Can the two go together? Archaeology and sanctity at the Western Wall and surrounding area, 1967–1977

ABSTRACT

Archaeologists, politicians and religious figures competed for the right to dig in the area of the Western Wall, in places that would later be known as the “Western Wall Plaza,” “Western Wall Tunnels” and “Western Wall excavations.” A struggle would unfold during 1967–1977 between, on one side, the rabbis and religious politicians who received responsibility and exclusivity from the state for the area of the sacred wall, and on the other side, the scientists and archaeologists awarded the right to excavate there by the state. The dispute centred on the question of whether the Western Wall area is only a holy place or also an historic and national monument, and who has the right to operate there. This article, using archival documents and newspaper accounts, focuses on the interaction between sanctity, archaeology and the unique national context of the extensive activity conducted in the Western Wall area during that time. It aims to describe how this space developed during the decade following the Six-Day War, and to discuss the political forces that shaped it during that period.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Doron Bar is a cultural historical geographer, researching popular and civic holy places in the history of Palestine and the State of Israel. He has published numerous books and articles on the history of pilgrimage to Palestine during late antiquity and the nineteenth century and the development of Jewish holy places and national holy sites in the State of Israel. His latest book is Landscape and Ideology: Reinterment of Renowned Jews in the Land of Israel 1904–1967 (2016). Professor Bar is currently the president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

Kobi Cohen-Hattab is a senior lecturer in the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar Ilan University. He conducted his post-doctoral research in the department of geography, York University, Toronto (2001–2002). He has published Tour the Land – Tourism in Palestine during the British Mandate Period (1917–1948) (in Hebrew, 2006) and has co-authored with Noam Shoval Tourism, Religion and Pilgrimage in Jerusalem (Routledge 2014). Dr Cohen-Hattab’s main research interests are the historical geography of tourism, tourism in historical towns, holy sites, the development of seaside resorts and the relationship between Zionism and the Sea.

Notes

1. One of the prominent opponents of the demolition, in retrospect, was Minister of Religions Zerah Warhaftig. See: ISA, G-12782/7; June 12 1967. In his book Kollek 1979, 212, claims that after receiving the consent of municipality officials for the demolition, “archaeologists and other experts” came to the Western Wall area and drew a precise map of the homes slated for demolition.

2. The decision was signed by rabbis Z. Auerbach, Y.S. Elyashiv, A. Goldschmidt, B. Zolti, S. Yisraeli, Y. Arieli and Y. Grossman.

3. In his memoirs, Warhaftig (1998, 208) presents a pragmatic approach and describes a difference in opinion between the Chief Rabbis concerning the archaeological excavations and the dialectic in the relations between the Ministry of Religions and the archaeologists during this period.

4. The archaeologist Dan Bahat began accompanying the excavations in the area of the Western Wall Tunnels relatively late. In 2002, he published Bahat (2002) as part of a series of reports the Department of Antiquities published on the excavations there. The publication does not address the excavations conducted during the first years after the Six-Day War. They were never documented.