Milton C. Fisher
R.A.S. Macalister helps us see where we are in our “Who’s Who” series. When he wrote A Century of Excavation in Palestine (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1925), he chose to start that century with the decision of Edward Robinson in 1824 to interrupt his teaching, pursue Old Testament studies in Germany, and write a treatise on Biblical geography. That project demanded Robinson’s explorations of 1838 and 1852 (see “Who’s Who in Archaeology,” Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1989). In turn, when Macalister’s obituary was written nearly one hundred years later, it was suggested that his excavation of Gezer, in the Shephelah region northwest of Jerusalem (1902–1909), might be said to mark the beginning of scientific archaeology in Palestine.
Egyptian, Palestinian, Celtic archaeologist R.A.S Macalister, with blowup of scarabs from Gezer.
By today’s standards, however, his work was seriously flawed. Largely because he attempted to work alone, assuming the combined role of supervisor, surveyor, and recorder, many gaps remain in Macalister’s records, and some errors of judgment had to be rectified later. The three large volumes he published in 1912, while adding a great number of objects to the material available for comparative study of Palestine’s history, also left some confusion. It is still hard to tell precisely where each item was found.
BSP 5:2 (Spring 1992) p. 60
Perhaps the pressure of competition explains the Irish professor’s imperfections. His dig at Gezer was the hasty response of the prestigious British Palestine Exploration Fund to the inauguration of the French Dominican school of archaeology (Ecole Biblique) at the end of the 19th century and of the American Schools of Oriental Research at the turn of the century. Macalister gained valuable experience a few years prior to the Gezer expedition when he assisted Bliss in the digging of four mounds in the lower hill country of Judah. This placed him solidly in the tradition of Petrie-Bliss-Reisner in the development of the “stratigraphic method” of excavating Palestinian tells (see “Who’s Who in Archaeology,” Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1992).
Though primarily an Egyptologist, and ultimately occupant of the chair of Celtic Archaeology at the University of Dublin, Macalister is best known for his seven-year dig at Gezer (interrupted only by winter rains and an outbreak of cholera). He also joined J.G. Duncan’s excavation on Mt. Ophel (the “City of David”) from October 1923 through the summer of 1925, where, among other things, they traced the “way between the walls” for some 150 feet. He also followed in the train of Warren, Wilson, and Bliss in mapping Jerusalem’s ancient exterior walls.
Literally hundreds of tombs and caves were explored at Gezer, and over half the mound was excavated down to virgin soil or bedrock. Seven or eight superimposed city occupation levels were identified. A Canaanite high place was found, including a row of eight rough stone pillars, the shortest of which was five-and-a-half-feet tall. These were worn smooth in spots by the touches (or kisses?) of devotees. Ceramic plaques depicting the nude goddess Astarte were also found. This was the sort of thing Moses was referring to when he commanded, “You shall utterly destroy their altars,. .. cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place” (Dt 12:3).
Along with a few Assyrian cuneiform tablets (two he correctly dated to the 7th century BC; one was later corrected to the 14th century BC), a small limestone inscription was discovered — the famous “Gezer Calendar.” It is dated to the 10th century BC, between Solomon’s restoration of the city in about 950 BC (a wedding gift from the Pharaoh whose daughter he married, 1 Kgs 9:16) and its destruction by Shishak in approximately 918 BC (1 Kgs 14:25–26). Until 1976, this humble inscription held the honor of being the oldest known Hebrew inscription. That distinction now rests with the “Izbet Sarta Ostracon” from the early 11th century BC (see “The Travels of the Ark of the Covenant,” by William H. Shea, Archaeology and Biblical Research, Summer 1990).
Macalister was quick to react to criticism directed at the PEF by religious people, that the Fund was of benefit to geographers and anthropologists but not to the average Bible reader. In the interval between the two phases of the Gezer expedition, he wrote Bible Side-lights from the Mound of Gezer (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906). In it he reviewed the remarkable story of how Clarmont-Ganneau located and then verified the Gezer tell, showed how it relates to various periods of Bible history, and explained how specific remains and objects do indeed throw light on many passages of Scripture.
Tragically, one of Macalister’s most important discoveries was not recognized at the time it was made. This was a structure on the east side of the site which he identified as a “second-century BC Maccabean Castle.” It remained for Yigael Yadin of our own generation to correctly identify the remains (later verified by excavation) as a Solomonic gateway from the 10th century BC., similar to those found at Megiddo and Hazor.