Queries & Comments

The Glass Is Half Full

In his survey of the state of the publication of the Jerusalem excavations (“Jerusalem 3,000—A Yearlong Celebration,” BAR 21:06), the editor of BAR described an “empty glass.” However, this glass is at least partly full.

Two volumes of final reports of the City of David excavations have been published in the Qedem monograph series of the Hebrew University. An additional volume is in press and will appear shortly. The manuscript of the fourth volume was recently submitted to the editorial board, and an additional two volumes are in an advanced stage of preparation. All these volumes were written and edited by the City of David staff following the untimely death of Professor Yigal Shiloh.

Following the death of Professor Nahman Avigad, work on the publication of the Jewish Quarter excavations is being carried out under the direction of Mr. Hillel Geva. The first volume is virtually ready to submit to press. This project has limited funding, and work is proceeding slowly.

The Temple Mount excavation publication program was frozen for a good number of years. However, Eilat Mazar and Benjamin Mazar published a Qedem volume that covers all aspects related to the Iron Age finds in this excavation. Since the death of Professor Benjamin Mazar last September, we are investing all possible efforts to raise funds, which, hopefully, will enable us to resume work and to publish the large amount of data from these excavations.