This is the story of the landfill that operated in Jerusalem during the first century CE and served as its garbage dump during the ca. 50-year period that followed Jesus's crucifixion through to the period that led to the great revolt of the Jews just prior to the city's destruction. The book presents an extensive investigation of hundreds of thousands of items that were systematically excavated from the thick layers of landfill. It brings together experts who conducted in-depth studies of every sort of material discarded as refuse-ceramic, metal, glass, bone, wood, and more. This research presents an amazing and tantalizing picture of daily life in ancient Jerusalem, and how life was shaped and regulated by strict behavioral rules (halacha). The book also explores why garbage was collected in Jerusalem in so strict a manner and why the landfill operated for only about 50 years. Half a century of garbage from Early Roman-period Jerusalem provides an abundance of new data and new insights into the ideological choices and new religious concepts emerging and developing among those living in Jerusalem at this critical moment. It is an eye-opener for archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, and theologians, as well as for the general reader.
Prof. Yuval Gadot is the head of the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel-Aviv University. Since 2013 he is directing Tel-Aviv University excavations at the 'City of David' and Co-directing the 'Lautenschlaeger Azekah Expedition'. His research in Jerusalem includes excavations of the ancient core together with interdisciplinary study of the rural landscape surrounding the city.
Preface Yuval Gadot Part I: Introduction and Stratigraphy Chapter 1. Introduction Yuval Gadot Chapter 2. Stratigraphy Yuval Gadot Part II: The Finds Chapter 3. The Pottery Helene Machline Chapter 4. The Numismatic Finds Yoav Far Chapter 5. The Chalk Vessels Yonatan Adler Chapter 6. The Glass Finds Ruth E. Jackson-Tal Chapter 7.1 The Metal Artifacts Chen Antler Chapter 7.2 Report on Glassy Slag Fragments Shan Huang and Ian Freestone Chapter 8. The Plaster Fragments Lena Naama Sharabi Chapter 9. The Stone Scale-Weights Ronny Reich Chapter 10. Miscellaneous Finds Nissan Ben Melech Part III: Flora and Fauna Chapter 11. Faunal Remains Abra Spiciarich and Lidar Sapir-Hen Chapter 12. Fish Remains Omri Lernau Chapter 13. Archaeobotanical Analysis Helena Roth and Dafna Langgut Chapter 14. Seeds, Grains, and Other Plant Organs Ilana Peters and Ehud Weiss Part IV: Synthesis and Summary Chapter 15. Committing the Kidron's Western Slopes to Garbage Disposal: Jewish Urbanism Under Roman Hegemony Yuval Gadot Index of Loci
"The studies in this volume provide a fascinating window into Early Roman Jerusalem by presenting the results of the meticulous excavation of a massive garbage dump on the southeastern slope of the City of David. The comprehensive and detailed analyses of the various categories of finds-including pottery, coins, stone vessels, glass, animal and fish bones, and wood-indicate the existence of an organized system of rubbish disposal, much of which appears to represent ordinary household waste. These studies therefore add a valuable new dimension to our understanding of daily life in late Second Temple Jerusalem." -Jodi Magness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "This book is a must read for everyone interested in the up-to-date topic of archaeo-garbology. Gadot and his team vividly demonstrate why ancient refuse is a strong proxy for identifying societal changes in the urban domain of Jerusalem during Roman times. This synthesis is a true goldmine of quantitative data that introduces us to the repertoire of vessels and the diet of the people in this large metropolis temple-city during one of its peak historical periods. It is these mundane leftovers that provide us with the facts and events of the daily life and economy of Jerusalemites 2000 years ago." -Guy Bar-Oz, University of Haifa
