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Israel & Palestine: Archaeology & Archaeological Findings

Refinds in this case.

Hundreds of ancient artefacts, including bowls decorated with "spells", have been found by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Israeli police in a raid on the home of a suspected illegal dealer in Jerusalem.

Swearing bowls recovered in a raid in Jerusalem
IMAGE SOURCE,YOLI SCHWARTZ, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
Image caption,
These "swearing bowls", inscribed with ancient Hebrew script, were used against curses, demons, diseases and pests
Fragments of a swearing bowl recovered in a raid in Jerusalem
IMAGE SOURCE,YOLI SCHWARTZ, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
Image caption,
The bowls date back some 1,500 years and were buried under floors of houses in the belief that they would provide protection
Ancient relief depicting four winged lions
IMAGE SOURCE,YOLI SCHWARTZ, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
Image caption,
Bone and ivory objects were also recovered, including this relief depicting four winged lions marching one after the other ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60571616
 

Tiny Hebrew ‘curse tablet’ including name of God uncovered by archaeologists


Archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling unveiled what he believes to be the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text ever discovered in ancient Israel, according to a Times of Israel report.

Scans uncovered an ancient proto-alphabetic Hebrew text comprising 40 letters.

NINTCHDBPICT000721588945.jpg


The text, found on a tiny 2-centimeter by 2-centimeter folded-lead amulet, also featured the name of God – written as "YHWH" in our alphabet.

The inscription read something like: "Cursed, cursed, cursed - cursed by the God YHWH / You will die cursed / Cursed you will surely die / Cursed by YHWH – cursed, cursed, cursed."

Classified as a "curse object", the artifact was unearthed at Mount Ebal, which is one of the two mountains near the city of Nablus in the West Bank.

Mount Ebal is referred to as a "place of curses" in Deuteronomy 11:29 – Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

Stripling, who is director of excavations for the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) at ancient Shiloh, and his team are dating the minuscule tablet back to the Late Bronze Age.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/science/4976118/tiny-hebrew-curse-tablet-god/

maximus otter
 
Gaza farmer finds 4,500-year-old statue of Canaanite goddess.

A stone statue of an ancient goddess of beauty, love and war has been found in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, the Islamist militant group which governs the tiny Palestinian territory, says the head of the Canaanite deity, Anat, dates back 4,500 years to the late Bronze Age.
The discovery was made by a farmer digging his land in Khan Younis.
On social media, some Gazans are making wry comments suggesting the goddess's association with war seems apt.
In recent years, they have seen a series of devastating flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Gaza.
However, the discovery of this limestone statue is a reminder of how the strip - part of an important trade route for successive ancient civilisations - was originally a Canaanite settlement.
(C) BBC. '22
 
However, the discovery of this limestone statue is a reminder of how the strip - part of an important trade route for successive ancient civilisations - was originally a Canaanite settlement.
(C) BBC. '22

Gaza (the city) is at least 5000 years old, but the concept of the surrounding as the"Gaza strip" dates from 1948.
 
Medieval Mills Bombs

Ancient ceramic vessels dug up in Jerusalem were likely medieval hand grenades, according to new scientific analysis.

Griffith University archaeologist Carney Matheson examined sherds of the vessels that contained traces of mercury, sulphur, aluminium, potassium, magnesium, nitrates, and phosphorous.

"These vessels have been reported during the time of the Crusades as grenades thrown against Crusader strongholds producing loud noises and bright flashes of light," Matheson said.

"Some researchers had proposed the vessels were used as grenades and held black powder, an explosive invented in ancient China and known to have been introduced into the Middle East and Europe by the 13th century. It has been proposed that black powder may have been introduced to the Middle East earlier, as early as these vessels from the 9th-11th century. However, this research has shown that it is not black powder and likely a locally invented explosive material."

https://boingboing.net/2022/04/27/hand-grenades-from-1000-years-ago-found-in-jerusalem.html
 

Ritual bath used by elites on eve of Second Temple destruction uncovered


A salvage excavation near the Temple Mount has unearthed a unique mikveh ritual bath dating to the Second Temple period.

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The mikveh is located on top of a cliff in the “Upper City,” a phrase coined by historian Josephus Flavius to describe the area of Herod’s City that housed Jerusalem’s elites in what is now the Jewish Quarter.

It was found within a private villa, built into the bedrock and featuring a vaulted ceiling with fine masonry typical of the Herodian period.

A plastered water cistern, uncovered near the same villa, had been in use until the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in 70 CE. It held the remains of nearly 40 cooking pots, some still intact.

Also found was an industrial pool built by soldiers of Rome’s Tenth Legion who were stationed in Jerusalem after the establishment of the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina in 130 CE. The pool lies on top of the remains of an earlier Roman oven, also installed by soldiers of the legion.

In the bottom layer of tile bricks was one stamped with the letters “LXF,” alluding to “Legio X Fretensis,” the full name of the Tenth Legion.

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-712603

maximus otter
 
A Palestinian farmer in the Gaza Strip discovered an impressive Byzantine era mosaic under his farmland.

Mosaic-Gaza-2209.jpeg
Palestinian farmer discovers rare ancient treasure in Gaza

Last spring, a Palestinian farmer was planting a new olive tree when his shovel hit a hard object. He called his son, and for three months, the pair slowly excavated an ornate Byzantine-era mosaic that experts say is one of the greatest archaeological treasures ever found in Gaza.

The discovery has set off excitement among archaeologists, and the territory’s Hamas rulers are planning a major announcement in the coming days. ...

The floor, boasting 17 iconographies of beasts and birds, is well-preserved and its colors are bright.

“These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the graphic representation and the complexity of the geometry,” said René Elter, an archaeologist from the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem. ...

Elter says the mosaic pavement dates back to a time between the 5th and the 7th centuries. But he said a proper excavation must be conducted to determine when exactly it was built and whether it was part of a religious or secular complex. ...
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-gaza-strip-hamas-c18596b981334f862b41fafff481046c
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-found-in-israeli-pottery-from-3500-years-ago

Archaeologists say find supports theory that drug was used in burial rituals, possibly to ‘enter ecstatic state’.

Israeli archaeologists have discovered opium residue in 3,500-year-old pottery pieces, providing evidence to support the theory that the hallucinogenic drug was used in ancient burial rituals.

The joint investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Weizmann Institute of Science began in 2012 when excavations in the central Israeli town of Yehud revealed a series of late bronze-age graves.
(c) The Gaurdian. '22.
 
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interesting coin hoard found.

Archaeologists in Israel say 44 pure gold coins dating to the 7th Century have been found hidden in a wall at a nature reserve.

Weighing about 170g, the hoard found at the Hermon Stream (Banias) site was hidden during the Muslim conquest of the area in 635, experts estimated. They said the coins shed light on the end of the Byzantine rule in the area. The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which survived for more than 1,000 years.

"We can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property," said Yoav Lerer, director of the excavation. "In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63122180
 
A comb excavated in Israel exhibits the oldest known full sentence written with the Canaanite alphabet - the alphabet credited as the ancestor of the alphabetic systems in use today.
Israel archaeologists find ancient comb with ‘full sentence’

Israeli archaeologists have found an ancient comb dating back some 3,700 years ago and bearing what is likely the oldest known full sentence in Canaanite alphabetical script, according to an article published Wednesday.

The inscription encourages people to comb their hair and beards to rid themselves of lice. The sentence contains 17 letters that read: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

Experts say the discovery shines new light on some of humanity’s earliest use of the Canaanite alphabet, invented around 1800 B.C. and the foundation of the all successive alphabetic systems, such as Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin and Cyrillic. ...
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/science-...salem-israel-e5c30f07e0c8ffe041cd6bd2d44c1d80
 
I'd argue that the Hebrew alphabet is older, and also Egyptian Hieroglyphs, in that there were Kabbalistic books in existence before the carvings of that script/alphabet (which I am assuming is Proto-Sinaitic?)

But it's not possible for me to prove.
 

Silver coins found near Temple Mount prove Jewish history of Israel


A rare, half-shekel coin from the Great Revolt from 66 CE to 70 CE during the Second Temple period has been discovered in Jerusalem’s Ophel excavations south of the Temple Mount.

The Ophel – or citadel – is the still-extant Herodian, cased-in Temple Mount bordered to the south by a saddle, followed by the ridge known as the southeastern hill that stretches down to the King’s Garden and the lower Siloam Pool. Two kings of Judah, Yotam and Manasseh, are described in the Book of 2 Chronicles to have massively strengthened the Ophel fortifications and was either very close to or identical with the “stronghold of Zion” conquered and reused by King David.

In the destruction layer, dozens of Jewish coins were found from the period of the Great Revolt, most of them made of bronze. They also included a particularly rare and unusual find – a silver coin in a half-shekel denomination originating from 69/70 CE.

Tal-Rogovski-640x400.jpg


The rare silver coin was cleaned at the conservation lab of the Institute of Archaeology and identified by Dr. Yoav Farhi, the team’s numismatic expert and curator of the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Silver coins from the Great Revolt were the first and the last in ancient times to bear the title “shekel,” the archaeologist said. “The next time this name was used was in 1980, on Israeli shekel coins produced by the Bank of Israel.”

During the Great Revolt against Rome, the Jews in Jerusalem minted bronze and silver coins. Most of the silver coins featured a goblet on one side, with ancient Hebrew script above it noting the year of the Revolt. Depending on its denomination, the coins also included an inscription around the border noting either, “Israel Shekel,” “Half-Shekel” or “Quarter-Shekel.” The other side of these coins showcased a branch with three pomegranates, surrounded by an inscription in ancient Hebrew script, “Holy Jerusalem.”

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-724924

maximus otter
 

Fourth graders discover 2,000-year-old oil lamp in northern Israel.​

Alon Cohen, Liam Atias and Rotem Livnat — three fourth-grade students from Kibbutz Parod in northern Israel — went on a hike around their small, sleepy community when they stumbled upon a curious rock.

Upon inspection of the exotic article, the sharp-sighted adventurers realized they had unearthed a piece of ancient history — a 2,000-year-old oil lamp from the early Roman period. They shared their discovery with their parents who called up to report it to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

The lamp that was discovered is typical for the Jewish settlement in the early Roman period… For the most part, this kind of lamp comes without decorations, unlike the contemporary Roman ones. This is a special discovery, it is quite rare to find a whole lamp like that. The boys and their parents demonstrated good citizenship in returning the find to the Antiquities Authority."

2 View gallery
דר חיים ממליה עם הילדים שמצאו את הנר

https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/art...SHd1pjM_zejkpDIsFZOpKXa_t47iQpVWDHzcSFf655zZ4
 

Remains of a Byzantine-era Monk in Chains Excavated in West Bank


Archaeologists have recently uncovered the remains of a man in iron chains from the Khirbat el-Masani archaeological site in northern Jerusalem. The remains are 1500-year-old and are those of a Byzantine monk.

Byzantine-monk.jpg


Khirbat el Masani is a ruin located on the West Bank. Previously, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority had uncovered a tri-apsidal Byzantine-era church at the site, Heritage Daily reports. The church was part of a monastery that also housed a rest house for travelling pilgrims.

Built of limestone ashlars—finely square-cut stone—the church is believed to have been dedicated to Saint Zachary by the priest Sabinus. St Zachary was the patron saint of peace and was known for building homes for the poor and travelers.

The chained human skeleton was discovered in a cist grave next to two small niche-like closed cells in the central apse of the church. He was chained with iron rings around his neck, hands and feet. He was probably a resident of the monastery who practiced extreme ascetism.

Ascetism as a way of life for attaining salvation or redemption from sin for self and others was greatly emphasized in traditional Christianity.

The discovery of chained human remains in the region is extremely unusual. An earlier such find was made by Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Elena Kogan-Zehavi in 1991 at Khirbat Tabaliya (Givat Ha-Matos).

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/byzantine-monk-0017749

maximus otter
 

Ancient Jerusalem hand imprint baffles Israel experts


Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday that they are trying to uncover the meaning of a recently discovered hand imprint carved into the stone wall of an ancient moat outside Jerusalem's Old City.

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The imprint, which may [have] been made as a "prank", was found in a thousand-year-old moat exposed during works to expand a road in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem near Herod's Gate, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.

The massive moat was hewn into the stone around all of the Old City, stretching 10 metres (33 feet) across and between two to seven metres deep and, unlike typical European ones, not filled with water.

According to the IAA, Crusaders in 1099 needed five weeks to cross it and breach the city's walls and defences.

While the moat's function was clear, the hand's meaning was elusive.

"It's a mystery, we tried to solve it," IAA's excavation director Zubair Adawi said in a statement.

IAA archaeologists remained uncertain who carved the hand into the rock or its significance.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230125-ancient-jerusalem-hand-imprint-baffles-israel-experts

maximus otter
 
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Ancient Jerusalem hand imprint baffles Israel experts


Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday that they are trying to uncover the meaning of a recently discovered hand imprint carved into the stone wall of an ancient moat outside Jerusalem's Old City.

2291cd00bcd081ad645b28634b6eb74a370b5cf4.webp


The imprint, which may [have] been made as a "prank", was found in a thousand-year-old moat exposed during works to expand a road in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem near Herod's Gate, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.

The massive moat was hewn into the stone around all of the Old City, stretching 10 metres (33 feet) across and between two to seven metres deep and, unlike typical European ones, not filled with water.

According to the IAA, Crusaders in 1099 needed five weeks to cross it and breach the city's walls and defences.

While the moat's function was clear, the hand's meaning was elusive.

"It's a mystery, we tried to solve it," IAA's excavation director Zubair Adawi said in a statement.

IAA archaeologists remained uncertain who carved the hand into the rock or its significance.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230125-ancient-jerusalem-hand-imprint-baffles-israel-experts

maximus otter
This was bought in Nahariya, Israel;
TP.jpg
 
Hikers stumble upon ‘rare’ 2,500-year-old item — and thought it was ‘elaborate prank’

Out for a weekend hike at a park in Israel, a pair of friends stumbled upon a small piece of ancient pottery — and thought it was a joke.

Eylon Levy and Yakov Ashkenazi were walking around Tel Lachish National Park and looking at the archaeological site. Then Levy spotted something. “I stumbled upon a small pottery shard,” he said. He picked it up and saw the pottery fragment had an inscription on it.

“My hands shook,” Levy told officials. “I looked left and right for the cameras, because I was sure someone was playing an elaborate prank on me.”

The shard was a small, roughly square-shaped fragment of tan pottery, photos show.

israel%20potshard%201.jpg


The “rare find” had an inscription in Aramaic reading “Year 24 of Darius,” archaeologists said. The inscription referred to the Persian King Darius the Great, or Darius I, who ruled a large swath of land in the modern-day Middle East from 522 to 486 B.C.

This pottery shard dated to 498 B.C., toward the end of Darius the Great’s reign, archaeologists said. The fragment contains the first inscription with Darius the Great’s name found anywhere in Israel.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article272635187.html

maximus otter
 
hunh, a 2500 year old pottery shard... found just laying out in the open?
 
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