ReViews

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park

Ronny Reich, Gideon Avni and Tamar Winter (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 1999) 167 pp., $24.00 (available from the IAA, PO Box 586, Jerusalem 91004, Israel)

A new tool has come to the aid of Jerusalem explorers. The Jerusalem Archaeological Park, written by archaeologists long associated with the city and published by the Israel Antiquities Authority, is a practical and user-friendly guidebook. It is devoted to the archaeological remains and historical sites in the areas extending west, south and east of the Old City, now designated an archaeological park. The remains, well preserved and for the most part labeled, form a virtual open museum. Many of the sites were excavated after the 1967 Six-Day War, including the areas south and southwest of the Temple Mount and parts of the City of David. But since the history of scientific exploration in Jerusalem goes back to the middle of the 19th century (to the American scholar Dr. Edward Robinson, who in 1839 identified the “arch” at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, which is now named after him), the book also pays tribute to the early explorers.