Discoveries Archives - Page 108 of 154

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have found a collection of right hands at the Hyksos capital of Avaris in Egypt. Collecting body parts was one ancient way of counting victims (cf. 1 Sam 18:25). Israeli scientists have developed a way to predict the location of sinkholes near the Dead Sea. Clay rods from the Neolithic period found years ago are not phallic symbols but were ancient matches for starting fires. A summary of the 13th season at Hippos/Susita has been released by the University of Haifa. There are more photos here. A large olive press from the 6th-8th centuries AD has been discovered in Hod HaSharon on Israel’s coastal plain. The National Project to Document Egypt’s Heritage has begun with the tombs of Beni Hasan. The Aleppo citadel has allegedly been damaged by shelling by the Syrian army. Eilat Mazar will be excavating more of the area between the Temple Mount and the City of David later this month. Nir Hasson has more on Sir Flinders Petrie, the archaeologist who lost his head. Wayne Stiles takes a closer look at Nebi Samwil and the neighboring Gibeon and concludes that they reveal similar spiritual lessons. Gordon Franz has obtained a copy of pseudo-archaeologist Robert Cornuke’s doctoral dissertation and finds that it’s a sham. Paul V. M. Flesher writes about the latest finds in the Galilean town of Huqoq. Leon Mauldin shares a photo of Mount Ararat with a rainbow. Haaretz has some tips for finding wifi in Israel. HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson A pile of hands used for counting the dead, depicted at mortuary temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habu (photo source)

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Syria, Weekend Roundup

Egyptian Pyramids Discovered with Google Earth

From Heritage Daily:

One of the complex sites contains a distinct, four-sided, truncated, pyramidal shape that is approximately 140 feet in width. This site contains three smaller mounds in a very clear formation, similar to the diagonal alignment of the Giza Plateau pyramids. The second possible site contains four mounds with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau. The two larger mounds at this site are approximately 250 feet in width, with two smaller mounds approximately 100 feet in width. This site complex is arranged in a very clear formation with the large plateau, or butte, nearby in a triangular shape with a width of approximately 600 feet. The sites have been documented and discovered by satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, North Carolina. Angela has been conducting satellite archaeology research for over ten years, searching for ancient sites from space using Google Earth. Angela is a UNC Charlotte alumnus and has studied archaeology since childhood. Google Earth has allowed her to document many possible archaeological sites, including a potential underwater city off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula that has sparked the interest of scientists, researchers and archaeologists. Angela is also a board member of the APEX Institute, founded by archaeologist William Donato, who is pioneering underwater archaeological research in the Bahamas. Angela has been assisted by Don J. Long, fellow APEX researcher and colleague.

The full story includes photos and a link to more of Micol’s discoveries. HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Technology

Weekend Roundup

With the discovery of a LMLK seal at Azekah, Omer Sergi of Tel Aviv University gave an impromptu lecture about LMLK seals. Daily updates by volunteers are posted here.

“Archaeological sites that currently take years to map will be completed in minutes if tests underway in Peru of a new system being developed at Vanderbilt University go well.”

Egyptian officials are trying to bring back tourists by opening new tombs, including the tomb of Meresankh.

An Israeli journalist has filmed a mass grave near the Golden Gate that he suggests dates to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

Like the tower of Pisa, the Colosseum of Rome is leaning.

James Mellaart, excavator of Çatalhüyük, passed away this week.

More than a hundred people gathered at the tomb of Sir Flinders Petrie this week to celebrate the 70th anniversary of his death.

The latest in the wider world of archaeology is reviewed by the ASOR Blog.

Congratulations to Geoff C. and Frank P., winners of Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.

HT: Jack Sasson, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Giveaway, Italy, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Tayinat Colossal Statue

(Post by A.D. Riddle)

There have been a dozen or so online pieces in the last two days about the colossal statue found at Tel Tayinat this summer, but most of them repeat what can be found in the official news release (see the update added to the end of our first post).

A few new photos have appeared, and the Toronto Star describes the discovery of the statue by Darren Joblonkay, a student working on the dig this summer.

(photo by Jennifer Jackson)

Darren Joblonkay with statue fragment (photo from The Star).

In the lower photo, one can barely see that the back of the statue, from the shoulders down, has an uneven surface. This must be the “lengthy Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription” in raised relief. The article in the Toronto Star gives a few intriguing details about the content of the inscription. It belongs to the Neo-Hittite king Suppiluliuma (9th cent. B.C.) and describes his “taking land from eight neighbouring kingdoms, establishing a border, and building a monument to his father.” The photo shows another piece of monumental sculpture, a column base fragment depicting a winged bull. The other reports state that the column base also has a relief of a sphinx.

The low mound of Tell Tayinat in the Amuq Plain, Turkey.

(photo source)

UPDATE: The official announcement was also released at the website of the University of Toronto, including a link to a photo of the column base fragment.

(photo by Jennifer Jackson)

Tagged Discoveries, Turkey

Alleged Samson Seal Discovered at Beth Shemesh

Some scholars are suggesting that the depiction on a seal found in the Sorek Valley shows the biblical hero Samson subduing a lion. From Haaretz:

A small stone seal found recently in the excavations of Tel Beit Shemesh could be the first archaeological evidence of the story of the biblical Samson.
The seal, measuring 1.5 centimeters, depicts a large animal next to a human figure. The seal was found in a level of excavation that dates to the 11th century B.C.E. That was prior to the establishment of the Judean kingdom and is considered to be the period of the biblical judges – including Samson. Scholars say the scene shown on the artifact recalls the story in Judges of Samson fighting a lion.
But excavation directors Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University say they do not suggest that the human figure on the seal is the biblical Samson. Rather, the geographical proximity to the area where Samson lived, and the time period of the seal, show that a story was being told at the time of a hero who fought a lion, and that the story eventually found its way into the biblical text and onto the seal.

The story continues and explains some of the geographical connections. This discovery reminds me that while Samson’s life largely centers in the Sorek Valley, the most prominent city of that valley is never mentioned in the narrative (Judges 13-16). If the interpretation of this seal is correct, the people of Beth Shemesh remembered their local hero with some pride.

A high-resolution photo of the seal by Raz Lederman is available here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Shephelah

New Sculpture from Tell Tayinat (and the treaty tablet)

(Post by A.D. Riddle)

According to an online article at Hürriyet Daily News, excavations at Tell Tayinat unearthed the head of a large statue last month. The Tayinat Archaeological Project is directed by Timothy Harrison of the University of Toronto. The head is made of basalt with inlaid eyes, is about 5 feet tall (1.5 m) and weighs 1.5 tons. Some excerpts give a few details:

“It is a figure with a beard and long hair, and it seems to be holding a weapon…The rest of the sculpture has not been found, indicating that it may
well have been damaged. However, the upper part is in very good
condition…The sculpture has been sent to the Hatay Archeology Museum, where it
will be restored by a professional team…Harrison also showed that
there is writing that says ‘Suppiluliuma’ at the back of the sculpture.”

In related news, an Assyrian vassal treaty tablet was discovered at Tell Tayinat in 2009 (see here).

Two articles including the publication of the treaty tablet and a discussion of the archaeological context appear in the latest issue of Journal of Cuneiform Studies (pdf downloads available here).

Harrison, T.P. and Osborne J. F.
2012 “Building XVI and the Neo-Assyrian Sacred Precinct at Tell Tayinat.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 64: 125-143.

Lauinger, J.
2012 “Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty at Tell Tayinat: Text and Commentary.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 64: 87-123.

For a number of years (or rather, decades), Kenneth Kitchen has been working on collecting all Ancient Near Eastern treaties, covenants, and law codes. The culmination of this work now appears in print as:

Kitchen, Kenneth A. and Paul J. N. Lawrence.
2012 Treaty, Law and Covenant in the Ancient Near East. 3 parts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

A detailed table of contents and introduction (pdf) can be downloaded at the publisher’s website. (I am counting on my library to get a copy, since I don’t have quite enough change in my pocket to cover the nearly €300 [= $370] price tag.) The introduction notes that this work includes 106 documents in 10 different languages. Parts 1 and 2 include the texts in transliteration and translation, with notes, indexes and color diagrams. Part 3 is a nearly 300 page commentary and synthesis of all this material. See here for a discussion of the significance of this study for the book of Deuteronomy in particular. (Deuteronomy and other biblical treaties and covenants are included in Treaty, Law and Covenant in the Ancient Near East, but the new Tayinat treaty tablet is not—it is probably too recent to have made it in.)

UPDATE (Jul 30, Mon): An official announcement concerning the new statue fragment was released this morning by the University of Toronto. It includes two more photos and states that the fragment was found underneath the paved surface of a monumental gateway leading to the Neo-Hittite citadel.

From the release:

The head and torso of the human figure, intact to just above its waist,
stands approximately 1.5 metres in height, suggesting a total body
length of 3.5 to four metres. The figure’s face is bearded, with
beautifully preserved inlaid eyes made of white and black stone, and its
hair has been coiffed in an elaborate series of curls aligned in linear
rows. Both arms are extended forward from the elbow, each with two arm
bracelets decorated with lion heads. The figure’s right hand holds a
spear, and in its left is a shaft of wheat. A crescent-shaped pectoral
adorns its chest. A lengthy Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription, carved in
raised relief across its back, records the campaigns and accomplishments
of Suppiluliuma, likely the same Patinean king who faced a Neo-Assyrian
onslaught of Shalmaneser III as part of a Syrian-Hittite coalition in
858 BC.

Tagged Discoveries, Resources, Turkey