Viewing Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology: Vehinnei Rachel - Essays in Honor of Rachel Hachlili

489 Pages·2016·26.6 MB·English

by  Ann Killebrew

Viewing Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology
Supplements to the
Journal for the Study
of Judaism
Editor
Benjamin G. Wright, III (Department of Religion Studies, Lehigh University)
Associate Editors
Hindy Najman (Theology & Religion Faculty, University of Oxford)
Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar (Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven)
Advisory Board
A.M. Berlin – K. Berthelot – R. Bloch – G. Bohak
J.J. Collins – K. Hogan – P.W. van der Horst
O. Irshai – A.K. Petersen – S. Mason – J.H. Newman
M. Popović – I. Rosen-Zvi – J.T.A.G.M. van Ruiten – M. Segal – J. Sievers
G. Stemberger – L.T. Stuckenbruck – J.C. de Vos
VOLUME 172
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jsjs
Viewing Ancient Jewish Art
and Archaeology
VeHinnei Rachel – Essays in Honor of Rachel Hachlili
Edited by
Ann E. Killebrew and Gabriele Faßbeck
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Viewing ancient Jewish art and archaeology : Vehinnei Rachel, essays in honor of Rachel Hachlili /
edited by Ann E. Killebrew and Gabriele Faßbeck.
  pages cm — (Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism, ISSN 1384–2161 ; volume 172)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-15685-2 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30659-2 (e-book) 1. Palestine—
Civilization. 2. Archaeology and history—Palestine. 3. Palestine—Antiquities. 4. Excavations
(Archaeology)—Palestine. I. Hachlili, Rachel, honoree. II. Killebrew, Ann E., editor. III. Aviam,
Mordechai. Two groups of non-figurative Jewish sarcophagi from Galilee. Container of (work):
 DS112.V44 2016
 933—dc23
2015032012
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issn 1381-2161
isbn 978-90-04-15685-2 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30659-2 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xvii
List of Abbreviations xviii
List of Contributors xxiv
1 Two Groups of Non-Figurative Jewish Sarcophagi from Galilee 1
Mordechai Aviam
2 The “Tombs of the Prophets” on the Mount of Olives
A Re-Examination 16
Gideon Avni and Boaz Zissu
3 A Fourth-Century CE Coin Hoard from the Qaṣrin Village 33
John W. Betlyon and Ann E. Killebrew
4 Public Health in Ancient Palestine
Historical and Archaeological Aspects of Lavatories 48
Estēe Dvorjetski
5 “The Longer, the More Happiness I Derive from This Undertaking”
James Simon and Early German Research into Galilee’s Ancient
Synagogues 101
Gabriele Faßbeck
6 The Open Torah Ark
A Jewish Iconographic Type in Late Antique Rome and Sardis 121
Steven Fine
7 Tamra
A Late Byzantine–Early Islamic Village in the Eastern Lower Galilee 135
Zvi Gal
8 The Amphora and the Krater in Ancient Jewish Art in the Land of
Israel 151
Rivka Gersht and Peter Gendelman
vi contents
9 Local Jewish Oil Lamps of the Second to First Centuries BCE 186
Malka Hershkovitz
10 A Burial Complex and Ossuaries of the Second Temple Period
on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 193
Amos Kloner and Sherry Whetstone
11 An Approach to Herodian Peraea 271
Nikos Kokkinos
12 A Jewish Oil Lamp Unearthed at the Red Sea Port of Roman Aila
(Aqaba, Jordan) 291
Eric C. Lapp
13 Israelite Art in Context 308
Lee I. Levine
14 Imperial Cult in the Decapolis
Nysa-Scythopolis as a Test Case 355
Gabriel Mazor
15 Images and Identity
Menorah Representations at Sepphoris 384
Carol L. Meyers and Eric M. Meyers
16 Some Observations on the “Bema” Platforms in the Ancient
Synagogues of Beth Alpha, Chorazin, and Susiya 401
David Milson
17 Some Notes on the Miqva’ot and Cisterns at Qumran 414
Ronny Reich
18 Rome, Jerusalem, and the Colosseum 425
Arthur Segal
Index of Places 447
Index of Subjects 450
Index of Sources 453
Preface
Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology: The Contribution of Rachel Hachlili
It is with great pleasure that we present this festschrift to Professor Rachel
Hachlili in honor and recognition of her significant contributions to ancient
Jewish art and archaeology for more than four decades. Beginning with her
days as a student at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rachel studied under
the mentorship of the legendary archaeologist, art historian, and historian
Michael Avi-Yonah, completing her doctoral degree in 1971. This relationship
was transformative for our honoree, as she has brought to fruition the art
historical approach that Avi-Yonah uniquely taught at the university during
their time together. Concern for the excavation of significant monuments that
have been a hallmark of “Jewish archaeology” since the pioneering work of
Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger takes center stage here. Her dissertation,
Sacred Architecture and Decoration in the Hellenistic-Roman East, was the first
of her many works to deal with the development of art and architecture during
the Roman–Byzantine periods, and especially the ancient synagogue.
As a student, Rachel participated in the formative excavations in the history
of Israeli archaeology, at a moment when archaeologists were the arbiters of
early Israel’s search for roots in the soil of the Land. These included Ramat
Rachel (1961, 1962; under Yohanan Aharoni), the Judean Desert Caves (1962,
1963; under Yigael Yadin), the Hammath Tiberias Synagogue (1962; under
Moshe Dothan), Tel Arad (1963; under Aharoni), the Caesarea Synagogue (1963;
under Avi-Yonah), Ashdod (1963, 1964, 1965; under Dothan) and Masada (1964,
1965; under Yadin). Rachel’s work stretches from her dissertation on Roman
temples in the Land of Israel, her excavations of Jericho’s Jewish necropolis of
late Second Temple times (survey and excavations: 1975–1978, director) to her
investigation of the Qaṣrin synagogue in the Golan Heights (excavations: 1981–
1984, co-director with Zvi Ma‘oz and Ann E. Killebrew). These projects all
reflect her deep concern both for the form and contexts of each artifact and
her broader interests in the formation of Jewish art as a unique area of study in
the Roman world. Rachel’s contribution to the study of the archaeology of
Israel during the Greco-Roman period has been significant and deep, continu-
ing in her investigation of the Jewish temple/cultic center at Qazion (survey
and targeted excavation: 1992–1997; co-director with Killebrew). This site, situ-
ated on the northern border between the Galilee and Phoenicia, has fascinated
scholars for more than a century owing to its Greek dedicatory inscription
viii preface
which commemorates a donation to the Roman royal family of Septimius
Severus “to fulfill a vow of the Jews.”
Rachel’s interests are expressed in a broad array of articles and monographs,
perhaps the most significant of these being her two-volume opus, Jewish Art
and Archaeology in the Land of Israel (Brill, 1988) and Jewish Art and Archaeology
in the Diaspora (Brill, 1998). In this important contribution, together with her
The Menorah, the Ancient Seven-Armed Candelabrum: Origin, Form, and
Significance (Brill, 2001) and Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the
Second Temple Period (Brill, 2005), Hachlili brought together and assessed all of
the known evidence for Jewish art to that time, often noting publications and
issues that others, who were less object-focused, might have missed. More than
that, her categorization of the now-extensive corpora of artifacts and buildings
is eminently useful. Read together with volumes 1–3 of Erwin R. Goodenough’s
Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period (Pantheon, 1953–1968), her impres-
sive books fulfill Rachel’s goal of making the Jewish visual history available to
scholars across the discipline. Her most recent publications, Ancient Mosaic
Pavements: Themes, Issues, and Trends; Selected Studies (Brill, 2009) and Ancient
Synagogues—Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research (Brill,
2013) are, and will remain along with her previous monographs, indispensable
for any scholar or student of ancient Jewish art and archaeology.
Rachel well understands the value of museum exhibition as a medium for
both presenting the results of scholarship and as a vehicle for processing and
interpreting the past: exhibition as scholarship. This interest began during her
three years at the Jewish Museum in New York as a young student (1966–1968),
continued with her co-curatorship of several exhibits at The Israel Museum,
and found its voice as the first director and curator of the Reuben and Edith
Hecht Museum of the University of Haifa (1982–1988). She transformed the
Hecht collection into a premiere museum and teaching laboratory for
University of Haifa students in art history and archaeology. During her tenure
there, she established Israel’s first academic museology program, raising the
professional level of curatorship at many of Israel’s museums. Rachel’s perma-
nent exhibition was, and still is, a careful balance between comprehensive-
ness, cultural sophistication, and aesthetic value, bringing together some of
the most important artifacts available in an exhibition that stands out in the
history of Israeli museum culture. A range of temporary exhibitions resulted in
catalogs of lasting value and document the dynamic culture of the Hecht
Museum that Hachlili created, from which both scholars and the public bene-
fit to this day. Joining the faculty of the Department of Archaeology at the
University of Haifa in 1984, Rachel was an admired teacher, mentor, role model,
preface ix
and scholar. Her significant contributions to the department, especially as
department chair (1999–2002), were the development of a graduate archaeo-
logical heritage and conservation program (the first in Israel) and the
encouragement and support she extended female students, both of which are
much appreciated and remembered in the department long after her
retirement.
The 18 essays by 23 authors gathered in this volume are a tribute and testi-
mony to Professor Rachel Hachlili’s broad range of interests and her remark-
able impact on the field of ancient Jewish art and archaeology. More than this,
however, we celebrate the human side of Rachel Hachlili. Throughout her
career, Rachel has been generous mentor, colleague, and friend—a pioneer in
her field and a champion of her students. This Festschrift is a tribute to Rachel
and an expression of our respect, admiration, and affection. In truth, ve-hinnei
Rachel (Gen 29:6), “This is Rachel”—a treasured scholar, teacher, and friend—
whom we celebrate with this volume.
Ann E. Killebrew and Gabriele Faßbeck
Publications by Rachel Hachlili
Books
1988 Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Land of Israel. HO 7, Kunst
und Archäologie 2B4. Leiden: Brill.
1988 Jewish Ornamented Ossuaries of the Late Second Temple Period. Reuben
and Edith Hecht Museum Catalogue 4. Haifa: Reuben and Edith Hecht
Museum, University of Haifa.
1998 Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora. HO 7, Kunst und
Archäologie 1B2. Leiden: Brill.
1999 Jericho: The Jewish Cemetery of the Second Temple Period (with Ann E.
Killebrew). IAA Reports 7. Jerusalem: IAA.
2001 The Menorah, the Ancient Seven-Armed Candelabrum: Origin, Form,
and Significance. JSJSup 68. Leiden: Brill.
2005 Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the Second Temple
Period. JSJSup 94. Leiden: Brill.
2009 Ancient Mosaic Pavements: Themes, Issues, and Trends; Selected Studies.
Leiden: Brill.
2013 Ancient Synagogues—Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and
Current Research. HO 1, The Near and Middle East 105. Leiden: Brill.