Additional Information

Language

English

Source Type

Book

Notes

Summary

This volume is a critical study of recent archaeology in the Western Wall Plaza area, Jerusalem. Considered one of the holiest places on Earth for Jews and Muslims, it is also a place of controversy, where the State marks ‘our’ remains for preservation and adoration and ‘theirs’ for silencing.

Based on thousands of documents from the Israel Antiquities Authority and other sources, such as protocols of planning committees, readers can explore for the first time this archaeological ‘heart of darkness’ in East Jerusalem. The book follows a series of unique discoveries, reviewing the approval and execution of development plans and excavations, and the use of the areas once excavation has finished. Who decides what and how to excavate, what to preserve – or ‘remove’? Who pays for the archaeology, for what aims? The professional, scientific archaeology of the past happens now: it modifies the present and is modified by it. This book ‘excavates’ the archaeology of East Jerusalem to reveal its social and political contexts, power structures and ethics.

Readers interested in the history, archaeology and politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will find this book useful, as well as scholars and students of the history and ethics of Archaeology, Jerusalem, conservation, nationalism, and heritage.

Taxonomies

RPA Codes & Standards

• Appropriate Dissemination of Research
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to the Public

CIfA Codes

• Principle 1: Adherence to ethical and responsible behaviour in archaeological affairs
• Principle 2: Responsibility for the conservation of the historic environment
• Principle 3: Responsibility for acquiring and recording reliable information of the past in archaeological research
• Principle 4: Responsibility for the availability of archaeological results within reasonable dispatch

Keywords & Terms

• Accountability
• Armed Conflict and Violence
• Burials and Human Remains
• Conservation
• Consultation/Partnership with Affected Groups
• Culturally Significant and/or Sacred Sites, Objects, and Places
• Public Interest, Collaboration, Education, and Outreach
• Respect for and Responsibility to Affected Groups

Topics & Issues

• Archaeological Advocacy and Activism
• Collaboration in Archaeology (i.e. Communities, Non-Archaeologists, etc.)
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Community Archaeology and Participatory Research
• Descendant, Resident, and Stakeholder Communities
• Historic/Cultural Resource/Site Preservation
• Historical Archaeology
• Legal Issues
• Legislation and Archaeological Preservation
• Politics and Archaeology
• Public Archaeology
• Public Engagement, Outreach, and Education
• Public Memory and Public Space
• Religion
• War, Violence, and Conflict