Eli Shukron

Eli Shukron is an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist who has spent over 25 years conducting excavations in the City of David, Jerusalem. Among the most prolific excavators of ancient Jerusalem, his work has produced several significant discoveries connecting the physical landscape of the city to biblical narratives spanning from the First Temple period through the Second Temple period.

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Key Discoveries

In 2004, working with Ronny Reich, Shukron excavated the Second Temple-period Pool of Siloam - identified as the pool mentioned in John 9:7-11. The discovery confirmed the pool's monumental scale (roughly 50 meters wide) and its function as a major ritual immersion site for pilgrims ascending to the Temple Mount. Shukron subsequently uncovered the Jerusalem Pilgrim Road (2009), the main stepped street leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount, dated to the Herodian period and providing the physical route walked by pilgrims during the Second Temple era.

In 2012, while sifting debris from City of David excavations, Shukron's team recovered the Bethlehem Bulla - a small clay seal impression bearing the name "Bethlehem" in ancient Hebrew script. Dated to the 7th century BC (First Temple period), it was at the time of discovery the earliest mention of Bethlehem found outside the Bible in ancient inscriptions.

In 2010, Shukron identified a rock-carved cultic complex in the City of David as Temple Zero - a site containing a matzevah, altar with blood channel, and olive press that he proposes may be connected to the worship of Melchizedek, King of Salem, referenced in Genesis 14:18-20. The identification remains a scholarly proposal, not a consensus, but represents one of the most intriguing proposed connections between patriarchal narratives and Jerusalem archaeology.

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Significance for Biblical Archaeology

Shukron's work in the City of David represents some of the most significant urban archaeology in Israel connecting the physical landscape of Jerusalem to the biblical narrative. His discoveries illuminate the continuous occupation and religious significance of the site across more than a millennium. His willingness to propose identifications based on circumstantial evidence - as with Temple Zero - reflects an approach that takes the biblical text seriously as a historical source while acknowledging the limits of the archaeological record.