Tag: Kiryat Gat

Report from Jerusalem #58, 24th February 2014

Church Uncovered near Kiryat Gat

At the village of Aluma, just north-west of Kiryat Gat and beside the ancient road from Ashkelon to Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has discovered the remains of a Byzantine Church with excellent mosaics. The building is 22m long and 12 m. wide and is of the basilica type with a wide nave and narrow aisles. All three sections have floors covered in colourful mosaics laid out as forty medallions framed by vine tendrils, each medallion depicting an animal or botanical symbol and with the names of local church leaders Demetrios and Herakles. There is a large external entry courtyard floored in white mosaic with a panel giving the names of Mary and Jesus, and the local donor. The church is the only one of this period found in the area and the IAA suggest that it was the focus of Christianity in this vicinity. Also found nearby was a potter’s workshop with remains of jugs and bowls, lamps and glass objects, indicating a rich local culture, according to Dr. Daniel Varga, director of the excavation. The mosaics will be removed for public display at a museum and the site covered back to preserve it.

Dead Sea Scrolls on Facebook

Since early December 2013, the IAA have put the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital library on Facebook and made the thousands of fragments available free of charge to the public, in an improved format thanks to use of a unique camera developed for the purpose. The website is www.deadseascrolls.org.il.  The upgraded website includes 10,000 new images, translations into Russian and German, and a faster search engine.

Ancient Well in Tel Aviv

In a salvage dig in the Ramat Hahayal area, a large Byzantine-era well, about 1,500 years old, has been uncovered. The mouth of the well is several meters wide and is an example of one that employed a donkey to draw water by means of clay vessels on a continual belt and discharge it into a nearby cistern or reservoir.

Metal Greek Statue from Gaza

A life-size bronze statue of a Greek god has been rescued from shallow waters by a Palestinian fisherman off the coast of Gaza. It weighs 500 kg and was hauled aboard his boat by four men, he says, and taken ashore on a cart because of its great weight. According to one expert it shows no sign of encrustation or barnacles and it is suspected to have been found on land, though not declared as such. The local government of Hamas heard of it and ordered it to be taken into police custody, since when it has been kept from view, to the intense frustration of local scholars and archaeologists. One expert from the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem is reported to have declared it to be priceless, very rare and virtually unique, but it should be noted that there are two life-size bronze statues in the Athens National Museum, which are called Poseidon and Paris. The Gaza statue has been dated to the fifth to first century BCE and dubbed Apollo, for reasons unknown.

Unesco Listing of Ancient Caves and Terraces

Israel has put forward to UNESCO for consideration at their next meeting in Doha in June, for the World Heritage List, the caves of Bet Guvrin and Maresha, southwest of Jerusalem. The caves belong to ancient cities that were inhabited from the time of the Edomites to the Crusaders.

At the same meeting, the Palestinian Authority have put forward the ancient terraces of Battir, a west-bank village near Jerusalem, whose terraces go back hundreds of years, it is claimed.

Persian Period Village Near Jerusalem

During work on a natural gas line from the coast to Jerusalem, remains of a large village were uncovered near Mitzpe Harel, west of Jerusalem. The settlement consisted of several houses around narrow pathways and was probably surrounded by orchards and vineyards, as prevalent in the area today. It looks as if the houses were the standard four-room house around a courtyard, and the village was perched on an elevated spur with good views of the surrounding country. According to the dig director Irina Zilberbord, the village was at its peak in the Hasmonean period of the second century BCE and was abandoned at the end of that period – perhaps when Herod drew away many peasant inhabitants for work on his reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple, according to Dr. Yuval Baruch, the Jerusalem regional archaeologist. It is reported, happily, that the gas line will now be relocated so that the site can remain accessible for further investigation.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg

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

Report from Jerusalem #43, 28th June 2012

Boundary Stone at Gezer

Another boundary stone has recently been found at Tel Gezer, 30 km. west of Jerusalem. So far 13 such markers have been found with the words “Tehum Gezer” inscribed in Hebrew, but this latest one has a line across the middle with Tehum Gezer on one side of the line and the name Archelaus, in Greek, on the other side. Presumably this was the name of the adjoining owner. The stone is dated to the Seleucid- Maccabean period of the late second century BCE and was uncovered during the survey of greater Gezer carried out by the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of the U.S.A. under the direction of Eric Mitchell. The water system is being excavated by a joint Israel Parks Authority (Tsvika Tsuk) and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (Dan Warner, Jim Parker, Dennis Cole) team. Their work will include clearing the underground tunnel to the water source that was located by the original excavation under R.A.S. Macalister in 1902-1909. It is planned to open it to visitors when access to the source has been made secure.

Gold and Silver Hoard at Kiryat-Gath

A cache of 140 coins and jewellery, wrapped in a disintegrating cloth, has been found  in a pit within a villa courtyard in Kiryat-Gath, 50 km. south-west of Jerusalem, during an emergency rescue dig before proposed building extensions. The work exposed a small village of the Second Temple period and later Byzantine ruins.  Emil Aladjem, director of the dig for the IAA, thinks the treasure may have been hidden by a wealthy woman fleeing from the Romans during the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132-135 CE. Besides the coins there was an earring in the form of a bunch of grapes, a ring with a precious stone inscribed with the seal of a goddess, and two silver sticks for applying cosmetics. The rare gold coins are connected to the reigns of the emperors Nero, Nerva and Trajan and datable to between 54 and 117 CE. The hoard has been sent to the laboratories of the IAA for cleaning and preservation before being shown to the public.

Exhibition of Gold Artefacts at the Bible Lands Museum

In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem is showing a comprehensive display of ancient gold items from its own collection and those of one or two other collectors. The pieces are carefully presented in more than 50 glass showcases and are arranged in groups stemming from Egypt, the Levant, Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia and Iran, Etruria, the Black Sea region and also China and the Far East. Most of the items are fibulae, rings and earrings but there are also one or two small inscriptions on gold plate and a fine gold lion-headed rhyton. At its opening in 1992, the Bible Lands Museum was ostracized by scholars and archaeologists as nearly all the exhibits come from the market, having been bought by the founder Dr. Elie Borowski, and are of doubtful provenance.

However the collection is so important and comprehensive that the Museum has become recognized as a valuable resource, and the collection is now acknowledged by scholars and researchers. It hosts tours and workshops for school children who can appreciate its excellent models of ancient Jerusalem, the Egyptian pyramids at Giza, the city of Babylon and individual buildings like the Persian Apadana audience hall at Susa and the ziggurat of Ur. There is also a good section on the development of the alphabet. The exhibition entitled “Pure Gold” remains open until April 2013.

Headquarters of the IAA on Museum Boulevard, Jerusalem

On a site next to the Bible Lands Museum and opposite the Israel Museum, work has now started on the superstructure of an ambitious new headquarters for the IAA, whose departments are at present scattered among many different locations. The new building will house the IAA library, one of the best archaeological ones in the world, all of the IAA offices, workshops, stores and laboratories, spaces for the Dead Sea manuscripts and fragments, a major exhibition gallery and of course a coffee shop. Work on the deep foundations is already complete and the superstructure will house all the facilities under one enormous suspended roof, designed by architect Moshe Safdie. Funding has come from many different donors, the chief among them being the Schottenstein Foundation. When completed in several years time, many of the departments will move from their present location in the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem, and it is hoped that this splendid building of the British Mandate period, will then be carefully renovated (including its beautiful central courtyard with plaques by Eric Gill), and that its exhibits will be upgraded to a more user-friendly format.

Ancient Arabic Manuscripts to be made Available Online

The Euromed Heritage-4 Organisation is planning to put on line thousands of Arabic documents, manuscripts and books from five major Arabic libraries, the Khalidi, the Budeiri, the Al-Aksa, the Al-Ansari and the Waqf Restoration Centre libraries, all of Jerusalem. Recently ceremonies were held in Jerusalem and Ramallah to inaugurate the Arabic Manuscripts Digital Library of Jerusalem, with the aim of promoting the written heritage of East Jerusalem and to make it accessible to all via an internet connection. The project is scheduled to take three years and has a budget of $2 million funded by Euromed Heritage. Some of the books and documents have already been digitized and will be available shortly. The service will be presented in a multi-lingual format and will be free of charge to viewers.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg

W.F.Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Report from Jerusalem, #25, September 2010

Ancient treasures in Gaza

There was a report last August about the difficulties of presenting archaeological remains in and around Gaza city. Much work has been done in the area in the past and much remains to be done, but at present organized digs are difficult to arrange and stray finds or rescue digs are open to unpreventable looting. In addition, contractors are loathe to report any finds to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, as they will send a team of investigators and the building work will be held up for long periods. As a result discoveries are not notified and small finds are just covered over or looted by the contractors.

The Director of the Ministry, Mohammed Kheila, points out that funds for rescue work have been allocated, but his staff is small and unable to deal with all the many sites, both on private and public projects. Hayam al-Bitar, head of the Hamas Government Museums Department, says that they try and educate the public in the importance of the ancient findings and arrange suitable exhibitions, but they are hampered by lack of appropriate materials for cleaning and preservation due to the Israeli embargo on non-essential goods.

Philistine Temple at Tel es-Safi, near Kiryat Gat

Tel es-Safi (Tel Tsafit), identified as Biblical Gath, is being excavated by a team from Bar-Ilan University under the direction of Prof. Aren Maier. A Philistine temple building has been excavated, dating to the 10th century BCE, including two large column bases that would have supported pillars to the roof, and may have defined the inner sanctum of the temple. Several walls on the site appear to have collapsed outwards due to a severe earthquake. Prof. Maier speculates that it may have been the earthquake of c.750 BCE mentioned in the books of Isaiah (2:19, 21) and Amos (1:1, 4:11: 6:11, 9:1), and speculates that, judging by the damaged walls, it may have been of an intensity of 8 on today’s Richter scale. The excavators also found evidence of the siege equipment used by Hazael of Damascus in his destruction of Gath in around 830 BCE.

Reopening of Israel Musem in Jerusalem

There was a special ceremony in early August for archaeologists to celebrate the opening of the archaeological wing of the Museum, recently renovated on a large scale. All the existing exhibits have been newly presented in a most attractive new setting. Of special interest is a new room that presents details of some of the famous pioneers of archaeological work in Israel/Palestine. Individual sections are devoted to the work of Sir William Flinders Petrie, to Felicien de Saulcy (who worked in Jerusalem, Herodion and Airaq al-Amir) and Conrad Schick, several of whose Temple models are shown. There is also a section on the work of the Palestine Exploration Fun; the original theodolite, used for the Survey of Western Palestine by Charles Warren and others, is exhibited.

Heavy Gold Coin from Tel Kedesh

The heaviest gold coin ever found in Israel was uncovered recently at the dig in Kedesh led by Sharon Herbert and Andrea Berlin of the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota. Dating to the time of the Ptolemaic dynasty, ruling from Alexandria, the obverse shows the head of Queen Arsinoe Philadelphus, wife (and half-sister) of Ptolemy II, and the reverse has two overlapping cornucopia, symbols of plenty. The unusual size and weight (27.71 g), suggest that the coin, minted in Alexandria, was used for ceremonial purposes to honour the queen, rather than as currency. It was minted by one of her successors, Ptolemy V, in 191 BCE.

According to Dr. Donald Ariel, head of the IAA Coin Department, the coin – a mnaieion – had a nominal value of one mina, equivalent to 100 silver drachmas, and is then a and would have been equivalent in value to half-a-year’s average senior salary, about $80,000 today. Tell Kedesh, south of Kiryat Shemona, has been shown to be the administrative seat of the satrap (governor) during the Persian period and continued as such under the Ptolemies who reigned over Israel/Palestine after the death of Alexander the Great, until they were ousted by the Seleucids in 198 BCE. The coin was found by the central administrative building that housed public rooms and an archive.

Cameo of Eros from Givati Car Park site, Jerusalem

The large building site opposite the City of David Visitors’ Centre has recently offered up another piece of jewelry (previously there were gold and pearl earrings) of the Roman period. This time it is a small figure of Eros in relief cut into semi-precious pale blue onyx placed on a dark brown onyx background. The piece is only 1 cm. long and 0.7 cm. wide. It may have been enclosed in an oblong metal setting and used as a ring or even an earring. The figure of Eros is resting with his left hand on a reversed torch, an image that symbolizes the loss of life, according to Dr Doron Ben Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, who are leading the excavation of the site by the IAA.

A Moabite Temple

Last week an announcement from Amman reported on the finding of numerous sacred vessels within an Iron Age shrine (c.1200-539 BCE) at Khirbet ‘Ataroz (Biblical Ataroth) near to Madaba, south-west of Amman. According to Ziad al-Saad, Jordan Antiquities Chief, the structure measured 9 m. by 4 m., had a raised platform and two antechambers, and stood in an open courtyard of 12 m. by 12 m. The excavation turned up over 300 sacred vessels and figurines, including a bull figurine depicting the god Hadad, circular clay vessels, lamps and altars. The dig is being conducted with La Sierra University of California and the pieces will be exhibited in Jordan’s new Archaeological Museum on the Acropolis in Amman. We await further news of this important find.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg
Albright Institute, Jerusalem