Britain’s King George V – after whom one of Jerusalem’s and Tel Aviv’s main streets are named and who died in 1936 – has just sent out greetings to contemporaries via wall signs.
Coats of arms of the British royals and other nobility from the beginning of the early 20th century have been identified on the walls of a Jerusalem building by experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). It announced on Monday that the finds will be displayed to the public at the new “Between the Symbols” exhibition at the Jerusalem House of Quality.
IAA experts created an original research model, mapping and identifying coats-of-arms on hospital walls. Other famous British historical figures included the founder of the iconic Irish beer, Edward Cecil Guinness, the First Earl of Iveagh, an Anglo-Irish philanthropist and businessman who led his family’s eponymous brewing business, making him the richest man in Ireland at that time. He is most admired for his construction of affordable housing in London and Dublin through charitable trusts.
“Every stone in Jerusalem tells a story"
While carefully examining the coats-of-arms left by the elite British families who helped to expand the building, IAA photographer Shai Halevy and archaeologist Michael Chernin deciphered historical moments in one of modern Jerusalem’s first hospital buildings that now houses the Jerusalem House of Quality, now an art-and-culture exhibition center. The expansive structure established for this hospital directly overlooks the Hinnom Valley and stands across from Mount Zion near the Old City walls.At the ceremony to be held there, a new exhibition will open free to all comers until July 2, with financial support from the Jerusalem Foundation and other donors. The event will present all the coats of arms and the team’s research results.
The British ophthalmologic hospital was founded in 1882 by the Order of Saint John who regarded themselves as continuing the ancient Crusader Hospitaller order. The only one of its kind in that era, this institution played a key role in treating the eye diseases that were then commonplace in the Holy Land and Jerusalem and served anyone who needed help. Patients came here from throughout the Middle East. The British Mandate period saw the hospital expand significantly, adding a wing on the other side of Hebron Road.
The expansion was made possible thanks to generous contributions of British royalty and businesspeople, many of whom were members of the Order of Saint John. As a sign of thanks for supporting this construction, tens of individual coats of arms were attached to the walls.
THE TUMULTUOUS events of World War I and Israel’s 1948 War of Independence left their marks on different parts of the complex. As the decades progressed, different building elements were given different functions – the eastern wing became the Mount Zion Hotel, while the western wing became the Jerusalem House of Quality. As time passed, the public forgot about the very existence of and the identities behind these coats of arms, and many were damaged or destroyed.
Just recently, the two IAA researchers – joined by the illustrator and artist Anastasia Prokofieva – succeeded in deciphering the remaining coats of arms. They identified 18 out of the 23 visible insignias that had belonged to British nobility.
The coats of arms include those created for King George V (who ruled from 1910 to 1936); Major General Aldred Lumley, the 10th Earl of Scarbrough (who lived from 1857 to 1945); Edward Cecil Guinness (1847 to 1927); the architect who specialized in high-rise buildings, Henry Busis (1881 to 1965); and shipbuilder Henry Grayson (1865to 1951). Among the other shields is that of Jewish aristocrat Sir Edward Stern (1854 to 1933), who was the uncle of philanthropist Vera Salomons, the founder of the L. A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem.
Dr. Amit Re’em, who serves as the IAA’s Jerusalem Regional Archeologist, commented: “These walls continue to talk to us and reveal Jerusalem’s history. During the ongoing major Mount Zion Hotel renovation project, a dedication inscription suddenly appeared that was attributed to John Mason Cook, a great contributor to the hospital. He and his father were the founders of the first modern travel/touring company in the world and still exists today – the famed Thomas Cook & Son. Exploring the other abandoned rooms of the former hospital revealed another dedication – of a woman named Genevieve Watson who had been a well-known Jerusalem personality and generous benefactor and dedicated the rest of her life and her wealth to the hospital’s service.
The IAA team also discovered a stone with a mysterious inscription cast in the Hinnom Valley below the hotel. It turns out that this was the hospital’s cornerstone. “For us, archaeology does not stop in ancient times; these are relatively modern finds. But in addition to our other responsibilities, we are investigating that which will become archaeology in the future,” Re’em said.
The results of the IAA investigations, which included photographs of the coats of arms, colored reproductions of each one, biographical sketches of each owner, along with new archaeological finds from the site and other discoveries, will all be shown in the exhibition.
According to IAA Director-General Eli EscuZido, “every stone in Jerusalem tells a story. Our researchers turn over every stone – literally and figuratively – to uncover Jerusalem’s fascinating history, in all its expressions and cultures.”