Underground – Archaeological Research in the West Bank, 1948–1967: Management, Complexity, and Israeli Involvement

IF 1.2 0 ARCHAEOLOGY
Mordechay Lash, Yossi Goldstein, Itzhaq Shai
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

The years of the British Mandate to Palestine witnessed accelerated development in numerous realms, including the thriving of archaeological research. For the first time, a local department of antiquities was established and an impressive museum was opened. During this period, excavations were also conducted by resourcerich research teams (Ben-Arieh 1999a; 1999b). The leap in research also affectedmembers of the country’s Jewish population (Yishuv). In 1920, the initial excavation of Hamat Tiberias was conducted by the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, and 1925 marked the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which quickly began to take part in the excavations of the ‘Third Wall’ in Jerusalem (Ben-Arieh 2001). The increasing strength of the Yishuv also resulted in a growing number of studies, and more than 20 significant excavations were carried out by Jewish archaeologists who lived in the country during the Mandate. As a result of the violent clashes and the riots that occurred in Palestine over the future of the country and the authorities’ treatment of its inhabitants, British Royal Commissions were established to consider the situation. The various conclusions of these bodies included a call to partition Palestine, while leaving certain zones subject to different levels of international administration (Biger 2004). The commissions had little impact on the selection of the archaeological research sites of members of the Yishuv, which were being conducted throughout Palestine. For example, between 1940 and 1942, Moshe Stekelis (1993) excavated a prehistoric site in Bethlehem, and in 1941 he conducted exploratory excavations at Tinshemet Cave (Mugharet Al Watwat), located near Shuqba Cave in Wadi en-Natuf in western Samaria (Stekelis 1942) (Figure 1). The violent events themselves had significant influence on the excavations and resulted in their cessation on more than one occasion. However, as long as Palestine was not partitioned, it continued to be researched as a single unit. The outbreak of World War II resulted in a decline in the activity of the foreign research delegations and schools, raising the profile of local Jewish researchers, who never stopped excavating. They even continued a number of unexpectedly halted excavations that had been started by their foreign counterparts (as was the case of Stekelis’s excavation in Bethlehem). Jewish excavation enterprises, such as the Beit She’arim dig and the discovery of ancient synagogues, were incorporated into the constructing of the Zionist narrative. The close relationship between archaeology and nationalism that began to emerge at the time only intensified after the establishment of the state of Israel (Feige and Shiloni Ariel University, IL Corresponding author: Mordechay Lash (ml0524239691@gmail.com) Lash, M, et al. 2020. Underground – Archaeological Research in the West Bank, 1948–1967: Management, Complexity, and Israeli Involvement. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 30(1): 8, pp. 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-650 Bulletin of the History of Archaeology
1948-1967年西岸地下考古研究:管理、复杂性和以色列的参与
英国对巴勒斯坦的委任统治见证了许多领域的加速发展,包括考古研究的蓬勃发展。当地首次成立了一个文物部门,并开设了一座令人印象深刻的博物馆。在此期间,资源丰富的研究团队也进行了挖掘(Ben Arieh 1999a;1999b)。研究的飞跃也影响了该国犹太人口的组成部分(Yishuv)。1920年,犹太-巴勒斯坦探索协会对Hamat Tiberias进行了初步发掘,1925年标志着耶路撒冷希伯来大学的成立,该大学迅速开始参与耶路撒冷“第三堵墙”的发掘(Ben Arieh,2001)。伊舒夫人力量的增强也导致了越来越多的研究,在委任统治期间居住在该国的犹太考古学家进行了20多次重要的挖掘。由于巴勒斯坦发生了暴力冲突和骚乱,涉及国家的未来和当局对待居民的方式,因此成立了英国皇家委员会来审议这一情况。这些机构的各种结论包括呼吁分割巴勒斯坦,同时让某些地区接受不同级别的国际管理(Biger 2004)。这些委员会对在整个巴勒斯坦进行的伊舒夫人考古研究遗址的选择几乎没有影响。例如,1940年至1942年间,Moshe Stekelis(1993)在伯利恒发掘了一处史前遗址,1941年,他在位于撒马利亚西部Wadi en Natuf Shuqba洞穴附近的Tinshemet洞穴(Mugharet Al Watwat)进行了探索性发掘(Stekelis 1942)(图1)。暴力事件本身对挖掘工作产生了重大影响,并不止一次导致挖掘工作停止。然而,只要巴勒斯坦没有被分割,它就继续作为一个单一的单元进行研究。第二次世界大战的爆发导致外国研究代表团和学校的活动减少,提高了当地犹太研究人员的知名度,他们从未停止过挖掘。他们甚至继续进行了一些由外国同行开始的意外停止的挖掘(就像Stekelis在伯利恒的挖掘一样)。犹太挖掘企业,如Beit She’arim挖掘和古代犹太教堂的发现,都被纳入了犹太复国主义叙事的构建中。考古与当时开始出现的民族主义之间的密切关系在以色列国成立后才得以加强(费格和希洛尼·阿里尔大学,伊利诺伊州通讯作者:Mordechay Lash(ml0524239691@gmail.com)Lash,M等人,2020。地下——约旦河西岸考古研究,1948–1967:管理、复杂性和以色列的参与。《考古史公报》,30(1):8,第1-11页。DOI:https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-650考古史公报
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