City of slaughter: An archaeologist’s testimony

If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll know that my (un)spoken passion is the archaeology of the land of Israel.

But these days, most of us are busy worrying. And perhaps helping others. But mostly, trying to stay sane and manage to sleep despite the constant voice in our head, thinking of our children at war defending us all, on Israel’s front lines.

The war on Israel has put archaeology to a different, more gruesome use. The unfathomable massacre in the south left hundreds of people unidentified. One of the creative ways to solve this was to harness the expertise of leading Israeli archaeologists, to work through remains for identification, in one of the most humane, sensitive operations of this horrendous war.

I promise not to be more graphic here. We have all had enough pain, and we pray for a swift, conclusive end to this time. But I do ask that you read this important testimony and view one of six short documentations by a leading archaeologist whose heart-wrenching experiences down south must be shared far and wide:

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My name is Aren Maeir and I’m a professor of archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, and, years ago, an officer in an elite special forces unit in the IDF. I have decades of experience in archaeology, and conduct one of the largest and well-known excavations in Israel (at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistine Gath, home of Goliath; gathwordress.com). I have many online followers in things relating to archaeology.

Three weeks after the October 7th massacres, I was invited by the IDF Spokesperson Office to visit the massacre sites, to see the sites, and spread the word about the horrors that occurred. When I visited (with a videographer), even though the bodies of those murdered had already been removed, tangible and horrible evidence of these horrific events could be vividly seen.

Horrors of an Israeli Jewish home, remnants of the Hamas massacre. (Courtesy): Following the visit, I wrote several pieces about this, and made a few videos, two longer ones and six short ones. The short clips are particularly powerful, as they very clearly pound in the message of the horrors that occurred at these sites, in a very emotionally moving way, but without showing too gruesome sights. In particular, as an archaeologist, I bring a perspective of someone who has studied destructions of the past. And, in fact, my colleagues from the Israel Antiquities Authority, whom I visit in one of the videos, had to conduct archaeological excavations to recover remains of some of the barely surviving remains of some of the victims. These are unbearable, important testimonies.; See my first hand video testimonial of my visit to the Kfar Aza Oct. 7th massacre, remembering Bialik’s “City of Slaughter”. One of six clips of my visits there. Hard stuff…; Witnessing the Kfar Aza slaughter. (Courtesy)

I believe that since three months have passed since the massacres, it is imperative to again and again remind the world what happened, what type of horrible terrorists Israel is fighting against and why Israel must continue fighting against them until a comprehensive victory, otherwise, this will happen again!

Yours,

Prof. Aren Maeir

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#NeverAgainIsNow