Geophysical exploration of Location and course of the Herodian city wall under the present-day Christian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem: Confirmation of a new hypothesis

该项目的考古目标是结束自希律大帝时代以来150年来对耶路撒冷城墙的不成功搜索，确认其存在，从而允许重建其正确的位置和布局。犹太历史学家约瑟夫·弗拉维奥斯（Josephus Flavius）称之为“第二堵墙”，这座建筑的建造过程多次引起争议，对耶路撒冷从希律时期到公元70年8月城市被毁的历史地形至关重要。希律时代的城市扩张问题也对耶路撒冷犹太人和基督教地形的重建产生了严重影响（希律时代的城市和弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯的描述），特别是关于新约中描述的苦路和钉十字架的地方各各他的本地化。面对耶路撒冷由于有争议的所有权、完全的城市化和联合国教科文组织的限制而造成的极其强烈的勘探限制，几十年来，关于耶路撒冷城市发展的关键问题一直受到人们的热烈讨论，必须通过地质雷达（GPR）进行地球物理勘探来解决。为此，在30频段的声波... 200 MHz用于确保对土壤的良好穿透，同时实现良好的距离分辨率。因此，必须实施一种新的探地雷达概念，以满足城市测量环境的限制（天线尺寸、对无线电通信的干扰）。该任务的特殊挑战是不寻常的测量条件和电磁探测波的复杂传播条件。这些都是由于住房密度和测试区域的空间限制造成的。最初的假设是基于这样一个事实，即这堵墙位于救世主教堂下面的一个挖掘现场附近。这一假设尚未得到证实。另一方面，已经在耶路撒冷市区进行的地质雷达测量为略微修改的墙体提供了新的指示。这必须通过进一步的测量来证实。为此，勘探区域相应扩大，因此现在也必须将具有楼梯状结构的小巷纳入调查范围。狭窄的街道、阶梯式的道路和污水系统是探地雷达测量的主要挑战。这是考虑到一个新的设备概念和各种扫描方法。GPR设备的原理主要基于超宽带伪噪声技术与“大电流辐射器”概念的结合。它使得能够对尺寸非常紧凑的发射天线进行有效馈电。

The archaeological goal of the project is to close a 150 year period of unsuccessful search of the city wall of Jerusalem from the time of Herod the Great by confirming its existence and thus to permit the reconstruct of its correct location and arrangement. The many times controversial discussed course of the building – referred to as the "Second Wall" by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius – is of paramount importance for the historical topography of Jerusalem from the Herodian period until the destruction of the city in August 70 AD. The question of the Herodian city expansion also has a serious impact on the reconstruction of the Jewish and Christian topography of Jerusalem (Herodian city and descriptions of Flavius Josephus), especially on the localization of the Via Dolorosa described in the New Testament and the crucifixion place Golgotha.In face of the extremely strong exploration restrictions in Jerusalem due to disputed ownership, complete urbanization and UNESCO constraints, the intensely over decades discussed key question on Urban Development of Jerusalem has to be solved by geophysical prospection via Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). For this purpose, sounding waves in the frequency band of 30 ... 200 MHz are used to ensure good penetration into the soil while simultaneously achieving good distance resolution. Therefore a new GPR concept has to be implemented in order to meet the limitations through the urban measurement environment (antenna size, interference with radio communication).The special challenge of the task is the unusual measuring conditions and the complex propagation conditions of the electromagnetic sounding waves. These result both from the housing density and the spatial limitations of the test area. An original assumption was based on the fact that the wall was located near an excavation site below the Church of the Redeemer. This assumption has not yet been confirmed. On the other hand, the already performed GPR measurements in the urban area of Jerusalem have given new indications for a slightly modified wall course. This must be confirmed by further measurements. For this purpose, the exploration area is expanded correspondingly so that now also alleys with a stairs-like structure have to be included in the investigations. The narrowness of the streets, their stepped course and the sewage system are major challenges for a GPR measurement. This is to be taken into account with a novel device concept and various scanning methods. The principle of the GPR-device is primarily based on a combination of ultra-wideband pseudo-noise technology with the concept of "Large Current Radiator". It enables an efficient feeding of the transmitting antenna which is of very compact size.