Tag: Ashdod-Yam

Report from Jerusalem #54, 7th October 2013

Assyrian Period Finds at Ashdod-Yam

A small number of trial digs were conducted at Ashdod-Yam in the 1960s, which demonstrated the antiquity of the port but it is only this year that excavations were resumed, this time under the direction of Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv Archaeology Department. The expedition has uncovered a fortification system of the port dating to the 8th century BCE, the period of the Assyrian occupation, as well as much later evidence of the Hellenistic period of the 2nd century BCE, after the time that Alexander the Great was making his way down this coast to Egypt. The excavators found remains of a building of that period with Hellenistic coins and weights. This has been just the first season of the excavations and more finds are expected.

Jerusalem, Pottery Fragments from Before 586 BCE

Fragments of pottery that can be dated to the reign of Zedekiah, the Judaean client king appointed by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, have been uncovered at the City of David excavation conducted by Dr. Joe Uziel and Nahshon Zanton for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).  The fragments include small figureheads, lamps with single and multiple spouts, inscribed handles and above all a bowl fragment with an incomplete inscription in paleo-Hebrew lettering, which reads as “….ryah bn bnh….”.  The excavators point out the similarity with the name Zechariah ben Benayah, the father of the prophet Jahaziel (2 Chron.20:14) who advised King Jehoshaphat (870-845 BCE) about going to war against Ammon and Moab. They also point out that the inscription was written on the bowl before firing, and thus was not just something written on it as a sherd, and so it might imply possible ownership of the bowl.

Nimrud Fortress, 13th Century Lion Relief

Qa’alat Nimrod is a 12th and 13th century fortress in the upper Galilee and one of the finest castles in Israel. Mark Twain, who found Jerusalem to be a dirty and unpleasant city, praised Nimrod Castle as one of the finest monuments of the Holy Land. It looks like a Crusader castle but is in fact an Ayyubid and Mamluk foundation built to protect the road from the coast to Damascus against the Crusaders, It was strengthened and reconstructed by the Mamluk sultan Baybars in about 1270 CE. Today it stands prominently in a National Park where recently a large lion relief was found and identified by Dr. Moshe Hartal of the IAA.  The lion was the royal symbol of the sultan Baybars and the stone carving is over one metre long. It is a rare and monumental piece that probably came from the castle, and is the second one of a lion to be found in this area in the last fifteen years.

Gold Cache found near Temple Mount

The gold items were found just about 50m south of the Temple Mount in the Ophel excavations conducted by Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University over the last four years. The extraordinary find consisted of 36 gold coins, a pair of gold earrings, a silver ingot and a large 10cm. gold medallion, on a short chain, depicting a seven-branch menorah, a shofar and a scroll, which Mazar thought might have adorned a Torah scroll. The artefacts were found in two locations, one hidden below floor level and the other hastily scattered above the floor, as if left in a hurry. Both are dated by the excavator back to 614 CE, when there was a short invasion of Jerusalem by the Persians to 629 CE. Dr. Mazar thinks that the hoard was destined as a contribution to a synagogue to be built near the site and abandoned at the threat of the Persian invasion, and later never retrieved by the owners. The gold coins have been dated by Lior Sandberg, of the Tel Aviv Institute of Archaeology, to a series of Byzantine rulers dating from the 4th to the early 7th centuries CE. After preparation, it is intended to exhibit the artefacts worldwide before placing them for public display in the Israel Museum.

Award to Prof. David Ussishkin

The Percia Schimmel Prize for 2013 will be awarded to Prof. David Ussishkin at the Israel Museum on 4th February 2014. It is given for Distinguished Contribution to Archaeology in Eretz Israel and the Lands of the Bible. David Ussishkin is retired professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University and directed the excavations at Lachish for many years from the 1980s. He has recently published the five definitive volumes of that expedition and is at present co-director with Israel Finkelstein of the renewed Megiddo excavations. He has been a frequent and popular lecturer to the AIAS in London.

Correction to Report No. 53

In connection with the Crusader hospital, Report no.53  stated that “Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1291”. This was wrong, the date should have been 1187. It was the Mamluks who defeated the second wave of Crusaders at Akko (Acre) in 1291. My apologies and thanks to John Bartlett for pointing out my mistake.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F.Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem.

Report from Jerusalem, #28, 5th January 2011

Non-Destructive Investigation By X-Ray

Prof. Yuval Goren of Tel Aviv University has discovered a method of investigating clay and other materials by non-destructive methods, using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry . Having built up a data-base of results from former intrusive methods, he can now organize the analysis by merely scanning the object and comparing the results with the previous data. The scans will then show the type of clay or other material and its geographical origin. He is thus able to examine new finds and also older museum specimens without the need to break off a piece or cut off a sample. The method has been used on the Late Bronze Age fragment of a cuneiform letter from the City of David excavations that is dated to the El-Amarna period. Prof. Goren’s analysis shows that the tablet material is the Terra Rossa soil from around Jerusalem and it is therefore most probable that the item was written by a scribe in the Jerusalem area and may indeed have been part of a letter dictated by the Jebusite king Abdi-Heba to Egypt, to the court of Amenhotep III or IV at El-Amarna, and the fragment may have been part of the copy retained by the sender.

Aelia Capitolina, A Roman Bathing Pool in Jerusalem

During excavations for a new mikvah (ritual bath) in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, a rescue dig by the IAA, directed by Dr. Ofer Sion, uncovered a large bathing pool that had been used by the Tenth Legion (Fretensis) of the Roman army in about 200 CE.  Evidence of the Roman build was the large number of floor and roof tiles with the stamp of the legion, and the many stamped roof tiles show that the facility was completely roofed. The location in the Jewish Quarter, some distance from the presumed army HQ in the Armenian Quarter, shows that the occupying soldiers were spread out throughout the city. The Tenth Legion was involved in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and later in the rebuilding of the city by Hadrian, after the abortive Bar-Kochba revolt of 135 CE. when it was renamed Aelia Capitolina.

The excavators were amused to find one of the roof tiles impressed with the paw marks of a dog.  Presumably the cur had walked over the wet tiles that had been spread out and left to dry.

Monastery of St. George in Wadi Qelt, West of Jericho

On 30th November a ceremony was held at the Monastery to celebrate the completion of a new road to St. George’s, that had been built by the Ministry of Tourism and other bodies to improve access, at the request of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.  The present road had suffered damage from flash floods and a minor earthquake over the last few years, and the new one will make it easier for pilgrims and tourists alike, to visit this remarkable 5th-7th century complex of buildings that appear to hang from the side of the steep desert mountain over the lush green wadi below.

It is thought that the original buildings were constructed above a fourth-century synagogue. They were destroyed during the Persian invasion of Jerusalem in 614 CE. and later restored by the Crusaders. The interior boasts some very fine icons and frescoes. Today, St. George’s is one of only six monasteries still active in the Judean desert area.

Funding for Restoration of Historic Sites

In the context of the National Heritage Plan announced last February, the first tranche of 91 million shekels (16 million sterling) has now been allocated for work to 16 major sites, ancient and modern. One of the archaeological sites is Herodion, where work was recently halted due to the tragic death of Ehud Netzer. It can now continue with restoration of the unique frescoes at the small theatre, that will be preserved and made ready for presentation to the public by experts from the Hebrew University.

Another site will be the large Byzantine-period synagogue at Umm el-Kanatir, in the Golan heights, which is being restored piece by piece using computerized technology organized by Yeshu Drei and archaeologist Haim Ben-David.

Sudden Fierce Storm , Destruction and Discovery

Winter in Israel started with a destructive storm on 12th and 13th December, that wreaked havoc along the Mediterranean coast in particular. Many sites were affected but worst of all was Caesarea. Some of the foundations of the northern aqueduct were exposed and parts of the Crusader city wall suffered fractures due to subsidence. The Crusader-period breakwater, that protected the southern arm of the Herodian harbour was broken into three pieces and the port wall left unprotected from southern wave damage. Repair work will have to begin very shortly to avoid major damage to the ancient port.

At Ashdod-Yam, the ancient fortress close to the shore suffered damage.

In ancient Ashkelon, at the national park, there was damage to a mosaic floor and a row of several columns was overturned. On the beach ten metres below, the storm that hit the cliffs exposed and toppled a classic white marble Roman statue about 1.2m high. It was headless and without arms but depicted a fine female figure in a carefully folded toga and sandals and has been presumed to be of Aphrodite. It is from a bath house, exposed at the head of the cliffs, and may have been part of the dedication of the baths, that are dated to c. 300 CE.

Early Homo Sapiens from Cave in Israel, 400,000 Years Ago?

In 2000 Prof. Avi Gopher and Dr. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University discovered the Qesem Cave where they claim to have found the earliest evidence of modern man. The cave is near Rosh Ha’ayin, about 20 km. east of Tel Aviv, and the archaeologists have located a series of human teeth that they claim are closer to the dental apparatus associated with anatomically modern Homo Sapiens, rather than their earlier brothers, the Neanderthals. They have found in the cave evidence of flint knapping, the mining of sub-surface materials for flint production, hunting and the cutting and sharing of animal meat, evidence of regular burning and so on, all activities associated with anatomically modern Homo Sapiens.

The claim is that these findings antedate the earliest evidence of anatomically modern Homo Sapiens from Africa and thus the scholars claim that the species existed at the Qesem cave many years earlier than presently realized. The dating of the teeth to between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago is however not yet at all clear and further results from the ongoing excavations are awaited before reaching any firm conclusions.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,

W.F.Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem