Excavations Archives - Page 80 of 97

Israel Imported Honeybees from Turkey

Several years ago, excavators at Tel Rehov (near Beth Shean) discovered a series of beehives.

Scholars have now concluded that bees were imported from Turkey because they were less aggressive and more productive than Syrian bees. From the Jerusalem Post:

Although Turkey is currently in the dog house for many Israelis because of its involvement in the violent Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, during biblical times the Israelites imported bees from Turkey for the industrial production of honey in the Beit She’an Valley, according to a new archeological discovery by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The team, headed by HU archeology Prof. Amihai Mazar, found a total of 30 intact hives in the ruins of the city of Tel Rehov, dating back to 900 BCE, as well as evidence that there had been 100-200 hives made of straw and unbaked clay.
Three millennia ago, the joint Israelite-Canaanite settlement had 2,000 residents.
The hives, lined up in an orderly way, may be the earliest complete beehives ever discovered and offer a glimpse of ancient beekeeping during biblical times.
The team of archeologists and biologists was surprised that bee remnants had been found in an urban setting.
[…]
Syrian bees are aggressive and irascible, said Bloch.
Thus, it would have been difficult to keep them within a dense urban area. The Anatalyan bee, which produces five to eight times more honey, is less aggressive, making it possible to raise them in an urban setting.
The Beit She’an Valley digs also showed evidence of widespread commerce with lands in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as techniques for transferring bees in large pottery vases or portable hives. An Assyrian stamp from the 8th century BCE provided evidence that the bees had been brought 400 km. south from the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey – a distance that was just slightly shorter than that between Taurus and Tel Rehov. Thus, the import of “docile” bees apparently was a solution for the beekeepers of the Land of Israel.

The full article is here.

Tagged Excavations, Turkey

Omrit Excavations 2010

Excavations at the site of Omrit in northern Israel are wrapping up for the summer, and from the photos posted on the unofficial blog, it looks like they made some impressive discoveries this year.

In particular, note the beautifully frescoed wall near the earliest temple.

Omrit is not far from Caesarea Philippi (Banias), and the excavators have suggested that Herod’s temple was located at Omrit instead of Caesarea Philippi. A series of temples have been found at
Omrit, dating from approximately 50 BC to AD 360. For a brief review, see this post.

Thanks to Roi Brit for the tip.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee

Questioning the Identification of the Magdala Synagogue

Tom Powers began to comment here on yesterday’s post on Magdala, but it grew to such length that he put it up on his own blog. Tom questions the present identification of the synagogue to the first century.

However, I must ask certain questions about the present find, especially in relation to the other synagogues long dated to the late 2nd Temple period in this country – and there are only a handful: Masada, Herodium, Gamla, Jericho, and perhaps one or two others. For one thing, what other synagogue from this period has a mosaic floor (of any kind or design)? What other synagogue lacks stepped benches around the periphery of the hall? What other synagogue has a decorative carved stone set into the middle of the floor? In short, everything about the Magdala structure seems to be an anomaly – if it is what the archaeologists claim.

These are good questions. Typically mosaic floors from this time period are found in houses or palaces, not in synagogues. Other synagogues have benches on the walls, including the 1st century synagogues at Masada and Gamla (for a reconstruction and photo of the latter, see here).

Tom is not questioning the date of the building (contra the post title; see update below), but rather whether this building is in fact a synagogue. It is a curious fact that archaeologists too often tend to find exactly what they’re looking for. Might this be a public building, not necessarily religious in nature? Tom questions whether the inscribed stone with a menorah is a sufficient basis for the synagogue identification. One further question in that regard is what periods the site was occupied.

You can read Tom’s whole post here.

UPDATE: Tom has kindly informed me that I have misrepresented his post. Indeed I have! I read what I expected rather than what he wrote. I apologize to him and to my readers. The above post has been corrected. In case it is not clear above, Tom questions the function of the building, not its date, as I previously stated.

Magdala synagogue

Carved stone in Magdala synagogue. Photos courtesy of Gordon Franz.

Tagged Analysis, Excavations, Galilee

Volunteers Needed at Magdala

Volunteer coordinator for the excavations at Magdala has written that they are preparing to excavate around the newly discovered synagogue and they are looking for volunteers. But they’re offering something that few (or no?) excavations do: free room and board.

The dig will finance accommodations (meals and transportation) for volunteers for up to one month, if you wish to stay more, we can prepare a special price for you. The accommodations will be in Tiberias, a town 5km /3 mi from Migdal, right in the center of town in a house in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, great location, near shops and restaurants, it’s beside the hospital and right across the street is the information center.
All rooms have bathrooms with towels, Air Conditioning system, internet and there are 2 small kitchenettes. A big dining room an outdoors dining area with TV, washing machine, refrigerator, freezer and parking lot.

Volunteers are responsible for their own transportation costs. Excavations begin next month and are scheduled to go through 2013.

A new blog has lots of information, including several videos (in Italian) of previous discoveries.

This could be a great opportunity to uncover a town very close to the center of Jesus’ ministry and dating from his time (unlike most of the excavations at nearby Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida). If you’re already in Israel (student or otherwise), you might consider a “summer vacation” in Magdala/Tiberias as a nice chance to get away and serve, learn, and make new friends.

View towards Magdala and Arbel from east

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Opportunities

Northern Hinnom Excavations

A month ago, I noted an excavation in the northern Hinnom Valley of Jerusalem that was investigated and photographed by Tom Powers. The architecture was partly obscured in those photographs by tarps.

Reader Roi Brit passed the area a few days ago and noted that the excavation appears to have stopped and the tarps have been removed. Craig Dunning has sent some photographs he took this morning.

View of excavations, looking north

View of excavations, looking south. The artisans’ quarter is visible in the background.

Close-up of excavations

Jerusalem from southwest. Area of excavations is circled in red.

If anyone knows more about what we’re looking at, let us know.

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem

Excavation Time-lapse

Wonder what it’s like to be on an archaeological excavation? This two-minute time-lapse video filmed a few weeks ago at Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?) will give you one perspective.

HT: Associates for Biblical Research

Tagged Excavations, Technology