Evidence of massacres, including brutal beheadings, during the bloody reign of the Hasmonean king Alexander Yannai (103-76 BC) was recently unearthed in a courtyard near the Jerusalem Municipality during excavations of an ancient reservoir.
“We pulled more than 20 cervical vertebrae out of the hole that had been cut with a sword,” said Dr. Yossi Nagar, an anthropologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). "We found in the pit the bodies and body parts of infants and adults, women and men, who were probably the victims of the brutal massacre." The bones of the embryos found during the excavations show that even pregnant women were among the victims.
IAA archaeologists Kfir Arbiv, Nagar and Tehillah Lieberman presented their gruesome discovery on October 11 in a talk titled "The Riddle of a Mass Burial at the Russian Compound."
John Hyrcanus' son, Alexander Janneus, known as Alexander Yannai, served as high priest of the Second Temple during his 27-year reign. The rule of this "holy man" was marked by court intrigues and endless military campaigns in which he gained - and lost - a number of territories.
It was a time of violent power struggles between the Jewish Sadducees and the Pharisees, leading to a six-year civil war in Judea, which, according to historical accounts such as the Pharisee historian Flavius Josephus, resulted in the deaths of about 50,000 Jews. During the war, the Jews initiated the intervention of the Seleucid king, which, by uniting the Jewish people against a common enemy, led to the rebuff of those who called him.
According to a commentary on the book of Nachum, discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, after the end of the war, Alexander Yannai punished about 800 of his political enemies by sentencing them to crucifixion. Others, such as those found in a courtyard near the Jerusalem municipality, were beheaded and dismembered. During excavations, archaeologists discovered broken human bones that were thrown into a water tank. According to archaeologists Arbiva and Lieberman, they found that the number of victims coincided with the numbers recorded in historical sources. “Historical sources say that the king captured and killed many of his Jewish opponents, as well as their children and wives. Indeed, the bones, casually thrown into the water cistern, were found to have been struck by swords, indicating a decapitation,”archaeologists said.
The discovery of the monstrous Hasmonean mass grave was presented at a session entitled “Internment and Burial,” which was presented at the 12th Annual Conference on New Archaeological Exploration of Jerusalem and its Region, held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
IAA archaeologists and representatives of the country's leading academic institutions provided updates on existing excavations and new discoveries. While members of the public were invited to the event, the day was clearly meant for mutual communication between archaeologists and included the David Amit Prize ceremony for young archaeologists and awards from the Ancient Jerusalem Research Center.
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Archaeologist Meir Edri's presentation on his work in the Atarot industrial zone in the West Bank near Khirbat A-Ram aroused interest from the audience after mentioning that it was funded by Israeli tycoon Rami Levi. Cambridge University historian Renan Baker, in a lively lecture, discussed the complexities of accurately dating ancient events and discussed little-known primary sources in Latin and Greek that could help paint a picture of Jewish life in Jerusalem just before and after the destruction of the Second Temple.
Other news included a summary of the work of the archaeologist Joe Uziel on a small unfinished theatrical structure found in the temple tunnels dating back to the period of Roman colonization after 70 AD, when the city was renamed Elia Capitolina.
Uziel said the new section of the Western Wall, as well as the mothballed theater, are now partially open to the public and will be fully accessible shortly.