Adjoining the Menachem Begin Heritage Center is a small park that could easily be missed. It is the site of a historical event that impacts us to this very day and what may well be the most significant archaeological find of all time.
Ketef Hinnom, literally “the shoulder of Hinnom,” gets its name because it overlooks the Hinnom Valley. Rising above it is Mount Zion, the traditional burial place of King David, and to the left of it, the wall of the Old City.
Yehoshua 15:8 describes the border between the tribes as rising up the mountaintop overlooking the Valley of Ben Hinnom at the northern edge of the Rephaim Valley, probably that very mountain.
Today, the Hinnom Valley is the site of a Biblical-style farm, where children can interact with the farm animals, and a music center endowed by the noted Jewish trumpeter and recording mogul Herb Alpert. But during the latter days of the Bayit Rishon era, the Hinnom Valley became infamous as a center of Molech worship.
The Torah, in Vayikra 18:21, commands, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech.” In Devarim 18:10, we are warned not to allow one’s son or daughter to “pass through the fire.”
Molech worship was a kind of avodah zara — idolatry — that involved passing children through fire. According to Rashi, it involved handing over the child to a priest who would force the child to walk between two pyres of fire. Ibn Ezra maintains that the father would pass the child through the actual fire. Ramban says that children were actually thrown into the fire as a sacrifice. This abomination was accompanied by the beating of drums to drown out the screams of the children and the wailing of the mothers.
Yirmiyah 32:35 says, “They built altars for the Baal that are in the Valley of Hinnom, to offer their sons and daughters to Molech.” Melachim Bet 23:10 reports that King Josiah “defiled the Tophet” — drum — “in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass their son or daughter through the fire for Molech.”
It is because of its association with Molech worship that Gei Hinnom has become synonymous with the fires of sin.
Excavations at Ketef Hinnom revealed Roman coins, pig bones, and the remains of Roman legionnaires, all indicating that the site was once a Roman camp.
The reign of Queen Shlomzion, the widow of King Alexander Yannai and the sister of Shimon Ben Shetach, was a glorious time of internal peace when Torah thrived. Her two sons did not live up to her example. A brutal civil war erupted between them. In 63 BCE, they “invited” the Roman general Pompey to settle their dispute. Pompey and his forces camped at Ketef Hinnom, beginning the Roman occupation of Eretz Yisroel.
When Jews rebelled, the Romans sent Vespasian to crush the rebellion. While Vespasian waited at his camp at Ketef Hinnom, a civil war raged between the Jews in Jerusalem, as described in Gittin 56a-b. The historian Josephus wrote that when Vespasian was asked why he did not move to conquer Jerusalem, he replied that the Jews were doing a fine job of destroying the city themselves.
Realizing that the Beit HaMikdash and the city were doomed, Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakai was smuggled out of the city in a coffin and went to meet Vespasian. Shortly after Rabban Yochanan greeted Vespasian as emperor, a messenger from Rome arrived to inform Vespasian that he had, in fact, been chosen as emperor. An impressed Vespasian granted Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakai three wishes. It was likely at Ketef Hinnom that Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakai had his fateful meeting with Vespasian, where he saved Judaism and the Torah by saving “Yavneh and its sages.”
Inside a gate are burial caves from late in the Bayit Rishon era. The caves were used as quarries for stones, and parts of them collapsed in earthquakes. Today they are in the open air.
Wealthy families had their own private burial caves. Bodies were laid out on slabs. After they decomposed, the bones were placed underneath with bones from previous generations of the family in a maasefa. This gives us a better understanding of what the Tanach means when it says, “Vayigva vayasef el amav” — he expired and was gathered to his nation — or “he rested with his fathers.” People were buried with their possessions.
After bodies decomposed, the bones were placed in depositories like this one. The Birkat Kohanim scrolls were found here. Photo by author.
In 1979, the archaeologist and Holocaust survivor Gavriel Barkay began excavating the burial caves with a seventh-grade archaeology club. Grave robbers had long since done their work, and Barkay doubted that he would find anything of significance. A particular thorn in his side was Natan, a ten-year-old boy who would tug at Barkay’s jacket and pester him with questions. At one point, an annoyed Barkay ordered Natan to clean the floor of a cave where the excavation had already been finished and not to come back until the cave was as clean as the floor of his mother’s kitchen.
Within a short time, Natan was back. An exasperated Barkay was ready to explode until he turned around and saw an extremely rare find: an intact jug from the Bayit Rishon era in Natan’s hand.
Natan had become bored with his assignment and began banging with a hammer. A bored ten-year-old boy banging with a hammer at an archaeological site is usually not the best combination. But it was just what was needed. Natan had discovered a crack. He crawled through it and pulled out the jug.
A team of professional archaeologists was brought in. An earthquake many years earlier had caused the roof of the cave to collapse and cover a maasefa where the bones and possessions of the deceased had been gathered. Underneath were the remains of 95 people and a treasure trove of pottery, jewelry, and oil lamps. Some of them are on display at the Begin Center next door.
Gavriel Barkay, the archaeologist who excavated Ketef Hinnom and discovered the Birkat Kohanim scroll. Wikimedia Commons.
Among the finds were two tiny silver scrolls. Experts in Great Britain and Germany would not attempt to unravel them, saying they were too fragile. Joseph Shinoff of the Israel Museum found a way to unravel them over three months. Barkay put them under the microscope. He recognized the ancient Hebrew script and the name of G-d but could not decipher the rest of the text.
During an exhibit of finds from Ketef Hinnom in 1998, Ada Yardeni was able to decipher the text. People were stunned as she read the words: “Yevarechecha Hashem v’yishmerecha” — may G-d bless you and protect you; “Ya’er Hashem panav elecha v’yichuneka” — may G-d make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; “Yisa Hashem panav elecha v’yasem lecha shalom” — may G-d raise His face toward you and grant you peace.
The words of Birkat Kohanim with which the descendants of Aharon are commanded to bless the people of Israel. Words recited in shuls around the world every morning. The words with which generations upon generations have blessed and will continue to bless their children. Words passed down lovingly and accurately from generation to generation over 2,700 years.
It is the oldest archaeological find with Biblical verses ever found, 700 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls.
For years, researchers maintained that the Torah was written during the time of Ezra. These scrolls prove that these verses from the Torah were known 200 years before the time of Ezra.
At a time when our enemies proclaim that Jews have no historic ties to the Land of Israel, these scrolls are proof of a Jewish presence in Eretz Yisroel going back more than 2,700 years. We are, in fact, the only people in the world living in the same land, speaking the same language, and praying to the same G-d we did 2,700 years ago.
From a burial cave, a Holocaust survivor and archaeologist devoted to uncovering the secrets of our past, and a young boy symbolizing our future found a tiny scroll with words that resonate with life. Words that form the link in the chain of generations from a sometimes glorious and sometimes troubled past to a present of daunting challenges and incredible accomplishments, to a future with infinite possibilities.
Ketef Hinnom
Location: Next door to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center at the intersection of David Remez Square, Emek Rephaim Street, and Derech Bethlehem
How to get there: Take bus 7, 38, 71, 72, 74, 75, 78, or 83 to David Remez/Hakhan. Walk north on David Remez to the site.
Hours of operation: The park is open 24 hours a day. The burial caves are open during the operating hours of the Begin Center: Sunday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Friday, 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Restrooms: There are clean restrooms in the Begin Center.
Food: There are numerous eateries at the nearby First Station. Most have reliable hechsherim, but some are open on Shabbat and do not claim to be kosher. Be sure to check Kashrut certification.
