BiblePlaces Blog

Byzantine Winepress Excavated in Jaffa

The Israel Antiquities Authority has issued a press release on the latest discovery:

Recently impressive remains of an industrial installation from the Byzantine period which was used to extract liquid were exposed on Hai Gaon Street.
Installations such as these are usually identified as wine presses for producing wine from grapes, and it is also possible they were used to produce wine or alcoholic beverage from other types of fruit that grew in the region. Yafo’s rich and diverse agricultural tradition has a history thousands of years old beginning with references to the city and its fertile fields in ancient Egyptian documents up until Yafo’s orchards in the Ottoman period.
According to Dr. Yoav Arbel, director of the excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is the first important building from the Byzantine period to be uncovered in this part of the city. The fact that the installation is located relatively far from Tel Yafo adds a significant dimension to our knowledge about the impressive agricultural distribution in the region in this period. The installation, which probably dates to the second half of the Byzantine period (sixth century – early seventh century CE), is divided into surfaces paved with a white industrial mosaic. Due to the mosaic’s impermeability such surfaces are commonly found in the press installations of the period which were used to extract liquid. Each unit was connected to a plastered collecting vat. The pressing was performed on the mosaic surfaces whereupon the liquid drained into the vats. It is possible that the section that was discovered represents a relatively small part of the overall installation, and other elements of it are likely to be revealed in archaeological excavations along adjacent streets which are expected to take place later this year.”

The full story is here. Three high-resolution images are available here. Haaretz has a report here.

Byzantine winepress excavated in Jaffa. Photo by IAA.

Tagged Discoveries, Israel's Coast

Online Museum: Bible and Archaeology

Fifty important artifacts and discoveries are listed in chronological order at www.bibleandarchaeology.com. The collection includes photographs from a variety of sources. If I only had time to teach ten to a class, I would choose these:

#2: Merneptah Stele
#3: Ten Dan Inscription
#6: Kurkh Monolith
#7: Black Obelisk
#8: Mesha Stele
#13: Hezekiah’s Tunnel
#16: Lachish Reliefs
#20: Ketef Hinnom Amulets
#28: Cyrus Cylinder
#43: Pool of Siloam
#46: Gallio Inscription

Alternately, you can just pass on the link to your class (or friends or pastor) and they can get a quick study in the world of biblical archaeology.

Hezekiah's-Tunnel,-tb051803206-bibleplaces

Hezekiah’s Tunnel
(photo source)

Tagged Museums, Resources

Weekend Roundup

Some environmentalists are not happy with a plan to save the Dead Sea with a pipeline from the Red Sea.

Archaeology in Egypt has suffered from the political turmoil and resulting loss of tourist dollars.

Residents of Modi’in are protesting plans to build where someone else used to live a long time ago.

Seth Rodriquez provides insight into the Broken Wall of the Sluggard.

Rubén Gómez has a new website for his Spanish-speaking tour of Israel later this year.

The History Channel shares six “secrets” of King Tut.

In honor of Ehud Netzer, the Biblical Archaeology Society has made a collection of Ehud Netzer’s articles available for free, including the recent “In Search of Herod’s Tomb.” Click on each title to read.

The ASOR Blog provides a weekly roundup of stories in the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Egypt, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Report Published for Gezer Regional Survey

The Gezer Excavation Project includes a major regional survey under the direction of Eric Mitchell.

A preliminary report of the first five seasons (2007-2011) has now been published in Hadashot Arkheologiyot. Some excerpts:

Purpose: “The purpose of the project is to carry out a systematic high resolution archaeological survey of the region, within 1 km of Tel Gezer, and to locate and publish all features therein. This survey will aid in gaining a better understanding of the historical development of relationship between the ancient city of Gezer and its surrounding landscape.”

History: “The immediate vicinity of Tel Gezer has been investigated by R.A.S. Macalister who noted over 200 archaeological features within 1.5 km of the tell (Macalister 1912 III: Pl. VIII). In recent years, A. Shavit conducted a survey of the entire Gezer Map. Shavit noted that his survey was intensive but he was selective in the surveyed areas.”

Methodology: “To date, 1260 features have been recorded during the current investigations. Features are defined as any individual cultural element deposited on, built on, or carved into the landscape.

Therefore, with features such as winepresses, which include a basin, vat, channel, and cupmarks, each individual feature was added to the total and thus, the number of sites can be reduced significantly.”

Tombs: “Forty-one tombs were accessible for interior survey. Seven basic categories of tomb type have been encountered during the survey. These include tombs with irregularly shaped interior plans (6), simple bench-style tombs (4), arcosolium or recessed bench tombs (5), a distinct simple double arcosolia type (5), loculus or kokhim tombs (9), tombs with multiple styles (3), and tombs that are incomplete, partially filled, or otherwise do not fit into the above categories (9).”

Surface Visibility: “While modern and old disturbances could have easily hidden the existence of tombs, caves, and presses where agricultural land now stretches, the ploughed fields and orchards now offer excellent surface visibility and provide ample opportunity to observe and collect pottery, tesserae, and chert flake scatters, which would otherwise have been obscured by dense brush.”

Conclusions: “The results of the 2007–2011 Tel Gezer Survey seasons have been encouraging in terms of both artifacts and features documented, as well as total area covered. At the current rate, it is estimated that two to three additional seasons will be necessary to complete surveying a 1 km radius around Tel Gezer. Our goal for the future is to publish a catalog of features within our survey area, as well as articles on the tombs and presses of Tel Gezer. At the end of the project, we will analyze all our GPS location data for features and artifacts from every season via mapping software. Using this data, we can construct a clearer understanding of distribution patterns for various features, as well as draw wider conclusions about the use of the land around the ancient city of Gezer.”

The full report includes five images. Check out the official website for information about joining the team.

View of arcosolia in Gezer tomb
Photo by Tel Gezer Regional Survey

Tagged Excavations, Shephelah

Picture of the Week: Gerasa in the 1920s

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

What is it about old photographs that make them so fascinating?

I think part of the answer lies in our natural curiosity about the past. What did things look like back then? And to a student of archaeology, old photographs of archaeological sites can be especially fascinating because it raises the question: What did things look like when the first archaeologists stepped onto the scene?

Our picture of the week comes from Volume 4 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection, which focuses on Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. In the photo below, you can see the southern theater and the forum at Gerasa (a.k.a., Jerash) in the modern country of Jordan. Gerasa was one of the cities of the Decapolis, and “the country of the Gerasenes” is mentioned in Mark 5:1, Luke 8:26, and Luke 8:37.

The photo was taken sometime between 1920 and 1933. Another early photograph of the forum can be found here on LifeintheHolyLand.com. By way of contrast, this page on BiblePlaces.com shows you what Gerasa looks like today, after the archaeologists have excavated, cleaned up, and reconstructed these ruins. The differences between then and now are striking.

The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection is a wealth of information and has a variety of uses:

For the archaeologist, this collection provides photographs of early digs and of sites as they looked before excavations. For better or worse, this was an age when a lone scholar stood over a team of local workers who moved tons of dirt in a single season (and this practice can be seen in the collection). Yet this was also a period when things were fresh and exciting as archaeologists were digging into sites for the first time.
For the preacher and teacher, this collection provides additional material which can be used to transport your listeners back to a culture and landscape similar to biblical times. It also can be used to discuss geography or illustrate particular sites.
For the historian, this collection provides windows into this dramatic period of history. This was the period of the late Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate when Jewish immigrants were migrating to Palestine and establishing new settlements. It was also a time when technology was on the rise: electric stations and telephone stations were being built, railroads were being constructed, and automobiles and airplanes were coming onto the scene.
For the artist and graphic designer, this collection provides many beautiful, crisp, black & white photos of places in the Holy Land that can be used in a variety of ways. These photos still capture people’s attention and fire their imaginations.

This photograph and over 700 others are available in Volume 4 of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection and can be purchased here for $20 (with free shipping). Historic images of other Roman cities can be seen here, here, and here on LifeintheHolyLand.com.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Picture of the Week, Then and Now

Wednesday Roundup

A cave above En Gedi is revealing well-preserved artifacts from the first century AD.

Luke Chandler has word that Yosef Garfinkel plans to follow his Khirbet Qeiyafa dig with excavations at Lachish.

The Daily Mail has photos of the newly opened exhibit of King Herod at the Israel Museum. Shmuel Browns has more.

Some are claiming that the Waqf is destroying more antiquities on the Temple Mount.

Gordon Franz evaluates Robert Cornuke’s use of a computer model to predict the location of Paul’s shipwreck on Malta.

A website for the excavations of Tel Abel Beth Maacah is now online.

En Gedi and Nahal David aerial from northwest, tb010703272

Aerial view of Nahal David and En Gedi

Tagged Dead Sea, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup