Tisha B'Av

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We are in the Hebrew month of Av, and today is the 9th of Av,  Tisha B'Av.

It is a sad day of fasting and remembering the destruction of the First and the Second Temples and other calamities that befell the Jewish people throughout history on this day.

When the Roman legions attacked,  Josephus writes that it was the rivers of blood flowing down the city's streets that extinguished the fires burning Jerusalem. 

To celebrate their triumph over the Jews in 70 CE, the Romans erected a monumental arch at the Forum in Rome.
One of its reliefs depicts soldiers carrying off sacred objects from the Temple. 
. . . Where is the gold menorah now?
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See about the religious observance of Tisha B'Av in my earlier posts.
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The two photos above are from the Tower of David Museum.
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May we know no more destruction.
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(Linking to ABC Wednesday.)

A patriarch, an emperor, and an alp

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For Robert Geiss'  weekly PsalmChallenge, here is Psalm 76.

1. For the leader; with instrumental music. A psalm. Of Asaph. A song.

2. Renowned in Judah is God; in Israel, His name is great;

3. His pavilion was in Shalem; His dwelling place in Zion. 

4. There He shattered the fiery arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword―the war.    Selah.

5. You are resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey.

6. The stouthearted were despoiled; they sank into their sleep; and none of the brave men could find their hands.

7. From Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse lay stunned.

8. You―You are awesome! Who can withstand You? Your rage is from antiquity.

9. From heaven You pronounced legal ruling; the earth was quieted with awe

10. at the rising of God to judgment, to save all the lowly of the earth.  Selah.

11. Indeed, human wrath shall acknowledge You, and the last remnants of wrath You shall gird about You.

12 Make and fulfill vows to the LORD your God; all those around Him shall bear tribute to the Awesome One.

13. He breaks the spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

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Translation by Rabbi Benjamin Segal . He speaks of today's psalm as "Pax Jerusalem."
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Photos:
1. Abraham and the King of Jerusalem
stylized representation,  at the Tower of David
According to Biblical tradition, Abraham met with the king of Salem [in Hebrew: Shalem]: ". . . Melchizedek, king of Salem,  brought out bread and wine . . . and said, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth' "
Genesis 14:18-19

2. A majestic  Swiss Alp

3. Statue of Hadrian, apparently used for the ritual worship of the emperor, was discovered in a camp of the Roman army.
One of the few extant bronze sculptures of an emperor from the Roman Period . . .
117-138 CE, bronze and lead
At the Israel Museum.
Discovered in the camp of the Sixth Roman Legion Ferrata, Tel Shalem, Beit Shean Valley.
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Legio X

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Isn't she beautiful?!
And to think, she is just a terracotta antefix.
Made by the Romans here in Jerusalem between the 1st and 3rd centuries of the Common Era.

Our lovely mask-shaped roof edge decoration--or antefix--was used like this, on the covering tiles of a tiled roof.

But the reason this post is going to ABC Wednesday's X-day is because of what is stamped on these old tiles:
LEG X FRE which means TENTH ROMAN LEGION, FRENTENSIS.
When the Tenth Legion, stationed in Jerusalem, was not engaged in destroying the city it was busy building up the infrastructure of the area.

As the exhibit is described in the Israel Museum

In peacetime, Roman soldiers were employed in public works.
The most hated of these were the back-breaking construction projects: paving roads and building fortresses, walls, dams, and aqueducts.
The legions would record their labors for posterity with Latin inscriptions carved in stone.
The produced their own building materials in special workshops, stamping them with military symbols to prevent their sale on the open market.

The tiles shown above were made at the kilns discovered (and preserved!) under what is today Jerusalem's International Convention Center.
Notice the sandal-print of a poor Roman soldier who goofed and stepped on the tile as it was drying!

Here is another Roman numeral X.
The limestone stone reads LEG X FRE COH IIX.
It is the inscription of the Eighth Cohort of the Tenth Legion Frentensis.
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(For more about Jerusalem's Roman history you can click on my labels Tenth Legion, Romans, Roman kiln, Roman pavement, Roman theater.
Or, see Wikipedia about Legio X Frentensis.)
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UPDATE: As Rob reminds me in a comment now, it was the Legio X Frentensis, headed by Peter O'Toole--oh, I mean Roman governor of Judea Lucius Flavius Silva--that laid siege to Masada in the years 72-3.
And also that the Tenth Legion had a garrison at the present-day Arab village of Abu Ghosh, just outside Jerusalem. They chose to build a fortress there because it was close to the Roman road going from Emmaus to Jerusalem.
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Exciting emergency excavation

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Just in time for ABC Wednesday E-day, an emergency (i.e. salvage) excavation in Emek Yizrael (the Jezreel Valley) has unearthed an exciting find!


Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

A marble statue of Hercules from the 2nd century C.E.!
He is leaning on a club to his left, on the upper part of which hangs the skin of the Nemean lion which according to Greek mythology Hercules slew as the first of his twelve labors.
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As you can guess, it is from a Roman bathhouse.
Benches were found on two sides of the pool, which had a sophisticated pumping system to fill it with water.
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More details and a link to high resolution photos at the IAA press release.
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I hope they find his head.
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