Under Jerusalem

September 15, 2021
An archaeological journey through the millennia in the Holy Land underscores the tensions between the biblical narrative and the historical record. Lawler, a contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology, delves into the stubborn attempts to square religion and science through layers of excavation under the ancient "gateway to heaven" for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jerusalem, contested by the three major monotheist religions, does not give up its secrets easily, especially as each successive invasion and conquest has tended to bury--or appropriate the construction material of--the one before. In the mid-19th century, the first European treasure hunter (archaeology was not yet a scientific discipline), Louis-F�licien Joseph Caignart de Saulcy, with the Ottoman pasha's approval, began digging for artifacts under the once-great city, which had since fallen into decrepitude. He sought traces of King David's legendary conquest of the Jebusites circa 950 B.C.E., the Ark of the Covenant he brought and installed in a beautifully appointed temple, and the temple's destruction by the Babylonians and reconstruction in 516 B.C.E. under the Persians. The Frenchman unearthed the so-called Tomb of the Kings--but which kings (or queens)? After David's son Solomon's glorious rule and Roman conquest, the Byzantine conversion to Christianity, and invasions by Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, and the British, there have been countless rulers of Jerusalem. On this note, Lawler quotes an Israeli archaeologist: "Everyone who ruled Jerusalem did the same thing: built his tower and hoisted his flag." Subsequent mapping and discoveries--from Charles Warren to Montagu Brownlow Parker to Eilat Mazar--have not actually found the City of David, but intriguing artifacts and tunnels continue to feed public curiosity as well as rage by the various Jewish and Arab factions over what is deemed desecration. Lawler's narrative is easy to follow, the timeline is helpful, and the maps are excellent. A leisurely, entertaining walk through the ages with a pleasant, knowledgeable guide.

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Starred review from September 27, 2021
Journalist Lawler (The Secret Token) explores in this sweeping account the complicated history of archaeological digs in Jerusalem. Ranging from imperialistic expeditions in the 19th century, when explorers competed in a “race to stake a claim to Jerusalem’s past,” to allegations that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government used archaeology “as a legitimizer for the state,” Lawler’s colorful narrative includes aristocrats, scientists, charlatans, and clerics who searched for the “authentic place of Jesus’s death and resurrection,” sought to uncover the remnants of the ancient City of David, and tried to find the Ark of the Covenant, among other archaeological treasures. He vividly describes early explorers navigating mud- and sewage-laden tunnels to “recover the biblical secrets locked beneath the Holy City,” and incisively untangles the contentious geopolitical dimensions of ancient history as modern-day Israelis and Palestinians use archaeological analysis to bolster their political viewpoints and territorial claims. Richly detailed, sensitively argued, and entertainingly written, this immersive history casts Jerusalem in a new light and reveals the tensions that meet at the intersection of science, politics, religion, and history. This fascinating, evenhanded chronicle is a treasure. Agent: Ethan Bassoff, Ross Yoon Agency.

November 1, 2021
The first official excavations in Jerusalem--a city sacred to three of the world's major religions--began in the mid-1800s, when a French senator received an official permit from the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In the century-and-a-half that followed, Jerusalem and its honeycomb of underground structures developed into a hotbed of political and scholarly controversy. Generations of Jerusalem archaeologists have insisted that their work is purely scientific and not political. But this entertaining and carefully argued book shows that the archaeology of this ancient city cannot be divorced from the complex knot of its politics. Journalist Lawler is evenhanded in his treatment of the thorny issues of religion, jurisdiction, and cultural heritage in Jerusalem; his care to credit the Arab workers from Silwan who long performed much of the archaeological grunt work is particularly notable in a book that necessarily focuses on the overwhelmingly Christian and Jewish archaeologists. At its heart, Under Jerusalem is a terrific story, bursting at the seams with dubiously legal digs and eccentric personalities.

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December 10, 2021

In the 1860s, when a French adventurer in Jerusalem dug up what he proclaimed to be the tomb of an Old Testament queen, the race was on among European countries to lay claim to the fabled city and dig up its past. Both Jews and Muslins reacted angrily to the possible desecration, and what lies beneath Jerusalem's streets remains contested to this day. Expanding on a 2019 National Geographic cover story, Lawler (The Secret Token) reveals Jerusalem's underground byways and shows us how archaeology and politics powerfully interact in the Middle East.

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