La riproduzione (che si riferisce all’anno 174 d.C., quando la città era una delle più prospere dell’Impero Romano) è molto realistica, più simile a un quadro che a una fotografia. Il tutto è accompagnato da audio, simulazioni di alba e tramonto. La particolare installazione è parte della prima grande mostra monografica che il Museo Nazionale di Berlino dedica a Pergamo, e che sarà visibile tra ottobre 2011 e ottobre 2012.

Artist Yadegar Asisi who created the 'Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis' 360 degrees panorama for an exhibition by the Collection of Classical Antiquities - National Museum poses for the media in Berlin, September 29, 2011. The condensed scenes depicted in Asisi panorama are 30 metres in height and 100 metres in length showing natural landscapes and the acropolis in Pergamon in the year 129 AD. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

The work titled "Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis" is pictured during a preview on September 29, 2011 at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. The giant 360 degrees panorama measuring 103 meters in length and 25 meters in height by Austrian-born artist of Iranian origin Yadegar Asisi will be on display at Berlin's Pergamon Museum - Classical Antiquities Collection from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012. According to the museum, the first fully comprehensive exhibition devoted exclusively to the ancient city of Pergamon is staging the huge photorealistic simulation panorama in a special rotunda erected in the majestic forecourt of the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island. As a key part of the forthcoming exhibition, the panorama will offer visitors insights into the culture, architecture, and daily life of a Helleno-Roman city in the time of classical antiquity. AFP PHOTO / SOEREN STACHE GERMANY OUT

A visitor looks at the work titled "Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis" during a preview on September 29, 2011 at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. The giant 360 degrees panorama measuring 103 meters in length and 25 meters in height by Austrian-born artist of Iranian origin Yadegar Asisi will be on display at Berlin's Pergamon Museum - Classical Antiquities Collection from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012. According to the museum, the first fully comprehensive exhibition devoted exclusively to the ancient city of Pergamon is staging the huge photorealistic simulation panorama in a special rotunda erected in the majestic forecourt of the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island. As a key part of the forthcoming exhibition, the panorama will offer visitors insights into the culture, architecture, and daily life of a Helleno-Roman city in the time of classical antiquity. AFP PHOTO / SOEREN STACHE GERMANY OUT

People watch the 'Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis' 360 degrees panorama created by artist Yadegar Asisi at an exhibition by the Collection of Classical Antiquities - National Museum during the press preview in Berlin, September 29, 2011. The condensed scenes depicted in Asisi panorama are 30 metres in height and 100 metres in length showing natural landscapes and the acropolis in Pergamon in the year 129 AD. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

Visitors look at the work titled "Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis" during a preview on September 29, 2011 at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. The giant 360 degrees panorama measuring 103 meters in length and 25 meters in height by Austrian-born artist of Iranian origin Yadegar Asisi will be on display at Berlin's Pergamon Museum - Classical Antiquities Collection from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012. According to the museum, the first fully comprehensive exhibition devoted exclusively to the ancient city of Pergamon is staging the huge photorealistic simulation panorama in a special rotunda erected in the majestic forecourt of the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island. As a key part of the forthcoming exhibition, the panorama will offer visitors insights into the culture, architecture, and daily life of a Helleno-Roman city in the time of classical antiquity. AFP PHOTO / SOEREN STACHE GERMANY OUT

People walk at the 'Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis' 360 degrees panorama created by artist Yadegar Asisi at an exhibition by the Collection of Classical Antiquities - National Museum during the press preview in Berlin, September 29, 2011. The condensed scenes depicted in Asisi panorama are 30 metres in height and 100 metres in length showing natural landscapes and the acropolis in Pergamon in the year 129 AD. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

Visitors take pictures of the work titled "Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis" during a preview on September 29, 2011 at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. The giant 360 degrees panorama measuring 103 meters in length and 25 meters in height by Austrian-born artist of Iranian origin Yadegar Asisi will be on display at Berlin's Pergamon Museum - Classical Antiquities Collection from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012. According to the museum, the first fully comprehensive exhibition devoted exclusively to the ancient city of Pergamon is staging the huge photorealistic simulation panorama in a special rotunda erected in the majestic forecourt of the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island. As a key part of the forthcoming exhibition, the panorama will offer visitors insights into the culture, architecture, and daily life of a Helleno-Roman city in the time of classical antiquity. AFP PHOTO / SOEREN STACHE GERMANY OUT

People walk at the 'Pergamon - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis' 360 degrees panorama created by artist Yadegar Asisi at an exhibition by the Collection of Classical Antiquities - National Museum during the press preview in Berlin, September 29, 2011. The condensed scenes depicted in Asisi panorama are 30 metres in height and 100 metres in length showing natural landscapes and the acropolis in Pergamon in the year 129 AD. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

The possible tomb of Saint Philip. Credit: Courtesy of Institute of Archaeological Heritage

Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce, found the burial after intensive geophysical research at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.

“It was believed that the tomb of St. Philip was on Martyrs’ Hill, but we found no traces of him in that area,” D’Andria said. “The tomb emerged as we excavated a fifth century church 40 meters away from the church dedicated to the saint on Martyrs’ Hill.”

According to D’Andria, the grave was moved from its previous location in the St. Philip Church to the new church in the Bizantine era.

The alleged apostle’s tomb, which has not yet been opened, is at the center of some controversy. The finding is mainly based on an apocryphal fourth-century text called the Acts of Philip, which is not recognized by the Catholic Church.

Not much is known about Philip. Born in Bethsaida on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, he is often confused with Philip the Evangelist.

Apart from his inclusion in the list of the twelve apostles, much information comes from the Gospel of John, where he is described as one of the first followers of Jesus.

The gospel mentions him in connection with the miraculous feeding of the five thousand and with Jesus’ discourse at the Last Supper.

Outside of the New Testament, it’s the apocryphal Acts of Philip which traces the history of the saint.

According to the text, after Jesus’ resurrection, Philip preached in Greece, Syria and Asia Minor. He is said to have met a martyr’s death in Hierapolis, in what is now Turkey, around 80 A.D.

Following a conflict with the snake worshippers of Hierapolis, a city famous at that time for its wealth and idolatry, he was allegedly executed by the Romans — hung on a tree upside down with irons in his heels and ankles.

“In answer to Philip’s cry while hanging upside-down on the tree, an abyss suddenly opened and swallowed the proconsul and the viper temple where he was sitting, as well as the viper priests and 7,000 men, plus women and children,” reads the apocryphal account.

D’Andria concedes that many of the details recounted in the Acts of Philip are uncertain.

“Elements of the story are richly imaginative, legendary and symbolic. But a Christian following centered on the sainted Philip the Apostle soon grew up at the site. And on his supposed grave was built one of the most remarkable structures in all of ancient Christendom — the martyrium of St. Philip,” D’Andria writes in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Indeed, D’Andria, who has been excavating Philip’s eight-sided martyrium since 2003, has been able to reconstruct the entire pilgrimage site.

“The octagon of Philip’s martyrium is enclosed in a rectangular portico, consisting of 28 small square rooms. Within the octagon are eight chapels, which end in four triangular courtyards in the corners of the outer rectangle,” he wrote.

The relics of the saint were likely housed in the center of the octagonal structure.

D’Andria also unearthed a great processional road which led pilgrims to the hill northeast of the city on which the martyrium stood.

The researcher was able to reconstruct the pilgrim’s journey through the city, and even identified their stops at bathhouses where they purified before approaching the holy place.

“Indeed in the channels of the building, in addition to the usual glass ampules and jars for unguents, were numerous terra-cotta eulogiae (small Christian mementos thought to confer blessings and memories of a holy visit). They bore crosses and images of St. Philip,” said D’Andria.

After ascending the final flight of steps, the pilgrims spent the night in the 28 small square rooms enclosed the octagonal martyrium. Finally, they entered the great octagon where the tomb of the apostle Philip was venerated.

A disastrous earthquake in the second half of the seventh century, accompanied by a fire, destroyed the entire complex.

D’Andria found a confirmation to the scenario highlighted by his excavations in a rare sixth-century bronze bread stamp, found at Hierapolis, and now on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

The round stamp, just 4 inches in diameter, was probably used to give pilgrims loaves of bread during the rites in honor of the saint.

It shows a full-length illustration of St. Philip, identified as Hagios Philippos (St. Philip) by a Greek inscription, standing on the monumental staircase between two churches.

“The building on the right is the martyrium, the other is the fifth century church we have just unearthed which was built around the saint’s tomb,” D’Andria told Discovery News.

Il ministro si è felicitato per il ritrovamento, aggiungendo che l’archeologia in Turchia in tempi recenti ha portato alla luce significative scoperte oltre a quelle già note del sito cristiano di Efeso. Gunay ha poi annunciato che sosterrà il completamento dello scavo, in modo che i resti dell’intera chiesa possano essere visitabili ai turisti. Nell’area sacra di Laodicea è riemersa anche la piscina battesimale, che secondo Gunay è ancora più bella di quella che si trova a Santa Sofia ad Istanbul. Le ricerche della missione archeologica diretta da Simsek hanno confermato che la città di Laodicea esisteva già intorno al IV secolo a.C. e divenne uno dei principali centri del cristianesimo primitivo verso il 40/50 d.C e ben presto anche sede di un vescovo.

La chiesa di Laodicea compare nella Lettera ai Colossesi di San Paolo e poi viene menzionata come una delle sette chiese dell’Asia minore di cui parla il libro dell’Apocalisse. Gli studiosi hanno ipotizzato che la chiesa di Laodicea sia stata fondata da Epafra, un colossese che si era convertito al cristianesimo dopo aver ascoltato la predicazione degli apostoli di Gesù giunti in Turchia.

Ancient street in Laodicea. Remains of the central colonnaded street in the ancient ruined city of Laodicea near modern day Denizli, Turkey. (foto: d0gwalker)

“Abbiamo compiuto cinque missioni, tra il 2004 e il 2008, per cercare le antiche zone di estrazione” dell’oro di re Salomone, raccontano i due gemelli varesini che hanno dedicato la vita alle ricerche di archeologia, soprattutto in Africa, “Una zona aurifera fu probabilmente rivelata al sovrano ebraico dalla regina di Saba, quando si reco’ a Gerusalemme portando in dono 120 talenti d’oro”, come si legge sulla Bibbia. Il Libro dei Re racconta che “la quantita’ d’oro che affluiva ogni anno nelle casse di Salomone era di 666 talenti”: una ricchezza immensa, sottolineano i Castiglioni, poiche’ un talento corrispondeva a poco meno di 30 chilogrammi d’oro.

Pur evitando di esprimere certezze assolute, i due archeologi italiani pensano di avere individuato le mitiche miniere sulle montagne dell’Etiopia sud-occidentale, nel Paese di Beni Shangul, lungo l’itinerario forse percorso dalla regina di Saba nel suo viaggio verso Gerusalemme.

“Le nostre prime tre missioni nel Beni Shangul – raccontano i Castiglioni – fruttarono la scoperta di enormi zone aurifere, sfruttate nell’antichita’; ancora oggi vi si lavora con gli stessi metodi e utensili di allora, e alcune profonde gallerie sono tutt’ora chiamate dalla gente locale ‘le antiche miniere di re Salomone’”. Un’altra regione aurifera, anch’essa probabile fornitrice di oro al re di Israele, si trova nell’Etiopia sud-orientale, sui monti dell’etnia Guji: i due gemelli archeologi l’hanno esplorata nel 2007-2008.

E’ improbabile, commentano Alfredo e Angelo Castiglioni, che la missione a Gerusalemme della sovrana avesse la motivazione citata dalla Bibbia: “La regina, sentita la fama del re, venne a mettere alla prova la sua sapienza”. Piu’ verosimilmente si tratto’ di una missione commerciale, intesa a scambiare oro con rame (nelle Storie di Erodoto si legge che “il rame presso gli Etiopi e’ il metallo piu’ raro e pregiato di tutti”, sicuramente piu’ dell’oro, tanto che inEtiopia i prigionieri sono “incatenati con ceppi d’oro”). In Israele, per contro, erano sfruttate a nord di Eilat miniere di rame, che ancora oggi vengono chiamate “miniere di Salomone“.

I Castiglioni, che insieme ad altri studiosi non concordano con quanti localizzano il regno di Saba in Yemen, ipotizzano che la biblica regina di Saba fosse un’antenata delle Candaci, le fortissime sovrane-guerriere del regno di Kush (corrispondente all’odierna Nubia sudanese, l’Etiopia dell’antichita’), il paese della dinastia dei Faraoni neri. Oltre a combattere al fianco dei loro uomini, le Candaci pare fossero in grado di effettuare anche lunghe e importanti missioni commerciali.

La prossima missione, annunciata alla rassegna roveretana dai fratelli Castiglioni, sara’ lo scavo archeologico del porto di Adulis, in Eritrea, che proseguira’ il lavoro iniziato dall’archeologo italiano Paribeni, ai primi del secolo scorso.
Si tratta del porto che in antico collegava i traffici marittimi fra l’Oriente e il Mediterraneo: la missione dei due archeologi italiani, che partira’ a gennaio 2011 in collaborazione con l’Universita’ Orientale di Napoli, punta a verificare l’ipotesi che la costa eritrea fosse la Terra di Punt, dalla quale Hatshepsut (il faraone donna della storia egizia, della XVIII dinastia) porto’ a corte, a Tebe, merci rarissime e preziose, tra cui piante di incenso che avevano un valore sacro.

Genesis 1-11 is the most attacked portion of Scripture for its historicity.  Finding an antediluvian artifact like Noah’s Ark could be the greatest archaeological discovery ever.  It evokes many wannabe Indiana Joneses to search for Noah’s Ark.  We see no problem with this quest, and would welcome such a discovery.  The problem is not in the finding of the Ark; but in its substantiation.  Amateur archaeologists can and do find things that turn out to be fantastic discoveries.  Witness the treasure hunter, Terry Herbert, in Staffordshire, England, who recently found a huge cache of Saxon gold artifacts that was reported in National Geographic.  However, to properly document a discovery, the proper scientific protocol must be followed.  Scientists are trained to gather and analyze evidence.  They then publish their research so that other scientists can test their results. These “Indiana Joneses” invariably do not do this.  They put the cart before the horse by holding a spectacular press conference declaring what they discovered rather than publishing their results in a scientific journal.  The news media, on the other hand, is all too eager to comply for what gets good ratings, and at the same time put evangelical Christians in a bad light.

This Hong Kong group claims they are 99.9 % sure that the wood they found belongs to the Ark of Noah.  Since we have spent a few thousand hours digging into the subject of the Noah’s Flood and the Ark, we have the following questions about the alleged discovery:

1. When archaeologists make a discovery they must be able to prove exactly where they took their specimen out of the ground.  How do we know this video showing the rooms was filmed where they said it was?

2. It is claimed that this discovery was found in an ice and rock cave on Agri Dagh, also known as Mt. Ararat.  It is a known fact among geologists that nearly all of the icecap on this mountain consists of moving ice, that is, glacier.  A glacier is a river of ice which flows down the mountain.  Any wooden structure inside this ice would be ground to bits from the glacial action.  In their news releases they have reported this site to be at 13,000 feet and in another report at around 14,000.  With these altitudes it would have to be on the ice cap or at the very edge.

3.  Most geologists believe this mountain was formed in relatively recent times, i.e., after the Flood.  It is a complex volcano with no clearly discernible layers of sedimentation that would have been laid down by flood waters.

4.  The group claims they have had the wood carbon dated by a lab in Iran with the results being almost 5000 years old (with the Flood occurring about 3000 B.C.).  Why did they have the wood tested in Iran, we ask?   Will other scientists have access to the lab results?  Are there any good labs in Iran that can do this kind of testing?  Or, was the wood tested in Iran because the lab results might be harder to trace by other scientists?  Why wasn’t a lab in the United States or the United Kingdom used?  Just asking!

5.  Is this wood coated with pitch (bitumen)?  The Bible says God instructed Noah to treat the wood with pitch, either asphalt or pine pitch (Gen. 6:14).  At least some of this wood should test positive for this coating.  Also, has a botanist examined the wood to determine what kind of wood it is?

6.  What about motives?  Only God knows their true motives, but it sure makes one nervous when these groups looking for the Ark are planning a documentary video so early in the project before any truth claims are established.  One of the members of this Chinese group just happens to be a filmmaker.  Most readers interested in this subject probably notice that about once a year a new docudrama about Noah’s Ark appears on one of the cable channels.  They would not keep doing this if they didn’t make money.  Hopefully, this group’s motives are other than financial.

7.  What are the plans to publish this material in scientific peer-reviewed archaeological and geological publications?  We would have hoped that this would have been primary to a news conference and videos.  True archaeology is not forwarded by this sequence, but we certainly understand their excitement and the desire to be the first to report such a discovery.

In addition to the above questions, we have some reasons to question the integrity of this discovery for the following reasons:

1.  This group had a local guide who is a known for his deceit and fraud. It is this guide who initially informed the Chinese group that he knew the location of the Ark in 2008.  However, since then he has led them to more than one location.  The first location was a cave at a low altitude, a small cave with a tree growing in front!  Apparently the current cave is at the 13,000 or 14,000 foot level on the icecap.

2.  The specimens taken from this first cave (at the lower altitude) were claimed to be petrified wood from the Ark. In actuality, they were nothing than volcanic tuff.

3. In one of the photos of the rooms, straw is seen on the floor and even a spider web in one of the corners.  Really!  Do spiders live at 13,000 or 14,000 feet?  Can they survive the freezing temperatures?

4. There is a real problem with evangelists (which is what they claim to be) who use this kind of discovery to prove the Bible, and hence convince non-believers of its authority, when in fact the truthfulness of the discovery had not been established.  I [Bill Crouse] know firsthand of one “Indiana Jones” who spoke eloquently and emotionally about his adventures, and when he gave an invitation at the end of his presentation, many in the audience stood up to commit their lives to Christ.  When the speaker was confronted about the truthfulness of some of the stories he told that night, he replied:  “But look how many stood up to receive Christ.”  This becomes very problematic when at some point the convert learns the real truth.  They often become very embittered about all things Christian, and understandably so.

5.  There seems to be more than the usual gullibility here in that the Hong Kong group was warned about this local guide who has led others astray.  We say usual gullibility, because it seems to be a characteristic of some ark-hunters as well, in that they tend to uncritically accept all the local lore.  While many of these ark-hunters mean well, it seems that they want to believe every report seemingly at all costs; putting everything through a rational grid often is avoided as being too skeptical.

At this point we are skeptical of these new claims but would rejoice in the end if they proved to be true.  If this someday is the case, we will be the first to apologize for our doubts. We would strongly urge the Hong Kong group to follow proper scholarly procedures and publish this material in scientific, peer-reviewed archaeological and geological publications so that the scholarly community can examine the material first hand and critique it in order to offer helpful, and constructive, criticism.  For the person in the pew, we caution you to not get too excited about something that is at best, unsubstantiated; and at worst, a fraud perpetrated by an enterprising local guide!

Note: The authors are both members of the Near East Archaeological Society and the Evangelical Theological Society.  We both believe that Noah was a real historical person and that the Flood was a literal event in space-time history.  In our own research we came to a different conclusion about the landing place of the Ark.  Nothing we have seen so far causes us to doubt or change our position.  If you care to read of our research it can be found here: www.rapidresponsereport.com

A fare questa dichiarazione è stato il prof. J. P. Dessel, membro della spedizione di scavi a Tell Tayinat. La confederazione filistea, tra l’undicesimo e il dodicesimo secolo a.C., andava dalle città di Aleppo, Hama e Antakya fino ai confini siro-turchi.

La scoperta è importante, perché rivela che l’antico impero filisteo non si limitava alle terre di Canaan.

In seguito al crollo della dinastia degli Ittiti nel tredicesimo secolo a.C., si svilupparono stati più piccoli in aree che in precedenza erano state sotto il dominio ittita. Una di esse era la Palestina-Filistea.

Le dichiarazioni di Dessel si fondano su nuove scoperte fatte a Tell Tayinat.

Ad Antakya erano stati trovati geroglifici dove si menzionava il nome Palestina. Rinvenimenti simili ci sono stati ad Aleppo e a Hama.

Per il prof. Gershon Glil dell’università di Haifa, sapere che i Filistei non occuparono solo terre dell’attuale Israele ma anche della Siria è di notevole importanza storica.

Adattamento: R.P.

Fonte: Jerusalem Post (11 maggio 2010)

Upper Body of a Female Sphinx Amuq Valley, Tell Tayinat - Anatolia/Modern Turkey
(© flickr: american lady)

Jacopo Bassano, Noah's Sacrifice

Dall’esame sarebbe risultato che il reperto risale a circa 4.800 anni fa, epoca a cui daterebbe il diluvio universale raccontato dalla Bibbia, a cui Noè e la sua famiglia sopravvissero proprio grazie all’Arca. «Non possiamo dire al 100 per cento che si tratta dell’Arca di Noè, ma pensiamo di poterlo dire al 99,9 per cento», ha detto Yeung Wing-cheung, di Hong Kong, uno degli esploratori che affermano di aver ritrovato il reperto, tutti membri di un’organizzazione internazionale dedita proprio alla ricerca dell’Arca. La struttura sarebbe suddivista in vari compartimenti, alcuni dei quali pieni di fascine di legna e probabilmente destinati al trasporto di animali. Secondo i testi sacri, coppie di animali di diverse specie si salvarano perché imbarcate sull’Arca di Noè.

Il gruppo di archeologi ha spiegato di aver già invitato le autorità turche a richiedere all’Unesco che il sito sia inserito nella lista del patrimonio mondiale dell’umanità e di proteggerlo fino a quando un’indagine archeologica più approfondita non possa esservi condotta. Non è la prima volta che esploratori o avventurieri provenienti da diverse parti del mondo affermano di aver ritrovato l’Arca di Noè sull’Ararat. Secondo la tradizione biblica, infatti, l’imbarcazione si fermò proprio sulla cima di quel monte quando le acque si ritirarono al termine del diluvio.

Lo ha detto in un’intervista video esclusiva all’ADNKRONOS, visibile sul sito Ign, testata on line del sito Adnkronos (www.adnkronos.com), il Patriarca della Chiesa ortodossa d’Etiopia Abuna Pauolos, in questi giorni in Italia per il ‘G8 delle Religioni’, e che domani incontrera’ il Papa Benedetto XVI per la prima volta e al quale, “se lo chiedera’ – ha proseguito il Patriarca – raccontero’ tutta la situazione attuale dell’Arca dell’Alleanza”.

“L’Arca dell’Alleanza – ribadisce Pauolos – si trova in Etiopia da molti secoli. Come patriarca l’ho vista con i miei occhi e soltanto poche persone molto qualificate hanno potuto fare altrettanto, finora”. Secondo il patriarca e’ custodita in una chiesa, ma per difendere quella autentica, una copia del simbolo religioso e’ stata collocata in ogni chiesa del Paese.

L’annuncio ufficiale che l’Etopia consegnera’ al mondo le chiavi del segreto millenario dell’Arca, verra’ dato venerdi’ prossimo nel corso di una conferenza stampa alle 14 all’Hotel Aldrovandi a Roma dallo stesso Patriarca ortodosso d’Etiopia, insieme al principe Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Selassie, e al duca Amedeo D’Aosta, che sara’ a Roma gia’ domani mattina.

Secondo alcuni studi l’Arca venne trafugata da Gerusalemme dal figlio di re Salomone e portata ad Axum, considerata la Gerusalemme d’Etiopia. E proprio ad Axum sorgera’ il Museo chiamato a ospitare l’Arca, il cui progetto e’ stato finanziato dalla Fondazione del principe, erede designato al trono da Haile Selassie poco prima di morire, Crhijecllu, acronimo delle iniziali dei nomi dei figli del principe: Christian, Jessica, Clarissa, Lucrezia.

Qualche settimana fa aveva fatto il giro del mondo la notizia secondo la quale sarebbe stata vista da un giornalista l’Arca autentica in una chiesa etiope. E’ stato allora che il Patriarca Pauolos ha maturato la decisione di “dire una volta per tutte al mondo la verita’” sulla cassa di legno e oro con le Tavole della Legge di Dio. Il Patriarca ha giudicato maturi i tempi per chiudere definitivamente il capitolo sul quale fino ad ora nessuno storico, nessun ricercatore, nessun ‘Indiana Jones’, era riuscito a scrivere la parola fine.

Il Patriarca dell’antichissima Chiesa ortodossa d’Etiopia ha voluto accanto a se’ in questa avventura il nipote dell’ultimo Negus, capo di una famiglia importane, il cui ruolo e’ riconosciuto sia in Etiopia che all’estero. Il principe erede che due anni fa riusci’ a rappacificare le fazioni musulmana e cristiana al centro in Etiopia di un duro contrasto.

E’ iniziato cosi’ il conto alla rovescia per svelare finalmente il mistero della sacra Arca dell’Alleanza, capace, secondo la leggenda, di sprigionare lampi di luce divini e folgori in grado di incenerire chiunque ne fosse colpito, come del resto efficacemente descritto nel cult movie ‘I predatori dell’Arca perduta’. Dalla finzione cinematografica si passera’ ora alla realta’.

Venerdi’ prossimo la conferenza stampa con l’annuncio ufficiale, un evento che e’ stato possibile anche grazie alla collaborazione di Paolo Salerno, collaboratore del principe e del giornalista Antonio Parisi, che da qualche anno segue le vicende storiche delle famiglie reali e di quella Etiope in particolare, e naturalmente dell’Arca dell’Alleanza.

Ma cos’e’ l’Arca dell’Alleanza , uno dei piu’ grandi misteri dell’antichita’ sul quale fantasia, leggenda e storia hanno continuato a intrecciarsi per secoli? L’Arca, nella tradizione ebraica, contiene le Tavole della legge, cioe’ i Dieci comandamenti; il manufatto, in legno d’acacia, fu costruita da Mose’. All’esterno aveva decorazioni in oro ed e’ stata a lungo conservata dal popolo ebraico: ha accompagnato le sue vicissitudini, le battaglie e le sconfitte, le peregrinazioni e le lotte contro i filistei ed e’ stata conservata in diversi luoghi finche’ il Re Davide non l’ha collocata nella Rocca di Gerusalemme.

Ma e’ Salomone, figlio e successore di Davide, a far sistemare l’Arca nel Tempio di Gerusalemme da lui stesso fatto costruire. Questa narrazione s’intreccia poi con eventi storici e altre tradizioni religiose e nazionali. Di fatto l’Arca dell’Alleanza scompare nel 586 a.C. con la conquista di Gerusalemme da parte dei Babilonesi e la conseguente distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme.

Tuttavia della sua effettiva rovina non c’e’ testimonianza scritta; da allora l’Arca diventa simbolo eternamente cercato dagli uomini e rintracciato in varie parti del mondo, dall’Africa al Medio Oriente. La tradizione etiope colloca l’Arca nel regno di Axum, dopo che Salomone l’aveva donata al figlio della Regina di Saba, Menelik I. Qui, sarebbe rimasta nel corso dei secoli protetta dai monaci ortodossi nella citta’ santa di Lalibela nei pressi di Axum, dove si troverebbe tuttora.

L’Arca, che non e’ visibile a nessuno tranne un monaco che la custodisce, viene preservata nel complesso della cattedrale di Santa Maria di Sion, e’ dunque nascosta a tutti e viene portata in processione una volta all’anno ma avvolta in un panno.

L’Arca ha accesso la fantasia di archeologi, scrittori, gruppi religiosi, sette di ogni tipo. Nella tradizione infatti si afferma che emana un potere particolare ma anche che chi la tocca veniva fulminato. Un oggetto che data anche la sua collocazione – Il Tempio di Gerusalemme – e’ stato di volta in volta al centro di storie legate alla Massoneria o ai Templari. Tuttavia va ricordato che sono molte in Etiopia le chiese nelle quali e’ conservata un”’arca”, cosi’ come diversi studiosi – muovendosi spesso al limite del mistero e della leggenda – la collocano in varie parti del mondo.

At the bottom of this magic incantation bowl from late antique Babylonia, a shackled and bound demon is shown surrounded by the spiraling words of a prayer for protection. It was believed that the written words of the encircling prayer would be able to keep the evil forces in the center of the bowl at bay. Throughout ancient Israelite and Jewish history, authors used writing as a sort of sympathetic magic, a way to directly control and manipulate forces beyond their control. Hershel Shanks

In the Hebrew Bible there are clear indications that writing was often thought to have tangible, even magical, properties. In Numbers 5:11-28, a woman accused of adultery is made to consume “the water of bitterness,” a cloudy concoction infused with the washed-off ink from the words of a written curse. If the woman is innocent, the curse will have no effect; if she is guilty, the curse will cause her thighs to waste away and her belly to swell. In a similar vein, when Ezekiel accepts his prophetic mission from God during a dreamlike trance, he eats a scroll inscribed with the words of the divine message (Ezekiel 2:9-3:11). Having ingested the words, Ezekiel and God’s message become one.

The magical properties of writing meant that written words, once they came into being, were active and sometimes even unstable forces that could be manipulated, both for good and for ill. Numerous short dedicatory inscriptions found in Iron Age Israel and elsewhere make requests for divine blessing and protection,* many having only the author’s name, what is requested and the name of the deity. As Biblical scholar Susan Niditch has said, it is as if the act of writing the prayer “[brought] the God-presence into a sort of material reality,” thus allowing the words to become infused with “visceral power.” (2)

But just as writing could help an author’s prayers get answered, it could also be used to inflict pain and suffering. Curse inscriptions often protected tombs, monumental inscriptions and seemingly mundane graffiti throughout the ancient Near East, and ancient Israel was no exception.** In a world where the simple act of erasing an author’s name was tantamount to wiping out a person’s very life and essence, author’s went to great lengths to ensure that would-be vandals and robbers suffered the same fate. Hiram, a tenth-century B.C. king of Byblos, wrote on his sarcophagus that anyone who attempted to destroy his inscription would have their own inscription (i.e., life) blotted out. Likewise, the anonymous author of an inscription found at the seventh-century B.C. site of Horvat ‘Uza in the eastern Negev claimed that if the words of his text were not heeded, the grave of the disobedient reader would be destroyed.

Similar ideas about the transformative power of written words continued to persist among the Jewish populations of the Near East throughout antiquity. In late antique Babylonia (third–seventh centuries A.D.), for example, countless ceramic bowls were inscribed with prayers, curses and healing rituals written in the Jewish-Aramaic script.*** The spiraling, cramped inscriptions of the bowls often encircled drawings of bound demons and other evil spirits. Writing, even in this late period, was still invested with the power to bring prayers and curses to life.

Notes
*Gabriel Barkay, “News from the Field: The Divine Name Found in Jerusalem,” BAR, March/April 1983.
**Hershel Shanks, “The Tombs of Silwan,” BAR, May/June 1994.
***Hershel Shanks, “Magic Incantation Bowls,” BAR, January/February 2007.
(1) For a thorough overview of the power and uses of the written word in ancient Israel, see Susan Niditch, Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature (Louisville, KY: Westminster, 1996).
(2) Niditch, Oral World and Written Word, pp. 46-47.

Nella interminabile crisi della Palestina le testimonianze storiche e monumentali soffrono per la mancanza di una soluzione che metta le istituzioni locali in grado di affrontare sistematicamente gli infiniti problemi della tutela…

(di Carla Benelli e Osama Hamdan) L’aspro conflitto che coinvolge da decenni i territori palestinesi ha avuto e continua ad avere effetti devastanti sul patrimonio culturale. Com’è noto, si tratta di un Paese in via di definizione e diviso in due (Cisgiordania e Striscia di Gaza), in parte ancora soggetto a occupazione militare e poco attrezzato per gestire le vaste risorse storiche e artistiche. Nel 1995 l’accordo di Taba stabilì che i territori sarebbero passati in fasi successive sotto la giurisdizione del Consiglio Nazionale Palestinese. In una prima fase, sarebbero stati trasferiti ampi poteri solo sulle cosiddette Area A e Area B (circa il trenta per cento della Cisgiordania, esclusa Gerusalemme Est, e il sessantacinque per cento della Striscia di Gaza). Nella rimanente Area C Israele avrebbe trasferito al Consiglio Palestinese i poteri civili e le responsabilità non relative al controllo del territorio. Nelle aree A e B l’accordo trasferì dal governo militare israeliano all’amministrazione civile palestinese i poteri e le responsabilità anche nell’ambito della gestione delle risorse culturali. Questo includeva «la protezione e preservazione dei siti archeologici, la gestione, supervisione, concessione di licenze e tutte le altre attività archeologiche». In Area C i poteri e le responsabilità anche in questo settore sarebbero stati trasferiti gradualmente. Ma il previsto accordo definitivo è al momento sospeso e, dopo il ritiro unilaterale dalla Striscia di Gaza, Israele controlla a tutt’oggi l’Area C della Cisgiordania, ossia circa il settanta per cento di questo territorio, oltre a tutta Gerusalemme Est. [...] Rubrica su 3 pagine