Archaeology
News and features about archaeological finds linking stories from the Torah and Prophets, or other historical events to the State of Israel
Researchers aim to identify the origin of the weight, found in an antiquities shop, based on the mammal’s illustration.
The discovery sheds new light on the development of the ancient city even after the destruction of the first Jewish Temple in 586 BCE.
“This is living proof that care and concern for the elderly are not just a modern idea, but were part of social institutions and concepts as far back as about 1,600 years ago.”
The museum, accusing Israel of “cold-blooded terror,” said it would donate proceeds from its most valuable artifact to Palestinians.
“Two thousand years after the minting of this coin, we come along a few days before Tisha B’Av and find such a moving testimony to that great destruction,” says archaeologist Esther Rakow-Mellet.
The inscribed clay may have belonged to the son of one of King Josiah’s royal servants, a few decades before the destruction of the temple by Babylon.
“The rare findings deepen the understanding of both the beginnings of urbanization and of professional specialization in the land of Israel.”
“Gaon is the soundtrack of Israeli life,” says Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
“The ancient sources implying Queen Zenobia converted to Judaism are possibly accurate,” Haggai Olshanetsky, of University of Warsaw, told JNS.
The ornate discs were probably intended to enhance carrying handles for a coffin, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The rare find depicts a drinking contest.
After nearly a century of archaeological silence, the ancient stones of Sebastia are speaking again as Israeli excavators uncover remarkable finds.
