Gabriel Barkay | |
|---|---|
גבריאל ברקאי | |
 Gabriel Barkay, June 2017 | |
| Born | 1944 (age 80–81) |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Citizenship | Israel |
| Alma mater | Tel Aviv University |
| Occupation | Archaeologist |
| Employer(s) | Bar-Ilan University,Hebrew University,[1]American Institute of Holy Land Studies andUniversity of the Holy Land[2] |
| Title | Professor |
| Awards | Jerusalem Prize for Archaeological Research (1996)[2] |
| Website | http://www.gabrielbarkay.com/ |
Gabriel Barkay (born 1944) (Hebrew:גבריאל ברקאי; sometimes transcribed from the HebrewGavriel Barkai) is an Israeli archaeologist.
Gabriel Barkay was born in theBudapest Ghetto,Hungary. He immigrated to Israel in 1950.[2]
He studiedarchaeology,comparative religion andgeography atTel Aviv University, graduatedsumma cum laude, and received his PhD in archaeology from the same university in 1985.[2] His dissertation was aboutLMLK seal impressions on jar handles. He participated in theLachish excavations withDavid Ussishkin. His academic areas of interest include the archaeology ofJerusalem,biblical archaeology, burials and burial customs, art,epigraphy, andglyptics in theIron Age.
Barkay is an external lecturer atBar Ilan University andJerusalem University College on Mount Zion.[3]
In 1968–71, Barkay andDavid Ussishkin surveyed theSilwan necropolis from the time of theJudean Monarchy during theIron Age, containing 50 rock-cut tombs ofJudahite high government officials.[4] Barkay also excavated the Iron Age tombs on the grounds of theÉcole Biblique in the early 1970s.
Dr. Barkay's most famous discoveries are two small silver scrollamulets containing thepriestly benediction from theBook of Numbers (Numbers 6:24–26), which he discovered in 1979 in a First Temple Period tomb atKetef Hinnom. Theseamulets contain the oldest surviving biblically related inscription discovered to date, dating back to the seventh century BCE and are to-date the only archaeological proof that passages from theHebrew Bible as we know them were in circulation in theFirst Temple Period.
In 2000, Barkay,Eilat Mazar, and other prominent individuals in Israel founded theCommittee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount in response to a protruding bulge discovered in 2000 in theTemple Mount's southwest corner.[5]
In 2005, together with archaeologistZachi Zweig, Barkay established theTemple Mount Sifting Project, a project funded by theIr David Foundation and dedicated to recovering archaeological artifacts from 400 truckloads of earth removed from theTemple Mount by theWaqf and Israeli Islamic movement during 1996–2001. The construction included the establishment of the underground so-called El-Marwani Mosque at an ancient structure known since medieval times as Solomon's Stables, excavating a huge pit as an entrance to the structure, and reducing the platform level at the area north to the entrance.[6]
One of the findings of this project is a 7th-century BCEbulla (round clay seal affixed to documents), which became known as the "Bethlehem Seal". Dr. Barkay offered the first translation of theHebrew three-line inscription: "In the 7th year, Bethlehem, for the king".[2]
Barkay points out to the findings from theByzantine period—mainly ceramics and coins, including rare coins, but also architectural elements, some from churches. Some scholars claim that the Temple Mount was left bare by the Christian rulers, to conform with Jesus' prophecy that not a stone of the Temple complex will be left standing (Mark 13:2, Luke 21:6, Matthew 24:2) and in order to emphasise theChurch of the Resurrection, but in Barkay's assessment, the findings prove that "in the Byzantine era the Temple Mount was a center of activity", as the place may have held churches and a marketplace.[7][8]
Barkay frequently appears on theHistory Channel showThe Naked Archaeologist, which is hosted bySimcha Jacobovici. He also appeared in the documentaryThe Real Da Vinci Code in 2005, hosted by British actorTony Robinson ofBlackadder fame, offering his views on the speculation that theTemplars found secret documents relating to the bloodline of Jesus Christ under theTemple Mount as advanced byMichael Baigent,Richard Leigh, andHenry Lincoln in their controversial bookThe Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. In Barkay's opinion, there exists no evidence that the Templars conducted any excavations in the area at all, and that the tools available to them at the time were not sufficient to dig far enough to reach the ruins in question. Also in 2005, Barkay appeared in the documentaryThe Bible vs. the Book of Mormon, produced by Living Hope Ministries ofBrigham City, Utah, in which he was asked to give his opinion on the extent to which archaeological findings support the historical narrative presented in the Bible.
In 1996, Barkay received the Jerusalem Prize for his life's work as an archaeologist of Jerusalem.[1]
In 2014 he received theMoskowitz Prize for Zionism.[9]
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