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same importance on every histori–
cal phase.
Our work is complicated by the
fact that we are digging in a set–
tled area. Fortunately we have
avai lable to us state-owned lands
[donated to the state of Israel by
the Rothschi lds].
T hen there is the nature of the
area. The ancient city of J erusa–
lem was buil t on a steep slope.
Uncovering the remains is a com–
plicated task because a nc ient
periods have been covercd by the
debris of generations. During the
first season we had to remove
more than twenty- five feet of
debris before we reached any bis–
torical remains. The stratigraphy
is more difficult to determine
since buildings were built on a
slope. An archaeologist cannot
rely upon the usual vertical posi–
tion as a cl ue to dating th e
remains.
Question:
Sorne people have
said that whether a campaign
yields significant results is largely
a matter of c hance. What do you
think of this?
Answ e r :
C hance certai nl y
plays a part as in all other aspects
of life. Factors aside from chance
can greatly increase your possibil–
ities for success. For example,
efficiency. Rather than excavate
one area intensively, you work in
from three to six different areas.
It's like not putting your eggs al l
in one basket. Then, do the work
correctly. You have to plan your
tactics correctly. This is where
experience comes into play. Pro–
fessor Yadin in bis excavations in
Israel achieved major results, not
because of chance, but by good
strategy based upon exper ience.
At the City of David we are mak–
ing sections in the slope whicb are
wider thaiJ normal in order to see
more of the overall plan of the
city. We can see much of the
overal l plan now. As a resul t we
can an tic ípate certain future
finds.
Question:
S ince an archaeol–
ogist must work with limited evi–
dence, or evidence from a limited
area of a given site, conclusions of
even the most dis ting ui shed
archaeologists are frequently mod–
ified or overturned in the light of
26
later evidence. How do you feel
when this happens to your work?
Answ er:
Sometimes an a r–
chaeologist's conclus ions a re
overtu rn ed because of faulty
interpretation. This was the case
with Kathleen Kenyon's opinion
of the date when the city of J eru–
salem expanded to the western
clusions to be judged by finds on
which theconclusions are based .
If
the finds are later reevaluated , this
is no problem since 1 did my job.
My conclusions were based upon
the evidence as they were under–
stood at the time.
Question:
In the last fifty
years, archaeological methods
have changed . How have these
changes st rengthened the disci–
pline?
Answer:
Archaeologists now
have severa! new scientific tools,
including computers, avai lable to
them. But archaeology is still a
humanistic discipline. There will
always be enough space left for
the human brain to interpret and
2
analyze the evidence. T he natu re
~~f! ~
of excavation staffs have changed.
lliiiiÍIIIIII- 6:
We used to see one d irector wíth
perhaps 200 workers. This one
man was responsible for making
all the conclusions. Today, we
have a director, thirty staff assís–
tants and perhaps ten experts in
various fi elds important to ar–
chaeology (paleobotany, geology,
architecture, etc. ) and fewer
workers. These experts-each a
... specialist in his own field- make
~
sígn ificant contributions to the
~
evaluation of the evidence. Today
8
there is not the heavy emphasis
~
upon artistic finds. More atten–
.!¡
:,¡;
tion is being paid to a systematic
.S
restorat ion o f the material culture
"l!
~=:w.;;;
14
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of ancient civilizations.
•
"'
Question:
Do you thin k that
AERIAL PHOTO
shows spur of hi/1,
extending south from the Temple plat–
form. Upon this spur the City of David
was built. Shape of the hi/1 is outlined
bymodern roads in the Kidron and Tyro–
poeon val/eys. Map is artist's concept
of Jerusalem 's 0/d City today. Areas
wíthin City of David presently under
excavation are a/phabetically desig–
nated.
hill. Sometimes, too, the evidence
used to arrive ata conclusion is ree–
valuated. For example: An archae–
ologist may date a building to a
particular period based upon the
commonly accepted date of the
pottery found in the building. l f
later on, the pottery is redated to a
different period, obviously the
building will have to be redated,
too. This is unavoidable. Jn my
own case,
1
am ready for my con-
"Warren's Shaft" is the
tsinnor
("gutter") that Joab used to gain
access to J ebusite J erusalem and
to capture the city for David?
Answer:
No. Benjamín Ma–
zar, Yigael Yadin and Yohanan
Aharoní [now deceased) all were
in agreement on this po int.
Although their reasons differed,
they all agreed that the word
tsin–
nor
could not refer to the War ren
Shaft. To date, all water shafts
found in Israel can be dated as
belonging to the ls rael ite period
and were part of the town plan–
ning of that period. If we are to
reopen the question of the date of
the Warren Shaft , we would have
to find evidence of a simi lar water
shaft whích was clearly of Ca–
naanite workmanship.
(Continued on page 30)
The
PLAIN TRUTH