Small fragments of ancient roof tiles found in the City of David provide evidence of Jerusalem’s history

A new discovery in the City of David National Park has provided rare material evidence of the presence of Greeks in ancient Jerusalem. 

During archaeological excavations operated by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel-Aviv University, 16 pieces of ceramic roof tiles were discovered. 

While researching, Dr. Filip Vukosavović, Dr. Anat Cohen-Weinberger and Dr. Yiftah Shalev from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Professor Yuval Gadot from Tel Aviv University and Efrat Bocher from Bar-Ilan University found roof tiles. The tiles discovered at the Givati Parking Lot Excavations in City of David National Park date back to the time period of Greek Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Their findings were published in the Journal of Hellenistic Pottery.

Antiochus IV is known widely from the story of Hanukkah as the oppressor. 

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He was a ruler who spread Greek culture to other territories. He enforced Hellenistic views in Jerusalem and desecrated the sacred temple in Jerusalem, causing a revolt of the Jewish people, known as the Maccabean revolt, according to the story in the book of the Maccabees. 

“When Antiochus IV and the Greeks arrive, and they conquer Jerusalem, they defile the temple, as we know from the proper story of Hanukkah,” Vukosavović told Fox News Digital. “They bring the knowledge with them. Why do they have the knowledge? Because these roof tiles, or at least modern roof tiles, were invented in the seventh century B.C., in the middle of Greece itself, and then spread around the world, but never to the Middle East.”

Researchers were able to identify the roof tiles as ones from this time period using a process called stratigraphy.

“We can date each strata about the contents of that strata. And, for the most part, it depends on the pottery itself. We know that during certain periods, certain types of pottery, meaning vessels, pottery vessels were used,” Vukosavović explained.

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“In this case, it was really both the coins and the pottery itself that showed us that the strata or the layer where these roof tiles were found was sealed in the second century B.C.E., so we know that couldn’t have been later,” Vukosavović continued. 

To gain more extensive knowledge about these tiles, Weinberger performed a petrography analysis to get a better understanding of where these roof tiles were made. 

Before this test was done, it was still unknown whether these tiles were brought by the Greeks or if they were made locally upon their arrival in Jerusalem. 

“Weinberger proved that the material is local, the clay is local, from an area west of Jerusalem called the Motza … with the addition of sand and straw, which are also local,” Vukosavović said.  

To obtain his power, Antiochus IV built a fortress known as the “Acra.” There has often been mystery surrounding the fortress, especially regarding its exact location, a question pondered for decades. A few years ago, there were walls discovered belonging to an ancient fortress. This provided good material evidence proving its existence but could not stand as proof alone. The discovery of roof tiles near these walls makes a strong argument that the fortress was, in fact, in that location, according to Vukosavović.

Ceramic roofing tiles were invented in Greece and became popular due to their durability and water resistance. They weren’t commonly used in Israel until hundreds of years later. The presence of these materials in the city can be connected to Antiochus IV himself. 

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The discovery provides material proof of a story often told. 

“Other than the Acra, this fortress, these roof tiles are also very clear proof for the presence of the Greeks during the same time period,” Vukosavović said. “The first book of Maccabees describes the arrival of the Greeks, Antiochus IV and the struggle. 

“And then much later tradition talks about the defilement of the temple and the miracle of the oil and eight days. That’s why today all the Jews celebrate Hanukkah, but we have never really had real material proof for the presence of the Greeks themselves.”

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority Conference is planned for Dec. 11, 2023, at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archeology of Israel. The event will include lectures and an event led by Vukosavović, who will present photos of the fragments found and talk about his discovery.