Earlier we wrote about the excavation at Tel Dor here. Dr. Ayelet Gilboa, chair of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, and the co-director of the Tel Dor Excavation Project, was kind enough to provide us with one of the wonderful aerial photos of Tel Dor.
Aerial view of Tel Dor looking northeast. Photo courtesy: Dr. Ayelet Gilboa.
Click on the image for a photo suitable for use in a PowerPoint presentation.
Dor has a long history extending from the Canaanite period around the 20th century B.C. It was also controlled by the Phoenicians, the Sea People, the Israelites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Dor was abandoned in the third century A.D. (Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov./Dec. 2002).
Dor is mentioned only a few times in the Old Testament Scriptures.
When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of the victories of Joshua and the Israelites he put together a confederacy of armies including the king of the “heights of Dor on the west” (Joshua 11:2).
Joshua conquered “the king of Dor in the heights of Dor” (Joshua 12:32).
Dor was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11). The writer of Joshua quickly acknowledges that Manasseh could not take possession of these cities, “because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land” (Joshua 17:12; see Judges 1:27).
Solomon appointed his son-in-law Ben-abinadad over the height of Dor (1 Kings 4:11).
Ephraim’s territory extended to the border of Manasseh, including “Dor with its towns” (1 Chronicles 7:29).
For more information about the 2010 excavation season at Tel Dor check the official web site here.
The Jerusalem Post Online Edition Magazine ran a feature article November 12 here about Shlomo Moussaieff here. Moussaieff, 86, is known for many things. He is a billionaire, but he is also a collector of archaeological artifacts, Torah scrolls, cuneiform inscriptions, and other significant items.
Shlomo Moussaieff
Moussaieff has received renewed attention in connection with the recent law suit accusing antiquities experts of forgery. Here are a few comments by Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, author of the magazine feature.
His stories, like his collections, are often considered controversial. In the antiquities world, he is especially renowned for often turning his nose up at the accepted logic that artifacts should be documented in situ by archeologists to make the most of their historical meaning. Moussaieff bah-humbugs traditional thinking, arguing, like his old friend Moshe Dayan, that so-called looters are also salvaging history by bringing it into the light and keeping it out of the dusty cellars of antiquities authorities.
In court I showed them how to know if the clay is genuine – I lick it. I know the taste. After so many years in the business, just looking, you also know. Everyone who is jealous says that I have some fakes. I spend a lot of money to double-check, and so far in four years of court cases they haven’t been able to prove any one of them is a fake. I have been collecting for 65 years and have 60,000 items in my collection. It is possible I have made a mistake, but if I have made a mistake, nobody can prove it. (Laughs.)
When asked why he snubs Israel’s antiquities laws, Moussaieff said,
These are ridiculous laws from the time of the Turks. The Antiquities Authority should be teaching and not torturing. They should ignite history. Instead, they find Arab shepherds and beat them and take what they have. What do they have, broken clay pieces? Bravo. All day they sit with a telescope to see who is going in the field to look for something, it’s ridiculous. For a 500-millimeter piece of parchment, they will put a man in jail.
If you build a building, you have to stop work, you have to pay for the excavation – not them. This is torture. The laws don’t make any sense. This is what they do with their budget? The law should allow more freedom, let anybody display anything in his house, and not make a coin collection worth $10 illegal. They have 600,000 coins in storage, what do they display? A few pieces.
I have artifacts from the time of Abraham. I have artifacts from the second our people were born. They call me a looter. They call me an antiquities thief. Nobody wanted to publish my things [that were not found in situ]. But the museums could only pray to have such a collection as I have. Now that they realize that how much I have and that it is not fake, they all love me, they all want my collections.
The Israel National News reports here on a new exhibit at the Davidson Center in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden in Jerusalem.
A very special exhibition opens next week in Jerusalem, revealing to the public for the first time all of the ancient coins uncovered in excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount.
Alexander Jannaeus coin. Photo: IAA
The article includes some nice photos of the exhibit and a couple of the coins. One is labeled Lily King Yehonatan. In most English sources I have used on the period between the Testaments this ruler is called Alexander Jannaeus. He was the Hasmonean ruler recognized as King of Judea from 103 to 76 B.C.
Hendin, Guide to Biblical Coins, shows a similar coin with the obverse (head) showing a lily surrounded by a Hebrew inscription (Yehonatan the king). The reverse (tail) shows an anchor with the inscription “of Alexander the king.”
The Global Arab Network reports on a statement made by German archaeologist Markus Gschwind, head of the Syrian-German Archaeology Expedition, here. The report says,
Syria, the land of civilizations and history, is rife with ancient monuments that tell the stories of the many peoples and civilizations that lived in it, whose stories endured in the face of time to tell humanity about their greatness.
“Beneath every footstep in Syria is an ancient civilization,” says Archaeologist Markus Gschwind, head of the Syrian-German Archaeology Expedition working at al-Rafina in Hama. He notes that this saying is repeated around Germany, as most Germans consider Syria the most historically deep-rooted country in the Mediterranean.
In a statement to SANA, Gschwind said that he has been living and excavating in Syria for six years, each day discovering many secrets from the history of mankind.
Gschwind is working at the ancient city of al-Rafina in Hama. Hama is at the site of Biblical Hamath (2 Kings 14:25; 2 Chronicles 8:4).
My limited visits to Syria have convinced me that the statement by Gschwind is correct. Of course, the same could be said of Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, et al.
The Assyrian Empire ruled the ancient near east from the battle of Qarqar (853 B.C.) till the battle of Carchemish (605 B.C.) when they were defeated by the Babylonians. Nineveh had fallen seven years earlier. This was the time of the Divided Kingdom period in Israelite history, and Assyria had contact with a numerous biblical kings. Ahab, for example, fought against the Assyrians at Qarqar. Qarqar is north of Hammath. Both are on the Orontes River.
The tell of Qarqar in northern Syria. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
Israel National News has posted a video featuring Dr. Gabriel Barkai.
In wake of the claims that Israel is excavating under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount and undermining Muslim mosques in order to cause them to collapse, archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkai told IsraelNN TV the opposite is true.
He charged that it is the Arabs who have acted against the status quo and have “brutally” excavated land that contains many ancient artifacts from Jewish history.
Dr. Barkai spoke about the “Sifting Project,” in which countless archaeological finds are being discovered in the rubble dug up by the Muslims. He also discussed his most famous discovery: small silver plaques containing the Priestly Benediction from the Book of Numbers, which he found in 1979.
These plaques contain the oldest surviving Biblically-related inscription discovered to date, dating back to 600 B.C.E.
Some of the comments made by Dr. Barkai are controversial, but I think readers who are interested in the archaeology of Jerusalem will find this 10-minute video beneficial.
The link takes you to the report and the video with all of the associated ads.
Austrian Times reports here on the discovery of a Babylonian seal impression at Tell el-Dab’a in Egypt.
Austrian archaeologists have found a Babylonian seal in Egypt that confirms contact between the Babylonians and the Hyksos during the second millennium B.C.
Irene Forstner-Müller, the head of the Austrian Archaeological Institute’s (ÖAI) branch office in Cairo, said today (Thurs) the find had occurred at the site of the ancient town of Avaris near what is today the city of Tell el-Dab’a in the eastern Nile delta.
The Hyksos conquered Egypt and reigned there from 1640 to 1530 B.C.
She said a recently-discovered cuneiform tablet had led archaeologists to suspect there had been contact between the Babylonians and the Hyksos.
Forstner-Müller added that Manfred Bietak had begun archaeological research on the period of Hyksos dominance at the remains of a Hyksos palace at Avaris in 1966.
Babylonian seal impression.
Earlier in the year we reported on the discovery of a Babylonian tablet at Tell el-Dab’a here.
The report says the Austrian plan to build a museum in the area. A more complete report in Die Presse says they also have plans to restore the river. The Pelusiac branch of the Nile once flowed by this ancient site. Below is a photo of the canal which often follows the course of the Pelusiac.
Canal along the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile near Tell el-Dab’a. Photo by FJ.
Tell el-Dab’a is in the eastern Nile Delta. In Biblical times it was known as the Land of Goshen, and served as the home of the Israelites.
“Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. “You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. “There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.” (Genesis 45:9-11 NAU)
These new findings might shed some light on the plausibility of Achan finding a garment from Shinar (Babylon) at Jericho (Joshua 7).
Tourists who visit the Egyptian Museum in Cairo are overwhelmed at the large collection of Egyptian artifacts. In fact, most folks just see a few of the displayed items. Have you ever thought about the basement. Take a look at this video featuring Dr. Zahi Hawass, the flamboyant director of antiquities in Egypt.
Now, if they would only allow the taking of photos in the galleries!
HT: Biblical Paths
About two months ago we wrote about Tel Dor here. The day before that we noted the discovery of the miniature carving of Alexander the Great here.
Alexander Carving from Tel Dor
Paula Waiman, a PhD student at the University of Haifa, left a comment on the post about the Alexander carving. Her advisor is Dr. Ayelet Gilboa, co-director of the Tel Dor Excavation. I suggested to her that we move up her comment so it would be easier for readers to see.
The exquisite gemstone of Alexander the great that captured your attention, as seen in you website, is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of one of the largest, long lasting and high profile archaeological projects in Israel. If you care about the archaeology of biblical times (Israelites, Phoenicians and Sea People), the Classical periods, and the cultural heritage of Israel and the Mediterranean; and if you are interested in forging a bond between Israel and the international community – please take a moment to look at the attached file [see Tel Dor website for full info]. Like almost cultural projects around the globe, we need your help to endure.
We would be grateful if you could pass this message to any other interested parties.
Tel Dor website:dor.huji.ac.il
Tel Dor has also a facebook wall. You are welcome to visit us.
Prof. Sarah Stroup, University of Washington, has posted some nice photos of the excavation here.
A new blog, called The Tel Burna Excavation Project, has been launched to report on the preliminary survey of Tel Burna. The tel is located in the Shephelah of Israel among such sites as es-Safi/Gath, Zayit, Goded, Mareshah, Azekah and Lachish.
The Shephelah. Map: Tel Burna Excavation Project.
In the case of Tel Burna, with no excavation material available, the problem is even more difficult. despite this, several scholars have suggested identifying the site with Biblical Libnah (although one should note that nearby Tel Zayit is a very likely candidate as well – as Ron Tappy, the excavator there, has recently published).
Libnah was a Canaanite town that was conquered by Joshua who allotted it to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 10:29-30; 15:42). The city was chosen as one of the Levitical cities (Joshua 21:13), which points to its role as a border site. According to 2 Kings 8:22 (and 2 Chronicles 21:10), the city of Libnah was involved in the rebellion against Jehoram the king of Judah (in 9th century BCE) and later, a woman from Libnah married King Josiah in the 7th century BCE (Kings 23:31-32;2 Kings 24:17-18; Jeremiah 22:11).
In any case, even if the site is not Libnah, it is clear for the survey results (which will be mentioned in an upcoming post) that the site was a very important site in the Iron Age, along the border between Judah and the Philistines.
Most first time visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, whether in 1967 or 2009, probably think they are looking at a wall seen by Jesus and other first century characters prior to AD 70. In a sense they are. That is, they are seeing the same wall, but not at the first century level.
The Western Wall is the western side of the temple platform enclosure built by Herod the Great. Jesus drove money changers out of the temple precinct (hieron) (John 2:13-17). In their discussion with Jesus the Jews called attention to the length of time the temple (naos) had been under construction (John 2:19-21).
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:19-21 NAU)
The photo below shows the largest visible stone in the western side of the Temple precinct. According to the Western Wall Tunnel web site, this stone is the largest one in the tunnel. It is 41 feet long, 11.5 feet high, and 15 feet deep. The web site says that this stone is 20 feet above the street level of the first century.
The largest visible stone in the Western Wall tunnel. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
The Tunnel was dug in the years following 1967, but an exit was not cut on the north end until 1996.
