Gabriel Barkay (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: גבריאל ברקאי; sometimes transcribed from the Hebrew Gavriel Barkai) is an Israeli archaeologist.

Early life and studies

Born in 1944 in the

Budapest Ghetto The Budapest Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto set up in Budapest, Hungary, where Jews were forced to relocate by a decree of the Government of National Unity led by the fascist Arrow cross party during the final stages of World War II. The ghetto existed ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

, he immigrated to Israel in 1950. Barkay studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

at Tel Aviv University, graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', and received his PhD in Archaeology from the same university in 1985. His dissertation was about

LMLK seal LMLK seals (with LMLK meaning 'of the king') are ancient Hebrew seals stamped on the handles of large storage jars first issued in the reign of King Hezekiah (circa 700 BC) and discovered mostly in and around Jerusalem. Several complete jars w ...

impressions on jar handles. He participated in the

Lachish Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Th ...

excavations with

David Ussishkin David Ussishkin (Hebrew: דוד אוסישקין; born 1935) is an Israeli archaeologist and professor emeritus of archaeology. Biography David Ussishkin was born in Jerusalem. Ussishkin is the grandson of the Zionist leader Menachem Ussishkin. H ...

. His academic areas of interest include the archaeology of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

biblical archaeology Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Palestine, Land o ...

, burials and burial customs, art,

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

, and glyptics in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

Archaeological field work

First Temple Period tombs

In 1968-71, Barkay and

surveyed the

Silwan necropolis The Silwan necropolis is the remains of a rock-cut cemetery assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in Jerusalem. Its tombs were cut between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE.Judean Monarchy during the

, containing 50 rock-cut tombs of Judahite high government officials.Hershel Shanks,
The Tombs of Silwan
',

Biblical Archaeology Review ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' is a magazine appearing every three months and sometimes referred to as ''BAR'' that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible, the ...

(BAR) 20:03, May/June, 1994, via the Center for Online Judaic Studies (COJS) website Barkay also excavated the Iron Age tombs on the grounds of the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. History Foundation The school was founded in 1890 ...

in the early 1970s.

Priestly Blessing scrolls

Dr. Barkay's most famous discoveries are two small silver scroll

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protect ...

s containing the priestly benediction from the

Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and ...

(), which he discovered in 1979 in a First Temple Period tomb at

Ketef Hinnom Ketef Hinnom ( he, כֵּתֵף הִינוֹם ', "Shoulder of Hinnom") is an archaeological site discovered in the 1970s southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations held in the site uncovered a series of Iron Age period ...

. These

s contain the oldest surviving biblically-related inscription discovered to date, dating back to the seventh century BCE and are to-date the only archaeological proof that passages from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' First Temple Period.

Temple Mount Sifting Project

In 2005, together with archaeologist Zachi Zweig, Barkay established the

Temple Mount Sifting Project The Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP; formerly known as the Temple Mount Salvage Operation) is an archaeological project begun in 2004 whose aim is the recovery and study of archaeological artifacts contained within debris which were removed fr ...

, a project funded by the

Ir David Foundation Ir David Foundation or City of David Foundation, commonly known as Elad l'ad( he, אלע"ד, an acronym for "אל עיר דוד", meaning "to the City of David") is a Jerusalem-based, Israeli settler association which aims to strengthen the Jewi ...

and dedicated to recovering archaeological artifacts from 400 truckloads of earth removed from the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...

by the

Waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...

and Israeli Islamic movement during 1996–2001. The construction included the establishment of the underground so-called El-Marwani Mosque at an ancient structure known since medieval times as Solomon's Stables, excavating a huge pit as an entrance to the structure, and reducing the platform level at the area north to the entrance. One of the findings of this project is a 7th-century BCE

bulla Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...

(round clay seal affixed to documents), which became known as the "Bethlehem Seal". Dr. Barkay offered the first translation of the

three-line inscription: "In the 7th year, Bethlehem, for the king". Barkay points out to the findings from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period—mainly ceramics and coins, including rare coins, but also architectural elements, some from churches. Some scholars claim that the Temple Mount was left bare by the Christian rulers, to conform with Jesus' prophecy that not a stone of the Temple complex will be left standing () and in order to emphasise the Church of the Resurrection, but in Barkay's assessment, the findings prove that "in the Byzantine era the Temple Mount was a center of activity", as the place may have held churches and a marketplace.

Teaching career

Barkay is currently an external lecturer at

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

and Jerusalem University College on Mount Zion.

Media presence

Barkay frequently appears on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

show ''

The Naked Archaeologist ''The Naked Archaeologist'' is a television series on VisionTV in Canada and History International in the US, that was produced and hosted by the Emmy Award–winning journalist Simcha Jacobovici together with Avri Gilad. The show examines biblic ...

'', which is hosted by

Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...

. He also appeared in the documentary ''The Real Da Vinci Code'' in 2005, hosted by British actor

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...

of ''

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robins ...

'' fame, offering his views on the speculation that the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

found secret documents relating to the bloodline of Jesus Christ under the

as advanced by

Michael Baigent Michael Baigent (born Michael Barry Meehan, 27 February 1948 – 17 June 2013) was a New Zealand writer who published a number of popular works questioning traditional perceptions of history and the life of Jesus. He is best known as a co-author ...

, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln in their controversial book ''

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' (published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States) is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in London as an unoffic ...

''. In Barkay's opinion, there exists no evidence that the Templars conducted any excavations in the area at all, and that the tools available to them at the time were not sufficient to dig far enough to reach the ruins in question. Also in 2005, Barkay appeared in the documentary ''The Bible vs. the Book of Mormon'', produced by Living Hope Ministries of

Brigham City, Utah Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,899 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range at ...

, in which he was asked to give his opinion on the extent to which archaeological findings support the historical narrative presented in the Bible.

Awards

In 1996, Barkay received the Jerusalem Prize for his life's work as an archaeologist of Jerusalem. In 2014 he received the

Moskowitz Prize for Zionism Moskowitz Prize for Zionism, established by Irving and Cherna Moskowitz, is given for activity in realization of Zionism, as it is comprehended by the Moskowitzes. The Prize has been granted every year since 2008 to three winners in a ceremony wh ...

References

External links

The Temple Mount Sifting Project
* * *
Gabriel Barkay interview
about the Silvan necropolis work after 1967. Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem, "50 Years, 50 Faces" documentary project. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkay, Gabriel 1944 births Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Living people Israeli archaeologists Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Moskowitz Prize for Zionism laureates