Macalester Students Unearth Old Temple
This may be the ultimate job -- uncovering a Greco-Roman temple and all of its contents; coins, pottery, ancient architecture and 2,000 years of fascinating history.
The fortunate archaeologist is Andy Overman, chairman of the classics department at Macalester College in St. Paul and the director of a dig in Israel. The first-century temple with at least 18 large pillars communicates the splendor and authority of the Roman emperors, he said.
Overman says the temple likely was used as part of an emperor's cult and may have been built between the reigns of Herod the Great and the Emperor Hadrian in honor of Emperor Augustus. Although he doesn't know who commissioned the structure, he believes the public monument might reveal something about the times.
Overman took 15 students with him to Israel last summer for the inaugural dig. Non student participants included Macalester professors from different disciplines and eight other laypersons. The group lived in a nearby kibbutz, or collective settlement, and began work at 4:30 a.m. each day. After five weeks, they uncovered what Overman believes is part of the wall of the temple and some nearly intact ornamentation.
Those small discoveries may not seem like much progress, but for an archaeological dig, they are a good summer's work. Overman, who has been working in Galilee on these types of digs since the early 1980s, plans to return to the site for the next several years with Macalester students and professors.
"The students love going there and pulling out a little piece of history," Overman said. "And Macalester supports the idea -archaeology is a big focus here at the college."
When the Macalester expedition returns to St. Paul each year for study, the Israeli Department of Antiquities guards the site, one of more than 3,000 archaeological locations in the country. Its location is near the first-century town of Caesarea Philippi on the Syrian-Israeli border, which is now the modem town of Omrit. According to Bible scholars, this is the place where Jesus and the disciples had an unusual conversation, and it has become a draw for Christians and archaeologists alike because of the ancient ruins.
In the conversation, Jesus asks his disciples who people think he is. The disciples answer candidly. "Some say John the Baptist, others say Jeremiah or Elijah or one of the prophets." Then Jesus asks them to identify him, and Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God."
If that familiar story took place in what is now Omrit, Jesus and his disciples probably walked past the Roman temple now being unearthed, Overman speculates. The temple is also at the spot where a traveler would turn to get on the road to Damascus, the same road the Apostle Paul took when he was converted.
But another factor draws people to this site.
"When people see the temple they are astonished with the beauty," Overman said. "It is an unusual place. The road to Damascus is still visible. Herod built most of those first-century buildings. You don't find a temple like this every year."
The Jewish National Fund is building a road to the site because of anticipated tourist attention.
Overman believes the Macalester expedition has uncovered 6 feet of one wall of the podium of the temple. This may have been the place where people in the emperor's cult made sacrifices, paid their taxes and conducted rituals.
"This will give the world a new look at the political and religious world that Jesus and his people encountered," Overman said. "If you walk past a temple this size every day and you look at this temple every day, it makes a difference in how you live."
This tangible connection to ancient history drives the college to invest time and money in an archaeological expedition. And including students in uncovering centuries of culture is a bonus too big to pass up, Overman said.
Clark D. Morphew
12-4-99
