Tag Archive for archaeology

| August 7, 2014
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Second Temple Era ruins found near Highway to Jerusalem

 

Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of ruins and bronze coins stamped with a Hebrew inscription reading “Year Four,” the time of the Great Revolt against the Romans some 2,000 years ago.

By Yori Yalon

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority on Tuesday announced that the ruins of a Second Temple-era community have been found near Highway 1, Israel’s main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway.

The coins found on the site were stamped with a Hebrew inscription reading “Redemption of Zion” – Photo: Uri Lenz

The ruins were discovered several months ago during an infrastructure project by the national roads company, Netivei Israel.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| June 15, 2014
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Discovery of Europe’s oldest mikvah revived Sicily’s ancient Jewish communities

The discovery of this mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) was as revealing as it was serendipitous for the Jews in Syracuse. Forgotten for too long, they are coming back home.

 

An attractive island in the Mediterranean, Sicily has been a hub of migration routes for millennia. Jews are thought to have been part of the patchwork at least as early as the 1st century, after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

The ancient mikveh baths uncovered in Syracuse (Amalia Daniele di Bagni)

The ancient mikveh baths uncovered in Syracuse, possibly the oldest in Europe. – Photo: Amalia Daniele di Bagni

At the end of the 15th century, Spain, which ruled in Sicily, expelled the Jews from its entire domain.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Jewish News, The Diaspora | Tags: , , , ,
| May 29, 2014
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Archaeologists in Jordan uncover Roman inscription about Bar Kochba Revolt

Roman Fort found in southern Jordan housed garrison to vanquish the Jews during the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), in the Judea Province.

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Four years after starting to dig up an ancient Roman outpost in southern Jordan, a team of archaeologists from Tennessee found a unique, and well-preserved, inscription on a rock – revealing that the site is the previously unknown base of a Roman infantry unit involved in crushing the Bar-Kochba rebellion.

The 'Ayn Gharandal inscription (Robert Darby)

The Ayn Gharandal inscription, above the collapsed gate to the Roman fort. – Photo: Robert Darby

The outpost, ‘Ayn Gharandal, lies beneath the dunes around 70 km north of present-day Aqaba, the Jordanian resort city on the Red Sea, and 40 km southwest of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , , ,
| April 30, 2014
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40 year debate: Did archaeologists find the last Maccabean king hidden in Jerusalem?

 

For 4 decades, the crucified remains with broken jaw have confused scientists, but maybe the last Hasmonean king has been discovered in an ossuary buried under a private house in Jerusalem.

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In 1970, a rock-cut tomb was discovered by workers building a private house in Jerusalem’s Givat Hamivtar neighborhood. Inside the two-chambered burial, dating back to the first century BCE, archeologists found a decorated ossuary – a limestone box containing the bones of the deceased – and an enigmatic Aramaic inscription affixed to the wall.

The nails and part of the lower jaw found in the Abba cave ossuary (Ariel David)

The nails and part of the lower jaw found in the Abba cave ossuary.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Jewish News | Tags: ,
| April 23, 2014
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Metal Chisel Thought To Build The 2nd Temple Unearthed Under Western Wall

Archaeologist who discovered the ancient metal chisel says ‘For 1st time in 2000 years we have a tool of the builders of the Kotel (Western Wall).’

By Iddo Ben-Porat, Ari Yashar

 

An astonishing archaeological discovery has been made at the feet of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The find is an ancient chisel, which apparently was used by the builders of the Western Wall of the Second Temple.

Chisel found on Temple Mount – Photo: Clara Amit, Courtesy of Antiquities Authority

Archaeologist Eli Shukrun, who managed the excavations and found the rare tool, told Arutz Sheva that the chisel is “a moving discovery.” Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| April 19, 2014
Comments Off on Egyptian authorities foil attempts at smuggling Jewish religious artifacts

Egyptian authorities foil attempts at smuggling Jewish religious artifacts

 

Egypt’s Antiquities Minister said the smugglers planned to send the Jewish religious artifacts to Belgium.

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Authorities in Egypt say they have seized a cache of Jewish religious artifacts that smugglers wanted to ship to Belgium at one of the country’s main ports.

Crown seized by officials in Damietta, Egypt, April 18, 2014

Crown from a cache of Jewish religious artifacts seized by officials in Damietta, Egypt, April 18, 2014 – Photo: AP

Antiquities Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said in a statement Friday that officials found the artifacts while searching cargo Thursday at the coastal city of Damietta.

AP

Items from a cache of Jewish religious artifacts seized by officials in Damietta, Egypt, April 18, 2014 – Photo: AP

Among the artifacts are a cylindrical wooden box plated in silver, which would have held Torah scrolls.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| April 11, 2014
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Scientists deemed ‘Jesus’ Wife’ papyrus fragment not forgery

 

Scientists report after carbon dating and examination of ink similar to that of fragments found from Gospel of John, the controversial papyrus fragment of ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ is not a forgery.

By Associated Press

 

Scientists who examined a controversial fragment of papyrus written in Egyptian Coptic in which Jesus speaks of his wife concluded in papers published on Thursday that the papyrus and ink are probably ancient and not a modern forgery.

The papyrus fragment is owned by an unnamed private collector, with bills of sale going back only to 1999. - Photo: KAREN L. KING

The papyrus fragment is owned by an unnamed private collector, with bills of sale going back only to 1999. – Photo: KAREN L. KING

The existence of the fragment, known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” was made public at an academic conference in 2012. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , ,
| April 9, 2014
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3,300 yr-old Egyptian clay coffin with gold scarab found in Jezreel Valley

 

Rare gold scarab bearing seal of Pharaoh Seti I was found with late Bronze Age Egyptian coffin, of past ruler of what is now Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

A 3,300-year-old coffin was uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority near Kibbutz Sarid in the Jezreel Valley.

3,300 year old clay Egyptian coffin found in Jezreel Valley – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

The coffin dates back to the Late Bronze Age, and contained the personal belongings of a wealthy Canaanite believed to be an Egyptian army official, according to the IAA.The cylindrical clay coffin featured a lid in the shape of a person, and was surrounded by a variety of pottery, including food storage vessels, tableware and animal bones.
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Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 4, 2014
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Two Spectacular Archaeological Finds in Israel This Week

 

Israel Police nab Jerusalem tomb raiders in unauthorized ossuary transaction, while archaeologists find impressive dining room floor of Byzantine monastery located in the Negev.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israeli archaeologists recently made two sensational finds, one thanks to the work of the police.

Spectacular Archaeological Finds in Israel

Dining room floor in Byzantine monastery located in Negev – Photo courtesy: Israel Antiquities Authority

Earlier in the week, Israeli police publicized the recent arrest of tomb raiders who had stolen 11 coffin boxes dating back to the time of Jesus. The coffins were from the Jerusalem area.

Meanwhile, in the southern Negev region, an ancient Byzantine-era monastery was discovered together with its ornate and intricate mosaic floor (pictured). Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| April 3, 2014
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1,500 yr-old Greek Monastery discovered in Israeli Bedouin town

 

Vivid mosaics, kitchenware & coins were also found at the excavation in the Israeli Bedouin town in the northern Negev Desert.

By i24News

 

An impressive monastery dating to the Byzantine period, some 1,500 years ago, has been discovered at the entrance to the Israeli Bedouin town of Hura in the northern Negev Desert.

Dining room floor in Byzantine monastery located in Negev ( Israel Antiquities Authority )

Dining room floor in Byzantine monastery located in Negev – Photo courtesy: Israel Antiquities Authority

The structure, measuring 20 × 35 meters, is divided into halls built along an east–west axis, the most outstanding of which are the prayer hall and dining room with their mosaic carpets. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 3, 2014
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Massive Biblical Fortress Unearthed in City of David

 

With walls that were built from massive stones ranging from 6-10 feet high, the ancient Canaanite-era structure is believed to have been the largest fortress in the Land of Israel, until the time of King Herod.

By Yori Yalon

 

After 15 years of what was considered one of the most complicated archeological digs ever conducted in Israel, excavation work on the fortifications of the Gihon Spring — a large Canaanite structure dating back to 1,800 B.C.E. — has been unveiled at the City of David National Park outside the Old City of Jerusalem.

The fortifications that guard access to the Gihon Spring – Photo courtesy of City of David

The fortifications of the spring are believed have been the largest fortress in the land of Israel until the Herodian period.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 1, 2014
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11 Ossuaries recovered after apparent Jerusalem heist

Eleven 2nd Temple-era Burial Boxes were discovered after police arrested 4 suspicious characters in Jerusalem.

By

 

The Israeli Antiquities Authority unveiled 11 ancient burial boxes Monday that were recovered by Israel Police early Friday morning

Israeli archaeologist Eitan Klein.

Israeli archaeologist Eitan Klein.- AFP

Officials say the boxes are 2,000 years old. Some are engraved with designs and even names, giving clues to their origin and contents. The boxes contain bone fragments and remnants of what experts say is pottery buried with the deceased.

The authority says the boxes were recovered last Friday in Jerusalem when police observed a suspicious nighttime transaction involving two cars, four individuals and the 11 boxes.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: ,
| March 30, 2014
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Treblinka gas chambers & mass graves discovered by high-tech archaeologists

Since Treblinka was bulldozed over in 1943 under Hitler’s orders, excavation of the Nazi death camp was barred after WWII out of respect for the victims – but research team using largely ‘non-invasive’ technology received Polish permission to examine site & discovered evidence.

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The Nazis left no evidence behind at the Treblinka. After gassing an estimated 900,000 Jews and an unknown number of Roma in the eastern Polish camp (Treblinka was a NAZI CAMP in eastern Poland…not an “eastern Polish camp” as written… *Israel and Stuff) , Germany bulldozed it in 1943 and even planted crops and built a farmhouse on the leveled site. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Video's worth Viewing | Tags: , , ,
| March 12, 2014
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For 1st time 9,000 year-old stone masks united at the Israel Museum

 

Twelve 9,000 year-old masks, all originated in the same region in the ancient Land of Israel come together for the “Face to Face: The Oldest Masks in the World” exhibition.

By EVA LINDNER

 

 

With Purim around the corner, the Israel Museum brings together for the first time a rare group of 9,000-year-old stone masks, the oldest known to date, in a new exhibition starting today. Culminating nearly a decade of research, “Face to Face: The Oldest Masks in the World” showcases 12 extraordinary Neolithic masks, all originating in the same region in the ancient Land of Israel.

World’s oldest masks Photo: Courtesy

World’s oldest masks – Photo: Courtesy

Originally they are all from the same region, found within only about 30 km. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 18, 2014
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2,300 yr-old town discovered outside Jerusalem

 

During the construction of a gas pipe line 6 months ago, a Second Temple era rural town was found and has been under excavation ever since.

By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit

 

Remains of a village that is 2,300 years old have been uncovered near the “Burma Road”, on the main route to Jerusalem.

The excavated village (Photo: Skyview, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

The excavated village – Photo: Skyview, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

The remnants of the rural town, which was lived in for approximately two centuries during the Second Temple era were first discovered in June 2013, when Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL) began construction on a gas line running from the coast to the outskirts of Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Jewish News | Tags: ,
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