UNDER JERUSALEM

An archaeological journey through the millennia in the Holy Land underscores the tensions between the biblical narrative and the historical record.

Lawler, a contributing writer for Scienceand contributing editor for Archaeology, delves into the stubborn attempts to square religion and science through layers of excavation under the ancient “gateway to heaven” for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jerusalem, contested by the three major monotheist religions, does not give up its secrets easily, especially as each successive invasion and conquest has tended to bury—or appropriate the construction material of—the one before. In the mid-19th century, the first European treasure hunter (archaeology was not yet a scientific discipline), Louis-Félicien Joseph Caignart de Saulcy, with the Ottoman pasha’s approval, began digging for artifacts under the once-great city, which had since fallen into decrepitude. He sought traces of King David’s legendary conquest of the Jebusites circa 950 B.C.E., the Ark of the Covenant he brought and installed in a beautifully appointed temple, and the temple’s destruction by the Babylonians and reconstruction in 516 B.C.E. under the Persians. The Frenchman unearthed the so-called Tomb of the Kings—but which kings (or queens)? After David’s son Solomon’s glorious rule and Roman conquest, the Byzantine conversion to Christianity, and invasions by Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, and the British, there have been countless rulers of Jerusalem. On this note, Lawler quotes an Israeli archaeologist: “Everyone who ruled Jerusalem did the same thing: built his tower and hoisted his flag.” Subsequent mapping and discoveries—from Charles Warren to Montagu Brownlow Parker to Eilat Mazar—have not actually found the City of David, but intriguing artifacts and tunnels continue to feed public curiosity as well as rage by the various Jewish and Arab factions over what is deemed desecration. Lawler’s narrative is easy to follow, the timeline is helpful, and the maps are excellent.

A leisurely, entertaining walk through the ages with a pleasant, knowledgeable guide.