An archaeological excavation on Mount Zion in Jerusalem has yielded a significant find: evidence of the biblical Babylonian conquest of the city that occurred in 587/586 BCE.
Researchers found a deposit of layers of ash, arrowheads, potsherds, lamps, and a piece of jewelry at the Mount Zion dig.
The find is one of the oldest and most prominent discoveries made by the Mount Zion Archaeological Project, which has been in operation for more than a decade.
Babylonian Conquest Of Jerusalem
The Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar is considered as a major moment in Jewish history.
It was marked by devastation, great loss of life, as well as the plundering and dismantling of King Solomon's Temple to God.
Researchers think that the newly-found deposit can be dated to the specific event of the conquest given the unique mix of materials and artifacts found, which include pottery, lamps, burnt wood, ashes, as well as Scythian-type bronze and iron arrowheads typical of the period.
The ash deposits do not provide conclusive evidence of the Babylonian attack in themselves, but in this case, the combination of the ashes along with the other materials, particularly the arrowheads and the jewelry suggests some kind of devastation and destruction.
University of North Carolina professor of history Shimon Gibson said that no one abandons golden jewelry, and nobody has arrowheads in domestic refuse.
The Scythian arrowheads found at the site have also been found at other archaeological conflict sites from the 7th and 6th centuries BC, and are known to be used by the Babylonian warriors.
The clay artifacts also helped date the discovery, and the lamps are the typical high-based pinched lamps of the period.
"Together, this evidence points to the historical conquest of the city by Babylon because the only major destruction we have in Jerusalem for this period is the conquest of 587/586 BCE," Gibson said.
Gibson nonetheless said that jewelry is a rare find at conflict sites because attackers usually loot them and later melt these down. The jewelry they found, a gold and silver tassel, hints of the wealth of the inhabitants of the city at the time of the siege.
Tisha B' Av
Every year, Jews pray and fast in remembrance of the destruction of the Jewish Temple to God in Jerusalem, first by the Babylonians in 587/586 BCE, and again by the Romans in 70 CE. Jews gather in synagogues around the world and at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to pray and mourn on Tisha B' Av, the ninth day in the Hebrew month of Av, which falls on Aug. 11 this year.
