JERUSALEM — It started 15 years ago with plans to expand the Tower of David Museum. But the story took a strange turn when archaeologists started peeling away layers under the floor in an old abandoned building adjacent to the museum in Jerusalem’s Old City.The real story seems to be that archaeologists have found the remains of a big building (or maybe just the remains of its sewage system?) which arguably was a palace in the Herodian period. It requires additional inferences to get anywhere near the trial of Jesus, but naturally that is the narrative seized on by the media.
They knew it had been used as a prison when the Ottoman Turks and then the British ruled these parts. But, as they carefully dug down, they eventually uncovered something extraordinary: the suspected remains of the palace where one of the more famous scenes of the New Testament may have taken place — the trial of Jesus.
Now, after years of excavation and a further delay caused by wars and a lack of funds, the archaeologists’ precious find is being shown to the public through tours organized by the museum.
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As usual, the actual story is important and interesting, both archaeologically and historically, but some hype needs to be peeled back to get to it. But at least they didn't save this one for Easter.