Jerusalem

First Wall

During the Hasmonean period, the settlement in Jerusalem grew and expanded onto the western hill. The wall built by Hezekiah to fortify the western hill, which had lain in ruins since 586 B. C.E., was now repaired and rebuilt. Portions of this wall survive, including inside the courtyard of the Citadel, a medieval and Ottoman-period fortified enclosure at the northwest corner of the western hill. Archaeologists identify the Hasmonean wall with the First Wall described by Josephus (see Chapter 7). The stones in the wall are laid in alternating courses of headers and stretchers, and have drafted margins with rough, protruding bosses, which means that the four edges (margins) are cut back and smooth, whereas the central part (the boss) is unworked. These techniques are characteristic of monumental construction in the late Hellenistic period (see, for example, the stones on the north side of the “seam" at the southeast corner of the Temple Mount described in Chapter 4'S discussion of the Akra).

Jason's Tomb

In the 1950s, a monumental Hasmonean period tomb was discovered in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia. A long, narrow, open passage (dromos) cut into the slope of a hill provided access to a porch in front of the tomb, which contained two separate, side-by-side underground chambers cut into bedrock. A single Doric column was set between the jambs of the porch (an arrangement called in-antis in Greek, meaning between the antae [thickened jambs]). A monumental stone pyramid was erected above the tomb. Jews of the late Second Temple period referred to a monumental grave marker as a nefesh (Hebrew for “soul").

One of the underground chambers (A) had loculi cut into the walls, into which the burials (individual inhumations) were placed. Whereas Marisa has the earliest examples of loculi found in Palestine so far, this is their first appearance in a Jewish tomb. The use of the Doric order and loculi (and Greek language; discussed later) reflect Hellenistic influence on the Jewish family that owned Jason's Tomb.

Graffiti were drawn in charcoal or incised into the plaster of the porch walls. The graffiti include several inscriptions in Aramaic and one in Greek. One Aramaic inscription enjoins visitors to the tomb to lament the death of Jason — hence the name given to the tomb by archaeologists. The graffiti include depictions of a stag, five seven-branched menorahs (among the earliest surviving representations of this object), and three ships with unfurled sails. One ship

5.2 Jason's Tomb. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.

Appears to be in pursuit of the other two, with a man at the curved prow poised to shoot a bow and arrow and another man behind him holding a spear. Human heads representing rowers are lined up along the side of the ship. The meaning of these graffiti — who made them and why — is unknown. The excavator suggested that perhaps the family that owned the tomb made its fortune through piracy at sea, as we have ancient references to Jewish pirates. Whether or not this is the case, the owners of Jason's Tomb likely were a priestly family. This is indicated by the name Jason (which was common among the Jerusalem high priests), the depiction of menorahs (alluding to the temple), the evidence of Greek influence, and the tomb's size and ostentation.

5.3 Graffiti of ships from Jason's Tomb. From L. Y. Rahmani, "Jason's Tomb," Israel Exploration Journal 17.2 (1967), Figs. 5a-5b. By permission of the Israel Exploration Society.