Israel Archaeological News - General

[Resource Manager]

Free App “Dig Quest: Israel” Teaches Children about Archaeology in Israel
 

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

"The IAA has released a great free app to teach children about the archaeology of Israel. As parents who have always encouraged our children (now grown up and leading their own tours to Israel and the surrounding Bible Lands) to get involved in the fun of digging, we are excited about this development. The app is in English and is available for download at the iTunes Store for iPhones and iPads. An Android version will be made available soon.

 

The app features two simulated dig sites.  One is based on the site of a Roman period mosaic at Lod and the other on the site associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. These two sites were chosen as they are so well known. Most people have heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the beautiful mosaic that was found in Lod is making a world tour of leading museums in the U.S and in Europe. You can learn more about this mosaic at the Lod Mosaic website."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

The Kishle: The Archaeologists’ playground

 

November 25, 2014

 

"After years of neglect, a historical treasure dating back to the 8th century BC has now opened its doors in the Old City of Jerusalem: The Kishle, a building adjacent to the Tower of David.

 

Among other things, it was used as a prison during the War of Independence. Now, after years of excavations and preparations, visitors can stroll through layers of time.

 

TLV1 reporter Lissy Kaufmann paid a visit."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

The Temple Mount during the Roman Period

 

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"We have now arrived at the Roman period in our sequence of reconstruction drawings showing how the Temple Mount developed over time. After the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70. A.D., the area of the Temple Mount lay desolate. In 130 AD, Emperor Hadrian began to build a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina, on the ruins of Jerusalem."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Harbours of the Sea of Galilee

 

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"Ferrell Jenkins runs a travel blog and today wrote a post on the Ports of the Sea of Galilee which has some excellent photographs of the Church of the Primacy of Peter at Tabgha. In this interesting post he comments on the work of the late Mendel Nun, who was a member of Kibbutz Ein Gev and worked as a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Although not a professional archaeologist, Mendel researched and recorded the remains of the ancient harbours of the Sea of Galilee, of which there were at least sixteen.

 

The remains of these harbours can only be seen when the water level is low. In the 1970′s, a number of ancient harbours were discovered, followed by the discovery of an ancient fishing boat in the mud near Magdala. During the years of 1989-1991 there was a severe drought and the accompanying archaeological activities revealed many remains that shed light on the shipping trade and fishing industry during the first century."
 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Underwater Excavation Reveals Lost Levantine Village

 

Posted on: December 9th, 2014 by Marketing and Communications

 

"A 7,500-year-old underwater water well that has been partially excavated from a site on Israel’s Mediterranean coast near Haifa will give important insights into the Neolithic society that once lived there.

 

Flinders University maritime archaeologist Jonathan Benjamin was part of the team that excavated and recorded the site in October under the leadership of Dr Ehud Galili, a world-renowned expert in submerged prehistory and a senior maritime archaeologist at the Israel Antiques Authority and the University of Haifa.

 

Submerged under five metres of water due to prehistoric sea-level rise, the excavated structure was an important water well that supplied fresh water to the ancient civilisation dated to the pre-pottery Neolithic period that lived on the Kfar Samir site, near Haifa, Israel.

 

“Water wells are valuable to Neolithic archaeology because once they stopped serving their intended purpose, people used them as big rubbish bins,” Dr Benjamin, a leading expert in prehistoric underwater archaeology, says.

 

“This is superb for archaeologists because it means we can look through the refuse of prehistoric societies – including animal bones, plant fibres and tools – to see how these ancient civilisations lived, how they hunted and what they ate,” he says.

 

“At the Kfar Samir site, the water well was probably abandoned when sea levels started to rise and the freshwater became salty so people threw food scraps and animal bones down the well instead.”

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

The Temple Mount during the Byzantine period (324-638 AD)

 

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"The Byzantine period is the next period we look at in this Temple Mount series. Up until recently, it was thought that the Temple Mount lay desolate during this time and was used as the city’s garbage dump. However, this may not be altogether accurate.

 

In 324 AD, the Emperor Constantine the First made Christianity the official religion of the Empire and together with his mother, Queen Helena, consecrated sites in the Holy Land associated with the life of Jesus. In Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site assumed to have been the burial place of Christ. It was the first and only time during Jerusalem’s long history that the focus of the city was shifted away from the Temple Mount to this newly built church, effectively denying any Jewish connection with the city."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Bethlehem – the Manger and the Inn
 

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

"People have asked me where I think Jesus was born. I reply that Scripture and archaeology show that the place was not a randomly chosen cave in Bethlehem, but a location that was prepared centuries earlier for this purpose."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

An Impressive 2,800 Year Old Farm House was Uncovered in Rosh Ha-‘Ayin (December 2014)

 

In Archaeological Excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority Prior to an Initiative by the Ministry of Construction to Expand the City

The farm will be conserved in situ for the benefit of the public 

 

An impressive farm house, 2,800 years old, which comprised twenty-three rooms, was exposed in recent weeks during archaeological excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in Rosh Ha-‘Ayin before the city is enlarged in an initiative by the Ministry of Construction. According to Amit Shadman, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The farm, which is extraordinarily well-preserved, extends across an area of 30 × 40 m and was built in the eighth century BCE, the time of the Assyrian conquest. Farm houses during this period served as small settlements of sorts whose inhabitants participated in processing agricultural produce. The numerous wine presses discovered in the vicinity of the settlement indicate the wine industry was the most important branch of agriculture in the region. A large silo, which was used to store grain, shows that the ancient residents were also engaged in growing cereal.” 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

MSU Department Announces Major Archaeological Find
 

Office of Public Affairs

News Bureau (662) 325-3442

Contact: Bonnie Coblentz

 

December 15, 2014

STARKVILLE, Miss. - "Six official clay seals found by a Mississippi State University archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon.
 

Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.
 

Jimmy Hardin, associate professor in the MSU Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, said these clay bullae were used to seal official correspondence in much the same way wax seals were used on official documents in later periods.

 

Continued 

[Resource Manager]

Remains of 8,000-Year-Old Olive Oil Found in Lower Galilee

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD 

 

12/17/2014 18:36

"The earliest evidence of the use of olive oil in the country, and possibly the entire Middle East, was unearthed at an excavation site in the Lower Galilee, the Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.

 

The discovery was made after Dr. Ianir Milevski and Nimrod Getzov directed an archeological salvage excavation at Ein Tzipori between 2011 and 2013.

 

The excavation led to research that indicated that olive oil was already being used in the country 8,000 years ago, during the 6th millennium BCE."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Unique Entry Complex Discovered at Herodian Hilltop Palace
 

18/12/2014

Hebrew University archaeologists unearth 20-meter-high corridor at Herodium National Park 

 

"Archaeologists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology have discovered a monumental entryway to the Herodian Hilltop Palace at the Herodium National Park. The unique complex was uncovered during excavations by The Herodium Expedition in Memory of Ehud Netzer over the past year, as part of a project to develop the site for tourism.

 

The main feature of the entryway is an impressive corridor with a complex system of arches spanning its width on three separate levels. These arches buttressed the corridor’s massive side-walls, allowing the King and his entourage direct passage into the Palace Courtyard. Thanks to the supporting arches, the 20-meter long and 6-meter wide corridor has been preserved to a height of 20 meters."

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Where on the Temple Mount was Jesus During Hanukkah?
 

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

"There are some unique locations in the Land of the Bible where you really get a sense of place. One  of these is inside the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Here the record of Jesus’ visit to the Temple precincts in John 10.22-39 comes to vibrant life. We are told:

 

And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: it was winter; and Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon’s Porch (John 10:22,23).

 

Jesus had come to keep Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights. This feast commemorates the dedication of the Temple in 164 BC, after it had been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who, three years earlier, had ordered a pig to be sacrificed on the Temple altar."

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Ancient Glass Bracelet Decorated with Menorahs Found in Israel
 

by Elizabeth Palermo, Staff Writer   |   December 23, 2014 12:24pm ET

"Archaeologists in Israel recently unearthed a glass bracelet decorated with a timely design. The ancient piece of jewelry is engraved with a seven-branched candelabrum, or menorah — the symbol of the Hanukkah holiday.

 

The bracelet was discovered in Mount Carmel National Park, which researchers think was a large settlement during the late Roman or early Byzantine period. Archaeologistshave been working in the park, a declared antiquities site, before the excavation of a new water reservoir in the area.

 

During a routine dig last Thursday (Dec. 18), a team of excavators uncovered a box containing hundreds of glass fragments that had been thrown into a refuse pit. Among the old pieces of glass was a small fragment of decorated glass from an ancient bracelet."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Archaeologists Find Possible Site of Jesus’s Trial in Jerusalem
 

By Ruth Eglash

 

January 4, 2015  

JERUSALEM — "It started 15 years ago with plans to expand the Tower of David Museum. But the story took a strange turn when archaeologists started peeling away layers under the floor in an old abandoned building adjacent to the museum in Jerusalem’s Old City.

 

They knew it had been used as a prison when the Ottoman Turks and then the British ruled these parts. But, as they carefully dug down, they eventually uncovered something extraordinary: the suspected remains of the palace where one of the more famous scenes of the New Testament may have taken place — the trial of Jesus.

 

Now, after years of excavation and a further delay caused by wars and a lack of funds, the archaeologists’ precious find is being shown to the public through tours organized by the museum."

 

Continued

 

[Resource Manager]

The Western Wall Was Not Destroyed by an Earthquake!

 

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"Walking on the Herodian street alongside the Western Wall in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden and Davidson Centre, one sees an enormous pile of Herodian stones that clearly came from higher up the wall. The excavations in this area by the late Benjamin Mazar and later by Ronnie Reich have proved without a doubt that this destruction occurred in 70AD. The Herodian stones fell on a thin layer of destruction debris that contained many Herodian coins.

As reported first in Haaretz newspaper (in the Premium section which is available to subscribers only, but which was kindly forwarded by email to me by Joe Lauer) and later elsewhere, this view is now challenged by Shimon Gibson, who claims that these stones were destroyed by an earthquake that took place in 363 AD."

Continued

[Resource Manager]

The Date of the Destruction of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount

 

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"In our previous post, we attempted to marshall the archaeological evidence that shows that Shimon Gibson’s suggestion that the Western Wall of the Temple Mount was destroyed by an earthquake in 363AD is incorrect. In response, one of our readers, Richard Stadler, asked the following questions:"

 

Also see above post: The Western Wall Was Not Destroyed by an Earthquake!

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Popular Archaeology

 

Archaeologists Uncover Possible Royal Escape Tunnel at Biblical Site

 

Sat, Jan 10, 2015

Tunnel may have been used by royal inhabitants of ancient city of Geshur near Sea of Galilee.

"A team of archaeologists excavating at the ancient site best known as Bethsaida not far from the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee have encountered what they suggest may be what is left of an escape tunnel that was used by the city’s royal elite during the times of ancient Israel and Judah.
 

Though it is still very early in the investigation process, one entrance of the tunnel has been located, and collapsed structural debris and ground penetrating radar images have indicated possible evidence of the suspected tunnel area extending from an ancient palace structure out to an outer city wall. Similar features have been found at other ancient sites, and the biblical account, for example, documents such an escape route used by King Zedekiah and others when Jerusalem was being besieged by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar."

 

http://youtu.be/2I0E4oQwXPg

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Excavations in the Northern Part of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

 

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"The Temple Mount Sifting Project reported a significant improvement of the enforcement and supervision of the Israeli Antiquities laws on the Temple Mount. The Old City and the Temple Mount are part of the archaeological zone, in which no excavations are allowed without archaeological supervision. As far as the Temple Mount is concerned however, this rule has been ignored for too long. Happily, the construction work that is taking place at the moment, digging shallow channels in the area just northwest of the Raised Platform, is  being carried out under the supervision of the Israel Antiquities Authority."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Going up and coming down from the Antonia Fortress on the Temple Mount

 

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"In our previous post, we wrote about the archaeological remains at the northwest part of the Temple Mount, most of which are now buried under a thick layer of earth. Most of the notable Herodian remains in this corner of the mount, however, can still be seen above ground level in the area where the Ghawanima minaret stands today."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

 

Artifacts and the Bible

 

David Moster   •  01/28/2015

 

"There are a number of artifacts related to Biblical archaeology in museums across the world. One of these museums is the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. Located in Jerusalem’s Givat Ram neighborhood, the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts. The collection was begun by the late Elie Borowski in 1943 and first opened to the public in 1992. The thousands of artifacts provide an informative introduction to the peoples and places of the Bible. One can spend days exploring the cultures of the Israelites, the Arameans, the Philistines, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians and many more in great detail. Biblical quotes are located throughout the galleries to place the Bible in its historical context. The museum also has special exhibitions, such as “By the Rivers of Babylon,” which opens on February 2, 2015, and focuses on one of the most significant events in the history of the Jewish people—the Babylonian Exile. Below are 10 of the museum’s many wonderful Biblical artifacts, listed in no particular order. Click on the images to enlarge them."

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Ancient Tablets Reveal Daily Life of Exiled Jews in Babylon 2,500 Years Ago

 

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD, REUTERS  02/03/2015 16:39

 

"It was like hitting the jackpot," says Filip Vukosavovic, an expert in ancient Babylonia, Sumeria and Assyria after reading the tablets.

 

"Over 100 palm-sized, 2,500-year-old tablets discovered in Iraq, now on display at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum, are providing unprecedented insights into Jewish life after Judeans were exiled to ancient Babylonia.

 

The tablets, each inscribed in tiny Akkadian script – an extinct eastern-Semitic language spoken in ancient Mesopotamia – detail transactions and contracts by Judeans forced to leave Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar in 600 BCE."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

Declining water levels in the Dead Sea

 

By European Pressphoto Agency

 

"Originally one of the world’s first health resorts, the Dead Sea in Israel has a far from healthy future as its water levels continue to decline. In fact, it has been estimated that since the 1950s the water levels have dropped about 130 feet. The dangerously low level has been attributed to an imbalance between the amount of incoming and outgoing water. Known also as the Sea of Salt, separating Israel to the west and Jordan to the east, the lake’s surface and shores are 1407 feet below the level making it earth’s lowest elevation on land. The problem of the annual declining rate is due largely to the reduction of inflowing of water from the Jordan River. This has been attributed to the increased current consumption of water within the Jordan River water and irrigation drainage basin. Water resources in the region are scarce and affect Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan that are located within and bordering the basin. The sea is called ‘dead’ because its high salinity prevents aquatic organisms such as fish and aquatic plants from living in it."

Photos

[Resource Manager]

Of interest ...:

 

JESUS' WORDS BACKED BY ARCHAEOLOGY: THE STONES ARE CRYING OUT

 

Charles Colson : Feb 5, 2015 

 

While these discoveries in the desert may come as a surprise to some skeptics, they're no surprise to Christians.

 

(Israel)—"A few years ago, people exploring caves outside Jerusalem came across the find of a lifetime: an ancient burial cave containing the remains of a crucified man. This find is only one in a series of finds that overturns a century-old scholarly consensus. (Photo via Charisma News)

 

That consensus held that the Gospels are almost entirely proclamation and contain little, if any, real history. The remains belonged to a man who had been executed in the first century A.D., that is, from the time of Jesus.

 

As Jeffrey Sheler writes in his book Is the Bible True? the skeleton confirms what the evangelists wrote about Jesus' death and burial in several important ways.

 

First, location—scholars had long doubted the Biblical account of Jesus' burial. They believed that crucified criminals were tossed in a mass grave and then devoured by wild animals. But this man, a near contemporary of Jesus, was buried in the same way the Bible says Jesus was buried."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

The Temple Mount in the Early Muslim Period (638-1099)

 

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Leen Ritmeyer

 

"Continuing our series on the historical development of Mount Moriah, we have now reached the Early Muslim period. The end of the Byzantine period in Jerusalem was heralded by the Persian invasion of 614 AD  and completed by the Muslim conquest twenty-four years later. Muhammad’s successor, Caliph Omar, accepted Jerusalem’s surrender in 638 AD. Muslims regarded Jerusalem as a holy city and Jews were again granted the right to live there and pray on the Temple Mount. Some sources record that Omar ordered the site of the Temple Mount to be cleared of rubbish, thus exposing the Foundation Stone of the Jewish Temple."

 

Continued

[Resource Manager]

A first-of-its-kind discovery of 1,500 year-old grape seeds may answer the question: Why was the wine of the Negev so renowned in the Byzantine Empire

 

February 2015

 

"For the first time, grape seeds from the Byzantine era have been found. These grapes were used to produce “the Wine of the Negev” — one of the finest and most renowned wines in the whole of the Byzantine Empire. The charred seeds, over 1,500 years-old, were found at the Halutza excavation site in the Negev during a joint dig by the University of Haifa and the Israel Antiquities Authority. “The vines growing in the Negev today are European varieties, whereas the Negev vine was lost to the world. Our next job is to recreate the ancient wine, and perhaps in that way we will be able to reproduce its taste and understand what made the Negev wine so fine,” said Prof. Guy Bar-Oz of the University of Haifa, director of the excavation. 

 

The archeologists know of “the Wine of the Negev” or “Gaza Wine” — named for the port it was sent from to all corners of the empire — from historical sources from the Byzantine period. This wine was considered to be of very high quality and was very expensive, but unfortunately, it did not survive to our day, so we do not know what it was that made it so fine. In earlier excavations in the Negev, archeologists found the terraces where the vines were cultivated, the wineries where wine was produced, and the jugs in which the wine was stored and exported, but the grape seeds themselves were not found."

Continued