Discoveries Archives - Page 112 of 154

Seal of Mattaniah Discovered in Jerusalem

A seal from the days of the First Temple has been discovered below the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. From the press release by the Israel Antiquities Authority:

The remains of a building dating to the end of the First Temple period were discovered below the base of the ancient drainage channel that is currently being exposed in IAA excavations beneath Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This building is the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations.
In the excavations, underwritten by the Ir David Foundation, a personal Hebrew seal from the end of the First Temple period was discovered on the floor of the ancient building. The seal is made of a semi-precious stone and is engraved with the name of its owner: “Lematanyahu Ben Ho…” (“למתניהו בן הו…” meaning: “Belonging to Matanyahu Ben Ho…”). The rest of the inscription is erased.

Two people with the name Mattaniah are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:4, 16 and 2 Chronicles 29:13.

The full press release is here. Leen Ritmeyer comments on the location of the find. Joseph Lauer passes on word that some information in the press release is incorrect. According to Zachi Dvira (Zweig), “This was not sifted at our site. And the visitors sift only the debris from the Temple Mount.

Only our staff workers do the sifting for other excavations.”

Mattaniah seal. Photo by Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem

Egyptian Scarab Discovered in City of David

A unique discovery in Jerusalem a couple of weeks ago was surprisingly carried by only one news source—Israel Hayom. Joseph Lauer saw the report and passed it on.

An Egyptian scarab, dating back to the 13th century B.C.E. (the era when some scholars speculate the Exodus may have occurred) was uncovered on Thursday at an excavation sponsored by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the City of David National Park.
The seal is about a centimeter and a half in length and was used to stamp documents.
It bears the name, in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, of the sun god Amon-Ra, one of Egypt’s most important deities. It is made of soft gray stone and also bears the imprint of a duck, which was apparently one of the sun god’s symbols.
[…]
“This is the first time we’ve found a scarab of this kind in the City of David,” said archaeologist Eli Shukrun, who is directing the dig along with Dr. Joe Uziel.

The full story, with a photo, is here. I wonder why the Israel Antiquities Authority didn’t report this.

Perhaps they had already prepared their Passover story (the recovery of Egyptian coffins) and didn’t want to save it for next year. I’m curious too where they discovered the scarab. I’ll be in the City of David next week and post what I learn.

UPDATE: Aren Maeir has corrected me in the comments below. This is not the first Egyptian scarab found in the City of David. I misread Shukrun’s quote: it’s the first scarab of this kind that he has found in the City of David. The post above has been changed accordingly. My apologies for the error.

Sign at entrance to City of David National Park

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem

The Resurrection Tomb Mystery on TV

If you want to capture the hearts and minds of the people, you won’t do it through blogs but through TV specials. Whether or not the movie producers really want to convince people to “believe” or just buy the DVD and book is not clear to me, but the The Resurrection Tomb Mystery (aka The Jesus Discovery) puts forth claims that very few scholars have found convincing.

Some of the latest discussion is reviewed by James McGrath, and Mark Goodacre provides a simple summary of the claim.

The claim at the heart of the new documentary is that this tomb belonged to some of Jesus’ disciples, his earliest followers, probably Joseph of Arimathea himself, the man who buried Jesus. The basis for the claim is twofold: (1) One of the ossuaries is said to feature a picture of a fish, pointing downwards, that is spitting out a stick man. They interpret this as depicting the Hebrew Bible’s story of Jonah and the fish, and they suggest that this is being used as a symbol of early Christian resurrection. (2) Another of the ossuaries features an inscription that they interpret as referring to resurrection.

Goodacre is unconvinced, saying that “the case that this tomb belonged to Jesus’ disciples is very weak.” He then provides his top ten problems with the proposed interpretation.

1. Weak circumstantial evidence alone.

2. Handles on a fish?

3. Layered patterns of geometric shapes.

4. The Composite Computer-Generated Image.

5. The original excavators did not see a fish.

6. Fish in the margins.

7. The handled half-fish.

8. The Inscription Does Not Clearly Refer to Resurrection.

9. The Tomb Does Not Clearly Date to the time of Jesus.

10. Witnessing to Resurrection Does Not Make the Tomb Christian.
Goodacre’s blog explains each point. James Tabor has responded here. The spiritual “mission” of the program is to convince viewers that Jesus rose spiritually but not bodily from the grave. Though the producers obscure this by claiming to have discovered an early “high Christology,” their view constitutes a direct attack on historic Christianity as taught by the apostles until today.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead (1 Cor 15:14-15).

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem

Cave for Demeter Worship Identified in Judean Hills

From Haaretz:

We often hear about how Jerusalem is holy to followers of the three major monotheistic religions. But what is less well-known is that the surrounding Judean hills were home to pagan ritual sites involving Greco-Roman gods. One such site, linked to the harvest goddess Demeter, has been identified at the Twins Cave, according to a study released by the Yad Ben-Zvi historical research institute last week. In Greek mythology, Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades, king of the underworld. After Zeus intervened, Hades agreed to send Persephone back aboveground – but first he convinced her to taste the seeds of the pomegranate, an underworld fruit. Once she tried them, she could not remain completely cut off from Hades’ realm, to which she had to return for three months every year. And how do you reach the underworld? In Greco-Roman thought, dark, deep pits or caves were considered gateways to hell and were often used for rituals dedicated to pagan gods, say Boaz Zissu, who teaches classical archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, and Eitan Klein, one of Zissu’s graduate students. Zissu and Klein said in the study that the Twins Cave was used for just such pagan rituals between the second and fourth century C.E. The 42 clay lamps from the late Roman period discovered in the cave were used as part of a pagan rite, apparently meant to guide Demeter’s way as she searched underground for her daughter, they said.

The full story is here. For directions to the cave located east of Beth Shemesh, see here.

Tagged Discoveries, Judah

Christian Inscription from AD 125

Larry Hurtado brings attention to what may be the earliest Christian graffito, suggesting that the find is extraordinary but that because the author “doesn’t have a TV production company behind him, we haven’t seen this item in the daily news.”

The inscription was found in Smyrna, home of a first-century church (Rev 2:8-11), and dates to AD 125/26. The writing includes the words “Lord” and “faith,” but you’ll need to get the forthcoming book by Roger Bagnall or read Hurtado’s summary for the details.

HT: Arne Halbakken

View of Smyrna (modern Izmir) from acropolis

Tagged Discoveries, Turkey

Weekend Roundup

There are enough items related to the “Jesus Discovery”/Talpiot Tombs that I am going to exclude those from today’s roundup. Perhaps I will catch up next week. In the meantime, you can take a look at new photos posted at the official website.

A bronze Greek warrior’s helmet was discovered off the shore of Haifa.

The City of David is the focus of this week’s Jerusalem Post column by Wayne Stiles.

I think that Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence, by Craig Evans, would be a much better use of time and money than any books about Jesus discoveries. (Two dings: it’s marketed as “provocative,” and it’s only 208 pages.)

A copy of Edward Robinson’s 3-volume Biblical Researches in Palestine just became available for $75. And a copy of Picturesque Palestine (4 vols.) was just listed for $1100. (Or pick up an electronic edition for $55.)

A Jerusalem Post article lists the Top 5 Spring Activities in Jerusalem as: Ramparts Walk, Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, Bezalel Fair, Café Itamar, Sacher Park. (The article’s introduction leaves something to be desired: “When rain let up, Spring will be upon us; here are some great outdoor activities in the capital to prepare for.”)

G. M. Grena has another riddle, but this one is so easy (he claims) that he has disqualified me from answering. So what is this great discovery that is pictured?

Congratulations to Aren Maeir for sending the final proofs off for the first double volume of the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavations.

If you’re interested in the broader world of biblical studies, you might check out the March Biblical Studies Carnival with dozens of links to the latest.

It snowed in Jerusalem on Friday. (For photos of a previous snowfall, see here.) The storm also filled Caesarea’s hippodrome with water.

Snow in Jerusalem. Photo by Austen Dutton.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Philistines, Resources, Weather, Weekend Roundup