Rare 2,600-Year-Old Wooden Beams From Israel’s First Temple-Era Discovered at Jerusalem

Archeologists in Israel say they uncovered rare well-preserved wooden beams from a building that was burned when the First Temple was destroyed roughly 2,600 years ago. Researchers with the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University working at the City of David National Park said on Monday that they discovered burnt timbers that they believe were part of a roof of a building burned down in 586 BCE when the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple. Archeologists said that they believe the beams were preserved by plaster in the building that melted during a fire that destroyed the city. The discovery comes ahead of the Tisha B’Av fast, which commemorates the destruction of the First Temple, built by the biblical King Solomon, and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.The co-director of excavation, Efrat Bocher, said in a statement, “We are just before Tisha B’Av. This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened. It’s deeply moving.”A researcher with the antiquities authority, Johanna Regev, said that archeologists also found wood from a coniferous tree that had growth rings. “It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings,” Ms. Regev said. “Here, in the City of David, we found thick beams with many rings, offering significant research potential.”Ms. Regev explained that those growth rings could help researchers date their findings with much more precision. “Until now, we could date finds within a range of hundreds of years. Now we can attain much greater precision, narrowing the dating range down to as little as 10 years,” she said. The discovery of preserved wood from the Iron Age in Israel is rare. Researchers believe that the beams were intentionally left where they were by Israelites who returned to the land after the Babylonian exile. A professor at Tel Aviv University, Yiftah Shalev, said, “Preserving memory is a human need, seeking to preserve what once existed. Here, we see it in its clearest form: a deliberate choice to leave ruins in place as a testament to the destruction and build the new layer over them.”Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, begins at sundown on Wednesday and ends at nightfall on Thursday. It is considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar and is typically observed through a fast and readings. It is also a day of remembering other disasters in Jewish history that occurred on the same date.

Rare 2,600-Year-Old Wooden Beams From Israel’s First Temple-Era Discovered at Jerusalem

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