Desecration of antiquities: This is how the archeological properties in Jerusalem were abandoned Israel today

Many dozens of antiquities sites in Jerusalem, where burial caves of priests from the Second Temple period, suffer from neglect, disintegration, robbery, fires and nationalist vandalism.

Some places have even become a meeting point for criminals and drug addicts.

Tomorrow, an extensive article will be published in the "Israel Hashavua" supplement, reviewing the status of these sites.

This follows a mapping conducted by Yosef Pfizer, a doctoral student in the Department of Israel Studies and Archeology at Bar-Ilan University and a member of the Jerusalem City Council from the Awakening movement.

Neglect at the antiquities sites in Jerusalem, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

The mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, to whom Pfizer passed the mapping, told Israel Today that the issue had been neglected for decades, but now he intends to talk to the Antiquities Authority to raise a budget to address an issue that he says is a national task.

Thus, for example, the condition of the burial caves from the Second Temple period in the Ben Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem, not far from the Cinematheque and the Begin Heritage Center, is particularly difficult.

Some of the caves became a shelter for goats and camels, and invaders fenced them off for their own needs.

In other caves a bulldozer hit the front in favor of antiquities robbers who dug the burial shafts in them, to find ossuaries there and sell them at the black antiquities market.

In some places, human bones, which the robbers threw during their robbery excavations, are rolling in and around the caves.

In one place, fragments of pottery from bottles could be seen, in which in ancient times oils and perfumes were put, and used during burial to dispel bad odors.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon.

Intends to Treat Disgrace // Photo: Gideon Markovich,

Some of the damaged caves are decorated with rare decorations of oysters, gables and rosettes.

Beyond that, the condition of the remains of the Byzantine monastery, which was investigated and documented a few years ago at the exit from Jerusalem in the direction of Ma'ale Adumim, is similar.

There is not much left of the mosaic floor in the place.

The cisterns and water pools at the site have become landfills, to which scrap and debris of various kinds are dumped.

Pfizer defines the sites as "an educational resource and a physical background for understanding history."

He said, "This is a means of establishing our roots here. The preservation will allow for an investigation of the past and will also pass on the findings to future generations."

Pfizer suggests that in the first phase, the municipality, in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority, will take care of scattering signs so that the city's residents will recognize the value of the places in question.

In phase B, personnel will be assigned to supervise and clean these antiquities sites.

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