Archaeology
News and features about archaeological finds linking stories from the Torah and Prophets, or other historical events to the State of Israel
A 2,000-year-old antiquities city near Afula were damaged by two antique robbers with a backhoe loader, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery.
The archaeological work will continue into 2019, including annual tree-ring timing studies to verify the age of the wooden beams.
“My heart started to pound, and I was sure everyone could hear it. My hands were trembling so badly I couldn’t properly take a picture,” said Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Danit Levi.
The rare artifact depicts the finely crafted head of a horned animal and delicate filigree work, and is believed to date back to the second or third century BCE.
Archeologists and engineers from the Israel Antiquities Authority arrived on Wednesday to figure out what to do with the 2,000-year-old rock.
The breakage comes just a day after the Western Wall plaza was filled with worshippers marking Tisha B’Av—a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the two holy Jewish temples at the site.
The 14-day pilot program combines a week of volunteering on an Israeli army base with a week at an active archaeological-dig site supervised by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The artifact dates back to 69 C.E., the fourth year of the Jewish revolt against Rome • Coin, found in the sewage system running beneath ancient Jerusalem, carries the inscription “For the Redemption of Zion” and a depiction of a chalice.
The sifting project, which has operated since 2004 in the Emek Tzurim National Park, aims to salvage religious and historical artifacts from the rubble, as well as to educate the public about the veracity of Jewish history on the Mount.
As Jews across Israel and around the world celebrated Lag B’Omer, Israeli authorities announced that they had found a symbol of the Shimon bar Kochba revolt against the Romans in the form of a small bronze coin.
“A discovery like this—ancient coins bearing the words “Freedom” and “Redemption” found right before the Jewish Festival of Freedom, Passover begins—is incredibly moving,” according to Eilat Mazar of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
