Geographer Harry Jol of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire spent this past Passover helping to look for evidence of the exodus from Egypt and of the possible location of Mt. Sinai, where Jewish tradition holds that the Torah was revealed.
And yet this scientist who also describes himself as a “religious” Christian said, “I don’t think my faith should rest on the findings.”
“I think you need to separate the faith issues from science, which doesn’t mean they don’t influence each other,” Jol told The Chronicle in a telephone interview.
Whatever the findings may say in terms of religion, the fact remains that Israel and the associated regions constitute “a fascinating area of the world,” he said.
“Faith is not the issue; the issue is the problem at hand,” Jol said. He has worked with Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars on archeological matters, and said, “This is a nice interfaith way to put science to work.”
In this case, the “problem at hand” is Har Karkom, a plateau-shaped mountain located along the Israel-Egypt border in the Negev Desert.
Italian archeologist Emanuel Anati has been exploring the site for more than 20 years. He has found so much evidence of both human habitation and the use of the site as a religious center 2,000 and 3,000 years ago that he and others have suggested that Har Karkom might be the site of Mt. Sinai.
Suggestive finds
Jol said that Anati has found some powerfully suggestive items and features at the site. They include:
• Structures that seem to be based on the number 12, such as an altar with 12 rocks around it. (See Exodus 24:4.)
• Rock art — images incised into area rocks — that includes one image of a set of tablets broken into ten sections.
• Caves. The Bible (I Kings 19) tells how the prophet Elijah traveled to Mt. Sinai and spent the night in a cave; and Har Karkom is the only proposed candidate for the site of Mt. Sinai that has caves in it, Jol said.
Jol is an expert in the use of ground-penetrating radar. With this tool, Jol can sweep along the surface of an area and discover evidence of disturbance underground that might indicate the presence of such things as buildings, graves and other features that might prove rewarding if archeologists, geologists or other scientists would dig at that spot.
Jol has used this tool in the service of biblical archeology many times previously. The Chronicle has reported on his explorations of a grave site near Qumran, the area associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls (Sept. 6, 2002), and of Yavneh, the city that became the center of Jewish life after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple (Oct. 3, 2003).
At Har Karkom, Jol surveyed areas looking for possible human-made structures that had been buried. He also said he was looking for water sources on or around the mountain, which would have been necessary if there had been a settlement there.
Jol said he found both structures “that should be excavated in the future,” and some natural cisterns that would have trapped rainwater, especially if rainfall at that time was more abundant than it is today.
The site is located on what Jol described as an Israeli “military reservation,” and is therefore closed most of the year; but it was open for exploration during Passover.
Jol worked as part of an expedition based out of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Harford, and as in the past worked with archeologist Richard Freund, who directs the Greenberg Center.
Jol said it was especially meaningful that before he explored the site, he attended a seder at a kibbutz in the area, at which Freund explained some of the significance of the Passover story in the Bible. “It was an enlightening experience,” Jol said.
Earlier this fall, Jol has offered at Eau Claire an evening continuing education class on “Explorations in Biblical Archeology,” in which he discussed sites in Israel that he has helped explore over the years.
This class proved so popular that he is giving a second session, he said.
Jol will also be speaking about his role in exploration of Har Karkom and of the Western Wall at the Batchelder Conference for Biblical Archeology, scheduled for Nov. 8-10 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
And he hopes to help a planned expedition into Egypt this January that will be seeking to find artifacts similar to those unearthed at Har Karkom. The expedition is currently waiting for permits from the Egyptian government, Jol said.
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