2,000 Year Old Drama Uncovered

The Jewish people are in the “Three Week” period. It started a few days ago on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, and it will end on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, this year on July 15. (The Rabbis say the Messiah is going to be born on the 9th of Av). These days mark the period – 2,000 years ago – between the breach of Jerusalem’s walls by the Roman army, and the destruction of the Holy Temple.

During this period, the fighting was intense, the hunger unbearable, the blood literally flowed on the street. For 1,000 years a Jewish Temple had stood on Mount Zion and now Jerusalem’s defenders fought for every inch to try to save the House of God. The 1st century historian Josephus depicts the drama in detail. But it is rare to find archaeology that reveals the human side of any conflict. Now, for the first time, archaeologists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed a sort of time capsule in a 2,000 year old cistern. It’s near the Western Wall – the last remaining wall from the Temple – and it reveals intact cooking pots and a ceramic oil lamp indicating that, basically, people were eating their food at the bottom of the water reservoir. Somebody was trying to save his family. Eating in the open would have marked them for death. Eating secretly extended their lives. It’s nothing less than a miracle that modern Israelis have discovered this evidence of their ancient counterparts.

There’s a story that Napoleon was once riding in his royal carriage when he heard wailing coming from a nearby building. He stopped the procession and sent an aid to find out what had happened. The aid came back and told him that the building was a synagogue and that the Jews of Paris were wailing because their Temple had been destroyed on this very day. “Which Temple?” asked Napoleon in confusion. “The Temple that stood 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem,” answered the aid. At that point, Napoleon paused and said: “a people that mourns the destruction of their Temple after 2,000 years will yet see it rebuilt.”

See: http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Evidence-found-of-2000-year-old-siege-of-Jerusalem-318002