Tag Archive for archaeology

| February 4, 2014
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Tel Aviv construction site uncovered Byzantine period well

 

Work on site to continue after Byzantine period Water well unearthed during construction of medical clinic building in Tel Aviv. 

By Gilad Morag

 

Residents of the neighborhood of Ramat HaHayal in Tel Aviv were surprised to find that a well dated to the Byzantine period in Israel was unearthed in a construction site in one of the neighborhoods’ streets. The Israel Antiques Authority refused to provide details concerning the project.

construction site with Byzantine well - Ynet Screenshot: Gilad Morag

Construction site with Byzantine well – Ynet Screenshot: Gilad Morag

The findings were discovered last week, while excavation work was conducted at a construction site of a real estate project for doctors’ clinics. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 30, 2014
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New National Park Dedicated as Where David Defeated Goliath

Archaeologists have determined that a building unearthed south of Jerusalem, at Khirbet Qeiyafa, was King David’s ‘Suburban Palace.’

By Gil Ronen

 

A national park will be declared at Khirbet Qeiyafa and the Ela Valley, southwest of Jerusalem, and a residential neighborhood that had been planned next to the location will not be built. The area is believed to be the spot where the young David fought Goliath, according to the Bible.

An aerial view of the Khirbet Qeiyafa dig – Skyview/Archaeological Authority

The decision was made by the Jerusalem District Committee for Planning and Construction. The national park will stretch from Beit Natif in the east to Khirbet Qeiyafa in the west, and the construction of the southern neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh will be scrapped. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| January 22, 2014
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Byzantine period church unearthed near the Haredi community

 

Archeological findings reveal beautifully preserved 1,500-year old mosaic and 5 written engravings in the impressive 22-meter long basilica building partitioned by white marble columns.

By Matan Tzuri

 

An archeology excavation mission being conducted in southern Israel revealed an impressive and yet unknown church covered with a breathtaking Byzantine mosaic.

The Byzantine mosaic (Photo: IAA)

The Byzantine mosaic – Photo: IAA

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovery Wednesday near the Haredi community of Aluma near Kiryat Gat took place in wake of the prior discovery of the ruins of the infrastructure of what is believed to be an ancient city.

Archeologists believe the church served as a main altar for Christian ritual sacrifice roughly 1,500 years ago. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 15, 2014
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Galilee woman proudly relinquishes archaeological collection from her basement

 

A Female resident of the northern town of Poriya Illit, reveals ancient sunken artifacts to the IAA, including pottery from the Biblical Period, all carefully stored in her basement.

By ROZ WOLBERGER

 

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday the staggering find of a large number of ancient pottery pieces, fully intact and safely stored…in a basement.

Ancient Pottery – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

It all began with a phone call to the IAA:  “In my basement there are full boxes of ancient vases and pottery, that a member of my family, a fisherman, left before he died…” said Osnat Lester, a resident of Galilee town Poriya Illit. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| January 7, 2014
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‘King David’s Castle’ to be Revealed January 17

The major archaeological discovery points to a Davidic royal castle in Nahal Refaim.

It’s location, a secret, and will be announced in 10 days.

By Gil Ronen

 

The location of a major archaeological find that was kept secret until now will be revealed to the public on Friday, next week. The find is being touted as a royal castle that could have belonged to Israel’s most celebrated king – the Bible’s King David.

The find is a decorated carved stone known as “a proto-aeolic capital” that is connected to a column. Only 30 such capitals have been found in Israel so far, and only five of them were found in areas in which Biblical-era kings lived. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 29, 2013
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Group Fights to Save British Mandate Site from Arab Construction

Israeli group turns to court to protect historical building as Palestinian Arab claims ownership, and brings in heavy machinery to begin construction.

By Maayana Miskin

 

A historic site in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem may be destroyed if Israel’s courts do not intervene, the Regavim organization has warned.

Khan Lubin – Oved Arad, Regavim

The ancient structure of Khan Lubin is located near the Israeli town of Maaleh Levona. Residents of the town and other nearby communities have made an effort to preserve the site over the years.

However, in recent months Palestinian Arabs have increasingly been coming to the site, and, Regavim warns, have been doing damage to the ancient structure. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| December 28, 2013
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Portuguese plumbers discover 600 year old mikvahs

This  find, in the basement of a building on Rua do Visconde da Luz, Coimbra, may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe.

By JTA

 

Plumbers fixing a water leak in central Portugal discovered what appears to be a cluster of 600-year-old Jewish ritual baths.

1of 3 -The mikvahs of Coimbra may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe - Photo sourse: DR/Publico.pt

1 of 3 -The mikvahs of Coimbra may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe – Photo source: DR/Publico.pt

The discovery was made earlier this year in the city of Coimbra as the plumbers were replacing the piping of an old building in what used to be the Jewish part of the Old City, according to a report Thursday by the Publico daily.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , , ,
| December 4, 2013
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1st ever Hasmonean-era home unearthed in City of David, Jerusalem


Large treasure of coins discovered on the site, dating back to the period of Antiochus II through  Antiochus VII.

By

 

 

The first-ever Hasmonean structure to be found in Jerusalem has been uncovered in recent months in the City of David area. The large structure Hasmonean-period is located in the Givati parking lot, across from the entrance to the City of David National Park and only a few dozen meters from the Temple Mount.

Hasmonean-era structure.

Hasmonean-era structure uncovered in Jerusalem archaeological digging.- Photo: Emil Salman

Hasmonean-era Jerusalem is well known from the historic descriptions of Josephus and small archeological finds, including pottery and coins, from the period. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: ,
| November 30, 2013
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Discovered Jerusalem of gold treasure then hidden

Archaeologist Eilat Mazar uncovered the golden treasure 7 months ago but kept it secret to prevent the site from being looted.

Now, 7 months later, Mazar recalls the 1st moments when she discovered the gold medallion, emblazoned with a menorah.

By Nadav Shragai

 

 

When the Hasmoneans returned to the Temple only to discover that the golden menorah was stolen by the Greeks, they quickly put together a makeshift candelabrum with seven lamps using scraps of iron. They lit the menorah using pure oil, according to the story as it is written in the Book of Maccabees.

Timeless beauty. Mazar poses with the millenia-old necklace – Photo: Urieh Tadmor

On the eve of Hanukkah in the year 5774 (2013), many generations after the drama which yielded the Festival of Lights unfolded some 2,150 years ago, Dr.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , ,
| November 22, 2013
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Wine cellar that dates back to 1700 B.C.E. discovered in Northern Israel

The discovery confirms how sophisticated wines were 3,700 years ago. Wine cellar was where the Canaanites kept ‘the good stuff’.

By  
 

 

Scientists have uncovered a 3,700-year-old wine cellar in the ruins of a Canaanite palace in Israel, and chemical analysis shows this is where they kept the good stuff.

The ruins of a recently discovered wine cellar in a Canaanite palace

The ruins of a recently discovered wine cellar in a Canaanite palace that dates back to approximately 1700 B.C.E., near the modern town of Nahariya in northern Israel. – Photo: AP

Samples from the ceramic jars suggest they held a luxurious beverage that was evidently reserved for banquets, researchers said.

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| November 20, 2013
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Iron Age altar discovered at Shiloh

Archaeologists discover an altar from the Israelite era at Tel Shiloh.

Certain scholars suggest that sacrifices continued at Shiloh after the First Temple was built. The discovery bolsters the Biblical account that Shiloh was a religious center.

By Efrat Forsher

For decades archaeologists have been searching for evidence to support the hypothesis that Shiloh served as a religious center in ancient times.

Grounds for belief: Archeologist believe that this altar was used by ancient Israelites – Photo: Ancient Shiloh

Now, a stone altar dated to the Iron Age, in other words, the period of Israelite kings, was accidentally exposed during a dig conducted by an archaeological staff officer of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria.

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| November 15, 2013
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American Jews Pleed with Washington not to return Jewish antiquities to Iraq

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) said, “These sacred artifacts were taken from the Iraqi Jewish community & thus do not belong to the Iraqi gov’t; rather they belong to the thousands of Iraqi Jews, an ancient & once-vibrant community, who were exiled many years ago.”

By SAM SOKOL

 

 

CHICAGO – A treasure trove of Iraqi Jewish documents on display in Washington, DC, should not leave the United States, a coalition of Jewish organizations demanded on Tuesday.

An Iraqi employee examines a document in the Jewish archives in Baghdad.- getty photos

n Iraqi employee examines a document in the Jewish archives in Baghdad.- Getty photos

The documents, which the Hussein regime confiscated from the Jewish community, were discovered by coalition forces in the basement of the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, or secret police, in 2003 and document centuries of life in Mesopotamia. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| November 11, 2013
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Israel has returned 90 stolen antiquities to Cairo

Returned Home: The Egyptian authorities noticed online that the stolen collection had been originally put on the auction block by a Jerusalem based auction house.

By

 

Israel has returned a collection of 90 antiquities after discovering that the artifacts – presented for sale at auction – had been stolen, Egyptian authorities said on Monday.

An archive photo of an Egyptian mummy covering.

An archive photo of an Egyptian mummy covering. – Photo: Reuters

The collection reportedly included clay vessels and vases, stelae and cultic figurines.

Antiquities theft is a huge problem for archaeologists. Not only are precious and irreplaceable remains of ancient cultures lost to science and humanity at large: often the timeline of digs are destroyed by robbers plowing through the layers with disregard for the historic record. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 30, 2013
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Ancient Curse Unearthed in Jerusalem’s City of David

Inscribed on a lead plate the 1,700 year old curse was found at archaeological dig in the City of David. It appears to have been ordered by a woman from a professional magician.

By Ari Yashar

 

On Wednesday the Israel Antiquities Authority released the discovery of a 1,700 year old curse found at the City of David archaeological site in Jerusalem.

Ancient Curse – Clara Amit, courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority

The curse, inscribed in Greek on a rolled-up lead plate, was found at the Givati parking lot dig site opposite the City of David.

The text was determined to be a curse written by a professional magician, according to the analysis of Dr. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| October 29, 2013
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Jerusalem Unveils the Gabriel Stone a Mysterious Hebrew Tablet

Israel Museum curators say only 40% of the 87 lines are legible, many of those only barely. The interpretation of the text featured in the Israel Museum’s exhibit is just 1 of 5 readings put forth by scholars.

By DANIEL ESTRIN AP

 

JERUSALEM — An ancient limestone tablet covered with a mysterious Hebrew text that features the archangel Gabriel is at the center of a new exhibit in Jerusalem, even as scholars continue to argue about what it means.

The Gabriel Stone, An ancient stone with mysterious Hebrew writing and featuring the archangel Gabriel is being displayed in Israel, even as scholars continue to argue about what the inscription means. - AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

The Gabriel Stone, An ancient stone with mysterious Hebrew writing and featuring the archangel Gabriel is being displayed in Israel. – AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

The so-called Gabriel Stone, a meter (three-foot)-tall tablet said to have been found 13 years ago on the banks of the Dead Sea, features 87 lines of an unknown prophetic text dated as early as the first century BC, at the time of the Second Jewish Temple. Continue Reading »

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