a
spindle bottle
from the
Hellenistic period
(Fig. 3:7), a
cooking pot, a jar
and a lamp from
the Roman period
(Fig. 3:5, 6, 8)
and a bowl from
the Byzantine
period (Fig. 3:4).
Other finds
recovered from the
fill included a
krater dating to
Iron Age II (Fig.
3:1), a jar of
Iron Age I (Fig.
3:2) and a broken
animal figurine
(Fig. 3:3), which
is well known in
Iron Age II
Jerusalem. A
special find was a
glass cylinder
seal (diam. 0.75
cm, length 1.7 cm;
the seal was
identified as such
by C. Hersch),
dating to the
eighth-seventh
centuries BCE. The
seal is in the
local Neo-Assyrian
style and portrays
a worshipper in
front of a
crescent on a
stick,
representing the
moon god, Sin of
H
aran.
The southern wall
of the circular
building was
breached and led
into another
irregular-shaped
chamber, which was
not excavated due
to safety issues.
However, its
curved western
wall was probably
the outer wall of
a water cistern,
revealed in a
ground penetrating
radar examination.
The finds that
were disturbed by
the previous
excavation and the
conditions of the
current excavation
made it difficult
to understand the
remains. The
earliest phase at
the site was a
quarry, survived
by severance
channels of the
masonry stones. It
was part of the
extensive quarry
known from the
nearby
Zedekiah’s Cave
and Jeremiah’s
Pit. The ceramic
finds and cylinder
seal from the Iron
Age were perhaps
debris from an
Iron Age cemetery
in the nearby St.
Etienne, which had
apparently
extended over the
area of the Garden
Tomb as well. The
respective amounts
of ceramic finds
recovered from the
building indicate
it can be dated to
the Roman period.
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