The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel is the future building of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Ground was broken in 2010, [1] and construction began in 2012 in Jerusalem. The building will concentrate all centralized administrative offices into one structure, currently at 3 locations throughout Jerusalem: Har Hotzvim, Israel Museum, and the Rockefeller Museum. [2] The campus is being built on 20,000 square meters located between the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum. It was designed by Moshe Safdie.
When completed, the 36,000- sq.-m. building will house offices, archaeological artifacts, archeology laboratories, the National Library for the Archeology of Israel, and serve as a museum of archaeology. [3] Construction began in 2012 with the excavation of an enormous foundation cut into a hillside so that so that the roof level entrance of the large building is at ground level between the two, existing, major museums, while the lowest floor opens onto a street at the foot of the hill. [4] [5] The Antiquities Authority was formerly located in cramped quarters at the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem. [5]
The roof of the building is a large plaza with views of the Jerusalem hills. Several important Byzantine-era mosaics from churches and synagogues are on permanent display; this part of the campus is open to the public while construction continues on the interior of the building the visitor's feet. [3] Displays include a 6th-century, Byzantine-period mosaic floor, discovered in an ancient synagogue in Ein Gedi and featuring a curse in Judeo-Aramaic that invokes God's wrath upon anyone who neglects his family, provokes conflict, steals property, slanders his friends or "reveals the secret of the town", presumably referring to Ein Gedi's balsam industry or possibly cursing those who slader their Jewish community in front of Gentiles. [6] [7] [8]
Beit She'an, also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan, is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m below sea level.
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultural centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Ein Gedi, also spelled En Gedi, meaning "spring of the kid", is an oasis, an archeological site and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. Ein Gedi, a kibbutz, was established nearby in 1954.
The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum, is an archaeology museum located in East Jerusalem, next to Herod's Gate, that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the excavations conducted in the British-ruled Mandatory Palestine, mainly in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research. The Director-General is Mr. Eli Escusido, and its offices are housed in the Rockefeller Museum.
The Israel Exploration Society (IES), originally the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, is a society devoted to historical, geographical and archaeological research of the Land of Israel. The society was founded in 1913 and again in 1920, with the object of studying the history and civilization of the Land of Israel and of disseminating its knowledge.
The Jericho synagogue is a Jewish synagogue, located in Jericho, in the State of Palestine. The synagogue was built in the Byzantine Empire-era and is believed to date from the late 6th or early 7th century CE and was discovered in 1936. All that remains from the ancient prayer house is its mosaic floor, which contains an Aramaic inscription presenting thanks to the synagogue donors, and a well-preserved central medallion with the inscription "Shalom al Israel", meaning "Peace [up]on Israel". This led to the site also being known as Shalom Al Israel Synagogue.
Naaran was an ancient Jewish village dating to the 5th and 6th century CE, located in the modern-day West Bank, in the State of Palestine. Remains of the village have been excavated north-west of Jericho. Naaran is archeologically notable for the mosaic floor of a synagogue, featuring a large zodiac design, which was discovered at the site.
Ehud Netzer was an Israeli architect, archaeologist and educator, known for his extensive excavations at Herodium, where in 2007 he found the tomb of Herod the Great; and the discovery of a structure defined by Netzer as a synagogue, which if true would be the oldest one ever found.
Levantine archaeology is the archaeological study of the Levant. It is also known as Syro-Palestinian archaeology or Palestinian archaeology. Besides its importance to the discipline of Biblical archaeology, the Levant is highly important when forming an understanding of the history of the earliest peoples of the Stone Age.
Mata is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Jerusalem corridor about eight kilometers southeast of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 951.
The Gaza synagogue is a former ancient Jewish synagogue, that was built in 508 CE during the Byzantine period, Located in the ancient port city of Gaza, then known as "Maiumas", currently the Rimal district of Gaza City, in the State of Palestine, the archeological ruins of the former synagogue were discovered in 1965.
Kafra, was a Palestinian Arab village located 10.5 kilometres north of Baysan. Built along both sides of the Wadi Kafra, the village had been known by this name since at least the time of the Crusades. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Palestine War on May 16, 1948.
Khirbat Zakariyya was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 12, 1948, under the second stage of Operation Dani. It was located 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Ramla.
Ancient synagogues in Israel refers to synagogues located in Israel built by communities of Jews and Samaritans from antiquity to the Early Islamic period.
The Givati Parking Lot dig is an archaeological excavation located in Silwan in advance of building project commissioned by the El'ad Association. It is adjacent to the City of David archaeological site. The dig was conducted by Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the City of David Foundation. While the IAA conducts the excavations, the project and site is managed by El'ad.
The Eshtemoa Synagogue is a former ancient Jewish synagogue and archeological site, located 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Hebron in as-Samu, West Bank, in the State of Palestine. The remains of the ancient Palestinian synagogue date from around the 4th–5th century CE.
The Inn of the Good Samaritan is a national park, museum, ancient archaeological site and former inn administered by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority located near Ma'ale Adumim, halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho, at an elevation of 298 meters above sea level.
Khirbet Samara is an archaeological site located in the West Bank. It lies near the Israeli settlement of Einav, 9 km east of Taibe.
Ein Gedi was an important Jewish settlement on the western shore of the Dead Sea in ancient times. The ruins, including the 6th century Ein Gedi synagogue, home to one of the most impressive mosaic floors in Israel, testify to a continuous Jewish settlement in the area for over 1,300 years, from the 7th century BCE to the 6th century CE.
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