Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A THIRD CENTURY C.E. MANSION being excavated in Jerusalem is featured in an IAA press release (link here is to the IMFA website):
Third century CE mansion exposed in the City of David excavations
17 Aug 2009

An Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in the City of David has revealed a large third century CE building – apparently a large mansion - in excavations in the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park.


(Communicated by the Israel Antiquities Authority Spokesperson)

A spacious edifice from the Roman period (third century CE) – apparently a mansion that belonged to a wealthy individual – was recently exposed in the excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in the 'Givati Car Park' at the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park. The excavations are being conducted at the site on behalf of the IAA and in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority, and are underwritten by the ‘Ir David Foundation.

According to Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, the excavation director on behalf of the IAA, together with Yana Tchekhanovets, “Although we do not have the complete dimensions of the structure, we can cautiously estimate that the building covered an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. In the center of it was a large open courtyard surrounded by columns. Galleries were spread out between the rows of columns and the rooms that flanked the courtyard. The wings of the building rose to a height of two stories and were covered with tile roofs”.

A large quantity of fresco fragments was discovered in the collapsed ruins from which the excavators deduced that some of the walls of the rooms were treated with plaster and decorated with colorful paintings. The painted designs that adorned the plastered walls consisted mostly of geometric and floral motifs. Its architectural richness, plan and particularly the artifacts that were discovered among its ruins bear witness to the unequivocal Roman character of the building. The most outstanding of these finds are a marble figurine in the image of a boxer and a gold earring inlaid with precious stones.

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The (temporary) IAA link to the release is here (via Joseph I. Lauer). Earlier PaleoJudaica coverage of the marble figurine and the earring are here. Note (see latter link) that a gold coin hoard was found last year at the same site, but apparently not the same building.