Antiquities

Yesterday we walked part of the Via Dolorosa with our expert Helen Bond. Next to the first Station of the Cross is a store full of Christian souvenirs run by two Arab brothers. One of them, Ibrahim showed us into the store, promising that the base of the Antonia fortress extended into his store.

It turned out to be bedrock. But maybe the fortress had been built on this bedrock. Or maybe not.

When I met Ibrahim last summer he took Tara and me to the first station of the cross where he told us the story of Jesus and showed us one of the best views of the Al Aqsa Mosque. As I looked at the Dome of the Rock he moved closer to Tara and asked her if we were married. She said no. He placed his hand on the small of her back.

Ibrahim didn’t remember me yesterday, and if it weren’t for his reluctance to appear on camera I suspect that he would have made discreet enquiries about which of us was married to Helen.

Across the narrow street from the Antonia fortress are the remarkably well preserved remains of a two thousand year old water system. We descended to the cistern deep below the street where we stepped over the barrier and climbed down to the floor of the giant cistern as Ibrahim meekly told us that it was forbidden and then threw his hands up in the air.

Helen told us why the Antonia Fortress, the traditional site of the trial of Jesus probably wasn’t the right place.

We went to David’s tower, where some say Jesus was held before his trial. The bottom of the tower, the first ten or fifteen meters are undoubtedly from the time of Herod, but the upper part, and the rest of the fortress is much more recent.

We went to an archaeological site which, it has been suggested was Caiaphas, the High Priest’s house. Helen suggested that it was unlikely.

Underneath the Church on the same property is an impressive dungeon cut out of the rocks. I walked down the stairs into the dimly lit prison with Helen who explained that the tradition is that the High Priest held Jesus here and some say he was tortured. In fact, when the church was built twenty or thirty years ago, and archaeologists excavated this dungeon, one of the rock pillars seemed to have a red stain on it. It was removed and put on display.

Where do these traditions come from?

Last summer in Jordan we were shooting by the Dead Sea, about as hot as I’ve been in my life. We were at the ruins of the ancient city of Zoar. Camera rolling Simcha pointed at the thousands of Bronze Age tombs dotting the hillside: “Some of those tombs may have held the remains of the victims of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.” From off camera our expert from the British Museum, Dino Politis, said “I think that's stretching it.” Simcha looked at him, shrugged and replied: “I said may have.”

After we were done yesterday, Felix and I took Helen for dinner in the City Centre. We looked in the shops, Felix bargained for a Menorah (he’s Russian and shameless and the perfect shopping companion) and we looked through the window at Biblical Antiquities.

The stores here have impressive collections of pottery and tools at equally impressive prices. These are the reputable ones. There’s an entirely different kind of Antiquities store in the Arab quarter, tiny shops piled high with junk mixed with treasures. Or maybe they’re just objects with good stories attached to them.

At the American Colony Hotel – was that last week or this week? I don’t remember – Felix was at the bar talking to a small curly haired man in a windbreaker at the end of the day. I stood by them waiting to ask Felix about the next day’s schedule.

They shook hands and the man walked away. “Bye Oded,” Felix called after him.

Without hesitation I told Felix to call him back. This was someone I wanted to meet. Depending on who you side with Oded Golan is either one of the finest living dealers in Biblical Antiquities or he is the most notorious forger in Israel.

He is currently on trial in Jerusalem.