Unique Experiences
Personalized TOUR of the Ophel First Temple Period site in Israel
- Item Number
- 1089
- Estimated Value
- 1500 USD
- Opening Bid
- 500 USD
Item Description
Personalized tour of the Ophel First Temple period site in Israel. Led by an archaeologist who worked on the site directly with Eilat Mazar.
INCREDIBLY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY: This tour will include a large area not open to the public.
At the beginning of 2010, archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar completed exposing the Ophel fortification complex in Jerusalem. Immediately thereafter, conservation work commenced and the site was made accessible to the public. The conservation work was implemented by the Israel Antiquities Authority Conservation Department and lasted about six months.
The architecture at the site that was recently exposed includes an impressive building thought to be a gate house, a royal edifice, a section of a tower and the city wall itself. Dr. Mazar suggests identifying the buildings as part of the complex of fortifications that King Solomon constructed in Jerusalem: “…until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about” (1 Kings 3:1).
In addition to the fortifications of the First Temple period, sections of the Byzantine city wall and two of its towers were exposed. This wall was built at the initiative of the Byzantine empress Eudocia in the fifth century CE. In addition to the complex of fortifications, the excavation of two rooms from the Second Temple period (first century CE) was completed, which were preserved to a height of two stories.
The Ophel is the site where Mazar discovered the Ophel
Treasure, a pure gold 10 centimeter medallion containing a shofar and a
menorah; it is from the 7th century CE and the oldest graphic of a menorah
ever found on the Temple Mount. The Ophel is also the site where the
Akkadian Tablet was found by Mazar, the oldest example of writing in
Jerusalem by 400 years. Finally, Mazar recently discovered there a seal of
the Biblical king Hezekiah.
Item Special Note
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Donated By:
Meredith Berkman & Daniel Mintz
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