PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

March 16, 2022

LANDFILLS

Every Monday evening I put two containers out by the street.  One is for trash and the other is for recyclables.  It is my assumption that the recyclables are taken to a sorting center and the trash is taken to a landfill.  Modern sanitary landfills trace their history to 1937 when Fresno, California opened the Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfills.

Landfills are not a new concept.  They have been around for at least 2,000 years.  The January/February 2018 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review has a feature article about a landfill that was operating at the time of Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem. “The nature of the massive amount of garbage concentrated at (the) site suggests the presence of an established, citywide garbage disposal operation that included the development of specialized mode of collection and transportation to the top of the slop (a convoy of donkeys hauled the waste), the deliberate disposal of the garbage down the slope, setting the garbage on fier, and burying the remains beneath a layer of soil.” (BAR 2018, pp. 43, 44)  However, such extensive landfills were rare at the time.

While the modern landfill was an outgrowth of environmental concerns, the one in Jerusalem was started for religious concerns.  The initial excavators of the landfill associated the garbage “with cultic activities performed at the Temple Mount and in association with the pilgrimage to the Temple.” (BAR 2018, p. 40)  The priests needed a place to dispose of articles that were impure.  Jewish law did not allow them to do this within the city.

Yuveal Gadot in his article in BAR writes concerning the current work at the landfill.  The archeological team is hoping that the garbage will shed light on the dietary habits, trading practices, religious practices, and vocational diversity of the ancient residents of Jerusalem.  It may also give insights into building construction and object manufacture.  They have found over 11,000 seeds and plant parts.  A treasure trove of coins has been unearthed.

There is the possibility that something will be discovered in the Temple Mount landfill that will help to better understand the ministry and teachings of Jesus.  We tend to read the gospels from the framework of our own world.  In so doing we miss some of the nuances of the text.  Taking a pilgrimage to the Holy Land goes a long way to help put Jesus and His times into perspective.  The mere presence of the landfill so close to where Jesus called the Jewish leaders hypocrites offers an interesting nuance.

I wonder what our present day landfills might reveal to an archeologist 2,000 years from now who might excavate one of them.  What stories does our trash have to tell about our lifestyles, our priorities and our eating habits?   One difference between the modern sanitary landfill and the one at Jerusalem is that in the modern one most of the recyclables have hopefully not found their way there.

What is your trash telling future generation about you and your lifestyle?  How well does it reflect your priorities and values?