Bridging the Past: Rabbi Akiva and the Mystery of Ancient Caesarea

A famous Talmudic story describes the execution of Rabbi Akiva, enduring suffering after being imprisoned by the Romans for teaching Torah publicly. In his prison cell, he was tortured and passed away while reciting the Shema.

To pinpoint this event in time and space, several questions arise: Firstly, where did this occur? Secondly, when did it happen? And thirdly, can we identify the location today? The text in Tractate Berakhot doesn't specify where Rabbi Akiva was taken upon his arrest, providing no answers to these questions.

The answer is found in Tractate Semachot where it states explicitly, 'When Rabbi Akiva was killed in Caesarea,' etc. According to the Sages, Rabbi Akiva was born around 20 years before the destruction of the Second Temple and lived to be 120 years old. The Roman general Titus destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE. This suggests that Rabbi Akiva lived at the very latest until about 170 CE, and at the earliest until around 150 CE.

Thus, his arrest could have occurred between 150 and 170 CE. During the first 300 years of the CE, Caesarea, built by Herod, grew into a major hub, mainly populated by non-Jews with a Jewish minority. During this period, Caesarea served as the administrative and economic center for the Romans in the region.

Archaeological excavations in Caesarea led by Dr. Yosef Porath during the 1990s revealed the 'Government Compound,' used during this period at the southern end of Herod's (western) Hippodrome. In this complex, they uncovered the Roman governor's palace, its entrance hall, a peristyle courtyard, and towers with offices and service rooms.

It is known that during this period, the offices of the governmental authorities were physically close to the governor's palace, together forming the 'Government Compound.' At the eastern edge of the compound, there was a floor of a room or building with a mosaic that included a Latin inscription approximately reading: 'Oh, good hope, enter this office guarded.'

According to archaeologist Dr. Porath, this suggests it was the guard or police office, naturally situated near the Roman governor's palace. Thus, Rabbi Akiva was likely arrested and brought to Caesarea, where he was tortured and executed. The guard or police office at that time was located in the governmental complex southeast of Herod's Hippodrome.

One crucial question remains: were prisoners held in one place or different locations according to the reason for their arrest (as is common today with separation between types of prisoners like security, criminal, political, etc.)? The importance of this question lies in understanding whether several jails were used or a single building held all prisoners.

The answer is found in the incident described in Tractate Berakhot. After Rabbi Akiva's arrest, Papus ben Yehuda was also detained, and they met each other. In response to Rabbi Akiva's question, Papus said, 'Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, for being arrested for words of Torah; woe to Papus ben Yehuda for being caught for foolish things.' This implies that detainees for different reasons were brought to the same jail, suggesting that one building served as the prison.

This building, likely, is the guard or police structure unearthed in Caesarea, southeast of Herod's Hippodrome on the seashore. In the late 1990s, following completion of archaeological excavations in this area, due to lack of preservation resources, the site was re-covered to protect the remains.

Traces of Balaam Son of Beor Discovered

A prominent claim by biblical critics is that the biblical stories prior to the settlement period are mere 'legends,' as there aren’t external, unequivocal proofs supporting the truth of the events described.

Here's another example that challenges that claim: Balaam son of Beor, the sorcerer from the Book of Numbers, who was sent to curse Israel but ended up blessing them, 'appears' again in inscriptions found in an archaeological excavation. This is currently the earliest mention of a biblical figure in a non-biblical source. Here’s a summary of Baruch Levine’s article from New York University titled 'Balaam Texts from Deir Alla' in the journal Qadmoniot.

In 1967, a Dutch team led by archaeologist H. Franken uncovered inscriptions on plaster at Tell Deir Alla in the Jordan Valley. The tell is located about 5 miles east of the Jordan River and north of the Jabbok. Plaster lumps with ink writings were found on the floor of a building, having fallen from the walls. After reconstructing the plaster lumps, it was clear that two main texts were involved, with additional fragments that couldn’t be integrated into a coherent literary connection.

Amazingly, the name 'Balaam son of Beor' repeatedly appears in the first text, and this composition opens with the words of that Balaam. As mentioned, this is the earliest external reference to the biblical text uncovered so far. The appearance of Balaam’s name in the Jordan Valley generated great interest among biblical and early-writing scholars.

The inscriptions were published in 1976 by researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands. In the initial publication, researcher Hooftijzer noted that the inscriptions were in Aramaic. After repeated examinations and lengthy discussions, most researchers agreed the script was closer to Moabite and biblical Hebrew. The inscriptions reflected a mythological belief system with multiple deities, mentioning the idol 'Shger Ashtar.' In Text A, 'Balaam son of Beor' is presented along with his prophecies, prophecies of doom and disaster.

Balaam narrates a complex tale to his family and the community leaders, which boils down to: impending disaster for the land and its inhabitants. The text describes a magical sign from the heavens – in Syrian-Mesopotamian mythology, goddess Ashtar is identified with the celestial Venus (VENUS), and see Jeremiah 10:2 regarding this. Balaam tries to interpret the signs, although it's unclear if it's a natural disaster – drought and famine, or human actions – war and destruction, since the last lines of Text A didn't survive.

The preservation level of the second text is much worse than the first. However, deciphering the lines suggests it involves a dramatic depiction of the underworld and speaks of an unidentified person (likely Balaam himself) forbidden from speaking further with his lips by issuing curses as done previously.

Researchers believe the inscriptions from Tell Deir Alla indicate a high literary level. Tell Deir Alla was destroyed late in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BCE) and later rebuilt and resettled. The layer where the inscriptions were found - Layer 9 - was methodically excavated, yet researchers failed to date it accurately.

This layer revealed approximately 40 roofed spaces, with no evidence of any temple. The pottery findings were diverse, including imported ware from Phoenician cities, apart from a few Aramaic inscriptions on pottery and stone vessels. There was no identified influence from the Aramaic culture of Damascus and Hama.

Based on radiocarbon 14 laboratory tests, archaeologists estimate that this layer should be dated to the 9th-8th centuries BCE, but as mentioned, they cannot determine it explicitly. In any case, this dating refers to the time the text was written on the wall plaster, not necessarily the date the text was written on a book or scroll. Considering this assumption and the fact that the tell is located in the Sukkoth Valley, which was settled by Israelites during various periods, it is surmised that the population of the area during the discussed period was Israelite (even without reference to the God of Israel in the inscriptions) before the Assyrian ruler Tiglath-Pileser’s conquest and exile in the 8th century BCE.

From here, researchers hypothesize that Balaam's inscriptions are Israelite creations, but this hypothesis relies mainly on the content of the inscriptions, which researchers believe are steeped in biblical dialect and imagery and linked to the biblical tradition in the Book of Numbers, suggesting the 'biblical editor' – according to biblical criticism – knew the inscription and wrote the Balaam story in the Book of Numbers in polemic response. As mentioned in the Torah, Balaam is a sorcerer and prophet to the nations, with the inscriptions and their content proving those details. Regarding dating, the disagreement between biblical criticism and the Torah is well-known, and we will not delve into it here.

'And a Garment Woven of Two Types Shall Not Come Upon You' 'How much effort Adam exerted until he found a garment to wear: shear and whiten (scour), and card and spin, and weave, and then he found a garment to wear' [Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 58a]. Research on ancient textiles discovered in archaeological excavations was published in the journal Qadmoniot (No. 115) by researchers E. Shamir and A. Baginski from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Under the title 'Research on Ancient Textiles Discovered in Israel.' Here's a summary of the relevant details for this article. Very few textiles have been found in Israel from the Iron Age. The largest quantity was discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the south Negev, most were linen, about 11 wool textiles and 3 pieces of linen-wool mixed textiles woven together. All these textiles were dated to the 9th-8th centuries BCE.

In trying to explain the presence of mixed textile pieces in an Israelite settlement, the researchers suggested they likely belonged to a high priest, as the high priest's garments were essentially made from a mixture of fabrics [Exodus 28:4-8, 15, 39]. About 50 pieces of charred linen textiles from the 7th century BCE were discovered at Kadesh Barnea, with high spinning rates and thicker threads. Patches sewn over rips were also identified in some textiles. The delicacy of the textiles indicates that they were used for clothing, and they resemble their predecessors from Kuntillet Ajrud. Pieces of bleached linen textiles were also discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud and at Yotvata, where they were dated to the 7th century BCE. Only a few textiles from the Hellenistic period have been found [Wadi Daliyeh].

More findings were uncovered at sites from the Roman period: at Masada, thousands of textile fragments, in Naḥal Ḥever (Wadi Murabba‘at), Qumran, caves near Jericho, in the Negev and the Arava. Additionally, textiles were found along the Incense Road, such as over 300 textiles at Mōa, Ṣa‘ar Ramon, Qatzra, Ein Yahav, and Ein Rachel.

From the above list, it is evident that these sites were located in dry climate areas, which is the main reason for the preservation of the textiles found. The most striking fact is that from this period – the Roman period – virtually no mixed-fabric textiles were found, not even at sites identified with non-Jewish populations. At most sites mentioned above, pieces of tunics and the garments covering them were found.

The common clothing at the time – even among Jews – was a tunic made of wool or linen. The tunic was woven on a loom and was made of two rectangular sheets sewn together, leaving openings for the head and arms, tied around the waist, and reaching the knees or slightly below.

The researchers proposed that the joining of two fabric sheets aimed to prevent the loss of the textile due to impurity, as the seams could be untied, preserving the non-impure portion for reuse. However, they erred, as untying the seams would not help remove the impurity from the fabric, as it was considered a single unit and would hence remain impure altogether, including its purification.

In the Talmud's 'Two Holding' (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia), the Mishnah states, 'Two are holding a garment. This one says it's all mine, and that one says it's all mine... and they divide it.' The Talmud discusses two people who find a garment, each claiming ownership. One option in the halachic discussion is for them to share it. Here 'share' means one pays the other half its value or sells it and divides the sum.

In the storerooms of the Israel Antiquities Authority, I saw a textile from the discussed period, made of two rectangular units with corner holes for tassels. It occurred to me to propose another understanding of the Talmudic 'and they divide it': since these textiles were sewn from two separate units, the seams could easily be undone, yielding two units, each intact and usable. Surely, tearing a single unit textile would not be considered, as it would ruin it and lessen its value, and it must be remembered that textiles in ancient times were precious due to the immense effort required to produce them.