LESS THAN THREE WEEKS TO THE VISIT OF POPE BENEDICT XVI TO ISRAEL: THE TOURISM MINISTRY LAUNCHES A 1.5 MILLION SHEKEL MARKETING CAMPAIGN AIMED AT THE CHRISTIAN MARKET

EVEN BEFORE THE MARKETING CAMPAIGN BEGAN:

8,000 SURFERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD VISITED THE TOURISM MINISTRY'S SPECIAL PAPAL VISIT MINI-SITE

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov who is responsible for the Papal visit, met (22 April) with representatives from the Vatican, who were very satisfied with the updates on progress related to preparations for the visit. The Minister stressed the importance of the Holy Father's call to Christians around the world to visit the Holy Land and the representatives of the Holy See promised to relay this message to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

8000 surfers from more than 25 countries around the world have already visited the mini website set up by the Tourism Ministry in honor of the Papal visit since it went live two weeks ago! Today, the ministry launched a 1.5 million shekel marketing campaign with the objective of promoting Christian-Catholic tourism to Israel and presenting the country as an important religious and spiritual tourist destination.

In the framework of the campaign which was launched under the banner "In the spirit of Unity and Peace", the website brings together all the relevant information related to the Papal visit, tourism options for pilgrims and lists of tour operators in several countries that offer tours to Israel. The campaign will continue for six months (till end October) in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Brazil and USA.

The Tourism Ministry's dedicated website (www.holyland-pilgrimage.org), which is available in seven languages, includes religious information on the Christian sites in Israel, pilgrimage itineraries etc. The site also includes a Press Room, offering information online for journalists from around the world who wish to cover the Papal visit.

The Tourism Ministry is handling all aspects of the visit including marketing activities to promote pilgrimages to Israel during and after the Papal visit; renovations and preparations of the sites included in the Pope's itinerary; preparation of promotional material for distribution to the journalists accompanying the Pope; arranging tours and visits to tourist sites for the media delegations etc.

  PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND – A BRIDGE FOR PEACE

(Courtesy of Israel Ministry of Tourism and the GPO)

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The Inauguration of the National Project to Conserve the Stones in the Western Wall and the Establishment of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Conservation Department (Minhal Shimur)

The Western Wall and the monuments around it are among the most important cultural heritage sites in the world. Every year millions of people come to Jerusalem to see them. In order to ensure a safe and comfortable experience, the site should be constantly maintained and new services developed for the benefit of the visitors.

A year ago the Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted a survey of the state of the wall, which revealed that the physical condition of the stones was deteriorating. It was against this background that the Israel Antiquities Authority decided to take urgent action: the Israel Antiquities Authority Conservation Department conducted an extensive physical and engineering survey of the Western Wall’s condition which culminated in the submission of a work plan. Conservation measures are currently being carried out there.

The work is focusing on the conservation treatment of the stones in the Western Wall and their stability, in accordance with their degree of preservation and the level of risk they present to the visiting public.

The project to conserve the stones in the Western Wall in particular, and the conservation and development of the Western Wall compound in general, is one of the most complex projects of its kind ever undertaken in Israel. The Western Wall compound project is an example of the enormous task that confronts us in conserving and presenting Israel’s cultural heritage. Such a cultural heritage site that is important on both a local and international level which involves large number of visitors, the need for constant maintenance, and the conservation of the Western Wall’s original appearance for us and for posterity, is first and foremost a challenge. This undertaking requires knowledge and professionalism in a wide range of fields. The project is being directed by the Israel Antiquities Authority Conservation Department, which is staffed with architects, engineers and conservators that specialize in different areas. The Conservation Department manifests the Israel Antiquities Authority’s obligation to create a body that will lead the way in the field of conservation in Israel, as a result of the state’s responsibility to the cultural heritage in its territory. In touching the stones of the Western Wall the conservators of the Israel Antiquities Authority are touching what has been the very heart of Jewish heritage for generations.

The Conservation Department carries out conservation work throughout the country. The department is engaged in preserving heritage sites that date to a variety of periods. A professional team of fifty five people implements the conservation work: conservators, architects, engineers, planners, chemists, geologists and archaeologists. The conservation experts of the Israel Antiquities Authority provide an answer to the totality of aspects that constitute the conservation process, among them, documentation, research, planning, execution and maintenance. Conservation of the heritage sites is done with an overall view of the conservation process, from its inception to its culmination, and is implemented based on a defined and explicit policy and in accordance with the rules of professional ethics.

(Courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)

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In Archaeological Excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is Conducting at the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park:

A Fragment of a Hebrew Inscription from the Period of the

Kings of Judah was Found

A fragment of a limestone plaque bearing several letters of ancient Hebrew script was discovered while sifting soil that was excavated in the vicinity of the Gihon Spring, within the precincts of the “Walls around Jerusalem National Park”. The excavation is being carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, under the direction of Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the IAA, and is sponsored by the ‘Ir David Foundation.

The stone fragment dates to the eighth century BCE and this is based on the numerous pottery sherds that were discovered together with it, as well as the shape of the Hebrew letters that are engraved in the inscription.

The plaque is broken on all sides. All that remains of the inscription are two lines of writing: In the upper line the last part of a given name is preserved: ...]קיה, or as it is transliterated into English …]kiah. Unfortunately the remains of another letter before the kof cannot be discerned. If the letter preceding the kof was a zayin, we could complete the name to read חזקיה, or Hezekiah in English, and perhaps ascribe historical importance to the inscription. On the other hand, there are other first names that were used in Judah and Jerusalem at that time that could be mentioned here such as Hilkia, Amekiya, etc.

In the second line are the remains of two words. Here too, is a suffix of a word: ...]כה, or as it is transliterated into English …]ka. Here we have several possibilities for completing the word such as: בְּרָכָה, or birqa, that is, a greeting expressing best wishes (a possible ending for some sort of commemorative inscription). Another possibility is the word בְּרֵכָה, or brecha, meaning water reservoir. The reconstruction of this word is possible based on the fact that Brechat HaShiloah, or the Shiloah Pool in English, is located nearby, and also based on the fact that a pool is mentioned in the famous Shiloah inscription that was discovered close by.

In any event the fact that we are dealing with a stone plaque indicates that this is a commemorative inscription that may have been meant to celebrate some sort of building project.

All that remains is to wait and hope that in time other fragments of the inscription will be found.

Remains of a unique and impressive floor were discovered at a depth of one meter underwater in Akko harbor. The remains constitute the first evidence of a low sea level during the Hellenistic period in Akko. The floor remains were discovered during archaeological excavations and inspections that the Israel Antiquities Authority Marine Archaeology Unit is carrying out within the framework of rehabilitating Akko’s southern seawall. The project is being implemented by conservators on behalf of the Old Acre Development Company, Ltd., and is underwritten by the Israel Lands Administration. The scope of the funding that the latter is providing totals several million shekels. As part of the project, a temporary rampart that serves as both a road and dam was built in the sea. The pool of water that formed between the rampart and the seawall was pumped out so as to create dry conditions for rehabilitating the seawall.

The part of the floor that has been revealed so far extends for a distance of 15 meters and is 4 meters wide (the full dimensions of the floor have not yet been exposed). The floor was built of rectangular, smoothly dressed kurkar stones that were placed atop a foundation course of roughly hewn kurkar stones arranged next to each other as “headers”. In probes that were conducted beneath the floor, numerous fragments of ceramic jars of Aegean provenance (from Rhodes, Kos and elsewhere) were found that were used to transport wine, as well as tableware and cooking vessels. Among the other artifacts recovered were a Greek style bronze arrowhead and bronze coins that are covered with marine encrustations. A preliminary identification of the finds shows that the floor was constructed in the Hellenistic period (end of the third century until the middle of the second century BCE) as part of a national project.

According to Kobi Sharvit, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority Marine Archaeology Unit, “The location of the floor, its size, the building style and the building method, which is mainly known from the construction of harbor installations, indicate with a high degree of certainty that the floor has a marine connection suggesting it belongs to a large pier or dockyard structure”.

The floor constitutes an extremely important indicator for studies that deal with changes in sea level and in the location of the shoreline during the Hellenistic period in Akko. This find raises other questions regarding the tectonic changes that occurred in Akko, which is located on a geologic fault, and sea levels.

“The Akko Seawall Conservation Project”, Kobi Shavit concludes, “is very important to the preservation of this unique and problematic section of the seawall, where its foundation is underwater and the waves break right on top of it, and will eliminate any danger of the seawall collapsing”.

The discovery will be presented at the 35^th Archaeological Congress to be held today, Thursday April 2, 2009, on the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem