Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures

The article is dedicated to the primary results of salvage excavations, performed by the authors during the last
eight years on Givati plot, in the close proximity to the historical nucleus of ancient Jerusalem, known as the “City of David”. The large area occupied by Givati excavations, its massive cultural layer, the well-stratified monumental architectural complexes revealed, dated to the wide chronological range, from the Early Islamic (8th−9th centuries AD) to the Iron Age II (9th century BC) and their good preservation state are unique for salvage archaeological practice in Israel.

The article is aiming to clarify the circumstances and chronology of the gradual loss of the Georgian Orthodox community possessions in the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. The study relies on data obtained from the inscribed stone slabs, installed inside the Resurrection Cathedral of Novy Ierusalim monastery on river Istra, west of Moscow. Assembled together, the inscribed slabs, dated to 1680-s, are forming a unique “guide book” for Holy Sepulchre Church, precisely copied in the Moscovite structure of Novy Ierusalim. The text of the inscriptions, is based on the famous “Itinerary” written by Russian traveler Arseny Sukhanov. In the lapidary texts, special attention is given to the confessional ownership of various chapels of the original church, alongside with a precise information regarding the changes made in Moscovite copy of the church.
Epigraphic material from Novy Ierusalim, confronted with scattered literary evidence regarding the possessions upon various parts of the Holy Sepulchre, brings strong evidence for Georgian ownership on the northern chapel of the church, known as “Prison of Christ”, and helps to establish a precise chronology of this ownership.