La orfandad de la «monarquía unida». A propósito de la muerte de Eilat Mazar

On May 26, 2021, died in Jerusalem Eilat Mazar an archaeologist, well known for her discoveries in two important places in Jerusalem, the Ophel, the small hill next to the southern wall of the esplanade built by Herod to build the temple; and the so-called “city of David”, the monumental complex on the crest of the hill south of the Ophel. Mazar’s personality, her belonging to a well-known saga of archaeologists, and her academic work serve to show not only the complex of monumental ruins, ceramic pieces and remains of the material culture of the monarchical period; but also to expose the academic and ideological debates that have shaken archaeology on biblical soil since the middle of the last century. The article exposes Mazar’s personal and academic biography, to then introduce itself into two of the great academic and ideological debates that have crossed Biblical studies in the second half of the s. XX, noting that the united monarchy of David and Solomon constitutes a nuclear piece of the discussion. But, in addition, the work makes a succinct presentation of the two great excavations of Mazar in Jerusalem, the Ophel and the palace of David.