Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (351 page)

A major city in the Judean Hills that has been occupied continuously for many millennia and which contains some of the most sacred sites in the world for at least three of today's major religions. Excavations in the city have gone on almost continuously since the work of Charles Warren in 1867–70, rather little of the city's early history remaining visible because of the succession of destructive episodes in its more recent past.
The first major constructions on the site were the stone walls of the Late Bronze Age citadel, a Jebusite town that stood on the ridge of Ophel. Jerusalem was captured by the Israelites under King David in
c.
996 bc and they covered Ophel with their town. Solomon added the temple immediately to the north and a palace nearby. The city fell to the Babylonians in
c.
587 bc and was extensively destroyed. It was rebuilt about 540 bc under Persian patronage. The present plan of the city dates back to the time of Herod the Great, around 37–35 bc, who constructed his palace and a massive new temple mount over earlier structures. The city was again razed by Titus in ad 70. In ad 130, during the reign of Hadrian, it became a Roman
colonia
and was rebuilt. At this time the Jews were forbidden entry to the city.
In ad 330 Jerusalem was transformed into a Christian city, with a major phase of church-building patronized by the Byzantine emperors. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built by Constantine the Great; other churches include the Eleona Church and the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. In ad 638 the city fell into Muslim hands and, except for a brief period of domination by the Crusaders in 1099–1187, has remained so ever since. Muslims believe that Muhammad began his night journey to heaven from the city. The place where this happened is now under the Dome of the Rock, built in ad 685–92, and by far the most striking Islamic building in the city.
[Rep.: K. M. Kenyon , 1974,
Digging up Jerusalem
. London: Ernest Benn]

 
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A style of 12th-century
ad
church window which portrays the genealogy of Christ. At the base a vine issues from a reclining figure of Jesse to form a series of oval spaces. Each space contains the figure of a king with a prophet by his side. The end of the series shows the Holy Mother with Christ above her surrounded by the end branches of the vine.

 
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A kind of fossil wood found in geologically young shales and related rocks. It is hard, dense, and black in colour. It will take a strong polish which together with its workability made it ideal for jewellery. Jet was exploited by many cultures that had access to outcrops from prehistoric times onwards. In Britain the main source of jet is around Whitby. See also
SHALE
.

 
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Term to describe a style of timber-framed house found in Europe from the 13th century
ad
, especially in towns, where each successive storey overhangs the one below to provide larger rooms towards the top of the building.

 
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A kind of token with an engraved design that could be used as a gaming piece or in private commercial transactions.

 
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Jobey , George
(1918–92)
[Bi].

British archaeologist and specialist in the Roman period of northern Britain. Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, he was educated at the Municipal High School and Durham University. During WW2 he served in North Africa and the Italian campaigns with the Durham Light Infantry and was awarded the DSO. In 1944 he was badly wounded and invalided home, returning to his old school as history master. In 1947 he became staff tutor responsible for military education in the extra-mural studies of what was later to become Newcastle University. Over the next few years his interests shifted to archaeology, a subject he had taken some classes in at university, and he built up a skilled team of excavators. In 1972 he was transferred to the Department of Archaeology in Newcastle University, in 1974 being promoted to a readership, and in 1981 he was given a personal Chair in Prehistoric Archaeology. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he surveyed and excavated settlements of the later prehistoric and Roman periods around his native Northumberland.
[Obit.:
Daily Telegraph
, 21 January 1992]