Jerusalem project to clean up 'Solomonic' wall

EDMOND—Brent Nagtegaal, instructor of archeology at Herbert W. Armstrong College, and Harley Breth, student body class president, will transfer to Jerusalem for a six-week project in late November. Under the supervision of Dr. Eilat Mazar, they will clean up the area around a wall from the period of the First Temple and do some excavation as well.

The wall is probably part of a “Solomonic” gate complex from the First Temple period originally excavated by Sir Charles Warren in the 1860s. Sir Warren excavated the outside of the gate complex. In 1986, Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered the inside of the gate complex, a rectangular stone complex measuring over 2,000 square feet. Previous to the discovery of this water gate, there was little archaeological evidence to corroborate the biblical references to the Davidic dynasty. Dr. Mazar’s excavation, though, was never completely finished, and she will now return with support from the college to clean up the area and complete the excavation.

This project has a smaller scale than previous phases of the dig and Mr. Nagtegaal will assist Dr. Mazar directly. They will work in the area south of the Temple Mount known as the Ophel, where Dr. Mazar’s grandfather, Benjamin Mazar, led the Ambassador College-assisted excavation. It is about 400 feet north of the City of David excavation of King David’s palace. Mr. Nagtegaal was a volunteer on phase two and three of Dr. Mazar’s dig, and served as supervisor of area G for the last half of the third phase.