For the Hebrew scholar, who gave two lectures at the Cueva Pintada Museum and Archaeological Park (Gáldar), "Justice has not been done to a character who, with his contradictions, carried out a very important architectural work" and stressed that the list of major public works built by this personality is "enormous".
Netzer stressed that Herod has a bad reputation in the Christian West for his alleged involvement in the massacre of the innocents and in Israel itself for his collaboration with Rome, but the truth, says the scholar from the University of Jerusalem, is that "he was a king with a good vision of the future and left a legacy of public works and infrastructure of the most important in the region." Examples such as the Herodium, a palace that the Hebrew king chose as his tomb, and Caesarea Augusta, a luxurious port city, are key to understanding the legacy of a man who reigned in the region between 35 and 4 BC.
Ehud Netzer gave a double lecture at the Cueva Pintada Museum and Archaeological Park, which focused on the legacy of this controversial ruler in the Middle East, within the cycle of talks 'Great Sites of the World' organized by the institution managed by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria. Netzer also referred to Jericho, which he described as "the first city in history" thanks to its abundant water resources. Netzer commented that the mythical walls of Jericho "are thicker on the side facing the river and very weak on the opposite side", a fact that has led him to think that it is "more of a water retaining wall than defensive infrastructure".
In this sense, the historian stressed that "biblical texts should be studied taking into account the context and taking them with reservations." In response to questions from the large audience attending the conferences, the archaeologist said that "we have never found evidence that the walls of Jericho collapsed", but acknowledged that the Bible has full validity as a religious book.
Regarding Jericho, Netzer highlighted its importance as a center of agricultural production, an extreme that attracted the attention of Israeli rulers after the return of the Hebrew people from Babylon. "In this city, the Jewish kings built a complex and monumental palatial complex that aimed to control the agricultural production of dates and perfumed balms, an industry that required advanced hydraulic infrastructures and agricultural conditioning that were among the most advanced of its time," Netzer stressed.
A model archaeological park
The archaeologist also commented that the Cueva Pintada Museum and Archaeological Park is an "example" for other similar heritage centers and praised "the interest that the population of Gran Canaria has shown for an investment of these characteristics to be made". For the professor at the University of Jerusalem, the center managed by the Department of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria is "an example of collaboration between institutions" and highlighted the quality of the park and the didactic sense of the reconstructions, audiovisuals and exhibition material. "The cave has all the precise information to realize what this site meant," he says.
ACN Press
