2000/01/01 by David M. Jacobson · 21 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Archaeological Research and Protection #Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History #Masonry #Margin (machine learning) #Ancient history #History #Archaeology #Art #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1179/lev.2000.32.1.135
published in Levant 32(1), 135-154 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The massive retaining walls of the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, with their highly distinctive drafted-margin ashlars, represent the most impressive remnant of Herod's Temple complex. Similar decorative drafted-margin masonry survives in the monumental Herodian enclosures at Hebron and Mamre. This study traces the development of the decorative drafted-margin style of masonry from pre-Classical Ionia, through the East Greek world, to its apogee in the early Roman Empire. It is shown that the application of this decorative treatment to the walls of Herod's sacred enclosures was in keeping with the fashion of the period, but certain of its features appear to indicate that Herod's builders employed it as a deliberate archaising device to recall the splendour of the ancient Israelite Temple