Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society

FACTS

ON THE

GROUND Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society

NADIA ABU EL-HAJ

h{10} 29931

Facts on the Ground

Nadia Abu El-Haj

Facts on the Ground Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society QH~

The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London

NADIA A au EL-HAJ is assistant professor of anthropology at the Uni,·ersity of Chicago.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 6o637 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, LTD., LONDON © 2001 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2001 Printed in the United States of America 10 09 o8 07 o6 05 04 03 02 01 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN (cloth): 0-226-00194-6 ISBN (paper): 0-226-00195-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abu El-Haj, Nadia. Facts on the ground :archaeological practice and territorial self-fashioning in Israeli society I Nadia Abu EI-Haj. p. em. ISBN 0-226-00194-6 (cloth : alk. paper)- ISBN 0-226-00195-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Excavations (Archaelogy)-Israel. 2. Ethnoarchaeology-Israel. 3. IsraelAntiquities. 4. Archaeology and history-Israel. 5. Archaeology-Political aspects-Israel. 6. Archaeology-Methodology. I. Title. 05111.1 .A28 2001 933-dc21 2001004432

@The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39-48-1992.

Contents

List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Author's Note xiii 1. Excavating Archaeology

2. Scientific Beginnings

1

22

3. Instituting Archaeology 45 4. Terrains of Settler Nationhood 5. Positive Facts of Nationhood 6.ExcavatingJerusalem 7. Extending Sovereignty 8. Historical Legacies

73 99

130 163 201

9. Archaeology and Its Aftermath 239 10. Conclusion 277 Notes

v

283

vi

CONTENTS

Bibliography

Index

345

321

Illustrations

4.1 7.1 7.2

Map of Palestine 80 The Old City ofJerusalem 168 Tower of David Museum: Ramparts and Archaeological Garden 171 7.3 Tower of David Museum: Early Islamic Room with Mil)rab 172 7.4 Tower of David Museum: "Arab Arch" in the Archaeological Garden 175 7.5 Tower of David Museum: "Migdal David" 177 7.6 Design by Moshe Safdie for the Western Wall Plaza 184 7.7 Restored Crusader Cardo 187 7.8 Herodian Quarter: Basement-level Museum 188 7.9 Arch of the Hurva Synagogue 189 7.10 Jewish Quarter: "Old-New" Buildings 190 7.11 MinaretadjacenttoHurva'sArch 192 7.12 "The Border" 198 8.1 Herodian Quarter Museum: Room Displaying Mosaic and Household Wares 205 8.2 Preserved Excavation Site 206 8.3 Ash: Evidence of Roman Destruction of Jerusalem in First Century c.E. 213 8.4 The "Secret Passage" 218 8.5 A Descriptive Panel 221 8.6 Model of the Herodian Temple with Muslim Quarter 222 8.7 Model of the Herodian Temple without Muslim Quarter 223 8.8 Chamber for Prayer 226 8.9 Chamber for Prayer 227

vii

Acknowledgments

It is my pleasure to thank the people and institutions who helped me complete this book. Research and writing were made possible by fellowships from the Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Foundation Grants in International Peace and Security, the Fulbright-Hays Training Grant for Doctoral Dissertation Research, the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Research and Writing Grant for Individuals from the Program on Peace and International Cooperation of the MacArthur Foundation. Various people helped me throughout my research, and I would like to thank them here. Eyal Ben-Ari and Naomi Chazan helped me get set up and affiliated with the Truman Institute at Hebrew University. Jonathan Boyarin, Smadar La vie, and Neil Silberman offered advice and contacts at the start of this project. I would like to thank Don Handelman with whom I discussed my work and who pointed me in the right direction at several points along the way. Ibrahim Dakkak, Mahmoud Hawari, George Hintilian, Aharon Kempinski, Salim Tamari, Raid alMalkki, and Elie Zureik were all helpful at various points and in various ways. Special thanks go to Lee Dvir, who taught me Hebrew and became a true friend during my two years in Jerusalem. Both the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem and the Palestine Exploration Fund in London welcomed me into their libraries and archives, for which I am grateful. Rema Hamami was both a good friend and interlocutor, and of course I would like to thank Lisa Hajjar, without whom I'm quite sure I would never have gotten through the fieldwork. During the years I have been engaged in this study, many colleagues and friends have read all or parts of the work. Special thanks go to faculty members at Duke University: Richard Fox, Eric Meyers, Naomi ix

X

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Quinn, V. Y. Mudimbe, Irene Silverblatt, Carol Smith and, of course, Virginia Dominguez, who helped me conceptualize the project and who was invaluable in helping it along. I am indebted to Rob Baird, Misty Bastian, Samira Haj, Lisa Hajjar, Kathy Hall, Eng Seng Ho, Jeremy King, Sangeeta Luthra, Shaun Malarney, Tamara Neuman, Joanne Passaro, Miriam Peskowitz, Dan Rabinowitz, Julie Rosenberg, and Oren Yiftachel for their helpful comments. I would like to thank Charles Rosenberg, Henrika Kuklick, and Susan Lindee, who made my year at the University of Pennsylvania both enjoyable and worthwhile and who helped me navigate my way into a science studies literature. I truly appreciate the insights and support of colleagues at the University of Chicago over the past several years: Michael Dietler, Susan Gal, Saba Mahmood, Nancy Munn, Elisabeth Povinelli, Leslie Salzinger, Adam Smith, George Stocking, and, especially, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, who read and commented on the entire manuscript. Several students deserve special mention: Lori Allen and Sherine Hamdy for their insights and their efforts to locate many a missing reference, among other things; Daniel Monterescu for some follow-up archival work; Kaylin Goldstein for tracking down more than a few missing links while doing her own fieldwork in Israel; and Abigail Jacobsen for helping with the transliterations. I would like to thank my editor, David Brent, and his colleagues Amy Collins, Connie Fritsche, and Claudia Rex at the University of Chicago Press, as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. I am especially grateful to Rashid Khalidi, and to Jean and John Comaroff, who have all read and commented on this manuscript more than once, and who have long supported me as a colleague and a friend. Finally, I would like to thank Lisa Wedeen who has read so many drafts that I will owe her in kind (and in many other ways) for many years to come. The research and writing for this book took place in so many cities and continents that most members of my family lived through some phase or another of the project. My grandmother (alias, Tata) took care of me, and fed me endlessly (usually lunch), during my fieldwork. Then there was Hidaya who fed me dinner, and Assia who often cooked special weekend meals. One of the most enduring consequences of fieldwork was that I entirely forgot how to cook. I am deeply grateful not just for the food, of course, but for their support and for the extended time I got to spend with people I generally see once a year at most. Dana and Hani kept me forever amused, a nice escape in a world that was often not a whole lot of fun. Dimah, and a very young Hanya, were great and unexpected presences during my first year (and got to live through a

EXTENDING SOVEREIGNTY

xi

much later phase of this project when I followed them to London). Finally, I spent more time with my father during those two years than I had since graduating high school, something that I will always cherish. During various phases of writing the dissertation and revising it for a book manuscript, many other relatives lived through what often seemed to them, I am sure, a never ending project: Amal, Edmund, Leila, and Lena; Mike and Lara; Rana and Abboudi; and Pamela Tillinghast (who has been adopted as an unofficial member). Special thanks go to Samira for her support as well as her critical insights. My mother, Sandra, took me to many a movie, which provided a much-needed escape from writing. She probably has no idea how she ended up raising three children who all became academics but, alas, she will have to live with the consequences. Steve and, of course, Reem made life in Philadelphia truly a pleasure. I'm glad Reem eventually got back into a bathtub. (Saria and Aaron came along a little late, and will have to wait for the next project.) And then, of course, there are Thea and Tabatha without whom life would be unimaginable. I hope, some day soon, to help them through their first manuscripts. And last but certainly not least is Amer: more than anyone else he endured and supported me through the long writing process, and I have no doubts that at times he, and not just I, wanted to hurl the manuscript out the window. It was Amer who came up with the book's title and it is to him that this book is dedicated (ta~t al-daght).

Author's Note

As much as possible, I have tried to combine accuracy, technical simplicity, and consistency in the method of transliteration. The~ is used for the letter "i).et," kh for "khaf," ts for "tsadi," k for "kaf," and q for "kuf." However, in particular cases where a conventional spelling differs from this rule, I chose to follow the standard convention (e.g., Eretz, Mizrahim, Haredim, Kotel, as well as particular personal and place-names). The bibliography provides Hebrew titles in transliteration, followed by an English translation. Where Hebrew publishers provided an English title, I have followed their choice of translation.

Excavating Archaeology

A "national hobby" -that is how archaeology has often been described in Israeli society. During the early decades of statehood, this historical science transcended its purview as an academic discipline. Archaeological sites and the ancient stories they told galvanized public sentiment. Science and the popular imagination were deeply eruneshed. In the words of one Knesset member describing and defending the Masada myth 1 against a critical historical reading, "Masada is far more than an archaeological or historic site. It is an expression of the independence and heroism of the Jewish people." He could not imagine "his national identity without Masada ... [his father having] raised him on the heroic tale" (Qol ha-