Tag: Qesem Cave

Report from Jerusalem #38, 1st January 2012

Elephants Out –  Homo Sapiens In

It is being claimed that the disappearance of elephants from the Levant led to the emergence of Homo Sapiens replacing the more primitive Homo Erectus some 400,000 years ago. The claim is based on work by researchers from Tel Aviv University, including archaeologists and anthropologists, at the Qesem Cave at Gesher Bnot Ya’akov, a ford north of the Sea of Galilee, where the teeth of the Levantine Acheulo-Yabrudian species of Homo Sapiens were found recently.

The theory is that Homo Erectus lived in association with the local elephants, using them as sources of meat and fat, and when the large creatures died out a new breed of humans evolved to be able to hunt faster and smaller animals and sustain their necessary level of consumable fats. This, said the scientists from Tel Aviv University, “was the evolutionary drive behind the emergence in the Middle Pleistocene Era of the lighter, more agile, cognitively capable hominin”. The researchers were not able to say whether the new species evolved in Africa and migrated to the Levant, or whether the remains found at the Qesem Cave were those of a local species.

Carvings in Floor of Silwan Dwelling, Jerusalem

In the remains of a house dated to the late Iron Age, three V-shaped carvings were found cut into the limestone bedrock floor. The arms of each V are about 40cm long and 5cm deep and the point of the V is accentuated by a slight widening into a miniature triangle. The excavator, Prof. Ronny Reich of Haifa University, thought the signs were unique but later discovered that similar carvings had been recorded in another nearby house during the abortive Parker Mission of a century ago. As the markings were enigmatic, the excavators put the details on Facebook to ask for suggestions and were overwhelmed by the response, but out of thousands of replies no credible ideas were received. It appears that the floor cuts may have been used to secure the feet of a piece of weaving apparatus. However, as the room was previously filled with rubble to act as a support for a defensive wall believed to have been constructed in the time of King Jehoash (842-802 BCE), the cuts may have served as a base for a framework used to reinforce the rubble fill.

Mughrabi Bridge to Temple Mount, Again

The City Engineer continues to insist that the present temporary bridge is unsafe and a potential fire-risk, but sharp protests from the Waqf and other Islamic bodies, objecting to any change to the “status quo”, have made it virtually impossible to replace it without causing anti-Israel violence throughout the Arab world. The solution has been to treat the timber structure with a fire-retardant substance and to have a fire-truck on permanent standby nearby.

Byzantine Bath-House in Judaean Hills

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed that an ancient bath-house of c.400 CE has been uncovered at Moshav Tarum, about 25 km west of Jerusalem, near Beit Shemesh. It was found during work on a new water supply line to Jerusalem. The main room is cruciform in plan and heated by a fine hypocaust floor with about thirty squat stone pillars, and fed by a heating channel from a nearby boiler house. The find was open for viewing for a few days and it is not clear if plans will be made for permanent access.

Archaeological Finds Vandalised in the Afula Area

Several archaeological sites in the vicinity of Afula, in the Lower Galilee, have been vandalised and precious remains destroyed. At Khirbet Amudim the contents of a locked steel container were destroyed, including First-Temple pottery and later artefacts. This has set back the work of several rescue digs in the area that were being conducted by the IAA in advance of new road building. The culprits appear to be ultra-orthodox elements that roam the archaeological sites and object to the occasional but necessary moving of ancient graves and the removal of bones for examination and respectful reburial. Police are investigating and plan to bring charges.

Second Temple Token a Seal of Purity

Eli Shukron of the IAA continues to make important discoveries in the area of the channel that leads to the base of Robinson’s Arch by the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The latest find to be announced is a small button-sized (1 cm) clay seal that came up in sifting the dirt from the north side of the Siloam Pool, where 30 coins have already been recovered. The seal or token is inscribed with the Aramaic formula “d-k-a  l-H” which is translated as “Pure to God”. The token is dated to the late Second Temple period, perhaps fifty years before the destruction of 70 CE. The use of similar seals or tokens is recorded in the Mishnah, where it describes how a person wishing to purchase a libation would pay one official, receive a token from him and pass it on to another official who would hand him the appropriate drink offering (Shekalim 5:4). The find was hailed by Mrs. Limor Livnat, the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport, as showing the connection of the Jewish People to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Stop Press, ‘Geniza’ Find in Afghanistan

Rumours are surfacing of the discovery of a cache of early medieval Jewish documents in Arabic, Judeo-Arabic and early Persian at Samangan Province on the Silk Road. The 150 fragments, which seem to be a kind of ‘geniza’ of unwanted scrolls, are in the hands of dealers, and Jewish institutions are hoping to purchase them, but details are still very sketchy.

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