Discoveries Archives - Page 123 of 154

Discoveries at Khirbet al-Mudayna, possible Jahaz

Excavations at Khirbet al-Mudayna (Medeiniyeh) have been slowly and steadily peeling back the history of this large site on the southern side of the Medeba Plateau in Jordan. Some have suggested that the site be identified with Jahaz, the scene of the encounter between the Israelites under Moses and Sihon the Amorite (Num 21:23; Deut 2:32; cf. Judg 11:20; Isa 15:4; Jer 48:34). From Exchange Magazine:

For two decades, Laurier archaeology professor Michèle Daviau has led international teams of scholars and students abroad to uncover the hidden lives of people who existed thousands of years ago.
During her most recent excavation in Jordan, Daviau was astounded by the discovery of a limestone statue and several high-status objects that appear to have been imported from outside the region.
The objects were made from a variety of materials: three small black ware vessels, one with an incised design of triangles, two faience cosmetic containers, two faience bottles, one calcite cosmetic vessel, two alabaster vessels, one fine-grain basalt bowl and a steatite cosmetic mortar were discovered in an ancient house dating back to about 600 BC.
The objects were in the same room as a 40-centimetres statue of a male with red paint preserved on his left leg and his hands. Such finds have no parallels in Jordan although their source may be Egypt or Phoenicia, said Daviau.
“The alabaster and faience objects suggest influence from the two superpowers in the region, Egypt and Assyria, but the dynamics whereby these objects arrived at the site are a mystery,” she said. “They may reflect a period of about 30 or 40 years when Egypt controlled this area.”
The principal sites under excavation by Daviau in the Wadi ath-Thamad area are Khirbat al-Mudayna and the Roman fortress of Zuna. The former is a walled Iron Age town (1,000 to 600 BC) situated on a hill with the Nabataean/early-Roman period settlement (100 BC to 150 AD) at the hill’s base. More than 150 sites that date from the Lower Paleolithic to the Ottoman period have been located in the dig’s 10- by 11-kilometre survey area.

The story continues here. You can read more about the site at BAS’s Find a Dig, learn more about the archaeologist on her university profile page, or check out the Facebook group.

HT: Joe Lauer

Khirbet al-Mudayna on the Wadi ath-Thamad

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jordan

Byzantine Mosaics at Shikmona

Tel Shikmona (Shiqmona) sits on the tip of Mount Carmel next to the Mediterranean Sea. Its location within the modern city of Haifa has made it very accessible to scholars over the last century, beginning with the work of Moshe Dothan in 1951. Seventeen seasons of excavation were conducted by the Haifa Municipal Museum of Ancient Art (1963-79), with strata discovered from the Late Bronze, Iron I-II, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Recently archaeologists have uncovered beautiful mosaics from a Byzantine church building. The University of Haifa has issued a press release with photos.

Researchers at the Institute of Archaeology from the University of Haifa excavating at Tel Shikmona have exposed magnificent mosaics dating back to the Byzantine Period (sixth century C.E.), which were part of an ecclesiastic structure. The excavations are taking place as part of a project funded by the Hecht Foundation, to expand the Hecht Park in Haifa, Israel, annex it to Tel Shikmona, and transform Shikmona into a public archaeological park.

The story is also reported by the Jerusalem Post.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations

Skeleton Wrapped in Gold Foil Discovered on Crete

This tomb in Crete dates roughly from the time of Kings Manasseh and Josiah. From the AP:

ATHENS, Greece — Greek archaeologists have found an ancient skeleton covered with gold foil in a grave on the island of Crete, officials said Tuesday.
Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis said his team discovered more than 3,000 pieces of gold foil in the 7th-century B.C. twin grave near the ancient town of Eleutherna.
Cemeteries there have produced a wealth of outstanding artifacts in recent years.
The tiny gold ornaments, from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.5 inches) long, had been sewn onto a lavish robe or shroud that initially wrapped the body of a woman and has almost completely rotted away but for a few off-white threads.
“The whole length of the (grave) was covered with small pieces of gold foil — square, circular and lozenge-shaped,” Stampolidis told The Associated Press. “We were literally digging up gold interspersed with earth, not earth with some gold in it.”

The full story is here. I have not seen any photos yet.

The archaeologists have produced a few videos of the excavation before this latest discovery:

The ruins are on the north slopes of Mount Ida, the mythical birthplace of the god Zeus.

Mount Ida from Phaistos, Crete

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Greece

1st Century Mosaic Found in Apamea, Syria

From the Syrian Arab News Agency:

Hama, central Syria, (SANA) –The national Archeological expedition found a unique reddish brown mosaic with a length of 4.8 meters and a width of 3 meters in addition to several coins dating back to the 1st century AD.
Head of Hama Antiquities Department Abdul Qader Farzat said the mosaic was uncovered in Chamber No. 5 Acriba Bath inside Apamea which is six meters long, five meters wide and 4 meters high.
Farzat pointed out that the expedition worked mainly on the western corridor of the bath which is 11 meters long where clay dishes dating back to Byzantine Age were found in addition to a wall upon which a clay canal was found.

The full article is here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Syria

Wednesday Roundup

Ferrell Jenkins has posted some great shots of the royal theater box at the Herodium, along with one of his recent aerial photos.

A bronze signet ring depicting the Greek god Apollo has been discovered at Tel Dor. The University of Haifa press release includes a large photo.

A seal dated to 6200 BC has been discovered in the Yeşilova Tumulus in western Turkey.

G. M. Grena argues from LMLK seals and the Bible that Sennacherib did not devastate the economy of Judah.

Yeshiva University is hosting a conference in March entitled “Talmuda De-Eretz Yisrael: Archaeology and The Rabbis of Antique Palestine.”

You can sign up now for Bible & Archaeology Fest XIII. I went last year and thought it was excellent. The list of speakers is a “who’s who” of archaeology and biblical studies.

Tagged Discoveries, Lectures, Weekend Roundup

Samaritan Synagogue Discovered near Beth Shean

From the Israel Antiquities Authority:

According to Dr. Walid Atrash and Mr. Ya’aqov Harel, directors of the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The discovery of another Samaritan synagogue in the agricultural hinterland south of Bet She’an supplements our existing knowledge about the Samaritan population in this period. It seems that the structures uncovered there were built at the end of the fifth century CE and they continued to exist until the eve of the Muslim conquest in 634 CE, when the Samaritans abandoned the complex. The synagogue that is currently being revealed played an important part in the lives of the farmers who inhabited the surrounding region, and it served as a center of the spiritual, religious and social life there. In the Byzantine period (fourth century CE) Bet She’an became an important Samaritan center under the leadership of Baba Rabbah, at which time the Samaritans were granted national sovereignty and were free to decide their own destiny. This was the case until the end of the reign of Emperor Justinian, when the Samaritans revolted against the government. The rebellion was put down and the Samaritans ceased to exist as a nation”.
The building that was exposed consisted of a rectangular hall (5 x 8 meters), the front of which faces southwest, toward Mount Gerizim, which is sacred to Samaritans. Five rectangular recesses were built in the walls of the prayer hall in which wooden benches were probably installed. The floor of the hall was a colorful mosaic, decorated with a geometric pattern. In the center of the mosaic is a Greek inscription, of which a section of its last line was revealed:

T[]OUTON NEWN
meaning “This is the temple”.

The full press release and four high-resolution photos are available here (temporary link).

Samaritan synagogue and farmstead. Photograph: SKYVIEW, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Samaritan synagogue inscription: “This is the temple.” Photograph courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Discoveries, Samaria