August 30, 2009

(Courtesy of the Israel Ministry of Tourism)

_________________________

August 18, 2009

Third century CE mansion exposed in the City of David excavations

An Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in the City of David has revealed a large building dating to the third century CE – apparently a large mansion - in excavations in the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park.

A spacious edifice from the Roman period (third century CE) – apparently a mansion that belonged to a wealthy individual – was recently exposed in the excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in the 'Givati Car Park' at the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park. The excavations are being conducted at the site on behalf of the IAA and in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority, and are underwritten by the ‘Ir David Foundation.

According to Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, the excavation director on behalf of the IAA, together with Yana Tchekhanovets, “Although we do not have the complete dimensions of the structure, we can cautiously estimate that the building covered an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. In the center of it was a large open courtyard surrounded by columns. Galleries were spread out between the rows of columns and the rooms that flanked the courtyard. The wings of the building rose to a height of two stories and were covered with tile roofs”.

A large quantity of fresco fragments was discovered in the collapsed ruins from which the excavators deduced that some of the walls of the rooms were treated with plaster and decorated with colorful paintings. The painted designs that adorned the plastered walls consisted mostly of geometric and floral motifs. Its architectural richness, plan and particularly the artifacts that were discovered among its ruins bear witness to the unequivocal Roman character of the building. The most outstanding of these finds are a marble figurine in the image of a boxer and a gold earring inlaid with precious stones.

The building, which was constructed during the third century CE, was shaken by a tremor in the fourth century, the results of which are clearly apparently in the excavation area: the walls of the rooms caved-in and their stone collapse, which was piled high, covered the walls of the bottom floor, some of which still stand to a considerable height. Architectural elements such as columns and capitals, as well as mosaics and the large amount of fresco fragments that were used in the rooms of the second story were discovered inside the collapsed ruins. The coins that were discovered among the collapse and on the floors indicated the building’s ruins should be dated to circa 360 CE. It seems that what we have here is archaeological evidence of the results of the earthquake that struck our region in 363 CE.

Dr. Ben-Ami adds, “We know of no other buildings from the Roman period that were discovered in Israel which have a similar plan to that of the building from the City of David. The closest contemporary parallels to this structure are located in sites of the second-fourth century CE that were excavated in Syria. Edifices such as these are “urban mansions” from the Roman period that were discovered in Antioch, Apamea and Palmyra. If this parallel is correct, then in spite of its size and opulence, it seems that this building was used originally as a private residence”.

The exposure of the Roman building in the City of David is a significant contribution to our understanding of the extent of the construction in the Roman city in the third-fourth centuries CE. It constitutes extremely important archaeological evidence regarding the growth of the settlement at the end of the Roman period into the southern precincts of the city, and it shows that the prevailing supposition among scholars according to which the City of David hill remained outside the area of Roman settlement at the time of the Aelia Capitolina is no longer valid.

(Courtesy the Israel Antiquities Authority Spokesperson)

_____________________________

August 17, 2009

PREPARING FOR THE END

OF THE INCOMING TOURISM CRISIS

252,000 TOURISTS VISITED ISRAEL IN JULY 2009 – JUST 4% LESS THAN JULY 2008 AND 17% MORE THAN JULY 2007

TOURISM MINISTER STAS MISEZHNIKOV WARNS TODAY OF THE EXPECTED SHORTFALL IN HOTEL ROOMS:

“THE EXISTING SUPPLY OF HOTEL ROOMS DOES NOT MATCH THE ANTICIPATED DEMAND IN THE NEAR FUTURE. IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS, THE MINISTRY WILL WORK TO ADD ANOTHER 2,500 ROOMS TO THE EXISTING SUPPLY AROUND ISRAEL.”

252,000 tourists visited Israel in July 2009, a decrease of only 4% over July 2008 (262,000) and 17% more than July 2007 (214,000). 212,000 were tourists staying more than one day and 40,000 were one-day visitors.

The Tourism Ministry is making preparations for the anticipated increase in incoming tourism over the next few months as a result of the gradual end of the global economic crisis. In keeping with the Tourism Ministry’s target of 5 million tourists in 2015 and beyond, the Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov warned today of the expected shortfall in hotel rooms in Israel. 

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov: “The existing supply of hotel rooms in Israel, of varying types, does not match the demand that is expected to increase over the coming months and years as the global economic crisis comes to an end. In the light of this, within the next three years the Tourism Ministry will work to add another 2,500 rooms of different standards and in areas around the country. This is in addition to the increased budget to encourage investment in the construction of hotels, the location and marketing of land, the simplification of bureaucratic procedures and the allocation of grants and assistance to entrepreneurs.”

The Tourism Ministry is currently working on completing the formalities for operating two tracks to encourage investment in hotels, according to which the policy of the ministry will be implemented. These tracks will replace the current track used by the ministry over the last two years, by which the ministry has helped entrepreneurs build thousands of hotel rooms with an overall investment of 290 million shekel.

The Tourism Minister noted that in addition to expanding the supply of hotel rooms, the ministry is working to increase flight capacity from those countries which currently fly to Israel and develop new aviation routes with other countries, with a view to realizing the potential of incoming tourism currently restricted due to the lack of flights.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 1.4 million tourists visited Israel in the months January – July 2009, 18% less than the same period in 2008 and 16% more than the same period in 2007.

(Courtesy of Israel Ministry of Tourism)