Ancient Jerusalem

Ancient Jerusalem (1961-2006) Vols 1-V already published, Vol VI in preparation.

Publication
Team members: Dr Helen Brown, Dr Kevin Butcher, Dr G.
Clarke, Père B. Couroyer OP, Mr A. Dimoulinis. Dr C. Grigson, Dr John Hayes, Professor C. Koehler, Dr. P. Mattheson, Professor Michael Metcalf, Dr M. al-Moreikhi, Dr K. Prag, Professor Richard Reece, Dr David S. Reese, Dr StJ. Simpson, Ms D. Snow.

Project Manager : Dr Kay Prag, The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL.
 

Introduction
Jerusalem is arguably the most interesting and best-known archaeological site in the context of world cultural and religious history. It also remains one which is still poorly understood archaeologically in many key aspects, and this was particularly true in 1960 when the project was first proposed by Dr Kathleen Kenyon (Fig. 1), then Director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (now the Kenyon Institute of the CBRL).

Excavations of the Joint Expedition in Jerusalem, 1961-1967.
The excavations directed by Kathleen M. Kenyon, were sponsored jointly by the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, the British Academy and the Palestine Exploration Fund, and were conducted in partnership with Père Roland de Vaux OP of the Ecole Biblique et Archéologique Français in Jerusalem (1961-1963) and with Dr A.D. Tushingham of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada (1963-1967).

The primary object of Dame Kathleen Kenyons's excavations from 1961 to 1967 was to put archaeological knowledge of Jerusalem onto a sound stratigraphic footing. Although Dame Kathleen produced two general books on Jerusalem and seven excellent and detailed preliminary reports, the final report was not written before her death in 1978, and the publication has been subject to long delays. To date four volumes of final reports have been published, with two more in process.

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The Site
More than twenty different locations (see Fig. 2) were excavated during the seven field seasons; they included material of all periods from the Early Bronze Age to the modern; and included sites within both the medieval and the ancient city. Although the main areas of excavation were on the ancient city near the Gihon Spring, and on the western hill within the walls of the medieval city, smaller trenches explored a range of sites, including areas adjacent to the city walls and the Haram al-Sharif (see Figs 3 and 4). A few areas were located beyond the walls, to the south of the ancient city and on the Mt of Olives. Much information relating to the Iron Age II and the Byzantine periods (particularly from Sites A and M) was recovered, but also of the Islamic periods (particularly Sites J, L and S). (Fig. 5).

The Archive
A crucial element of the excavations was not just the recording, but the systematic way in which material from the site was retained for study. This means that not only is the data recorded for traditional forms of analysis as intended by Kenyon, but much of the material is preserved for study in current systems. The archive, including the ceramic type series, the bone, glass and other study collections, the site records and the photographic archive from all sites,  has been housed in The Manchester Museum since 1980. The copyright of all material, including the photographs, was held by the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, now transferred to the Council for British Research in the Levant.

For further information, contact Dr Kay Prag at The Manchester Museum, Manchester University, Manchester M13 9PL, England.

The Ancient Jerusalem Project
The aims of the project are to bring to publication all the remaining material, principally from the post-Iron Age contexts, from the archaeological excavations directed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem from 1961-1967.

The integrated analysis of the stratigraphy and finds from all post-Iron Age sites involves the extensive paper archive (sections, plans, site and pottery notebooks, photographs, card indexes, registers etc.); several tons of sherds (mainly rims, decorated and diagnostic pieces); and several other categories of material which are being studied by relevant specialists. The drawing up of plans and sections is supported by the transfer of data from registers and notebooks to electronic database and text storage. It is intended that the final published report will be supported by archival material in both formats. The full publication of Kenyon’s material will substantially advance our archaeological knowledge of Jerusalem. The Ancient Jerusalem Project of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem was funded by a five year grant from the Leverhulme Trust 1993-1997 and is now supported by further donations under the direction of Dr Kay Prag.

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Bibliography
Eshel, I. and. Prag, K. (ed.) (1995)  Excavations by K.M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967.  IV. The Iron Age Cave Deposits on the South-east Hill and Isolated Burials and Cemeteries Elsewhere.  British Academy Monographs in Archaeology No. 6. OUP: Oxford.

Franken, H.J. and Steiner, M.L. (1990)  Excavations in Jerusalem 1961-1967. II. The Iron Age Extramural Quarter on the South-East Hill.  BAMA 2. OUP: Oxford

Franken, H.J. (2005) A History of Pottery and Potters in Ancient Jerusalem Excavations by K.M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967. Equinox: London.

Kenyon, K.M. (1962) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1961. PEQ  94, 72-89

Kenyon, K.M. (1963) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1962. PEQ 95, 7-21

Kenyon, K.M. (1964) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1963. PEQ 96, 7-18

Kenyon, K.M.  (1965) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1964. PEQ 97, 1-12
Kenyon, K.M.  (1966) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1965. PEQ 98, 73-88

Kenyon, K.M.  (1967a) Excavations in Jerusalem, 1966. PEQ 99, 65-71

Kenyon, K.M. (1967b) Jerusalem. Excavating 3000 Years of History. Thames and Hudson: London

Kenyon, K.M. (1968) Excavations in Jerusalem 1967. PEQ 100, 97-109

Kenyon, K.M. (1974) Digging Up Jerusalem. Benn: London

Prag, K. et al. (forthcoming)  Excavations by Kathleen M. Kenyon  in Jerusalem 1961-1967. V

Prag, K. (2007) Jerusalem in the third and second millennia B.C. The archaeological evidence. Pp. 54-68 in Zeidan Kafafi and Robert Schick
(eds.) Jerusalem before Islam. British Archaeological Reports International Series 1699. Oxford.

Prag, K. (2008) Excavations by K.M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967. Volume V . Discoveries in Hellenistic to Ottoman Jerusalem. Centenary volume: Kathleen M. Kenyon 1906-1978. With contributions from Helen Brown, Kevin Butcher, Andreas Dimoulinis, John Hayes, Carolyn Koehler, Philippa Matheson, Michael Metcalf, Moshalleh al-Moreikhi, Richard Reece, David S. Reese, St John Simpson and Deborah Snow. Levant Supplementary Series 7. Council for British Research in the Levant and Oxbow Books, Oxford. Summary

Steiner, M.L. (2001) Excavations by Kathleen M. Kenyon  in Jerusalem 1961-1967. III. The Settlement in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press/Continuum Press

Tushingham, A.D. (1985)  Excavations in Jerusalem 1961-1967, Vol. I. Royal Ontario Museum: Toronto and Brill: Leiden