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Recording Released of Golden Bell of Jerusalem

A commenter on the previous post about the discovery of the golden bell in Jerusalem alleged that the archaeologists’ interpretation of the find was influenced by ideological concerns and that the object was not a bell at all.

Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA) has now released a recording of the bell.

This is the tiny golden bell which was lost in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple period found among ruins near the Old City. The bell, which is thought to have been an adornment which was sewn onto the garments of a senior official, was uncovered during excavation work on a drainage channel in the City of David, just south of the Old City walls. “It seems the bell was sewn on the garment worn by a high official in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period,” an IAA statement said.
The recording of the bell provided by Udi Ragones, Ir David Foundation Spokesman.
[IMRA: IMRA has requested a sound file of the bell. If one takes the sound of the single bell and prepares a series of staggered overlays of the sound of the bell it will be possible to recreate what was heard over two thousand years ago when the high official walked in Jerusalem.]

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem

Israeli Returns Ossuary to IAA

From Haaretz:

A Tel Aviv resident returned a Second Temple period artifact to the Antiquities Authority after realizing the item was an ossuary.
The man, who works in the field of art and design, contacted the authority inspectors at his own initiative, saying he purchased the ossuary from an antiquities dealer some time ago. He told them he kept the ancient artifact in his bedroom, until one of his friends told him this was a small coffin used to store bones a year after the burial. He said he was repelled by the thought that he slept with a coffin in his room.

The full story is here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Sea of Galilee and Lake Michigan Become “Sister Lakes”

From the Jerusalem Post:

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and National Infrastructures Minister Dr. Uzi Landau signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Jerusalem on Sunday establishing a “Sister Lakes” relationship between Lake Michigan and the Kinneret, to foster an educational exchange for research toward maintaining the two very critical bodies of water. Some issues of common interest between the two leaders include maintaining water quality, preserving fisheries, eliminating harmful invasive species, curbing algal proliferation and keeping water levels high – all of which are crucial to supplying ample water to the respective populations, the officials said.

The full story is here.

Tagged Galilee

Philistine Two-Horned Altar from Tell es-Safi

Aren Maeir reports today on the Tell es-Safi/Gath blog that a two-horned altar was discovered about one-and-a-half weeks ago at Tell es-Safi. It was found in a destruction level dated to the 9th century and attributed to Hazael, the king of Damascus.

1) It is the earliest stone altar from Philistia, a precursor of the many stone altars that are known from 7th century Tel Miqne-Ekron.

2) It is one of the largest altars known (save for the Tel Sheva altar [which though is made of many stones] and an altar from Ekron which was found out of context).

3) It is one of the earliest such altars from the Iron Age, save for those from Megiddo which are late 10th-9th cent. BCE.

4) It has TWO and not four horns – quite unusual for such altars. This is VERY interesting, since this may very well confirm a theory put forward by our team member Louise Hitchcock that there is a connection between the Minoan/Cypriote “Horns of Consecration” and the horned altars – perhaps brought by the Philistines.

5) Its dimensions are virtually identical to the dimensions of the incense altar in the biblical tabernacle (1X1X2 cubit) in Exodus 30!

6) Quite surprisingly, the back part of the altar, and part of the top is unfinished! While the back part might have been “built-in” to a niche behind it (and this could explain the unfinished parts) the top is hard to explain.

7) No evidence of burning or residues were found on top of the altar, although a very nice Cypriote “Black on Red” flask was found right near it. Perhaps it originally stood on top of the altar!

8) Surrounding the altar we found large concentrations of various types of vessels and several concentrations of astragali.

For more details and several photos of the altar’s discovery, read Aren’s full announcement.

UPDATE: Joe Lauer sends along notice that the Foundation Stone website has a photo showing the newly discovered altar from another angle. There is also information about a radio interview with Aren Maeir on the LandMinds show, set to broadcast on Wednesday.

Recent Excavations at Shechem

From FoxNews.com:

Working on an urban lot that long served residents of Nablus as an unofficial dump for garbage and old car parts, Dutch and Palestinian archaeologists are learning more about the ancient city of Shekhem — and preparing to open the site to the public as an archaeological park next year. The project, carried out under the auspices of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities, also aims to introduce the Palestinians of Nablus, who have been beset for much of the past decade by bloodshed and isolation, to the wealth of antiquities in the middle of their city. "The local population has started very well to understand the value of the site, not only the historical value, but also the value for their own identity," said Gerrit van der Kooij of Leiden University in the Netherlands, who co-directs the dig team. "The local people have to feel responsible for the archaeological heritage in their neighborhood," he said. The digging season wrapped up this week at the site, known locally as Tel Balata.

The full story is here. I’m less optimistic than the archaeologists that the local people will care for the archaeological heritage or take the steps necessary to encourage tourism.

Tagged Excavations, Samaria

Golden Bell Discovered in Jerusalem

From the Jerusalem Post:

A golden bell ornament that archeologists believed belonged to a priest or important leader from the Second Temple period, was found in an ancient drainage channel in ruins next to the Western Wall on Thursday, the Antiquities Authority announced. The small bell, which has a loop for attaching to clothing or jewelry, was found underneath Robinson’s Arch. The area underneath the arch was formerly the central road of Jerusalem, which led from the Shiloah Pools in the City of David to the Old City and the Temple Mount. The excavations were led by the Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and financed by the City of David Foundation, which runs the archeological park across the street. “It seems the bell was sewn on the garment worn by a high official in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period (first century CE),” the excavation’s lead archeologists, the Antiquities Authority’s Eli Shukron and Prof. Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, said in a statement. “The bell was exposed inside Jerusalem’s main drainage channel at that time, among the layers of earth that had accumulated along the bottom of it.”
They believed that the bell fell off the official’s clothing while he was walking along the road and rolled into the drainage channel, where it has sat for nearly 2,000 years.

The story continues with the biblical verse that is the basis for the archaeologists’ claim that this was part of the high priest’s garments. James Davila questions the priestly connection. A large photograph of the object is posted at Dawn.com. Leen Ritmeyer has posted an illustration of the high priest’s garments.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem