About

THE PURPOSE OF MMO:VAS

The purpose of our project is to study monumental tombs on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives, beginning with the four Iron Age monolithic-tombs in Silwan. The tombs today are located to the north of Silwan's Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, where they are mostly hidden within the homes and buildings of the Arab community. While Monolith-3 is just outside the neighborhood and can be seen from a distance, a nearby building stands in front of Monolith-4 blocking its view. In some cases, the former tombs are actively incorporated into the life of the community. Monolith-1 and Monolith-2 have residential structures built atop them on the slopes above. The monumentality of the tombs, what made them distinct in antiquity, is still preserved within Silwan. The study of these monuments, however, has been neglected in recent years due to the political status of East Jerusalem. MMO:VAS was formed as a virtual survey to address the challenging situation of archaeology on the Olivet Range and examine the complex histories of the monumental tombs located there. Most of our research is conducted remotely, though the project does have an archival and museum component. The ongoing work of MMO:VAS seeks to develop methodologies that combine the analysis of legacy materials with modern technology, such as digital modeling, in order to study archaeology in areas that are difficult to access.

THE HISTORY OF THE SILWAN MONOLITHS

Though there is much to be learned about the history of the Silwan monoliths, it is possible to recognize multiple periods beginning with their initial construction and use as tombs during the Iron Age. Some of the monoliths were re-used as burial places during the late-Hellenistic and early-Roman periods. Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE the monoliths were quarried as sources for stone. The quarrying activity could have begun already during the late-Second Temple period, but its principle period was most probably during Hadrian's reconstruction of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina in the 2nd century CE. Later, the monoliths were transformed into dwellings for Byzantine monks and by the Umayyad Period they were incorporated into family residences (specifically Monoliths 1 & 2). The use of the tombs as dwelling spaces during those periods represents the earliest history of the Arab village of Silwan, which today is an important neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

From these periods, broadly defined, it is possible to relate the particularity of the monoliths to multiple aspects of Jerusalem's history in general. The first aspect is Jerusalem's continued inhabitation. The extensive record of inhabitation, which involves multiple periods and different groups, is tied to Jerusalem's cultural prominence as a holy city as well as its deep history reaching back several millennia. Component with Jerusalem's extensive history is the reuse of architecture and building material by subsequent generations. This aspect has impacted and continues to affect all four monoliths. Finally, to a certain extent, the monoliths are part of Jerusalem's sacred topography. Some of the earliest references to the village of Silwan are found in travel accounts of Jewish and Christian pilgrims visiting the holy city. These accounts reveal the various ways in which Jerusalem's topography was re-inscribed by religious communities drawing from biblical traditions. Curiously, the Silwan monoliths are rarely if ever mentioned in sources prior to the 19th century, unlike the Kidron monuments to the north that are named after biblical figures such as Absalom, Zechariah, and Jehoshaphat. The one clear example in Silwan is the name "Tomb of Pharaoh's Daughter" that is applied to Monolith-3. Not coincidentally, this is the only monolith visible today outside of the neighborhood. An important goal of MMO:VAS is to study not just the formation and function of the monolithic-tombs but also their re-use, adaptation, and interpretation throughout Jerusalem's history.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

MMO:VAS was formed to address the challenges in studying the Silwan monoliths by working with legacy material, modern technology, and the local community. This involves two main tasks, their visualization reconstruction and the exploration of their wider histories. These tasks overlap in various ways. For instance digital modeling can play an important role in the thick analysis of the monoliths' history. Likewise, archival and museum-based studies can contribute to a better understanding of the cultural heritage implications of the monoliths and their features. In line with these general objectives, the MMO:VAS is presently working toward the following initial goals:

1. Archival analysis of images and records of the monoliths

2. The digital reconstruction of the monolith’s architecture

3. The digital reconstruction of inscriptions on each monolith, where applicable

4. The digital reconstruction of the landscape surrounding the monoliths

5. A better understanding of the heritage implications of the monoliths and associated features. 

Because the monoliths are located in East Jerusalem, which is designated occupied territory by the UN, we are unable to do fieldwork in Silwan. For this reason, our project is entirely virtual. Faced with this challenge, our project's goal is to create a foundational study through modern technology that points a way forward for future work in Jerusalem. This foundation begins with the recognition that the monoliths of the Mount of Olives are part of a rich heritage that is shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

THE MONOLITHIC-TOMBS

The primary focus of MMO:VAS is the study of four monolithic-tombs created during the late-Iron Age (the eighth through-sixth centuries BCE), located on two corresponding ridges on the Mount of Olive's western slopes descending into the Kidron Valley / Wadi al-Joz. The term monolith (and monolithic) used for the monumental tombs refers to the mode of construction; each tomb is carved out of the bedrock of the Olivet Range.

The Silwan monoliths are located in what was once a necropolis during the first millennium BCE. The necropolis contained over 50 tombs, most of which were rock-cut chamber tombs. This particular necropolis was formed in the Iron Age and served as an area for elite burials. One tomb, Monolith-1, was the burial site of a high-ranking official in the Kingdom of Judah. The tombs are located in the northern part of Silwan, carved from two parallel ridges. Aside from the four above-ground monoliths, the rock-cut chamber tombs can be organized roughly into two groups. The first group are tombs cut into the lower ridge, known locally in Arabic as الزنار (“the belt”). Most of these tombs are single burial and have gabled ceilings. The second group, found primarily on the upper ridge, had flat ceilings that were often decorated with a cornice. 

Within this bounded cemetery, Monolith-3 was carved out of the lower ridge, while Monolith-1, Monolith-2, and Monolith-4 were carved from the upper ridge. Monolith-4 is the northern most tomb. It is constructed near the point where the upper ridge terminates in the north. Between Monolith-4 and Monolith-3 below is an artificially formed plateau that resulted from the quarrying of the upper ridge, probably beginning with the formative period of the monoliths.

For short descriptions of each of the Silwan Monoliths, see links below:

Monolith-1

Monolith-2

Monolith-3

Monolith-4

HISTORY OF RESEARCH

MMO:VAS is based upon legacy material, much of which begins in the mid-19th century due to the advent of photography. The historic photographs of Jerusalem and its landscape, together with cartographic work and architectural drawings, form the robust collection of materials that we are drawing from in our study of the Silwan monoliths. One of the earliest photographs of Jerusalem, taken by Girault de Prangey in 1844, features the village of Silwan. The distinct form of Monolith-3 is clearly visible within the picture's frame of view. In fact, of the few published studies of Silwan's tomb, most are focused on Monolith-3. Nearly a decade after the first photograph, Félicien de Saulcy produced the first architectural drawings of Monolith-3 in 1853. Auguste Salzmann followed a year later in 1854 with a series of photographs featuring the monolithic-tomb from different perspectives. A plan of the tomb's interior by Charles Wilson is found in the 1865 Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem. Ermette Pierotti (1864) as well as Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez (1890) published drawings of the tomb's façade. During the first half of the 20th century, the tomb was studied by Louis-Hughes Vincent and Nahman Avigad. The architectural drawings of Monolith-3 made by Avigad are particularly noteworthy for their skill and accuracy. 

In the 1870s, Charles Clermont-Ganneau explored Silwan and its surrounding area, discovering the Royal Steward Inscription and the Shorter Inscription on Monolith-1. Clermont-Ganneau never fully published them or produce a translation, though he did produce architectural studies of Monoliths 1 and 2. He was also the first to note the remains of an inscription on Monolith-3. The other inscriptions from the Silwan monoliths were not published until Avigad's important work in 1953 (the Royal Steward Inscription and Monolith-2's inscription) and 1955 (the Shorter Inscription). Finally the Silwan necropolis was surveyed by David Ussishkin from 1968–1971. Published originally in Hebrew in 1986 (English in 1993), Ussishkin's The Village of Silwan documented 50 tombs along with the four monoliths, including detailed architectural drawings of each. Ussishkin also documented the tensions that existed between the Palestinian residents of Silwan and the Israeli archaeologists conducting the survey in the wake of the Six-Day War (1967).