Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies

Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Jewish Studies Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology

NEW STUDIES ON JERUSALEM

Volume 17

Editors: Eyal Baruch, Ayelet Levy-Reifer and Avraham Faust Ramat-Gan 2011

The conference was held on December 29th 2011, at Bar-Ilan University

Editorial Board: Prof. Joshua Schwartz Prof. Zeev Safrai Prof. Avraham Faust Prof. Zohar Amar Dr. Eyal Baruch Dr. Ayelet Levy-Reifer Editorial Assistant: Shira Ben-Shachar

Copyright by the authors, editors and The Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies Publications Ramat-Gan, 2011

Cover design: Yael Elkayam Background Photograph: The Western Wall Tunnel (Photograph by B. Zissu) Hebrew Cover: A Bulla from the Late Iron Age, Discovered in the Temple Mount Sifting Project (Photograph Courtesy of the Temple Mount Sifting Project) English Cover: An Ossuary from the Hecht Museum, University of Haifa (Photograph by B. Zissu)

ISBN: 978-965-7235-13-3

E-mail: gr.jrslm1@biu.ac.il
website: www.jerusalem-studies.com

Table of Content
Boaz Zissu and Avrohom S. Tendler The Kidron Valley Tombs in the Byzantine Period: A Reconsideration Abstracts Hebrew Section Dan Gill The MB II Warren Shaft Water Well in the City of David, Jerusalem Yuval Gadot The Rural Settlement along Nahal Rephaim from the Middle Bronze Age until the Hellenistic Period: A Fresh look from Kh. Er Ras Zachi Dvira (Zweig), Gal Zigdon and Lara Shilov Secondary Refuse Aggregates from the First and Second Temple Periods on the Eastern Slope of the Temple Mount Moshe Garsiel Vicissitudes in the Story of the Struggle Between Adonijah and Solomon Revolving around the Jerusalemite Throne Succession of King David (1 King 1-2): Historiography, Poetics and Rhetoric Yigal Levin Rab-shakeh's Hebrew Speech: History versus Rhetoric Gabriel Barkay A Fiscal Bulla from the Slopes of the Temple Mount Evidence for the Taxation System of the Judean Kingdom Oded Lipschits and David Amit 18 Unpublished Stamped Jar Handles Efrat Bocher and Oded Lipschits Initial Conclusions from the Study of the YRLM Stamp Impressions on Jar Handles Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron Excavations at Robinson's Arch 2011: From the Paved Street to Natural Rock Eyal Regev Jewish Ossuaries and Social Individualism in Jerusalem in the Late Second Temple Period Ze'ev Safrai One Nation - One Temple

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43

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107 137

151 179

199

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239 253

Avi Sasson, Ofer Sion and Letitcia Barda Quarry and Quarries in North Jerusalem During the Second Temple Period Avi Solomon The View from Under the Bridge: Does Wilson's Arch Date to the Second Temple period? Boaz Zissu, Eitan Klein, Uri Davidovich, Ro'i Porat, Boaz Langford and Amos Frumkin A Pagan Cult Site (?) from the Late Roman Period in the Teomim Cave, Western Jerusalem Hills Ofer Sion A Pool from the Time of Aelia Capitolina in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem Yehoshua Peleg On the Date of The Redemption of Israel in the Documents of the Judaean Desert Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu The Interchange of the Eastern Cardo and the Southern Decumanus of Aelia Capitolina Moti Haiman Churches and Agriculture in Palestine in the Late Byzantine PeriodResults from a Remote Sensing Landscape Project Perez Reuven Early Moslem Capitals Transferred from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher Bat-Sheva Garsiel The Status of Jerusalem in the Period of the Fatimid Caliphate (969-1099) Shlomo Lotan Looking to the past a Unique Description of a Crusader Church Ceiling in the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem Uri Davidovich, Naomi Porat, Yuval Gadot, Yoav Avni and Oded Lipschits A New Method for Terrace Dating: A Case Study from Ramat Rahel Yossi Spanier Stone Quarrying and Dairy Farming as the Major Modes of Production of the Settlements north of Jerusalem until 1948 List of participants

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The Kidron Valley Tombs in the Byzantine Period: A Reconsideration

Boaz Zissu and Avrohom S. Tendler
In dear memory of Prof. Dan Barag " The monuments of the Kidron Valleythe Tomb of Benei Hezir, the Tomb of Zechariah, the Monument of Absalom, and the Tomb of Jehoshaphat (fig. 1,5) are burial complexes that wealthy Jerusalemites built for their families from the second century BCE to the first century CE. These magnificent structures have drawn the attention of pilgrims, explorers, and researchers throughout history. Naturally, most scholars have focused on their initial function as SecondTemple tombs and sepulchral monuments. Extensive studies have been published about the archaeological, architectural, artistic, and historical aspects of these monuments. Beside their primary usage, there are signs of secondary use that have somewhat damaged these structures. Although this secondary use has been dealt with briefly, no extensive research has been dedicated to this issue. In this paper, we will focus on the traces of secondary use and attempt to understand them in their broader context. We would like to discuss literary sources that describe a Christian chapel built near the tomb of James, brother of Jesus. These sources situate the tomb and chapel near the Kidron Valley monuments. Since no remains of this chapel have survived, its exact location is unclear. In this paper, we will suggest a location for it and attempt to determine its structure and function. The Kidron Valley and the Urban Necropolis The monuments are situated in the segment of the Kidron valley 1 that runs between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives. This segment is

This valley is mentioned by this name a number of times in the Hebrew Bible: 2 Sam. 15:23; 1 Kings 2:37 and 15:13; 2 Kings 23:4, and Jeremiah 31: 39. In all these verses, the valley either marks the citys borders or lies outside the city.

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traditionally known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat. 2 Early sources that use this name for the valley include Eusebius, in the early fourth century CE, 3 and the Pilgrim of Bordeaux in 333 CE. 4 The Kidron Valley marked Jerusalems historical eastern border. Accordingly, we find extensive burial remains on its eastern slopes, dating from the Iron Age through the Roman period. This is a result of the Judean practice of distancing burial sites from the city limits. 5 We should emphasize the monuments proximity to the Temple Mount. The location made this area prime real estate that only the very wealthy could afford. The Tombs In this paper, we will focus on the Tomb of Benei Hezir and the Tomb of Zechariah (fig. 2, 3, 4). The two main archaeological explorations of these monuments were undertaken by N. Avigad in the 1940s 6 and by D. Barag from 2000 to 2001. 7 The Tomb of Benei Hezir, the earliest of the monuments discussed here, was hewn into the rock in the Hasmonean period. It has a Doric distylos in antis faade, above which there is an entablature consisting of a smooth architrave bearing the epitaph of the priestly family of Benei Hezir, surmounted by a frieze of triglyphs and metopes topped by a cornice. Just north of the faade is an additional faade composed of two vertical

G. Brinn, The Jehoshaphat Valley, Biblical Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (Jerusalem, 1971/2), pp. 297298 (Hebrew). The source of the name is Joel 14, where the prophet describes the location where the nations of the world will be judged at the End of the Days. But there is no reason to conclude that the valley mentioned in Joel should be identified with this segment of the Kidron Valley. It is not even clear whether Joel uses the name to indicate a specific geographic location or as a symbolic name for the place where God will ultimately pass final judgment. 3 R. S. Notley and Z. Safrai, Eusebius, Onomasticon (Leiden, 2005), p. 114. 4 O. Limor, Holy Land Travels (Jerusalem, 1998), pp. 34, (Hebrew). 5 Extensive research on the Iron Age necropolis in this area was undertaken by D. Ussishkin and G. Barkay, subsequently published in D. Ussishkin, The Village of Silwan (Jerusalem, 1993). Research on the Second Temple necropolis in this area was published in A. Kloner and B. Zissu, The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period (Leuven, 2007). The area discussed here corresponds with Zone 6, ibid., pp. 241-251. 6 N. Avigad, Ancient Monuments in the Kidron Valley (Jerusalem, 1954) (Hebrew). 7 D. Barag, The 2000-2001 Exploration of the Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, IEJ 53 (2003), pp. 78-111.

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projections with a recess between them. There seems to be a false door at the center of the recess, with the lower half of a hexagonal window above it. A portico is located just beyond the faade; the two entranceways to the tomb lead to this portico. It seems that the original entrance was via a flight of 11 stairs, hewn in a vertical shaft that led down to the portico from the north. The southern side of the portico can be accessed through a corridor that was hewn in the rock from the courtyard of the monolith known as the Tomb of Zechariah. Because the corridor leads directly to the Tomb of Zechariah, which was hewn at a later point in time, it is clear that the southern entranceway is a later addition meant to connect the two monuments. The portico leads into a central hall; three burial chambers with kokhim were hewn from the hall to the northwest, northeast, and southeast. An additional arcosolia chamber was hewn in the northeast corner of the northeast burial chamber. The above-mentioned epitaph bears the word nefesh, that is, a sepulchral monument. The original location of this monument, however, is unclear. Avigad believed that the additional faade and the structure that was once above it constituted the nefesh mentioned in the epitaph. Avigad also suggested reconstructing the structure above the faade as a pyramid resting on an Egyptian base, and noted Egyptian parallels that antedate the Tomb of Benei Hezir by more than a millennium. 8 Barag did not accept this reconstruction; he suggested that the structure above the faade had been shaped like a Nabatean tower. 9 Avigad dated the tomb to the second century BCE, relying on a detailed analysis of the faade. 10 Barag added historical and epigraphic considerations and specified the half-a-century following 131 BCE as the period of the tombs construction. The chamber with the arcosolia was apparently added during the Early Roman period. This addition suggests that the tomb was in use until the Jewish War (66-70 CE). 11 The Tomb of Zechariah is a monolith located about 12 m southwest of the Doric faade of the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Until the 1960s, the lower part of the monument was covered over by modern Jewish graves (fig. 5). Therefore, Avigad and other archaeologists who examined the monument

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Avigad, Ancient Monuments, pp. 73-78. Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 89-92. 10 Avigad, Ancient Monuments, pp. 57-59. 11 Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 94-95.

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were unable to study the lower part; they raised the possibility that there might be an entrance passage to the tomb. In 1960, J. M. Allegro and H. E. Stutchbury completely uncovered the monument, revealing that there was no tomb at the base of the monument. The monument begins with a crepidoma, a three-step base. A square monolith, adorned on all sides, is situated above it; however, the decoration is finished only on the western side, which is clearly visible (fig.6). The western faade is decorated with two Ionic semi-columns that form three inter-columnar spaces. In the corners, there are pilasters with Ionic quartercolumns on the inner side. The upper half of the monolith is a pyramid on an Egyptian base. The freestanding monument stands in a rectangular courtyard hewn completely from the rock. High vertical walls surround the courtyard on the northern, eastern, and southern sides; these walls are clearly visible from the west. In an excavation undertaken by Allegro and Stutchbury from January to April 1960, the relatively modern Jewish graves and the soil on the western side of the Tomb of Zechariah were completely cleared away. 12 The primary purpose of this endeavor was to search for treasure, or in their own words: The corroboration of certain topographical references occurring in the Copper Scroll referring to the 80 talents of silver that were hidden under the Monument of Absalom according to the Copper Scroll (3Q15) from Qumran. 13 Allegro and Stutchbury uncovered the monument completely, revealing the bases of the columns and the crepidoma below them. In addition, they discovered a number of vaulted structures that had been built between the monolith and the cliff-face and identified them as family tombs. These structures were finally cleared away by E. Oren in 1969 on behalf of the Department of Antiquities and Museums; he concluded that these structures did not predate the Mamluk period. 14 When they uncovered the western side of the monument, the archaeologists found an interesting rock-hewn structure that will be discussed and interpreted in this paper. The structure comprises two opposing flights of rock-hewn steps that descend from the monuments base.

The excavation was published in H. E. Stutchbury, Excavations in the Kidron Valley, PEQ 93 (1961), pp. 101-114. 13 J. M. Allegro, The Treasure of the Copper Scroll (London, 1960), pp. 51. 14 E. Oren, Renovations of the Kidron Valley Tombs, Archaeological News 31-32 (1969/70) pp.18-19, (Hebrew).

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The steps provide access to a small oval rock-cut chamber located below the center of the monument (figs. 7, 8, 9). Six steps descend on the northern side, five on the southern side. The chamber is 2 2 2 m, with an apsidal niche at its eastern end. There are two square sockets in each of the door jambs at the entrance of the chamber; this suggests that the entrance had once been blocked by two parallel horizontal bars. There seems to be a large "forecourt" (4.9 3.7 m) in front of the chamber, with rock-cut benches and walls on its northern and southern sides. A rough-hewn conduit leading from the chamber to the forecourt drains rainwater from the chamber. It seems, though, that the steps, chamber, and "forecourt" are unrelated to the monuments original layout and functionthey even detract from its aesthetics (see below). Based on this understanding, Barag wrote that these structures were added in the fourth century CE or later, without discussing their function. 15 Stutchbury, who excavated these features, was unclear as to their nature or function. 16 A Christian Crypt(?) We would like to suggest that these structures are the architectural remains of a cryptthe underground chamber of a church or chapelbuilt adjacent to the Tomb of Zechariah in the Byzantine period.

Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, p. 104. We are thankful to D. Barag z"l for fruitful discussions and advice, for encouragement to write this study and for his kind permission to reproduce some of the results of his fieldwork. 16 Stutchbury (Excavations in the Kidron Valley, p. 106) compared the forecourt with benches before the Sanhedria tombs, referring to J. Jotham-Rothschild, The Tombs of Sanhedria, PEQ 1952, p. 23. It seems that Stutchbury understood the forecourt and the benches to be part of the original function of the burial monument from the Second Temple period. Courtyards are found in many of the Second Temple burial caves in Jerusalem, some of them have benches. These courtyards had two main purposes: first, in order to create a vertical surface for the cave entrance; and second, to serve as an as an area for ceremonies, prayers, and eulogies. For further reading on this part of the burial cave, see Kloner and Zissu, The Necropolis of Jerusalem, pp. 41-44. This forecourt, though, did not serve either function. First of all, it is clear that the small forecourt with course benches was not part of the original monument, since it detracts from the monuments aesthetics. Moreover, this monument did not require the functions that a courtyard normally serves, as it was already carved in a vertical topography and the steps of the crepidoma could have served as a place for the mourners to sit during the eulogies.

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Byzantine churches can be divided into two categories, based on their function and their plan. 17 The majority were basilicas, comprising a rectangular central hall divided by rows of columns to form a nave and two aisles. At the eastern end of the church was the bema or presbyterium; the eastern wall ended in an apse. This architecture focused the worshipers towards the chancel, where the liturgy was conducted. The other type of church had a centric architecture; the church was built around a holy place or holy relic. This architecture was more suitable for commemorative purposes, as opposed to congregational-liturgical purposes. Such churches emphasized the center and were built in various forms: circular, octagonal, square, or cruciform. Although, in general, a distinction can be drawn between centric churches designed for commemorative purposes and basilicas, which were mainly congregational churches, many basilicas also commemorated holy sites. These sites could be either primary holy sites, such as the location of a biblical story, or a secondary holy site whose sanctity derived from objects stored within them. Some of these objects were authentic, such as a tomb of a sainted monk. Often, though, the holy relics had been fabricated and were claimed to have been miraculously discovered. The holy relics were usually stored in a reliquary box interred beneath the main altar of the church or in one of the side rooms. A basilica built at a holy site, though, could cause a problem. The pilgrims (who were apparently the majority of the visitors to the church) were interested chiefly in the holy site or relic; but their traffic disturbed the daily services and ceremonies preformed in the basilicas bema. An architectural solution for this problem was to build a crypt: in this way, the holy site was commemorated underground while the church services continue up above. An improvement on this solution was building separate flights of stairs for ascent and descent. Thus, a procession of pilgrims could visit the crypt without disturbing the church services. Crypts with separate up and down staircases have been found in a number of churches in the Holy Land, such as the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, at Kh. Bureikut south of Bethlehem, at the Rehovot-in-the-Negev church, at Jacob's Well near Nablus, and at the Crypt of Elianus at Madaba. The Eleona Church was constructed close to the summit of the Mount of Olives during the lifetime of the Emperor Constantine. It was situated above a cave in which, according to tradition, Jesus sat with his disciples. In the

See Y. Tsafrir, The Development of Ecclesiastical Architecture in Palestine, in Y. Tsafrir, ed., Ancient Churches Revealed (Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 1-16.

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early twentieth century, the White Fathers and H. Vincent excavated the area, recorded their excavations, and reconstructed the Constantinian church plan. 18 According to Vincents reconstruction, the elevated chancel was situated directly above the venerated cave; two flights, with six stairs each, descended to the cave from the two aisles on either side of the chancel. An apse was constructed in the cave; this and other facts show that it was adapted for liturgical use. The Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, in its Justinian stage, is a clear example of a crypt with opposing staircases. E. T. Richmonds excavations, conducted in the 1930s, revealed that it had been built in two major stages. 19 The earlier, Constantinian phase, had a unique design above the main focal point: the Cave of the Nativity. A large octagonal structure stood at the center of the floor. It had an opening surrounded by a balustrade that, in turn, was surrounded by a walkwaythe ambulatorium. The main church had a typical basilical plan and was adjoined to the western side of the octagon. If masses were celebrated in the basilica, they would have been disturbed on a regular basis, since the pilgrims, who were primarily interesting in seeing the Cave of Nativity, would be constantly walking through the area, towards the octagon. In the sixth century, under Justinian, an entirely new building was erected. The octagon was removed and replaced by three apses in a cloverleaf pattern. This plan facilitated regular church services; pilgrims could enter the cave via a flight of stairs on one side and exit via the opposing flight of stairs. The understanding that the crypt was an architectural solution to permit holding services in a basilical church built on a pilgrimage site is essential for any attempt to reconstruct the church built adjacent to the Tomb of Zechariah.

H. Vincent and F.M. Abel, Jrusalem nouvelle II, (Paris, 1914): 219-265; fig. 154; H. Vincent, "L'eglise de L'lona", RB 19 (1910), pp. 573-574; B. Bagatti, The Church from the Gentiles in Palestine (Jerusalem, 1971), pp. 184-190. Bagatti tried to confirm Vincents reconstruction using Vincents illustrations of the trenches and the remains that were still visible, but was slightly skeptical. It is interesting to note that in Baggatis report of the church, he describes a door on the western wall of the cave leading to a burial tomb with kokhim. 19 E. T. Richmond, The Church of the Nativity; the Plan of the Constantinian Church, QDAP 6 (1938), pp. 63-66; idem, The Church of the Nativity: The Alterations Carried out by Justinian, QDAP 6 (1938), pp. 67-72.

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Khirbet Bureikut is located east of the Hebron-Jerusalem road, north of Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. 20 In 1976, Y. Tsafrir and Y. Hirschfeld excavated a Byzantine church that was erected above a natural cave, which was apparently used for cultic activities starting in the second half of the fourth century CE. In the middle of the sixth century CE, a magnificent basilical church was built and the cave was transformed into its crypt, located below the bema. Two flights of 11 steps descended to the crypt. The stairways were adjacent to the columns in the aisles on the north and south of the chancel. The staircases, 90 cm wide, were apparently unroofed until the seventh step. The crypt had a vaulted ceiling and a mosaic pavement. The existence of two opposing staircases shows that arrangements were made to accommodate processions of pilgrims without disturbing the regular liturgy. 21 The church at Khirbet Ruheibeh, known also as Rehovot-in-theNegev, was excavated by Y. Tsafrir between 1975 and 1979. 22 The northern church, a triapsidal basilica, erected around 460-470 CE, had a large crypt (3.44.3 m) beneath the chancel. The lower part of the crypt was hewn into the rock; the upper part was built and roofed by a barrel vault. The walls of the crypt were originally lined with marble panels. There was an apse in the east wall of the crypt and a cavity at its base, which probably held a reliquary. Along the rear wall, a bench (60 cm long and 18-20 cm deep) was installed at a later period. Tsafrir suggested that the bench may have served elderly individuals who attended the procession or prayers in the crypt. 23

B. Zissu, Rural Settlement in the Judean Hills and Foothills from the Late Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2001), pp. 119-120. 21 Y. Tsafrir and Y. Hirschfeld, The Byzantine Church at Horvat Berachot, in. Tsafrir, ed., Ancient Churches Revealed, pp. 207-218. For the final report, see: Y. Tsafrir and Y. Hirschfeld, The Church and Mosaic at Horvat Berachot, Israel, DOP 33 (1979), pp. 292-326. 22 The town reached its peak during the Byzantine period and seems to have been abandoned shortly after the turn of the eighth century CE. Two of the four churches found were excavated. See: Y. Tsafrir, The Early Byzantine Town of Rehovot-inthe-Negev and its Churches, in. Tsafrir, ed., Ancient Churches Revealed, pp. 294302. For the final report, see Y. Tsafrir, J. Patrich, R. Rosenthal-Heginbottom, I. Hershkowitz and Y. D. Nevo, Excavations at Rehovot-in-the- Negev I: The Northern Church, Qedem 25 (Jerusalem, 1988). 23 Ibid., p. 55. This bench is of special interest here because it is possibly parallel to the hewn benches in the forecourt below the Tomb of Zechariah.

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Two flights of 21 steps led in and out of the crypt from the aisles. In this case, the stairs begin their descent at the external walls of the aisles. Jacob's Well in Nablus. At the foot of Mount Gerizim, by the northern edge of the plain of al-Mahna, there is a well, identified in Christian tradition as Jacobs Well, where Jesus met the Samaritan woman (John 4:5-13). A cruciform church was built over the well sometime before 384 CE. It was rebuilt by Justinian following its destruction during the Samaritan revolts of 484 CE and 529 CE. 24 Justinians church was also cruciform, with the well located at the intersection of the arms of the cross. The church was still standing at the end of the seventh century, from when we have Arculfs schematic plan as recorded by Adomnan. 25 By the time the Crusaders reached Nablus in August of 1099 CE, the Byzantine church was in ruins. The Crusaders rebuilt the church; descriptions of this church can be found from the 1130s and on. 26 The plan of the twelfth-century church was uncovered by 1893 excavations, in prior to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchates attempt to rebuild it. 27 The church was constructed as a threeaisled basilica with slightly projecting transepts and an eastward projecting sanctuary. The wellhead was located in a crypt beneath the sanctuary. The crypt was accessed via two flights of stairs on the north and south sides of the sanctuarys entrance. 28 This example differs from the parallel examples cited above, in that the staircases are in front of the sanctuary and not on the sides. Second, the plan with the crypt belongs to the Crusader stage; it appears that during the Byzantine stage the wellhead was exposed to view and not hidden in a crypt.

D. Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem I (Cambridge, 1993), p. 258; Bagatti, The Church from the Gentiles, pp. 228-229. 25 J. Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades (Warminster, 2002), pp. 192-193, plate 1, pp. 372-374. 26 Theodoric (ca. 1175) is the earliest source who provides a clear description of this church: The well is a half a mile distant from the city. It lies in front of the altar in the church built over it (A. Stewart, PPTS V [London, 1896], p. 61). The reason that Theodoric described the wells location as being in front of the altar is that the stairways that accessed the crypt were, indeed, in front of the altar. The well itself was located directly below the altar. 27 The finds were recorded by Vincent; see L. H. Vincent, Puits de Jacob ou de la Samaritaine, Revue Biblique 65 (1958), pp. 547-567. 28 Ibid.

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The Crypt of Elianus at Madaba. Remains of ten Byzantine churches were uncovered at Madaba in Transjordan. One of them was a basilica dedicated to the prophet Elias. It has a crypt located underneath the presbyterium; two stairways descend into the crypt from either side. Both staircases terminate in landings decorated with mosaics. The crypt is a rectangular room (35 m) with an apse at its eastern end. A vault covers the crypt, which receives light from a window in the apse. The mosaic floor of the crypt included a dedicatory inscription, stating that the church was erected for Sergius, a priest of St. Elianus, in 595/96 CE. 29 This, too, is an example of a basilica with two staircases descending to a crypt. The Ground Level and the Plan of the Chapel outside Zechariahs Tomb The crypt, including the "forecourt" and benches, represent the underground level of the chapel outside Zechariahs Tomb. The question, then, arises: are there remains of the main, upper level of this chapel? Stutchburys report contains some information that may help answer this question. 30 He discovered a number of column fragments, representing the remains of at least four column shafts. He also found a stone carved as a column base, which he described it as having a decadent Attic form. Stutchbury also found a fragment crudely carved as a volute (part of a capital ?). He wrote that the details of these fragments are certainly consistent with the early Christian details of decadent classical form and that exact counterparts can be found in the Justinian Church of the Nativity. In his opinion, these columns must have been thrown down from the hillside above. Stutchbury based this assumption on F. De Saulcys accounts from his visit to Jerusalem in 1852. He reported that, approximately one hundred yards in front of the Church of the Ascension, digs conducted at that time had uncovered a cistern and the foundations of a church constructed at the order of the Empress Helena or the Emperor Constantine. De Saulcy goes on to relate how fragments of cornices, Corinthian capitals, and column shafts of were carried

This church was documented by P. M. Sejourne, LEliane de Madaba, Revue Biblique 6 (1897), pp. 648-657. Further information can be found in: M. Piccirillo, Chiese e Mosaici di Madaba (Jerusalem, 1989), pp. 67-75; idem, The Mosaics of Jordan (Amman, 1993), pp. 128-129. 30 A previous study, which relates some of Stutchburys finds from the chapel in honor of St. James, is V. Corbo, Dans la Valle de Josaphat, Le Culte de Saint Jacques et le Tombeau des Beni Hezir Jrusalem, Bible et Terre Sainte 56 (1963), pp. 20-23.

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down from the spot where they had been dug up towards the bottom of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where they were sold to the Jews to be carved into grave markers. 31 Stutchbury assumed that this also took place after the churchs original destruction and concluded that that church is the source of the architectural fragments found around the Tomb of Zechariah. 32 Nonetheless, it is possible that these fragments are the remains of the columns that divided the nave and aisles in a basilical church that was located in front (west) of the Tomb of Zechariah. 33 Another possible remain of the upper level of the chapel is its floor. Stutchbury recorded that, on the north side of the tomb of Zechariah, he found an irregularly shaped floor of opus incertum that had been built up above the rock-cut platform (marked "floor level" in fig. 10) to a level that rendered it readily accessible from the southern entrance of the Benei Hezir tomb. This floor may have been removed by Stutchbury as part of his excavation, or by Oren when he cleared away the later structures in 1969. It is unfortunate that there are no archaeological data from the removal of this floor; such information might have allowed us to date the building. If this floor had indeed been the chapels floor, it is interesting to note Stutchburys observation that it had been on a level that was easily accessible from the passageway of the Benei Hezir tomb. This could indicate that the passageway was incorporated into the chapel. It seems that the walls of the courtyard surrounding the monument also served as the walls of the eastern end of the chapel. Has this secondary usage left its mark? Both Stutchbury 34 and Barag 35 quoted De Saulcy, who, in 1852, reported traces of red plaster on the Tomb of Zechariah. De Saulcy assumed that the lower part of the monument had been coated with an exterior layer of smooth, red plaster. 36 By the time Avigad explored the site, he identified very few traces of that plaster. 37 Stuchbury also reported finding little evidence of this plaster. Stuchbury and Barag both assumed that this plaster was related to later activities and is contemporary with similar

F. de Saulcy, Narrative of a Journey Round the Dead Sea and in the Bible Lands II (London, 1854), p. 186. Note that Stutchbury mistakenly refers to p. 215. 32 Stutchbury, Excavations in the Kidron Valley, p. 107. 33 One of these column fragments is still located in the northeastern corner of the courtyard surrounding the Tomb of Zechariah. 34 Stuchbury, Excavations in the Kidron Valley, p. 108 35 Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, p. 104 36 De Saulcy, Narrative, p. 211 37 Avigad, Ancient Monuments, p. 83

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coating in the portico of the Benei Hezir Tomb. De Saulcy referred to plaster on the monument itself, of which there are no traces today. On the southern and eastern walls of the courtyard, however, there are large patches of thick reddish plaster containing small pieces of pottery. Several layers of plaster are identifiable. Although this plaster has not been analyzed by experts, red plaster is classified typologically to the Byzantine period. 38 It is possible that these patches are the remains of a coating of red plaster that was applied to the courtyard walls when they were incorporated in a Byzantine-era Christian chapel. We will suggest below that the Benei Hezir Tomb was part of this chapel and offer evidence of Christian activity in the tomb. The possible remains of the chapel described here and the remains in the Benei Hezir Tomb provide data regarding this chapels form and function. A Greek Graffito On the southern wall of the lower chamber, identified here as a crypt, 70 cm from the rock-cut floor, there was a small patch of grayish plaster (roughly 30x14 cm) upon which a Greek graffito was incised. Its exact location can be seen in fig. 10, (underneath the last letter of the word "crypt"). This inscription was recently discovered by J. Zias and E. Puech during their study of Greek inscriptions on the Monument of Absalom. 39 Puech read the following letters: . He interpreted this as: ()]/()] Lord, O Christ, come and save me." This invocation is apparently a common graffito at holy sites; its location here can teach us about the crypts function. Inside the apsidal chamber there were at least one, and possibly three, reliquaries or ossuaries containing the bones of the three saints in whose honor the chapel was built. The square sockets in the doorjambs suggest that two parallel horizontal bars blocked the entrance to the chamber. The pilgrims would descend one flight of stairs to see the reliquaries, pray, and ascend by the opposite staircase. One pilgrim, in particular need of salvation, leaned over the barrier and incised the abovementioned graffito.

Y. Porath, Hydraulic Plaster in Aqueducts as a Chronological Indicator, in D. Amit, J. Patrich, and Y. Hirschfeld, eds., The Aqueducts of Israel (Portsmouth, 2002), p.35. 39 E. Puech and J. Zias, Le Tombeau de Simon et Zacharie dans la Valle de Josaphat, Revue Biblique 111-4 (2004), pp. 575-576.

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Descriptions of the Tomb Chapel of St. James Many travelers and pilgrims accounts from the Byzantine period through the Middle Ages describe a chapel that stood near the monuments, at the location of the tomb of three Christian saints. 40 The most prominent among the figures mentioned was James the brother of Jesus. The other two were Simon the Elder, who blessed Jesus as a baby, and Johns father, Zechariah the priest. The Martyrdom of James In order to understand why James was connected to this site, one must recall the traditions regarding James tragic death. 41 Some time after Jesus crucifixion, James was appointed leader of the Judeo-Christian community in Jerusalem. He held this position until his death in 62 CE. Two main sources relate the story of his martyrdom. The earlier tradition is given by Josephus: [Ananus the high priest] convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned. 42 James was a charismatic figure whose teachings were seen as a threat to the Sadducees control of the Temple. Therefore, Ananus seized the opportunity to have him killed.

There are a number of studies that record the various pilgrims descriptions of this chapel; some of the sources quoted here are cited by: D. Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem III (Cambridge, 2007), pp. 185-189; Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 99-101. For an in-depth study that records these sources, see L. H. Vincent and F. M. Abel, Jrusalem, Recherches de Topographie, darchologie et dHistorie II - Jrusalem Nouvelle (Paris, 1926), pp. 841-849. Zias and Puesch claimed to have found evidence for an earlier tradition in the inscriptions that they read on the Absalom Monument. According to this tradition, Zachariah and Simeon were interred in the Absalom Monument and not in a tomb together with James. See: J. Zias and E. Puech, The Tomb of Absalom Reconsidered, Near Eastern Archaeology 68-4 (2005), pp. 161-162. 41 For a thorough analysis of these traditions see O. Irshai, The Church of Jerusalemfrom The Church of the Circumcision to The Church of the Gentiles, Y. Tsafrir and S. Safrai, eds., The History of Jerusalem; The Roman and Byzantine Periods, Jerusalem, 1999, pp. 63-80 (Hebrew). 42 Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XX, 197-203; paraphrased from the translation by L. H. Feldman (Loeb Classical Library; London, 1965, pp. 106-109). Most scholars believe this quote to be genuine, unlike the passage about Jesus in Jewish Antiquities XVIII, 63-64.

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By the end of the first century CE, there was already a more dramatic variation of the circumstances of James death. This tradition was transmitted by Hegesippus (active during the second half of the second century CE), one of the main sources of Eusebiuss Ecclesiastical History. Eusebius wrote: And they buried him on the spot by the Temple, and his gravestone still remains by the Temple. 43 This tradition seems to be the source for James association with the Kidron Valley monuments. Their location directly below the Temple Mount allowed Christian pilgrims to imagine the scene of James martyrdom. The Discovery of the Tomb A tenth-century manuscript of a Latin translation of a now-lost Greek hagiographic text is the source that provides the most extensive description of how this tomb became famous in the mid-fourth century. Although the manuscript is relatively late, the source was apparently much earlier and was cited by Byzantine sources. This manuscript, found in the library of Chartres in France, was translated into French and published by F. M. Abel; the present translation into English is by the second author: 44 Under the consulate of Sergius and Nigrinianus 45 and under the rule of the glorious Roman Emperor Constantine Augustus, while Cyril was the head of the priesthood of Jerusalem, 46 a miraculous event occurred. In between the Mount of Olives and the pinnacle of the Temple there is a cave in which lived a venerable man who was very pious and very sweet whose name was Epiphanius. There he spent his days and nights in prayer before the Lord, for the atonement of his sins. Constantly closed in the cave he asked God to have mercy on him and bestow him with peace for the rest of his life. One day, while he was asleep he saw the holiness of the Lord James standing before him, turning to him saying, Be strong and brave, Epiphanius, for you have found favor in the eyes of God and your sins have been atoned. Now

The quotes here are paraphrased from Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History II xxiii 4-19, trans. K. Lake (The Loeb Classical Library; London, 1926), pp. 171-177. 44 F. M. Abel, Le Spulture de Saint Jacques le Mineur, Revue Biblique 114 (1919), pp. 485-487. 45 350351 CE. 46 Cyril was the third bishop of Jerusalem after Constantine; he was appointed in 348 and died in 386/7. For more information, see; G. G. Stroumsa, From Cyril to Sophronius: The Christian Literature of Byzantine Jerusalem, in: Tsafrir and Safrai, eds., The History of Jerusalem; The Roman and Byzantine Periods, pp. 420-422, (Hebrew).

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arise and go to the city, there you must go before the honorable bishop and demand of him to come here to dig and uncover our bodies that are in this place. Are you aware with whom you are conversing? With James the brother of the Lord and here with me are Zechariah the priest and Simon. While the Saint was sleeping, Epiphanius was resting and contemplating the vision that he had seen. He said to himself, this is a terrible apparition that I have seen tonight and I do not know how to take it. The demon is trying to tempt me to leave my cell and lose my reward. These thoughts troubled him bitterly. This ghost is perhaps an illusion, a seductress. It is so many years that I, the sinner, have been living in this cave and the holy James has never appeared, why it would happen now, I dont know. That said, he stood silently in his cave and prayed to God to show him what exactly this revelation was. When night fell, Epiphanius fell asleep and behold: Saint James appeared to him a second time: Epiphanius he said, I told you once and will tell you a second time, get up, enter the city and urge the honorable Bishop to come here, dig and take us away from this place. This I am telling you for the second time. Do not give way to your doubts or to the idea that these are fantasies or illusions of demons. What I am saying is the truth and I am the herald. After these words of the Saint, Epiphanius arose in the morning and said, In truth, it was not an illusion of my imagination but rather a vision of God, and St. James appeared in my dream. I will go immediately to the pure Bishop and transmit to him the injunctions of the Holy Lord. With these reflections, he left his cell, presented himself before the Bishop Cyril and told him the orders of the Holy Lord. Being that the old man was unknown to him and at the sight of his attire, comprising a sack and an old coat, the Bishop assumed that he was another fraud that came with false visions in order to extort alms. Therefore he replied, while slipping him some money, we have never heard that James was buried in this place; I do not know what you are telling me! You are inventing false stories in order to have an opportunity to leave your cell. With these words, he dismissed the old man, who returned to his cell, shedding bitter tears, astounded by the response of the Bishop. That night, while he was sleeping, St. James appeared to him again and said, Epiphanius, I know the ways of the Bishop who did not believe your word. Now go to Eleutheropolis, you will find there a man by the name of Paul, transmit to him all that I have told you. At sunrise Epiphanius took his staff and went down towards Eleutheropolis. That same night, while Paul, who was one of the important people of Eleutheropolis was sleeping, James appeared to him and said, I am showing you a man that will come to you, accept him into your home and perform

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everything he tells you immediately, without delay. Then he showed him the figure of Epiphanius as clear as day. When Paul arose, he told his wife all he had seen and he thanked the Lord. In the morning, he ordered his servants to find the monk and receive him. The servants were loyal and as soon as Epiphanius arrived in the vicinity of Paul they received him and presented him before Paul. On seeing him, Paul exclaimed, this is the one I saw last night! Paul told his vision to Epiphanius who, in turn, communicated to him the orders of the Saint. Paul was delighted and immediately called over the head steward of his house, Anastasius, and gave him a silver vase that weighed 40 pounds, telling him: "Go sell it and use the money to employ workers to search for the bodies of the saints. When you find them let me know and I will come to worship there. So saying, he sent them off. They arrived in Jerusalem; when they reached the area of the cave, Epiphanius showed the place to Anastasius. The latter employed many workers and undertook excavations until he discovered the bodies of St. James, Zechariah, and Simon. Then they sent a messenger to the honorable Bishop, who came down with great joy and on the first of December he took the bodies of the saints, placed them in a box and brought them up to Mount Zion. Paul of Eleutheropolis was promptly notified of the discovery. He came to Jerusalem and built a chapel near the cave where the saints were interred until then. Once the chapel was built, on the 25th day of May, he placed the bodies of the saints under the altar. The literary and fictional elements of this story are clear; even so, it describes a relatively common phenomenon of the Byzantine period, known as inventiones. 47 Early Byzantine sources afford a number of reports of inventionesmiraculous discoveries of the tombs of biblical figures or Christian saints. The inventiones followed a set pattern. 48 This phenomenon

Di Segni studied this phenomenon. The information brought here is from her article: L. Di Segni, On the Development of Christian Cult Sites on Tombs of the Second Temple Period, ARAM 18-19 (2007), pp. 381-401. For a discussion of the inventio brought here, see ibid., p. 382 n. 3. 48 A priest, monk, or layman has a dream in which a holy figure reveals the place of his burial and requires that it be made known to the public. The dreamer reports it to the local bishop, who eventually orders excavation of the spot indicated, where an ancient tomb is discovered. Sometimes the dreamer himself excavates the tomb and reports the discovery to the church authorities. The body that lies in the grave is identified as that of the holy figure. The next step is usually the erection of a church above the tomb. Since a private individual initiates this process, these inventiones were often not enthusiastically accepted by the church authorities. The reason for

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was not restricted to the Holy Land; it is also recorded throughout the Christianized Roman Empire. In other parts of the Empire, inventiones pertained almost exclusively to Christian martyrs, whereas in the Holy Land the focus was on biblical figures. Only obviously ancient tombs, it would seem, could be identified with a personage from Scripture; these were usually tombs or other rock-cut features of the Second Temple period and sometimes even of the Iron Age. L. Di Segni summed up this phenomenon as follows: It is clear that the archaeological process of discovery of ancient tombs had a particular effect in Byzantine Palestine, namely the foundation of memorial churches, some of them in a very early phase of the Christianization of the country. These churches were not erected to serve a community but as pilgrim sites, to focus the Christian cult on potentially non-Christian holy places throughout the country. 49 It seems from the story that Epiphanius dwelled in the abandoned Benei Hezir tomb. Literary sources describe the monastic activity in the Kidron Valley tombs. There is also archaeological evidence of these monastic dwellings. 50 In the wake of Epiphanius and Pauls dreams, the tomb was excavated. It is possible that the diggers uncovered skeletal remains of the members of the Benei Hezir family, whom they identified and Christianized as St. James, St. Simeon, and St. Zechariah. The remains were relocated to the church on Mount Zion. A short time later, a chapel was built on the level surface in front of the Zechariah tomb. This chapel utilized the monuments faade and the courtyard walls. Because the bones of the supposed saints were to be interred in a crypt below the altar, a crypt with two opposing staircases was cut out of the rock, inevitably damaging the crepidoma and the platform in front of the monument.

this is that the multiplication of inventiones did not enhance Christianitys reputation for authenticity. In addition, the existence of two or more rival tombs of the same venerated figure lowered the chance that either would become an attractive pilgrimage site. 49 Ibid., p. 391. 50 Ussishkin, The Village of Silwan, pp. 346-359; G. Avni, Christian Secondary Use of Jewish Burial Caves in Jerusalem in the Light of New Excavations at the Aceldama tombs, in F. Manns and E. Alliata, eds., Early Christianity in Context: Monuments and Documents (Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 265-276.

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Descriptions of the Tomb and the Chapel As noted above, this chapel was mentioned in accounts of pilgrims and travelers from the Byzantine period through the Middle Ages. 51 Most of the descriptions of this tomb and chapel are brief; some relate details that may be helpful when attempting to reconstruct the building and will therefore be quoted in full. Eusebius (ca. 312) wrote that James was buried near the Temple and that the place was marked with a memorial stone (see above). It appears that the place was known to Eusebius. At the end of the fourth century, Jerome wrote that the tomb was well known until the time of Hadrian. He mentioned that, in his time, people believed that James had been buried on the Mount of Olives. Jerome flatly rejected this relocation of the tomb. 52 He is apparently referring to Epiphanius inventio. His rejection is an expression of the church authorities discomfort with these inventiones. The next relevant source is the Latin manuscript about the inventio. Although it dates from the tenth century, it quotes an earlier text. It describes Epiphanius vision of and the subsequent discovery of the tomb of St. James, Zechariah, and Simon, resulting in the construction of a chapel there by Paul of Eleutheropolis on May 25, 352 CE. 53 Around 518 CE, Theodosius wrote that St. James, St. Zacharias, and St. Simeon were buried in a single tomb on the Mount of Olives. 54 In his description of the Mount of Olives and Kidron Valley, the Piacenza pilgrim (ca. 570) wrote: Many saints lie buried on this mountain, including James, Zebedee, and Cleophas. 55 Adomnan, the Abbot of Iona from 679 to 704 CE, wrote a book about the holy places based on the reports of the pilgrim Arculf, a bishop from

Even now, some Christian tour guides describe the Tomb of Benei Hezir as the Tomb of St. James, without mentioning the church that no longer stands there. 52 Jerome, De Viris Ilustribus II; "[James] was buried near the temple from which he had been cast down. His tombstone with its inscription was well known until the siege of Titus and the end of Hadrian's reign. Some of our writers think he was buried in Mount Olivet, but they are mistaken." English translation from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm. See also Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem III, p. 185. 53 Ibid. 54 Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades, p. 109. For an approximate dating of the text, see p. 9. 55 Ibid., p. 138.

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Gaul. The terminus ad quem for the composition of his book is 688 CE. 56 After his description of the Absalom monument, which he identifies as the Tower of Jehoshaphat, he writes: On the right of this small tower is a stone house cut from the rock, and separated from the Mount of Olives. Inside it, there are two tombs, which are without decoration, and have been hollowed out with chisels. One is the tomb of Simeon the Righteous, who clasped the Lord Jesus as a baby in his arms, and uttered a prophecy about him, and the other is that of Joseph, the spouse of Saint Mary and the one who brought up the Lord Jesus. 57 Although he is describing the Benei Hezir tomb and mentions Simeon, he does not mention James. Instead, he has Joseph the husband of Mary. B. Mazar suggested that the source for this tradition could have been the Jewish residents of Jerusalem, who read the epitaph on the architrave of the tomb and told Arculf the names of the priests of the Hezir family recorded there. The Christians who heard the names Simeon and Joseph identified these descendants of Hezir with the saints they knew. 58 This tradition was repeated by Saewulf in 1102/1103. 59 In 808 CE, the Commemoratorium of the Churches in Jerusalem recorded that one priest was serving in the chapel of St. James. 60 A Judeo-Arabic text discovered in the Cairo Genizah provides a detailed description of the Tomb of Zechariah and of the St. James chapel adjacent to it. 61 The text, originally catalogued as T.-S. Fragments (Arabic) 53, Dr.

Ibid., p. 18. B. Maisler (Mazar), The Benei Hezir Tomb according to Ancient Christian Tradition, Bulletin of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society 9 (Jerusalem, 1941, Hebrew), p. 115. Another possibility is that a monk who knew Hebrew read the epitaph. 59 Wilkinson J., Hill J. and Ryan W.F., Jerusalem Pilgrimage; 1099-1185, London, 1988, p. 106. 60 Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades, p. 253. 61 The text was first published by J. Braslavi, A Guide to Jerusalem from the Cairo Genizah, Eretz Yisrael 7 (1964), pp. 6981 (Hebrew). It was later published in French and German: J. Braslavi, S. J. Alobaidi, Y. Goldman and M. Kuchler, Le plus ancien guide juif de Jrusalem Der lteste Jdische Jerusalem- Fhrer, in M. Kuchler and C. Uehlinger, eds. Jerusalem NOTA 6 (Freiburg, 1987), pp. 37-81. This source has photos of the original manuscript. It was re-read and published in French and English by E. Puech and J. Zias, Le Tombeau de Zacharie et Simon au Monument Funraire dit dAbsalom dans la Valle de Josaphat, Revue Biblique 110-3 (2003), pp.331-333; J. Zias and E. Puech, The Tomb of Absalom Reconsidered, Near Eastern Archeology 68-4 (2005), pp. 162-163.
58

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Hirschfeld selection no. 2 Topography of Jerusalem, was first published in Hebrew by J. Braslavi, who entitled it, A Guide of Jerusalem from the Cairo Genizah. He dated the text to the beginning of the tenth century CE by comparing the traditions recorded there and the names of the Holy places used to traditions and names recorded in dated texts. This manuscript is a fragment of a complete guide, in the form of a book or pamphlet. The guide had some of the characteristics of a modern guide; he leads the tourist on a topographically consistent route. Alongside the historical or traditional Hebrew names, the author records the Arabic names (and vice versa), which he attempts to interpret. The guide describes archaeological remains and even provides their dimensions. The author includes biblical and talmudic sources in his descriptions and describes Christian and Muslim sites in addition to the Jewish sites. Lines 1617 describe the Absalom monument. It is interesting to note that this seems to be the earliest text that records the tradition attributing this first century CE monument to King Davids son Absalom. 62 Lines 1819 describe the Tomb of Zechariah, which the author identifies as the tomb of Arnan the Jebusite, who sold his land on Mount Moriah to David for the building of the Temple. The guide describes the monument as a monolith and records its dimensions in cubits. Lines 1922 describe the church of James the brother of Jesus the messiah. This church is described as a structure attached to the previous monument. The statement that the roof, floor, walls and columns are all hewn from one stone seems to indicate that he is describing the tomb of Benei Hezir. He seems to refer to the construction of the church in addition to the hewn structure of the Benei Hezir tomb; however, this is not definite. This text is a relatively early description of the Chapel of St. James adjacent to the Tomb of Zechariah. In 1106, the Russian Abbot Daniel referred to the Kidron Valley: In the same valley is the tomb of St. James, brother of the Lord. 63 Fetellus (ca. 1137) wrote; In the valley of Josaphat they say that the blessed James was buried, and thence was taken to Constantinople. 64 An anonymous pilgrim, who wrote a guide (ca. 1160), known as the Seventh Guide, offered this description: Between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives is the valley of Jehoshaphat and there is the brook Kidron.

This tradition is generally attributed to Benjamin of Tudela, the twelfth-century Jewish traveler. See Avigad, Ancient Monuments, p. 3. 63 Wilkinson et al. 1988, p. 134. 64 J. R. Macpherson, Fetellus, PPTS 5 (London, 1896), p. 40.

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Near this place is the tomb of King Jehoshaphat. And there is a Church where James and St. Simeon the Elder and Zacharias were buried. 65 The travel diary of John of Wrzburg provides a partial description of the chapels interior. 66 John, a priest from Wrzburg, apparently visited Jerusalem between 1160 and 1170 CE and wrote his travel diary a short time after 1200: 67 In the valley of Jehoshaphat is buried the blessed James the son of Alpheus, who, as has been told above, was cast down from the Temple. There is a fair chapel in this same valley wherein is a proof of his burial, with these verses written above it: The lawless Jews assail Alpheuss son; He for Gods name and love to death is done; Alpheuss son down from the Temple cast; by pious hands was here interred at last. However the Apostle of God was afterwards translated from thence to Constantinople. An interesting point in the above quote is his description is what was translated as a proof of his burial that could be found in the chapel. The original word is indicium, which can be understood to mean a picture depicting the martyrdom and burial of St. James. Most probably, this was a painted wooden icon. We would like to suggest that there are remnants of a facility related to this icon in the tomb-chapel (see below). A description of Jerusalem at the time of its return to Christian hands in 1229 CE records the following: Near the Valley of Jehosaphat was a church where holy Zachariah the prophet and aged St. Simeon and St. James the Bishop were buried. 68 James of Verona traveled to the Holy Land in 1335. In his Liber Peregrinationis, he brings an apocryphal episode in which, following Jesus crucifixion, James entered a cave and did not eat or drink until he saw Jesus raised from the dead. Jerome had previously transmitted this episode; a number of the pilgrims, who describe the tomb-chapel, mention it as well. This episode is an additional reason for locating the Tomb of James in the Kidron Valley. The following is his description of that cave:
65 66

Wilkinson et al. 1988, p. 235. A. Stewart, Description of the Holy Land by John of Wrzburg, PPTS 5 (London, 1896), pp. 50-51. 67 Ibid., pp. ix-xii. 68 J. Shirley, Crusader Syria in the Thirteenth Century: The Rothelin Continuation of the History of William of Tyre with part of the Eracles or Acre Text (Aldershot, 1999), p. 26.

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This place I have often visited out of respect for the blessed James, whose name I bear. In that place blessed James remained for a long time, and Philip the Apostle was together with him. Near that cave of St. James-or rather, I should say that they are joined to one another--is an ancient church and an honorable tomb, in which is buried Zechariah, son of Berachiah, whom you murdered. 69 James of Verona did not mention the Christian saint, Zechariah. He rather mentioned the biblical prophet Zechariah son of Berachiah, the author of the eleventh book of the Minor Prophets. The Bible does not reveal how this Zechariah died. But 2 Chronicles (24:20-23) tells the story of a different Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, who was a priest and a prophet in the time of King Jehoash. This man was stoned to death in the Temple court by order of the king. The author of the Gospel of Mathew conflated the two figures: And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35). James of Verona based his description on this verse in Matthew. It is also possible that there were Christian traditions that conflated Zechariah the father of John the Baptist with the biblical Zechariah. 70 Jewish traditions from the thirteenth century and on view the monument as the tomb of Zechariah son of Jehoiada. 71 An interesting question is which of the three Zechariahs was the original ostensible occupant of the tomb, and how these traditions evolved. Nicolas of Poggibonsi went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land between 1346 and 1350 CE. He provided a detailed description of the Kidron Valley monuments in his book, A Voyage beyond the Seas: When you get to the valley, you find a beautiful house, all of one stone; the said house is round, with columns and has two windows on top one to the east and one to the west. The upper part is a cone of the same stone, finished and rounded off like a diamond, and on top is a carved apple shaped knob, above which is a clenched fist. This house is called the house of Absalom. And here St. James the Less preached in the Temple, converting many,
69

Quoted by Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem III, p.188. 70 Ibid., p.186. 71 It seems that the earliest source is the letter by Menachem HaHebroni (early thirteenth century), published in A. M. Luncz, Ha-meammer 3 (1919/20), p. 37 (Hebrew). For sources from the fifth century and on, see Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 106-107.

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wherefore the Pharisees took him and cast him over the Temple wall, and he rolled down till the Hand of Absalom; and dying there, there came a Jew, knife in hand, a fuller, and killed him. Using the road on the right past the Hand of Absalom, and going southwards for sixteen paces, you find a vaulted arch. Do not pass but take the small road beside the arch to the left, up the ascent for about one hundred paces; and there are many houses, within are beautiful dwellings for men who would do penance. To the right, two paces outside the said houses, stands the church of St. James the Less, all of one stone formed like a diamond; within it is broken through, for there were two churches, one above the other, and the lower church is an apse. To the east is the living rock hewn, and there St. James set himself to prayer after the burial of Jesus, saying that never would he eat or drink until he saw Christ raised from the dead. Here Christ appeared to him on Easter Sunday. After the death of St. James at the Hand of Absalom, as said, his disciples took him with great solemnity and buried him in the place where he remained so long in prayer, that is, in the church, and whence he was later taken to Constantinople. 72 When Nicolas describes a monolith shaped like a diamond, he is clearly referring to the Tomb of Zechariah, which he knows as the Church of St. James the Less. When he visited there in the middle of the fourteenth century, the church was already in ruins; he was able to discern a two-story church with an apse in the bottom story. It seems that he is referring to the apsidal chamber below the monument, understood here to be the crypt of the chapel. In 1506 CE, a pilgrim accompanying Sir Richard Guylforde wrote that ye churche of Seynt James ye lesse was located in one of the caves next to the monument identified as the Tomb of Zechariah. 73 He is apparently referring to the Benei Hezir tomb. Later in the same century (1533/4), Greffin Affagart mentions that the cave in which St. James hid later became a church in which he had been buried, describing it as broken and ruined. 74

Fra Niccolo of Poggibonsi, A Voyage Beyond the Seas, trans. T. Belloroni and E. Hoade (Jerusalem, 1945), pp. 38-39. 73 H. Ellis, ed., The Pylgrymage of Sir Richard Guylforde to the Holy Land (London, 1968), p. 33. 74 Quoted by Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem III, p. 188.

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Summary of Sources The sources brought here represent a larger list of similar sources. From these sources, we can understand that in the middle of the fourth century CE the tombs of St. James, St. Simeon, and St. Zechariah were identified in the Kidron Valley and a chapel was built near the tomb. This tomb was in fact the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Most sources mention the tomb without recording a chapel; this does not prove, though, that a chapel did not exist. It seems that the tomb is what interested the pilgrims, so the chapel was taken for granted. Similarly, many pilgrims accounts describe their visit to the Holy Sepulcher without mentioning the church. This is not a reason to believe that they visited the tomb without entering the church. From the relatively few sources that describe the chapel it seems that it encompassed the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Other sources record a chapel building with possibly two stories, which was attached to the Tomb of Zechariah. The reconstruction of the church suggested in this paper is based on these details. By the fourteenth century CE the chapel seems to have been in ruins. However, the tradition that identifies the tomb of St. James with the Tomb of Benei Hezir continued until modern times. Signs of Secondary Usage in the Tomb of Benei Hezir As mentioned above, the courtyard of the Tomb of Zechariah was connected to the Tomb of Benei Hezir by a rock-cut corridor. The original stage of the Tomb of Benei Hezir is dated to the Hasmonean period; even so, throughout the tomb there are clear signs of secondary usage that damaged the original stage of this magnificent burial complex. Although we lack archaeological material to date this secondary usage, it seems that it is related to the Christian use and possibly was part of the chapel of St. James. D. Barag attributed some of these signs to the Christian use. 75 In the northeastern corner of the portico of Benei Hezir there is evidence of an oval recess cut into the wall at floor level; a cylindrical passage connected this recess with the entrance hall of the tomb. Barag speculated that this oval recess might have served as an altar or an oil reliquary. On the lintel above the entrance from the corridor to the portico, there is evidence of white plaster decorated with a wide horizontal band, painted red. Barag believed that this indicate that the tomb had been part of a venerated site from the fourth century CE to medieval times.

75

Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 99-104.

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There is a rectangular recess (8035 cm) in the upper left corner of the eastern wall of the portico. When Avigad explored the tombs he found traces of plaster in the recess. He suggested that this recess had held a stone tablet with an inscription. 76 It is possible that this was also a result of the Christian activity and not part of the original tomb. Other signs of secondary usage are the expanded entrances to all the chambers in the burial complex. The original entrances were relatively small, so that blocking stones could seal them. 77 At a later time, these entrances were expanded, apparently in order to allow easy passage for visitors. Although it cannot be proven, it is possible that this was part of the tombs transformation into a pilgrimage site. A rectangular recess (4055 cm) is cut into each column of the distylos in antis faade (figs. 11, 12). There is a protrusion (187 cm), similar to a handle or peg, at the base of each recess. There are niches for candles below the recesses on both columns. These recesses mar the columns and do not seem to be part of the original usage. Avigad noted them, suggesting that they are related to the secondary Christian activity, but did not explain their function. 78 Barag did not discuss these recesses; however, they are clearly drawn in the section presented in his publication. 79 We would like to suggest that these recesses were cut in order to hold wooden icons with scenes of St. James martyrdom. Painted icons were an integral part of Byzantine churches. 80 Icons depicting the martyrdom of St. James would have been placed in the columns of the faade, rather than on the many surfaces throughout the tomb, because, standing opposite the faade, pilgrims had a clear view of the southwestern corner of Temple Mount. According to the tradition recorded by Hegesippus, this was the pinnacle from where James

Avigad, Ancient Monuments, p. 39. On the typical entrances and blocking stones of Second Temple period burials see Kloner and Zissu, The Necropolis of Jerusalem, pp. 52-58. 78 Avigad, Ancient Monuments, p. 46. 79 Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, p. 85, fig. 9. 80 See examples of parallel wooden icons from the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai from the sixth century and on. These icons have very similar dimensions to the recesses discussed here: K. Weitzman, The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai; The Icons I; From the Sixth Century to the Tenth Century (Princeton, 1976), plate xiii et passim.
77

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was thrown down from the Temple. This design provided the pilgrims with a vivid picture of St. Jamess martyrdom. 81 Possible Reconstruction of the Tomb Chapel of St. James Before we suggest a new reconstruction of the Tomb Chapel of St. James based on the archaeological finds and literary sources analyzed here, we will present the opinion of Barag who suggested reconstructing the chapel at a different location. Below the narrow platform in front of the faade of the Benei Hezir tomb, there are traces of an apse-like niche cut (?) into the rock (marked: "apse ?" in fig. 3). A vertical groove cut (?) into the rock above the apse may have been used for holding a cross. Above this groove there are traces of another apse; left of the lower apse there are traces of yet another, smaller apse. Barag suggested that these are the remains of the eastern end of the chapel of St. James, St. Zechariah, and St. Simeon, consecrated in 351 CE. 82 There are square openings on either side of this apse. The opening to the north leads to an Iron Age tomb; at a later point in time, a ventilation shaft was cut out, connecting that tomb with the false doorway in the faade above. Barag held that this must have been done after the fourth century CE, when hermits settled in the caves and ancient tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The opening on the southern side of the apse leads to a round chamber, which may also have been an Iron Age tomb. Barag associated these openings with Arculfs description cited above (pp. 35-36). He described two tombs, which are without decoration, and have been hollowed out with chisels. One is the tomb of Simeon the Righteous, who clasped the Lord Jesus as a baby in his arms, and uttered a prophecy about him, and the other is that of Joseph, the spouse of Saint Mary and the one who brought up the Lord Jesus.. The fact that the level surface in this location is quite small (the ground slopes down to the riverbed right below the foot of the cliff) makes it difficult to reconstruct the chapel there; . If the church had reached and possibly encompassed the Tomb of Benei Hezir, it would have been very tall and built on a large area below the cliff; at this location, though, there is no such large area. The apses that Barag pointed out seem to indicate Christian

See above about John of Wrzburg, who reported that there was an indicium (translated as, a proof) in the chapel of St. Jameswhich can be understood to mean a picture depicting the martyrdom and burial of St. James. It is possible that he was referring to these icons. 82 Barag, Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah, pp. 101-102.

81

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activity, but do not provide enough information to reconstruct a large church there. It is possible that they are related to the monastic activity in the caves in the area. 83 As mentioned above, there is evidence that hermits used the Iron Age tomb adjacent to the apse. Although Barag quoted Arculfs description to support his theory, Arculf seems to have had in mind two tombs within the Benei Hezir Tomb. He began the description by writing, On the right of this small tower is a stone house cut from the rock, and separated from the Mount of Olives. Inside it, there are two tombs. It seems more reasonable that he was referring to two kokhim that he saw within the tomb. Based on the archaeological finds and literary sources analyzed here, we would like to suggest a new reconstruction of this chapel. Many of the details have been described above and will be repeated here: the chapel was located directly in front of the Tomb of Zechariah. There is a level surface of more than 1010 m in front of this monument, mostly bedrockample space for building a chapel. Moreover, it seems that the gaps between the sides of the monument and the walls of the courtyard were also used in the chapel. If so, the total dimensions of the chapel were approximately 1018 m. The builders of the chapel utilized the walls of the courtyard as its walls; this may be the source of the patches of red plaster that can be seen on those walls. The most substantial part of the chapel that survived is the rock-cut crypt, below the monuments crepidoma. As explained above, basilica-type churches have crypts. Therefore, we would reconstruct a basilical chapel in the 1010 m area in front of the monument. The nave would have been 4 m wide, and each aisle 3 m. Rows of columns would have divided the nave and aisles. It is possible that fragments of those columns were found when Stuchbury uncovered the area. The bema would have been at the eastern end of the chapel, directly above the crypt, approximately 34 m. The bema terminated at the faade of the monument and probably did not have an apse. Earlier, we quoted Nicolas of Poggibonsi, who described a two-story church

Y. Tsafrir surveyed a monastic center near Bir Abu Swera in western Sinai, where he found a concentration of caves that monks used as cells and chapels. A possible parallel for the apse with the openings on both sides discussed here can be seen in the photos from that survey. See Y. Tsafrir, Eretz Israel from the Destruction of the Second Temple to the Muslim Conquest II; Archeology and Art (Jerusalem, 1984), p. 273 (Hebrew).

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with an apse on the lower floor. It can be inferred from his description that the upper floor did not have an apse. The crypt was accessed via the two opposing staircases that can be seen today below the monument. A difficulty with this reconstruction is determining the level of the upper floor. If the upper floor was at the level of the rock-cut platform seen today, directly below the crepidoma, these staircases would not have been accessible. A possible solution is to reconstruct an elevated bema. Thus, most of the chapel would have been at the level of the platform seen today, while the bema, which was the area above the staircases of the crypt, was elevated. We would like to suggest that it was elevated to the level of the third step of the crepidoma, which could have been used to support beams for the floor. This step is badly damaged, possibly from the weight of a floor. This would elevate the bema by 1.70 m. Pilgrims wishing to visit the crypt would reach the front of the chapel via the aisles and descend the flights of stairs on either side of the bema. At the entrance, the bema was 1.70 m above the floor, making the staircases easily accessible. When they reached the crypt pilgrims could look to their left, into the oval chamber with the apse, where reliquary boxes contained the supposed remains of the saints were displayed. Two horizontal bars blocked entry into the chamber. On the right side of the staircases there was an area with rock-cut benches, where weary pilgrims could rest and pray. Today, the crypt is 2.25 m deep; if the bema was once elevated 1.70 m, the height in that area would have been 4 m. After visiting the crypt, pilgrims would ascend to the upper level via the opposing flight of stairs. Access to the Tomb of Benei Hezir was from within the chapel. According to the Christian tradition, this was the tomb of St. James, St. Simeon, and St. Zechariah. According to other traditions, this was also the place where James prayed and fasted after Jesus crucifixion. Pilgrims visiting the church would enter the tomb via the corridor; the tomb was decorated with painted plaster. The columns of the faade may have been had icons depicting the martyrdom of James; while contemplating these icons, the pilgrims had full view of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount walls, from wherethey believedJames was thrown to his death. The tomb commemorated the saints burial place; their remains were in the crypt below the chapel. The above reconstruction is architecturally plausible; it corresponds to the literary sources and is based on the few archaeological remains of this chapel.

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Conclusion Byzantine Jerusalem was a pilgrimage destination. There is historical evidence that thousands of pilgrims visited the Holy City from the fourth century CE and on. Many of them stayed in the city for long periods. Pilgrimage made Jerusalem an important town, turning the city from a literary site to a geographical, cultural, and mainly religious center. The Tomb Chapel of St. James, reconstructed in this paper, should be viewed in this context. The influx of pilgrims naturally required pilgrimage sites. In order to attract pilgrims, traditions associating holy figures with Jerusalem had to be spread and holy sites had to be identified. At sites where these traditions were accepted, churches were built. These churches were usually intended to attract pilgrims. The Tomb Chapel of St. James, built adjacent to the Tomb of Zechariah, filled that purpose. It transformed the monuments of the Kidron Valley from Jewish burial tombs to Christian pilgrimage sites.

Fig 1: The monuments of the Kidron Valley the "Monument of Absalom" (1), the Tomb of Benei Hezir (2) and the "Tomb of Zechariah" (3) (B. Zissu, May 2011).

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Fig 2: The "Tomb of Zechariah" and architectural features underneath it, looking south (photo by B. Zissu, Dec. 2011)

Fig 3: The Tomb of Benei Hezir and the "Tomb of Zechariah" (drawing by Stas Stark; after Barag 2003)

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Fig 4: Plan of the Tomb of Benei Hezir and the "Tomb of Zechariah" (drawing by S. Stark; after Barag 2003)

Fig 5: The Kidron Valley - The "Monument of Absalom", the Tomb of Benei Hezir and the "Tomb of Zechariah" (photo by Flix Bonfils, c. 1869).

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Fig 6: The "Tomb of Zechariah" (photo by B. Zissu, Feb 2007)

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Fig 7: The "Tomb of Zechariah" from the west. Notice location of opposing flights of rock-hewn steps that descend from the monuments base, and the entrance to the rock-cut chamber located below the center of the monument (photo by A. Graicer, Aug. 2011).

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Fig 8: Plan of underground features underneath the "Tomb of Zechariah". Notice the location of the opposing flights of rock-hewn steps that descend to the rock-cut chamber (marked "crypt") and the architectural unit west of it (drawing by S. Stark; courtesy of D. Barag z"l).

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Fig 9: a, b: Two views of the opposing flights of steps (photo by authors).

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Fig 10: Section of the "Tomb of Zechariah", showing the crypt, the staircase and the rock-cut platform, marked "floor level". In our opinion the floor of the church was based on this level (drawing by S. Stark; courtesy of D. Barag z"l).

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Fig 11: The faade of Tomb of Benei Hezir, loking west, towards the Temple Mount. D. Barag z"l stands near the antae. Note the rectangular recesses cut into each column of the distylos in antis (photo by B. Zissu, 2008).

Fig 12: Section showing the inner part of the faade of Tomb of Benei Hezir. The rectangular recesses are marked (drawing by S. Stark; after Barag 2003).