GABI BARKAY – THE DEAN OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

BY DAVID PARSONS AND JONATHAN PARSONS, ICEJ STAFF

Professor Gabriel Barkay is a living legend in the field of Biblical Archaeology. A colorful figure, he is considered the leading expert on the history of Jerusalem and is credited with discovering the oldest biblical Hebrew inscriptions ever found – two silver amulets with the Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, dating to the time of King Hezekiah. We spoke to him recently about this and other key finds in the Land since Israel’s rebirth 75 years ago. The full interview is available online at org/gabriel-barkay, but here are excerpts…

WFJ: We understand your doctorate at Tel Aviv University was a survey of Jewish tombs and burial customs in Jerusalem?

Prof. Barkay: Correct! I dealt with the northwest suburbs of Jerusalem towards the end of First Temple period. One way to track the city’s expansion is the burial fields, because the Jewish custom was to bury the deceased at least 50 cubits outside the inhabited city… I located around 150 burial caves around Jerusalem… from the First Temple and later periods.

Q: WHAT OTHER EXCAVATIONS HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN?

A: In the last 15 years or so, I have directed the Sifting Project, sorting through soil illicitly removed from the Temple Mount, which is the most important archeological site in this country. But I’m especially proud of my dig in the western side of Jerusalem, at Katef Hinnom, next to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church of Scotland. There, I had nine seasons of excavations in a series of burial caves from the seventh century BCE, some 2600 years ago. Most of these seven caves were looted in antiquity. But in one burial cave, we found over 1,000 objects in one chamber, some made of gold or silver, beads, and 360 intact pottery vessels. Among the finds were two tiny rolled up plaques made of 99% pure silver. After three years of efforts, we managed to unroll the scrolls and they were densely covered with ancient Hebrew script, which included in both cases the priestly benediction from Numbers chapter six, verses 24 to 26. These are the earliest biblical verses that we know of today, from just before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, when Solomon’s Temple still stood. And these two tiny scrolls mention six times the name of the LORD, which was also the first word that I managed to decipher. The tetragrammaton of the unpronounceable name of God, which appears in the Bible as YHWH. ages 12 to 13, which is a dangerous age. They have brains, but don’t know how to use them. Among those kids was a boy of the nagging type. He used to pull my shirt from behind and when I turned around, he would ask me silly questions. So, to get rid of this boy, I put him into that repository, which I thought was empty… And he, in his boredom, took a hammer and began banging on the stones which I thought were the floor. And he began to pull out complete objects from underneath, which was against all instructions they had been given. Actually, I saw my shirt being pulled from behind and I turned around and saw this boy handling intact pottery vessels from the First Temple period. So, I asked him: “Where did you get that?” He couldn’t supply me an answer, and I was ready to suffocate him on the spot. He made the discovery of my life. Mine, not his! This is the oldest Hebraic inscription from the Bible we’ve ever found. Nothing parallels with it.

Q: ISRAEL IS APPROACHING ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY. HOW IMPORTANT HAS IT BEEN FOR ISRAEL TO RULE OVER MOST OF THE LAND IN ORDER TO REDISCOVER ITS JEWISH HISTORY?

You should remember that the first years after the establishment of the State of Israel, archaeology was a kind of a national hobby. The founding father of the State, David Ben Gurion, used to visit the digs. One of the major figures in archaeology was my teacher, Yigal Yadin, who was the commander of the War of Independence… For years, archaeology occupied a very important role in public life. Archaeological discoveries were advanced in the President’s home, and they appeared on the front pages of daily papers… That enthusiasm of the 1950s and 60s does not exist anymore. But our connection to archaeology, to the history of this country, is still very, very strong.

Q: That’s amazing!

A: It was an interesting case. We worked that season in 1979 with the help of some kids

Q: IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE MORE PROJECT TO EXCAVATE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

A: The Temple Mount… Every archaeologist

Burial Cave at Ketef Hinnom (petergoeman.com) has dreams, but dreams do not always come true. Unfortunately, I can hardly walk now…

Q: BUT YOU HAVE MANY TALMIDIM (STUDENTS) WHO WILL CARRY ON THE WORK?

A: Yes, I have had many 1000s of students, including many Christians, as I taught for over 40 years.