Israel Archaeological News - General

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Press Office: Israel Antiquities Authority

Egyptian Greetings in the Jezreel Valley

A 3,300 Year Old Coffin was Exposed Containing the Personal Belongings of a Wealthy Canaanite – Possibly an Official of the Egyptian Army

 

Among the items discovered – a gold signet ring bearing the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I

 

The rare artifacts were uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority near Tel Shadud, prior to the installation of a natural gas pipeline to Ramat Gavriel by the Israel Natural Gas Lines Company

 

"As part of a project by the Israel Natural Gas Lines Company (INGL) to construct a main pipeline that will convey natural gas to Ramat Gavriel, the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted a salvage excavation prior to the pipeline’s installation. During the course of the work, which was financed by the INGL, a fascinating and exceptional discovery was made. 

Part of a burial site dating to the Late Bronze Age (thirteenth century BCE) was exposed in an excavation at the foot of Tel Shadud. According to the excavation directors, Dr. Edwin van den Brink, Dan Kirzner and Dr. Ron Be’eri of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “During the excavation we discovered a unique and rare find: a cylindrical clay coffin with an anthropoidal lid (a cover fashioned in the image of a person) surrounded by a variety of pottery consisting mainly of storage vessels for food, tableware, cultic vessels and animal bones. As was the custom, it seems these were used as offerings for the gods, and were also meant to provide the dead with sustenance in the afterlife.” The skeleton of an adult was found inside the clay coffin and next to it were buried pottery, a bronze dagger, bronze bowl and hammered pieces of bronze. “Since the vessels interred with the individual were produced locally”, the researchers say, “We assume the deceased was an official of Canaanite origin who was engaged in the service of the Egyptian government”. Another possibility is that the coffin belonged to a wealthy individual who imitated Egyptian funerary customs. The researchers add that so far only several anthropoidal coffins have been uncovered in the country. The last ones discovered were found at Deir el-Balah some fifty years ago. According to the archaeologists, “An ordinary person could not afford the purchase of such a coffin. It is obvious the deceased was a member of the local elite”.

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Newly Released Historic Film Collection Includes Scenes of the Holy Land

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer

"Israel’s History – a Picture a day announced that:
 

The giant newsreel archive British Paté, released its entire collection of 85,000 films to the public this week.

The films, dating from 1896 to 1976, include hundreds of newsreels from Palestine prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. We found of particular interest the films of combat between British and Turkish forces during World War I and the brave attempts to push desperate Jewish refugees from Europe past British barriers in the 1930s and 40s.

“This unprecedented release of vintage news reports and cinemagazines is part of a drive to make the archive more accessible to viewers all over the world,” British Pathé announced."

 

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Hikers Find Human Skull and Bones in Gush Etzion Cave

By: Tazpit News Agency

Published: April 20th, 2014

"A surprised group of hikers in Gush Etzion stumbled across human bones in a cave near Ein Tzurim, according to police.

The hikers immediately called 100 (Israel’s 911), and the police came to investigate.

The police, once on the scene realized that this wasn’t a murder scene and called the Israel Antiquities Authority. A preliminary examination by their experts indicate that the bones are apparently those of Jews from the Second Temple period."

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Archaeologists Find Ancient Chisel that May Have Helped Build Kotel

The chisel was found along with a gold bell that may have been on the clothes of the High Priest.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Published: April 22nd, 2014

"Archaeologists have discovered a treasure of Second Temple-era objects, including a chisel that may have been used to build the Western Wall, but officials at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) are not officially confirming anything until conclusive studies are completed.

IAA archaeologist Eli Shukrun told Haaretz that he discovered the 2,000-year-old chisel last summer during digging in a tunnel at the lower base of the Western Wall, popularly known by the Hebrew word “Kotel,” which was the western outer wall of the courtyard of the destroyed Second Temple. The Kotel was not a wall of the Holy Temple itself.

Shukrun also told the newspaper that he found a golden bell that may have been used by the High Priest, but the IAA reported the same discovery three years ago, and it is not clear if the archaeologist has found an additional bell along with the chisel."

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also @ Ritmeyer Archaeological Design

 

2,000-year old Chisel Found Near the Temple Mount

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A Smooth Stone found in the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Leen Ritmeyer
 
"Nadav Shagrai wrote a lengthy article, called A Heart of Stone, in Israel Hayom about the amazing feat of tunneling deep underground along the foundations of the Western Wall by Eli Shukron and his team. This uncovering has undoubtedly increased our understanding of how this mighty wall, and indeed all other walls too, were constructed. It was reported earlier that some coins dating from about 17-18 CE had been found in the fill of a mikveh below the Western Wall. This find was used to suggest that not Herod the Great, but one or more of his sons completed the project.

This stretch of foundation stones of the Western Wall is located right next to the main drain that runs the full length of the Herodian street that began at the Damascus Gate and ended at the southern gate near the Siloam Pool. One doesn’t need much imagination to understand that maintenance work would have frequently been carried out in and near the drain during the long period that it was in use. The filling in of the above mentioned mikveh, that was located in between the drain and the foundation of the Western Wall, could have been carried out during such work."

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Israeli Archaeologist Says He Has Found King David's Citadel Despite Skepticism

Associated Press May 6, 2014

By DANIEL ESTRIN, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — "An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins.

The claim by Eli Shukron, like many such claims in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city — but who has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence and reign.

The present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also wrapped up in the subject. The $10 million excavation, made accessible to tourists last month, took place in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem and was financed by an organization that settles Jews in guarded homes in Arab areas of east Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent the city from being divided. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future independent state."

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The Beauty of Ottoman Palestine, Lovingly Explored and Documented

100 years ago, a German polymath theologian with a passion for the Holy Land snapped an enchanting collection of photos. We publish them here for the first time, along with his ultimately sad story

BY ILAN BEN ZION May 12, 2014, 5:55 pm

"In the basement of a house on the Mount of Olives is a collection of 100-year-old photographs of Ottoman Palestine — published here for the first time — that document the people, sites and lifestyle of Palestine in the twilight years of Turkish rule

The photos were taken by the first director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (DEIAHL), Gustaf Dalman, an eclectic early-20th century polymath who fell in love with the Holy Land and set out to catalog its inhabitants, plants, animals, sounds and way of life. The DEIAHL was founded in 1900 by the German Protestant church at the behest of Kaiser Wilhelm II following his historic visit to Jerusalem two years earlier, with the stated aim of promoting “the exploration of the Holy Land and its diverse past, cultures and religions.”

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Further on Camels:

A Bone to Pick: Why Did We Hear Only One Side of the Camel Argument?

Robert J. Morgan
Author, 'Prayers and Promises for Worried Parents'

Posted: 05/14/2014 5:35 pm EDT Updated: 05/14/2014 5:59 pm EDT

"I have a bone to pick with some journalists -- a camel bone. Several months ago, two Israeli scholars, known for their minimalist views regarding the Bible, made a stunning announcement. They had discovered camel bones at an ancient copper mine on the Israeli-Jordanian border, and according to radiocarbon dating these bones dated from the days of Solomon with few traces of earlier extant camel bones; therefore, said the scholars, camels were not domesticated in the days of Abraham. References to camels in Genesis are thus spurious and fabricated centuries after the described events.

News organizations widely reported this story, but none of the articles I read provided any countering views or demonstrated any further research into the subject. What I saw instead was a series of one-sided headlines. CNN labeled the story: "Will Camel Discovery Break the Bible's Back?" The New York Times announced: "Camels Had No Business in Genesis." Yahoo reported: "Appearance of Camels in Genesis Called Sign of Author's Distance from History." Another headline said: "Study of Camel Bones Suggests the Bible May Be Wrong." Yet another: "Camel Archaeology Contradicts the Bible."

It didn't take long for the hyperbolic headlines to seep into the popular culture. One night a few weeks ago my wife and I were watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory featuring the brilliant but nerdy scientist Sheldon Cooper, whose mother is portrayed as a crazy fundamentalist Christian. Sheldon, on his way to see her, was eager to tell her how camel bones had punctured her beloved book of Genesis."

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Rare Crusader-Era Monastery Seal Found

Seal of the Monastery of St. Sabas was excavated in the Bayit VeGan section of Jerusalem.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 5/27/2014, 10:11 AM

"A rare seal of the Monastery of St. Sabas has been excavated in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood of Jerusalem. The seal was unearthed a year and a half ago, but it was only after processing and study that it was identified as a unique seal that was stamped by the Great Laura – the Monastery of St. Sabas.

During the summer of 2012, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conducted two archaeological salvage excavations at the Horbat Mizmil antiquities site in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood in Jerusalem. These revealed the remains of a farmstead constructed during the Byzantine period (fifth–sixth centuries CE). The site was abandoned at the end of the Byzantine period, and resettled during the Crusader period (eleventh–twelfth centuries CE), reaching its maximum size during the Mamluk period (thirteenth–fifteenth centuries CE0.)"

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Newsletter Friday May 30, 2014

What's Going on Underneath the Temple Mount?

The state comptroller has been severely critical of the way in which authorities have dealt with the developments of recent years on the Temple Mount, but the report he authored on the subject has not been cleared for publication.

Nadav Shragai

"Is the Waqf planning to build or laying the groundwork for a fifth mosque in the eastern part of the Temple Mount complex in the underground space beneath the Golden Gate? The Public Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount obtained updated photographs that were originally posted on Facebook by Muslim groups. The committee claims that the pictures show this is indeed what is being planned.

In recent years, Muslims have approved the building of two new mosques on the Temple Mount, while doing serious damage to antiquities there. The new mosques were built in addition to Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. While the latter is technically a shrine, it has become a de facto place of worship. The two new Islamic houses of worship are Marwani mosque, built in Solomon's Stables, and Al-Aqsa Al-Qadim, which is under Al-Aqsa."

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New Discoveries in Ancient Jewish Settlement Uncovered in Hebron

By: Tzipi Schlissel / Tazpit News Agency

Published: June 6th, 2014

"Remains of a Jewish settlement from the Second Temple period were partially uncovered in the western and southern sections of Tel Hebron, near Tel Rumeida in Hebron, and visitors were allowed to see them.

These remains were found outside the the Middle Bronze Age (the Patriarch period) wall that was previously found in Hebron.

An industrial area was discovered with an olive oil press, cisterns, a workshop with a furnace and ponds. From the industrial area, there is a road that leads to the city square and center of the town, but that section hasn’t been excavated yet.

In an amazing find in the agricultural areas, stone tools were found, as well as a stamp in ancient Hebrew, with the words “King of Hebron” on it."

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Temple Mount Archaeological Project Yields Treasure, Unearths Conflict

Sifting through earth removed from holy site gleans rare artifacts going back thousands of years, but Prof. Gabriel Barkay’s methods stir controversy

BY ILAN BEN ZION

June 6, 2014, 11:46am

"On the slopes below the Hebrew University’s campus on Mount Scopus, archaeologists and volunteers sieve through heaps of earth that were removed from the Temple Mount in the 1990s, and seek to extract bits and pieces of Jerusalem’s long history. The soil they sift through is fill from the Temple Mount — truckloads of earth and detritus that, until the late 1990s, was packed into the gigantic 35-acre box on which the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque stand and Herod’s Temple once stood.

At the far end of a fabric-roofed Quonset hut, home of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, Professor Gabriel Barkay rummaged through a small heap of tiny potsherds set on a low table. He removed his glasses and stared at a tiny piece of brown clay — one of thousands plucked from the soil — and wiped some dirt from its surface. He’s a grandfatherly sort, with a salt-and-pepper beard and a gravelly voice tinged with an Old World accent in English. Barkay, currently with Bar-Ilan University, got his start in archaeology on a salvage dig on Mount Zion when a road was paved for Pope Paul VI in 1964.

“What we do here is the result of certain political developments,” Barkay explained as we sat in the shade."

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06052014, Cover Stories, Daily News

Archaeologists Return to Excavate Ancient Jaffa

Mon, Jun 16, 2014

Investigations include further excavations at the famous Egyptian Gate, a search for the ancient harbor, and exploration of the ancient destruction level at the Lion Temple.

Teams of archaeologists, students and volunteers will return this month to the site of ancient Jaffa on the central coast of Israel to pick up where they left off in 2013, when they uncovered more of the sensational evidence of a fiery destruction at the site's ancient Amarna period New Kingdom Egyptian fortress gate. The continuing investigations will also include new elements -- the search for the ancient harbor complex, and excavation of evidence of a 14th century B.C. destruction layer at the remains of the site's Lion Temple.

Under the direction of project co-directors Aaron Burke, Associate Professor of the Archaeology of Ancient Israel at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Martin Peilstöcker of the Isral Antiquities Authority, one team will continue the excavations at the famous fourteenth century B.C. Egyptian fortress gate complex, where in 2013 they uncovered the stark remains of an extensive violent destruction.

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JPost Holy Land: The Last (Biblical) Frontier

By DR. NAVA PANITZ-COHEN, THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

LAST UPDATED: 06/22/2014 13:46

"JPost Holy Land is a new column that will bring you the latest archaeology news and stories from Israel in collaboration with The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Tucked away at the northernmost end of the country lies one of Israel's largest and most prominent archaeological sites: a large tel (the elevated area created when generations repeatedly live and rebuild on the same spot) south of the Tanur Waterfall and the lovely border town, Metulla.

This mound, Tell Abil al-Qamh, has been identified with the town of Abel Beth-Maacah, which appears in several biblical narratives. In one of these dramatic tales, a local Wise Woman (an oracle of sorts) had Sheba Ben Bichri beheaded, as he took refuge in the town after fleeing from Jerusalem in the wake of a rebellion he initiated against an infuriated and vengeful King David. The town was saved by her actions, only to be destroyed twice more – once by the Arameans in the 9th century BCE, and then again by the Neo-Assyrians in the 8th century BCE."

 

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New Mosaics Discovered in Synagogue Excavations in Galilee

For immediate use: Wednesday, July 2, 2014

"Royal figure in Huqoq mosaicExcavations led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty member revealed stunning new mosaics decorating the floor of the Late Roman (fifth century) synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village in Israel’s Lower Galilee.

Since 2012, three well-preserved mosaics have been discovered in the same location in excavations directed by Jodi Magness, Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the College of Arts and Sciences, and co-directed by Shua Kisilevitz of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Sponsors are UNC, Brigham Young University in Utah, Trinity University in Texas, the University of Toronto in Canada and the University of Wyoming. Students and staff from UNC and the consortium schools participated in the dig.

In 2012, a mosaic showing Samson and the foxes (as related in the Bible’s Judges 15:4) was discovered in the synagogue’s east aisle. Last summer (2013), a second mosaic was found which shows Samson carrying the gate of Gaza on his shoulders (Judges 16:3)."

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Roman Roads and Milestones in Judaea/Palaestina

"In 1970 The Israel Milestone Committee (IMC) was formed by Mordechai Gichon as a branch of the International Curatorium of the Corpus Miliariorum. The aim of the committee was to assemble, study and prepare for publication the milestones inscriptions found in Israel. The IMC also intended to carry out a systematic survey of all the extant remains related to roads, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the Roman road network in Israel. For almost 40 years the Committee's field and research work was led by Israel Roll and Benjamin Isaac together with other scholars."

 

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H/t: BiblePlacesBlog

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Ancient Money Box from Second Temple Era Discovered Near Jerusalem–Tel Aviv Highway

By: Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency

Published: August 5th, 2014

"Pottery sherds, or fragments, discovered by an Israel Antiquities Authority inspector several months ago, during extensive work by the Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company, Ltd. on the new Highway 1 project resulted in an archaeological excavation. A previously unknown settlement from the Late Second Temple period was discovered, as well as a rare hoard of coins that was found in one of its houses along the new highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The hoard, which was kept in a ceramic money box, included 114 bronze coins dating to the Year Four of the Great Revolt against the Romans. This revolt led to the destruction of the Temple on Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av), 2,000 years ago."

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Discoveries made in King Solomon's city at Tel Gezer, SWBTS reports

Posted on Aug 7, 2014 | by Steven Ortiz & Samuel Wolff

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following report is by Steven Ortiz and Samuel Wolff, co-directors of the Tel Gezer archaeological excavations in Israel. Steven Ortiz is professor of archaeology and biblical backgrounds and director of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's Charles D. Tandy Institute for Archaeology in Fort Worth, Texas. Samuel Wolff is senior archaeologist and archivist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.

NEVE SHALOM, Israel (BP) - "An international team of archaeologists has excavated the remains of King Solomon's city at Tel Gezer. The site - located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - is known as one of the three major cities that Solomon fortified, according the biblical account of Solomon's reign as recorded in the Book of Kings (1 Kings. 9:15-17).

Toppled building stones, accumulating more than 1 1/2 meters in height, were found in two rooms of a building and in an adjacent courtyard, apparently the sign of an attack, the team reported. The initiator of this attack could have been Shishak, the Egyptian pharaoh, around 918 BC, as recorded in the biblical text (1 Kings. 14:25-26) and Egyptian documents.

One of the surprises found within the destruction was a rare ivory-carved game board, the team reported. The game board was found in pieces retrieved in the field by volunteers who sifted the soil. It was reconstructed by the expedition's conservator, Rachael Arenstein."

 

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Western Wall Wearing Away? Discovery of Extreme Erosion Process Could Guide New Preservation Techniques

 

11/08/2014

 

Erosion in fine-grained limestone up to 100 times faster; stones receded by tens of centimeters

Research could guide development of new preservation techniques for weakened structures

"Visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem can see that some of its stones are extremely eroded. This is good news for people placing prayer notes in the wall's cracks and crevices, but presents a problem for engineers concerned about the structure’s stability.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the courtyard of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. It is located in Jerusalem’s Old City at the foot of the Temple Mount.

To calculate the erosion in the different kinds of limestone that make up the Western Wall, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem used a laser scan to create an accurate three-dimensional computer model. The researchers are Dr. Simon Emmanuel, the Harry P. Kaufmann Senior Lecturer in Environmental Water Technology, and PhD student Mrs. Yael Levenson, at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Earth Sciences."

 

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An Awl-Inspiring Find at Tel Tsaf: The Oldest Metal Object Found to Date in the Middle East

Published by admin at 9:56 am under Home Page, Press Releases

"A copper awl, the oldest metal object found to date in the Middle East, was discovered during the excavations at Tel Tsaf, according to a recent study published by researchers from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the Department of archaeology at the University of Haifa , in conjunction with researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the German Archaeological Institute of Berlin.

According to the study, which appeared in the prestigious journal PLOS One, the awl dates back to the late 6th millennium or the early 5th millennium BCE, moving back by several hundred years the date it was previously thought that the peoples of the region began to use metals.

Tel Tsaf, a Middle Chalcolithic village dated to about 5200-4600 BCE, is located near the Jordan River and the international border with Jordan. The site was first documented in the 1950s and excavations there began at the end of the 1970s. From the earliest digs nearly 40 years ago, this area, the most important archeological site in the region dated to this period, has been supplying researchers with a great deal of valuable data, and continues to do so during this latest research project led by Dr. Danny Rosenberg of the University of Haifa in conjunction with Dr. Florian Klimscha of the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. For example, the researchers learned of the community’s great wealth and the long-distance commercial ties it maintained from the large buildings made of mud-bricks and the large number of silos in which wheat and barley were stored on an unprecedented scale. There were many roasting ovens in the courtyards, all filled with burnt animal bones testifying to the holding of large events and many other findings, among them items made of obsidian (a volcanic glass with origins in Anatolia or Armenia), shells from the Nile River in Egypt and other areas around the Mediterranean, figurines of people and animals, and pottery unlike that found in almost any other location in the region."

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[Resource Manager]

Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel

Andrew J. Koh mail,

Assaf Yasur-Landau,

Eric H. Cline

Published: August 27, 2014DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106406

Abstract

"Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and consumption in relation to second millennium BC palatial complexes in the Mediterranean and Near East. However, direct archaeological evidence has rarely been offered, despite the prominence of ancient viticulture in administrative clay tablets, visual media, and various forms of documentation. Tartaric and syringic acids, along with evidence for resination, have been identified in ancient ceramics, but until now the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been uneven and vague, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture. The situation has now changed. During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy."

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Ancient Metal Workers Were Not Slaves But Highly Regarded Craftsmen

 

Aug 28, 2014

 

In 1934, American archaeologist Nelson Glueck named one of the largest known copper production sites of the Levant "Slaves' Hill." This hilltop station, located deep in Israel's Arava Valley, seemed to bear all the marks of an Iron Age slave camp – fiery furnaces, harsh desert conditions, and a massive barrier preventing escape. New evidence uncovered by Tel Aviv University archaeologists, however, overturns this entire narrative.

 

In the course of ongoing excavations at Timna Valley, Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures analyzed remnants of food eaten by copper smelters 3,000 years ago. The result of this analysis, published in the journal Antiquity, indicates that the laborers operating the furnaces were in fact skilled craftsmen who enjoyed high social status and adulation. They believe their discovery may have ramifications for similar sites across the region.

 

"What we found represents a general trend or reality related to metal workers in antiquity," said Dr. Ben-Yosef. "They had a very unique role in society, and we can demonstrate this by looking at Timna."

 

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[Resource Manager]

The Land of a Thousand Caves

 

03 September 2014

 

"The 480 caves of Beit Guvrin-Maresha, Israel’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, are very cool – in more ways than one.

 

You don’t have to be a professional spelunker to explore hundreds of ancient Beit Guvrin-Maresha caves between Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Gat in central Israel. Just put on a good pair of walking shoes.

Always a popular family destination, this 1,250-acre national park Israel was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2014.

 

The main attraction for some 200,000 annual visitors is the manmade chalk caves — 200 in Beit Guvrin, 200 in Maresha and 80 in between. Over the course of 2,000 years, people used these caves as quarries, stables, granaries, storerooms, water cisterns, workspaces for pressing grapes and olives, cultic houses of worship, dovecotes, hideouts and gravesites."

 

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[Resource Manager]

Selected Artifacts from the Collections of the National Treasure

 

"The National Treasures Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority is responsible for the housing, documentation and control of antiquities in Israel. The National Treasures' collections comprise hundreds of thousands of artifacts that range from prehistoric periods to the end of the Ottoman period. Most of the artifacts are housed and catalogued in the repositories of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Center for National Treasures, and approximately 50,000 artifacts are on loan at archaeological exhibitions in Israel and abroad.

 

This on-line site offers a selection of published artifacts from the collections of the National Treasures and is available for researchers, curators, students and the general public in Israel and abroad. This site is updated continuously, and new artifacts are added on a regular basis. 

 

The artifacts on the site are arranged both chronologically (according to archaeological periods) and typologically (according to the type of artifact), allowing either a gradual guided entry through the main title pages to the artifact's information card, or directly to the artifact's information card using an advanced search box.

 

The artifact's information card presents detailed archaeological data about the selected artifact, including provenance, type, dimensions, material, site where discovered, dating and bibliography. In addition, hi-resolution images of on-line artifacts may be purchased on-line from the photographic archives of the Israel Antiquities Authority."

 

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Biblical Archaeology Sees Golden Age in Israel, Dark Age in Rest of Middle East

By Staff Writer September 12, 2014 , 8:30 am

 

“Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.” (2 Samuel 5:7)

 

By Sean Savage/JNS.org

 

"At a time when many archaeological sites and antiquities throughout the Middle East are being looted and destroyed, the City of David Foundation on Sept. 4 hosted its annual conference to enable the general public to experience some of the most important archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem in recent years.

 

A special portion of this year’s conference was devoted to the theme “Jerusalem of Gold,” highlighting several never-before-seen golden artifacts.

 

“The people in ancient times, like today, used gold for the most important things in life. It shows what they held dear and what was most important to them,” Ahron Horovitz, senior director of Megalim, the City of David’s Higher Institute for Jerusalem Studies, told JNS.org.

 

The main themes of the artifacts on display related to war, beauty, and holiness or sanctity. Among the golden artifacts is the largest cache of gold coins ever discovered in Jerusalem, comprising 264 gold coins that date back to the end of the Byzantine period in the 7th century CE. The coins were found in the “Givati Parking Lot dig” conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David neighborhood."

 

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