HONG KONG, October 25, 2014 — Several archaeological experts came to Hong Kong to deliver this evening lecture on the issue of archaeology in Israel and Judaism of the Second Temple era. Dr. Yigal Israel, the head archaeologist of the Southern Region of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Emanuel Eisenberg, former Senior Research Archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Dr. Scott Stripling, the Director of the Khirbet el-Maqatir excavation in Israel, shared their knowledge and introduced the history and archaeology in Israel in the first session of the lecture, followed by a moderated discussion held by The Honorable Mr. Justice Jeremy Poon.

With a long history of archaeological development, Dr. Israel analysed the challenges and opportunities of archaeology in Israel, where the government controlled all the antiquity sites and artefacts. One of the challenges, he said, is to strike a balance between the conservation of antiquities and development of the Land of Israel.

Mr. Eisenberg continued the presentation by discussing the archaeology in Hebron, also known as the City of the Patriarchs, where he spent tremendous time excavating and introduced a lot of discoveries from the site.

In the last presentation, Dr. Stripling gave a detailed account of their discoveries of the lost fortress of Ai, citing biblical references that matched the geographical features of the site. Illustrating both topographically and geographically, Dr. Stripling provided evidence in which he believed is key to the discovery and identification of Ai in the Bible.

The significance of architecture in our 21st century lives? According to Dr. Stripling, “We really can’t see where we are going unless we are rooted in the past. So I think as human beings, regardless of where we live, what are socioeconomic status may be, what our religion might be, we all have a desire to find heritage, roots in the past. And when we do, [and] when we are able to make that linkage, then that’s very important to us, and we find great fulfilment in that. And that enables us to maybe look to the future, and hopefully even learn some mistakes and victories in the past.”

Video: Watch the complete program (2 hrs., 12 min.)