Page 22 - Holyland Magazine - 2009 Edition

INPA
The Sidonian tomb of Tel Maresha depicting
inscriptions on the wall telling us about its “Yehaweh (is) God of the whole earth”
owner as well as paintings of rare wildlife
scenes.
This is not the only puzzle. Forty years ago, God of the whole earth shall be called.”
the first cave was found when road work
in the area uncovered it. The findings in
that cave were just as rare and mysterious,
and gave the site its name – The Jerusalem
Cave. The burial cave had rare inscriptions
dating back to about 600 BCE, written in
ancient Hebrew lettering with the name
“Jerusalem” clearly carved next to the name
“Yahweh” – the exclusive name of God.
To find the two names inscribed together
not long before the destruction of the First
Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians
was a major discovery. Experts believe that
the inscription of the holy city’s name was
the oldest to be found in any archaeological
dig. Hence, the cave’s name.
The finding of God’s name alongside the
word Jerusalem adds to the mystery since
it is forbidden in Jewish law to write the
divine name. Who was the scribe? Was it
a member of the priesthood, the royal
family or a prophet, a member of the elite
group that knew how to write? What were
the circumstances of the writing? Was this
a hideaway cave for members of the royal
or priestly families fleeing from besieged
Jerusalem shortly before it was destroyed
by the armies of the Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE?
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The inscription is unique since the phrase
appears once only in the Bible, in Isaiah
54:5 “The Lord of Hosts is his name, and
thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the
Experts on ancient Hebrew writing posit
that this refers to the Babylonian conquest
and the destruction of Jerusalem.
These events mentioned in the book of
Jeremiah describe the brutal destruction of
the cities of Judea one by one, leaving only
two fortified cities, Azekah and Lachish,
still standing. As the Bible tells it, “when
the king of Babylon's army fought against
Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that
were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for
[only] these fortified cities remained of the churches near the Sea of Galilee associated
cities of Judah.” (Jer. 34:7)
Beit Loya is located between the ruins of
these two fortified cities, and it is through Beit Loya area, and all are associated with
here that the Babylonian army marched
on its conquests.
Following the destruction of the Second
Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, it seems
that an early Christian community settled
here, carving out a chapel in a subterranean
cave and leaving pre-Constantine (1st
through 3rd centuries CE) symbols on its
walls. The times were harsh for those early
Christians, who may have conducted their
worship underground to hide from the
watchful eye of the Roman legions patrolling
the main roads from Jerusalem to the coast.
With the advent of Byzantine Empire in
324 CE, many residents of Beit Loya were
converted to the new Christian religion
and a large church was built near the city
center. The stunning mosaic adorning the
floor indicates the wealth and prosperity
of the community.
And this is where a third mystery is tied
to the site.
On the mosaic floor in each of the two
naves at the side of the main hall, a beautiful
ship is detailed with an abundance of colors.
Dating to the Byzantine period (500 CE),
the ship shows a fisherman and a helmsman
at the tiller. Ships and fishermen in the
desert? Obviously this was not the town’s
main occupation. We would have expected
to find such mosaics in the Byzantine
with Jesus and his miracles, but there aren’t
any. To date, archaeologists have unearthed
five depictions or drawings of boats in the
inscriptions. One boat drawing found in
the Jerusalem Cave dates back to the 5th
century CE, two are portrayed on the
mosaic floor of a church built some 1,000
years later and one above the Greek
inscription. Is this a coincidence or will the
enigma of the carvings, hideaway caves
and ships in the desert be revealed in future
excavations? Only time will tell.