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The Large Stone Structure ((ヘブライ語:מבנה האבן הגדול) ''Mivne haEven haGadol'') is the name given to the remains of a large public building in the City of David neighborhood of central Jerusalem, south of the Old City, tentatively dated to tenth to ninth century BC. The name was given to the structure, as a result of its proximity with another site known as the Stepped Stone Structure, by the discoverer of the site, Eilat Mazar. Mazar, an Israeli archaeologist, announced the discovery on August fourth, 2005, and stated that she believed it may be the remains of King David's palace as recorded in the Books of Samuel. The archaeological dig was funded privately by Roger Hertog, an American banker. ==Discovery== In 1997, Eilat Mazar, seeking to find the Palace of David, used a reference in the Books of Samuel that refers to David going ''down to the stronghold'' after having been anointed (2 Samuel 5:17), to estimate where the site might be. Since the only area of higher elevation than Ophel, the oldest part of Jerusalem, is just to its north, she started digging there in February 2005. About two metres underneath the surface she discovered fourth to sixth century Byzantine Era artifacts including a well preserved mosaic floor. Beneath these she found artifacts from the Second Temple Period, and finally underneath these she found large foundations of a substantial structure, which she claims to have been the Palace of David.〔(Eilat Mazar: Uncovering King David's Palace )〕 The first of two notable written finds at the site is a bulla (seal) of a government official named Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, son of Shevi. This person seems to be mentioned (twice) in the Book of Jeremiah and thus presumably lived in the late seventh or early sixth century BC (i.e., at about the same time as Jeremiah). The second bulla discovered at this site is that of another government official, Gedaliah, son of Pashhur, of that same time period, who also seems to be named in the Book of Jeremiah.〔Eilat Mazar, ''The Palace of King David: Excavations at the Summit of the City of David: Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005–2007'' (Jerusalem and New York: Shoham Academic Research and Publication, 2009), 66–71. The identity of the seal owners as the biblical officials named in the book of Jeremiah is found to be very reasonable and—in light of the discovery of bullae in the City of David belonging to biblical persons Gemariah son of Shaphan (and, arguably, Azariah son of Hilkiah the priest)—entirely plausible, in Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, "Corrections and Updates to 'Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E.'" ''Maarav'' 16/1 (2009): 85–100. Distinctive features of the writing on the bullae indicate that all the above-mentioned bullae are from the late seventh or early sixth century BC〕 As of 2005 the dig was ongoing, with progress limited by the current occupants of the land atop the ruins. According to the ''New York Times'', :''Mazar continues to dig, but right now, three families are living in houses where she would most like to explore. One family is Muslim, one Christian, and one Jewish''.〔 By February 2007, the second phase of the dig, which took place on a plot adjacent to the first phase, had revealed that the building was larger than Dr. Mazar had previously thought, included walls that are up to seven metres thick, and showed that parts of the building relate to the famous "stepped stone structure" discovered and excavated in the 1920s–1980s.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Large Stone Structure」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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