On 19.11.2020, 7.30 p.m., we welcome you to the Theater am Engelsgarten for the third City Talk of the Bergische Universität Wuppertal

Excavations in Jerusalem: Archaeology and Religion in the Environment of the Holy City with Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dieter ViewegerSince2015, the 'German Protestant Institute for Archaeology of the Holy Land' (DEI) under the direction of Prof. Vieweger has been excavating in the southwest of Mount Zion and researching the historic Old City of Jerusalem there. On the grounds of the Anglican Cemetery of Zion, in the 'Greek Garden' and in the Dormitio Compartment, they are exploring the size and location of ancient residential areas. The five city walls from different periods (3rd century B.C. to Middle Ages) found so far in the vicinity of the famous 'Essene Gate' built by Herod the Great finally provide reliable information about the history of the Holy City in this area.The aim of the excavations this year was devoted to the questions about the course of the Iron Age city walls of Jerusalem, which have been debated for more than a century and which contain essential implications for our ideas about the size and extent of Old Testament Jerusalem. In addition, the question was what was the Jerusalem of the Persian/Hellenistic to Roman periods on Mount Zion (the southwest hill of the city), which was destroyed by Titus' army in 70 CE. After our excavations, we have to conclude - that the Old Testament Jerusalem, known from the Assyrian sources from the royal court of Sanherib, was much smaller than we have previously imagined. Sometimes, obviously, world-changing events happen in small places.