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Gold Roman Coin Found Near Sea of Galilee

Excavators at et-Tell (Bethsaida?) have found a gold coin from the 2nd century AD. From the Omaha World-Herald:

The coin, which weighs 7 grams, is 97.6 percent gold, Arav said.
The find was unexpected because Bethsaida primarily was home to humble fishermen, he said. Arav said somebody must have been doing good business a little more than 100 years after the birth of Christ.
The gold coin, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, carries the image of Antoninus Pius, the 15th Roman emperor, who reigned between A.D. 138 and 161.
“Before newspapers, coins fulfilled the job of disseminating information. In our case, Antoninus wanted to announce that the Senate designated him to the position of a consul for the second time. This position was among the highest at Rome.”
The Bethsaida coin is the first Antoninus Pius gold coin excavated in Israel, Arav said, and as far as he knows, it’s the first discovery of this particular kind of coin.

The full story is here.

HT: Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee

Weekend Roundup

The first excavation season at Tel Burna has concluded. They had a fantastic season, and they would be most grateful for some support. They’ll have aerial photos taken and posted on the blog next week.

Robert Cargill has written an insightful essay on the “Misuse of Archaeology for Evangelistic Purposes,” specifically with reference to the recent “discovery” of Noah’s Ark.

In his recent Asia Minor Report 9, Mark Wilson (Seven Churches Network) notes that the Black Sea Studies series has been made available online for free by the publisher. In particular, he points to volume 7 as providing useful background on the early Christian communities mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1.

Analysis of the Temple Scroll suggests that it was written at Qumran.

The Israeli army is keeping the ruins of the Samaritan temple closed to the public because they say it is too dangerous. The Samaritans are unhappy because of the entrance fees they could be charging.

The July/August issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is available, and the article on the destruction of Pompeii is online for free. I’m looking forward to reading the article on Jezreel.

The Magdala Center is the Catholic plan for a Galilee pilgrimage center, the “Notre Dame of the Galilee.” They plan to complete excavation of the on-site “synagogue” (see previous post) in one year and the rest of the city in three years.

If you’ve ever taken a series of photos with the intention of stitching them together to create a panorama, you might check out the free Microsoft Research Image Composite Editor (ICE).

Tagged Dead Sea, Galilee, Italy, Shephelah, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Chariot Linchpin from Sisera’s Hometown

In the period of the judges,

the Lord sold [the Israelites] into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help (Judges 4:2-3).

Archaeologist Adam Zertal believes he has identified Sisera’s hometown of Harosheth Haggoyim at the site of el-Ahwat not far from the Jezreel Valley. A bronze tablet discovered in the excavation was a linchpin of a chariot wheel. Enemies were sometimes carved on these linchpins as a sign of disrespect, not unlike depictions of a king putting his foot on the necks of his enemies. The woman depicted on the linchpin may be a Hittite goddess. Zertal connects this artifact to the story of Sisera’s defeat by Deborah and Barak:

This identification enhances the historical and archaeological value of the site and proves that chariots belonging to high-ranking individuals were found there. It provides support for the possibility, which has not yet been definitively established, that this was Sisera’s city of residence and that it was from there that the chariots set out on their way to the battle against the Israelite tribes, located between the ancient sites of Taanach and Megiddo.

Zertal further identifies Sisera as one of the Sea Peoples. The Philistines are the most well known, but another group were the Shardanu who originated from Sardinia.

More details are given in the press release of the University of Haifa (with good illustrations). The Jerusalem Post story has additional information apparently based on Zertal’s new book, Sisera’s Secret, A Journey following the Sea-Peoples and the Song of Deborah.

Anson Rainey argues at length that Harosheth Haggoyim is not a city but a region, and the name should be translated as “district of the foreigners.” He locates it in the plain east of Megiddo, and thus equivalent to “at Taanach on the waters of Megiddo” in Judges 5:19. For his analysis, see The Sacred Bridge, pp. 137-38, 150-51.

Photo by Moshe Einav/University of Haifa

Tagged Discoveries

Archaeological Display in Tel Aviv

How many archaeological sites do you suppose there are in Tel Aviv?

From Haaretz:

The Tel Aviv municipality may soon launch a broad initiative to restore and display archaeological artifacts across the city, deputy-mayor Meital Lehavi told Haaretz.
The plan, to be done in close cooperation with the Antiquities Authority, intends for large local artifacts to be presented in parks, squares and other public areas. The pilot for the program will be launched in 10 parks around the city already located close to archaeological sites.
While the plan has not been finalized and has yet to be confirmed by the municipal administration, Lehavi said a delegation from the municipality will visit the state archaeological storehouses in two months to select exhibits for display.
“When people hear ‘archaeology’ they automatically think of cities like Jerusalem, Megiddo or Akko,” Yossi Levi, the central district archaeologist for the Antiquities Authority said. “But Tel Aviv-Jaffo alone has about 128 archaeological sites, which is a lot. Fifty of them are even visible to the naked eye. As these are sites people travel through anyway, the idea is that they can be turned into public exhibits at a minimal cost.

For more details, see the article in Haaretz.

Tel Gerisa (aka Napoleon’s Hill), with buildings of Tel Aviv in distance

Tagged New Exhibits

New Paleo-Hebrew and Greek Fonts

Kris Udd has designed more than a dozen new fonts and is graciously making them available to the public via the BiblePlaces.com website.

The ten Greek fonts released today:

Archaic Greek (8th c. BC)
Rosetta Stone (196 BC)
Nahal Hever A (c. 50 BC)
Nahal Hever B (c. 50 BC)
Greek Coin (1st c. AD)
Theodotus (AD 60)
Papyrus P66 (AD 200)
Papyrus P75 (AD 250)
Sinaiticus (AD 350)
Washingtonensis (AD 400)

The paleo-Hebrew fonts collection has been expanded with five new ones to bring the total to 22, ranging from 15th-century BC proto-Sinaitic to 13th-century AD Samaritan script. The five fonts released today:

Paleo-Hebrew
Izbet Sartah (13th c.)
Samaria Ostraca (8th c.)
Hebrew seals (7th c.)
Ivory Pomegranate (6th c.)

Even if you don’t have a need (or desire) to type in ancient scripts, the comparison charts (Hebrew, Greek) are quite a valuable resource.

All the Greek fonts and details are available here. For the Hebrew, see this page. Thanks to Kris for his excellent work and for sharing these tools so generously!

Tagged Resources

Crusader Fresco from Gethsemane Restored

This large 12th-century fresco discovered ten years ago near the Garden of Gethsemane goes on display next month in the Israel Museum. From the Israel Antiquities Authority:

An enormous impressive wall painting (fresco) that was discovered in excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Monastery of Miriam in the Gethsemane courtyard in Jerusalem will be displayed for the first time when the renewed Israel Museum opens its doors to the public on July 26, 2010.
[…]
According to Seligman, the subject of this wall painting – only the bottom part of which survived and which originally rose to a height of about nine meters – is apparently a scene of deésis (meaning supplication in Greek). This is a known iconographic formula whereby Mary and John the Baptist beseech Jesus for forgiveness, for the sake of humanity. Only the bottom parts of the figures are visible in the main picture: Jesus sitting in the center, with Mary to his right and John the Baptist to his left. Two other pairs of legs, probably those of angels, can be seen next to Mary and John. In the middle of the painting are colorful floral tendrils on either side of which is a Latin inscription of a saying by Saint Augustine: “Who injures the name of an absent friend, may not at this table as guest attend.” We can conclude from this that the painting adorned the wall of a dining room – the refectorium – in the monastery. The prohibition to gossip is surprising since the monks there were Benedictines who refrained from unnecessary conversation. According to the researchers, the maxim was apparently intended for visitors who arrived at the monastery and were invited to dine there.
According to Nagar, “This is one of the most important paintings that have been preserved from the Crusader period in Israel. The painting is the largest to come out of an archaeological excavation in the country and the treatment the painting underwent in the laboratories of the Israel Antiquities Authority was, from a conservation standpoint, among the most complicated ever done here. This wall painting is special because of its size and quality. It measures 9 meters long and 2.7 m high, and is extremely rare because very few wall paintings have survived from the Crusader churches that were built in Jerusalem during the Crusader period. The excellent quality of the painting was in all likelihood the workmanship of master artists and the vibrant colors reflect the importance of the abbey in the twelfth century, which was under the patronage of the Crusader queen Melisende.”

Five high-resolution images are available here (zip file).

UPDATE (6/30): The Jerusalem Post has the story.

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums