by Gary D. Myers, posted Monday, August 26, 2013 (11 years ago)
JERUSALEM (BP) -- R.A.S. Macalister faced a crucial decision in late 1907 when he reached the bottom of the ancient Gezer Water System in Israel -- drain and excavate the pool at the bottom step or explore the cavern beyond the pool. He chose to bypass the pool and excavate the cavern.
Macalister had no way of knowing the implications his decision would have on establishing a date for the system. Now, more than a hundred years after Macalister's dig, a reexcavation of the water system by a team of archaeologists from the Moskau Institute of Archaeology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) is bringing the implications of Macalister's choice into clear focus.
Photo by Gary D. Myers
Leaders of the NOBTS/INPA dig believe Macalister's choice preserved valuable data that will help establish a date for the tunnel's construction. This summer, the team began excavating the pool area searching for datable material and the water's source.
The Old Testament mentions Gezer 14 times. One of the more important biblical entries reports that an Egyptian pharaoh, who is not named, conquered Canaanite Gezer and gave it to Solomon as a dowry (1 Kings 9:16). The account records that Solomon rebuilt and fortified Gezer along with the cities of Hazor and Megiddo. Archaeologists have identified a common city gate type which certainly could be attributed to Solomon at these three sites.
In 2005, Steve Ortiz renewed the excavations at Gezer to study the area near the Solomonic gate with a consortium of schools that included both NOBTS and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The NOBTS/INPA water system reexcavation, led by NOBTS professors Dan Warner, Dennis Cole and Jim Parker and INPA chief archaeologist Tsvika Tsuk, flowed out of the main Gezer dig, currently sponsored by Southwestern.
The Pool and the Cavern
In Macalister's early 1908 quarterly excavation report, he presented a detailed explanation of the water system and explained his decision to move on to the cavern, calling the excavation of the pool "a difficult, expensive and (from the archaeological point of view) profitless task." To facilitate the crossing of the pool area, Macalister laid a "causeway" of stones, effectively sealing the ancient content below. Late in the 2012 dig season the NOBTS/INPA team discovered a layer of white chalky stones which had blended together and covered most of the pool surface. Archaeologists are certain the layer is Macalister's causeway.
"For us this was a gold mine," said Dan Warner, associate professor of Old Testament and archaeology at NOBTS. "When Macalister laid the causeway over the water pool, he preserved for us everything underneath from further contamination and other intrusions from his excavation." Read More
