The Narrative Around Archeology in Jerusalem

Last week I attended a lecture on lost ancient Christian documents. While much of the materials discussed in the lecture were not found in Jerusalem, Yaacov Shavit’s article Archeology, Political Culture, and Culture in Israel made me contend why ancient lost artifacts are important to religious and non religious people today. I began considering not only what archeology tells us historically but the made up narrative that archeology helps to support. 

During Nicola Denzey Lewis’s lecture she told a story about a man who was given the task of transporting a few pieces of small papyrus. These pieces of papyrus had not been authenticated but were being transported for sale. The man is at the airport and he goes inside to buy and print his ticket leaving his bag presumably at the outside check in counter (Lewis). Once he gets his ticket he goes back outside and get on the bus to his terminal (Lewis). The one mistake the man made was he left the bag with the papyrus on the ground (Lewis). Eventually, he gets the bus driver to turn around and gets the bag back (Lewis). If the man had lost the bag he would have lost about three million dollars (Lewis). That is how much a few small piece of unauthenticated papyrus is worth (Lewis). The point Nicola Denzey Lewis was making was the market for antique excavated material is corrupt. However, what Shavit’s article made me think about is what causes this papyrus or ancient artifacts to be worth so much in the first place.

According to Shavit some ancient artifacts found in Jerusalem create a narrative for Jewish and Christian ideologies. These narratives help boost Jewish arguments over land rights in Jerusalem (Shavit). Shiva argues that through archeology the Jewish have made claims to Palestine(Shavit). He also states that these claims through archeology are part of a false history and narrative (Shavit). By false he mean a made up narrative that people buy into for religious beliefs. It is no wonder why people would pay millions of dollars to help their claim to what is considered the most sacred land in the world. 

Lewis, Nicola Denzey. “Lost Ancient Christian Documents.” Apr. 2019, San Antonio, Trinity University.

Shavit, Yaacov. “Archeology, Political Culture, and Culture.” Archeology, Political Culture, and Culture, 1997, pp. 48–61.