A Look at Herodium

Shmuel Browns offers an excellent article on Herodium in the April edition of Popular Archaeology, in honor of its excavator, Ehud Netzer, who died last autumn as the result of a fall at the site. Herodium is one of the fortresses built by Herod the Great. (Masada was another such fortress.)  He also built "Lower Herodium" at the foot of the man-made hill. The site is located just outside Bethlehem, on the edge of the Judean wilderness.  It offers spectacular ruins and views from the top.  According to Josephus, Herod built the fortress to commemorate his victory over the Parthians early in his reign. It was destroyed by the Romans in 71 AD.

Professor Netzer had dedicated much of his life to its excavation.  Several years ago he discovered what is likely to be Herod's desecrated tomb on the side of the hill, half way up.  Herodium's proximity to Jerusalem & Bethlehem make it a "must see" should you happen to visit Israel.  The wonder of this article is the opportunity to get a close look at a few of the artifacts and an artist's recreation of what the original area would have looked like. The illustrations are based on the archaeological discoveries made thus far. I love looking at ruins, but I also enjoy being able to imagine what it once looked like in its prime. Enjoy the article! [If you right-click on most of the pictures in the article, and choose "view image," you'll get a large photo to look at.]

A Few Surprises in Cleveland!

I thought I would share a few significant antiquities from the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art. As I descended the stairs to the antiquities area, I was shocked to discover a full sized bronze statue from Classical Greece staring at me. Greek bronzes are extremely rare. Most of our knowledge concerning them comes from their more recent Roman copies. (The Romans loved Greek culture!)  The only original bronzes I have ever seen were those discovered in a sunken ship off the coast of Greece and placed on display in a small museum in Piraeus, the port of Athens. And here was one in the collection at Cleveland! It's called "Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard Slayer)" and depicts a youthful Apollo, holding an arrow, about to stab a lizard climbing the tree he's leaning against. The tree & arrow are gone. Other than that the statue is in wonderful condition. It's attributed to Praxiteles himself (400-330 BC). The eyes are made of stone. It's even more unusual for the eyes to be intact. The viewer has a vivid idea of how this statue actually appeared to the Greeks in the 4th century BC! This is a real treasure!

In the Ancient Near East collection I was also surprised to find a few other treasures. There are a number of ancient stone figures from the Greek Cyclades islands dating to c.3000 BC that seem almost modern in their simplicity of line & feature (see example on left). They're referred to as "Cycladic" art and I've only seen examples which came from this group of Greek islands in the Aegean. [The Benaki Museum in Athens has an excellent collection.] Well, it appears that Cleveland has one of similar style from the same time period which was found not in the Cyclades islands, but in Western Anatolia (modern Turkey)! No mythology has yet been found to go with these statues, but I suspect they were cultic in nature, probably representing a fertility goddess. The one in Cleveland is not identical to the Cyladic examples, but very close in style! (See Cleveland's "Star Gazer" on right.) One difference is that the head looks up in the Cleveland statue. The Cycladic statues usually have a straight-forward gaze. It's easy to imagine trade and exchange of ideas and culture between the Greek islands & Anatolia, even in 3000 BC. This truly fascinated me.

And finally, I was thrilled to discover finds from an "old friend". Mystery writer Agatha Christie's second husband, Max Mallowan, was an eminent British archaeologist. She accompanied him on digs in the Near East just before and after WWII and wrote about the experience in one of my favorite books, Come, Tell Me How You Live. It's a wonderful read and gives a fascinating depiction of the Near East in that time period. Mallowan is well known for his discovery of a number of small ivory carvings he found in a well in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (modern Iraq). Since they were detached from the furniture where they originally appeared, it's probable they were part of the loot taken by an Assyrian king from some Near Eastern palace. [They are carved in a Phoenician (modern Lebanon) style.] They had been tossed into the well, perhaps  during a subsequent attack of Assyrian Nimrud, and there they remained until discovered by Mallowan. A number are on display at the British Museum and others can be seen in the National Museum in Iraq. Good news, friends... some of them can also be viewed at the Cleveland Museum of Art! I walked around a corner and came upon an entire display case of them! Breathtaking and so unexpected. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the ones from Cleveland, but here are a few examples found in other museums. This is a peek into the Ancient Near Eastern world we read about in the Old Testament!

Travels: Curved Stairways

The architecture of Paris is stunning. I could spend a month just walking around appreciating the intricate architectural beauty of the city... interspersed with sidewalk cafes, books, public fountains and people watching. A feature I especially identify with Paris is the interior curved staircase. I find them visually fascinating and thought I'd share a few shots with you. Aren't they beautiful? And you wonder how French women stay thin!

Always Changing Jerusalem

When someone visits Israel for the first time, it can be easy to imagine that the historical areas have always looked the way you are seeing them. But modern Israel is about 20 feet above where it would have been during Jesus' day. Here are two photos of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. The top picture was taken in 1964. Note the large crack in the stone behind the man's knees.

The Western Wall Plaza has been lowered about 6 feet since then. The bottom picture shows how it looks today. Note the same cracked stone under the right hand of the young man in the red shirt who is standing on a chair. I found this to be a wonderful visual reminder of the constant changes Jerusalem is undergoing.

[I found these two photos on Todd Bolen's website. The top photo was taken by David Blevin and the bottom one by Todd.]

The Land of Hills & Valleys

In January I traveled to Israel with a group from NE Bible College. Though it wasn't exactly the study trip I had pictured, it was certainly a worthwhile experience. Because there weren't enough students to fill all the slots, they opened it up to people from churches who support the College. The result was that the trip was not as academic as I would have liked... but I was able to make new friends.

We visited some sites I had only dreamed of ever seeing. I'm sure I became quite annoying as I kept trying to explain to people the significance of the gateway at Lachish or the controversy over the "stable" at Megiddo or the importance of all the miqvehs at Qumran as to whether or not this had been an Essene community (a small minority do not believe it was) or why there had once been an Egyptian governor's house on the Tell at Beth Shean. I'm not sure they were able to see how utterly cool it all was! ;)

Other than the archaelogical areas, what was most educational for me? I'd have to say seeing the terrain. I knew that Israel is small, about the size of NJ. But I had not really appreciated that it is pretty much all uphill, except for the coast and Jordan rift valley. When you look at a topographical map you notice that the terrain is arranged in vertical strips: coastline, hill country, Jordan rift valley. So when I read "hill" country, I imagined gently rolling hills, such as you would see in southern NH. But it wasn't like NH at all. The hills, though not always very high, ascend and descend sharply, again and again, so that you are constantly traveling up and down. From the top of one hill you can easily see the surrounding hills, but there are steep valleys in between. And it's just one hill after another after another... I have a new appreciation for Jesus and the disciples walking around that land. They must have been been pretty buff!

The Kidron Valley and Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem are also a lot steeper and deeper than I had imagined. One of the funniest stories happened when we were independently walking around in the Old City. The Old City is like a rabbit warren. The streets are narrow and roofed over in the market areas, so you often have absolutely no sense of direction and can walk from one Quarter to the next without even being aware of it, except for, perhaps, a change in merchandise or the writing being in Hebrew or Arabic.

Rick, Heather & I were walking along and I noticed we were going DOWN a lot of steps. I mean lots and lots of steps. Down and down and down... I laughed, saying at least we didn't have to climb back up all of them. Yes... you guessed it. We ran into a sawhorse roadblock we couldn't pass. The gentleman explained there was a mosque service ahead and we could go no further. We told him we were headed to the Jaffa Gate and he started laughing a deep belly laugh. After wiping the tears from his eyes and chuckling a few more times, he informed us we had been traveling in the exact opposite direction - which meant we had to climb back UP all those many, many stairs. I was pleased to have given him such a spot of joy in his humdrum job of stopping tourists from wandering into a mosque service. I'm sure we made his day and he couldn't WAIT to go home and tell the wife and kids!

Preparing for a "Literary Vacation"

Beth, Nehemiah and I are about to take a little "literary vacation" to the Berkshires this weekend. This kind of trip has become a tradition with my family and friends. The last two summers I have dragged numerous friends to Concord, Mass. to visit Hawthorne's home and his grave on Authors' Ridge, after forcing them to read some of his work first, of course. [Hey... the lunch at the Concord Inn makes it all worthwhile!] Hawthorne has become a favorite of mine in recent years and I marvel at how I am now able to understand and thoroughly enjoy his writing... which seemed so cold and distant to me when in I was in HS. I heard Beth recently voice one of my own observations - great literature is often wasted on the young. Partly I think a good teacher can make a huge difference in learning to understand and appreciate a work. What a difference Tim's prof in a Milton course made in his enjoyment of "Paradise Lost", a work few would willingly choose to read. Ah... if only we ALL had such teachers introduce us to great works!

But I also think we are better able to appreciate really great writing the more we are exposed to it, and the LESS we expose ourselves to bad writing. I'm always amazed at the depth of my friend Heather's knowledge in literature. She was raised in a home that enjoyed poetry and good literature, particularly English lit. I wish I could have had as much of an influence on my own children, but I didn't really begin to enjoy classic books until they were grown and gone.

One thing I like to do on "Literary" trips is buy a classic work at the author's home. They usually give out a nice bookplate to paste in the front, saying where the book was purchased. Some of my favorites include copies of "Little Women" from Louisa May Alcott's house in Concord, Mass., "The Old Man and the Sea" from Hemingway's house in Key West and Hawthorne's "Tales and Sketches" [which includes: "Mosses from an Old Manse", "Twice-Told Tales", "The Wonder Book for Boys and Girls" and "Tanglewood Tales"] from his home in Concord. I also cherish two books I got at the Huntington Library while visiting Tim in Cali - A replica of "The Ellesmere Manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales" and "Shakespeare at the Huntington".

In preparation for our trip, Beth and I are reading "Moby Dick", as we're planning to go to Melville's House, and I'm also reading Edith Wharton's "A Backward Glance", her autobiography, in preparation for visiting her home, The Mount. I plan to buy a copy of "The Age of Innocence" at The Mount and two of Melville's early books based upon his own experiences as a South Seas sailor, "Typee" and "Omoo". After avoiding "Moby Dick" all these years, I have to say it's a surprisingly easy book to read. I am even enjoying his digressions into history and descriptions of whales and sailing. I've been quite surprised to find so much humor. I never would have expected that from Melville, but he makes me chuckle quite often. The book IS quite long, but who's in a hurry?

Wharton's autobiography has been so much fun I'm considering reconvening a Literary Luncheon Group just so we can enjoy discussing it. This summer I'm also determined to host my "Paddington Bear Tea" for several little girls who are friends of mine... before they are too old to appreciate it. I dragged a stuffed Paddington all the way home from London on one trip, holding him on my lap on the plane so his hat wouldn't be crushed. I've bought them all copies of the first Paddington Bear book. My idea is to have a "Tea" with my stuffed Paddington as our honored guest and then read a few chapters of the book to them, before giving them copies to bring home. Summer is meant for fun... and what could be MORE fun than reading?!

"Saint" George Got Around

Because of my interest in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Great Britain, I was quite familiar with St. George being "the Patron Saint" of England. (Sort of like Athena being the "patron goddess" of Athens and Artemis/Diana being the "patron goddess" of Ephesus, isn't it?) I had assumed, therefore, that he had British roots. But when we traveled through France what do I discover? The French also claim George as theirs! Then we visited Greece... lo and behold... they consider George theirs! I talked with a native Greek friend at home about it and he claimed George was originally a martyred Greek believer. I had trouble trying to figure out how a Greek martyr ended up slaying dragons and saving damsels-in-distress in England. I was just amazed at how this guy happened to "get around" to such disparate areas!

Then I opened up this month's issue of "Christian History and Biography" and got the REAL lowdown on George. It turns out George was really a ROMAN general and Christian martyr, probably under the reign of Emperor Diocletian (just before Constantine). Now I should have been suspicious when my Greek friend claimed George was a Greek [it's that Greek thing again], though I concede that he COULD have been a Roman officer of Greek descent. By the time of Diocletian, emperors, officers and soldiers hailed from all over the Roman Empire, not just Italy. At the very least, it makes sense that George would have been recognized as a Christian martyr in Greece at a very early date.

Perhaps he also became familiar in Roman Britain and Gaul during the Christian era of the Roman Empire and thus entered into their respective cultural histories. Then along came those terribly romantic and inventive French troubadours [who, btw, originally hailed from Britain (migrating to the Brittany region of France - hence the NAME "Brittany", when the Anglo-Saxons pushed their way into England and pushed them out) bringing all of their British legends with them]. They probably added all the interesting "details" to the story. That's my guess, anyway. Isn't history fun? Has anyone run across George anywhere else?