Shalom.....
ooopss nevermind, wrong seal...
Posted on 09/27/2005 3:55:29 PM PDT by SmithL
A First-Temple period seal has been discovered amidst piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday, in what could prove to be an historic find.
The small - less than 1 cm - seal impression, or bulla, discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay amidst piles of rubble from the Temple Mount would mark the first time that an written artifact was found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period.
The 2,600 year old artifact, with three lines in ancient Hebrew, was discovered amidst piles of rubble discarded by the Islamic Wakf that Barkay and a team of young archaeologists and volunteers are sifting through on the grounds of a Jerusalem national park.
The seal, which predates the destruction of the First Jewish temple in 586 BCE, was presented Tuesday night to the press at an archaeological conference at the City of David sponsored by the right-wing Elad organization.
Barkay said that the find was the first of its kind from the time of King David.
He has not yet determined what the writing is on the seal, although three Hebrew letters -- thought to be the name of its owner -- are visible on one of its line.
The seal was found amidst thousands of tons of rubble discarded by Wakf officials at city garbage dumps six years ago, following the Islamic Trust's unilateral construction of an mosque at an underground compound of the Temple Mount known as the Solomon's Stables.
After the Antiquities Authority voiced disinterest in thoroughly sifting through the rubble discarded by the Wakf, Barkay applied -- and eventually received –a license from the Antiquities Authority to sort through the piles of earth thrown into the garbage dump in search of antiquities, and has since found scores of history-rich artifacts, from the First Temple Period until today amidst the rubble, including a large amount of pottery dating from the Bronze Ages through modern times, a large segment of a marble pillar's shaft, and over 100 ancient coins, among them several from the Hasmonean Dynasty.
While inexact, the ongoing sifting project, which is now being sponsored by Elad, has being called virtually unprecedented since archaeological excavation has never been permitted on the Temple Mount itself.
Meanwhile, in a separate major archaeological development in Jerusalem, a Jewish ritual bath, or mikva, dating back to the Second Temple period, and a First Temple Wall have been found in an underground chamber adjacent to the Western Wall tunnels, the Antiquities Authority's Jerusalem regional archaeologist Jon Seligman said during a tour.
The site is part of a new state-of-the-art tourist center at the Western Wall tunnels, which will be open to the public in two months' time.
The impressive site, which incorporates ancient and modern Jewish history in an attempt to reach out to Israeli youth, includes an elaborate audiovisual show, and nine magnificent glass sculptures, which serve to highlight both recent discoveries of artifacts and infrastructure dating back thousands of years, including one of the world's oldest aqueducts, as well as modern day Jewish history, such as the Holocaust and Israel's fallen soldiers.
Yeah, it's a good thing Arafat died before this became known or they would really holler. Oh, yeah. And i bet the Palestinians will be more careful of their trash in the future.ha!
The seal was found amidst thousands of tons of rubble discarded by Wakf officials at city garbage dumps six years ago, following the Islamic Trust's unilateral construction of an mosque at an underground compound of the Temple Mount known as the Solomon's Stables.
Hebrew language, Jews, temple in Jerusalem 2600+ years ago..... and the Islamo-fascists are more determined than ever to commit historical and cultural genocide.
Oh wow! I would love to be over there sifting thru the rubble.
Says "a large segment of a marble pillar's shaft," was found.
How do you think the original demolition crews did not find this? They had to intentionally ignore what they were digging through.
We all know they had to be interested in sifting through material as they dug it out, after all, they were digging on the Temple Mount. They had to have made a decision that the demolition was going to take place no matter what was found.
Wait a little... "The 2,600 year old artifact..." is "the first of its kind from the time of King David"? Wouldn't it have to be about 3000 yrs old for that?
Shalom.....
ooopss nevermind, wrong seal...
No doubt he means King David's Temple. Poor editing probably. But in these times, who knows what mainstream archaeologists believe about Biblical timelines?
Good point, although strictly speaking David designated and acquired the site, accumulated material and made plans for the Temple, which Solomon later carried out.
Makes me wonder even more about the 'expert' here...
ping for ME interest
..........................................
Hmmm...
Quite a coincidence that this turns up about the same time as
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_paleojudaica_archive.html#112288585502341362
MORE ON THE CITY OF DAVID EXCAVATION in the New York Times:
Digging Deep for Proof of an Ancient Jewish Capital
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: August 5, 2005
JERUSALEM, Aug. 4 - An Israeli archaeologist says she has uncovered in East Jerusalem what may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David...
...Ms. Mazar believes she has found a riposte: a large public building, with at least some pottery of the time, and a bulla, or governmental seal, of an official - Jehucal (or Jucal), son of Shelemiah, son of Shevi - who is mentioned at least twice in the Book of Jeremiah.
Three questions. First, is the name on the bulla Jehucal (according to Maariv) or Yehudi (according to the New York Sun)? I assume it's the former, but given the Sun report it would have been helpful to have clarification. Second, where does the name "Shevi" come from? The book of Jeremiah doesn't give Jehucal's grandfather's name and according to the Maariv article the grandfather's name on the bulla was "Nubi." Is Shevi a correction of the earlier report? (Just how well-preserved is this bulla?) Third, what is a late-seventh-century bulla doing in a tenth-century building? Was the bulla excavated in the building or was it just found in its vicinity? What is the stratigraphy of the building? Was it still in use in the seventh century?
The building can be reasonably dated by the pottery found above and below it. Ms. Mazar found on the bedrock a large floor of crushed limestone, indicating a large public space. The floor and fill above it contain pottery from Iron Age I of the 12th to 11th centuries B.C., just before David conquered Jerusalem.
Above that, Ms. Mazar found the foundations for this monumental building, with large boulders for walls that are about 2 yards thick and extend at least 30 yards. In one corner was pottery of Iron Age II, the 10th to 9th centuries, roughly the time of the united kingdom.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mazar said, she found no floor. It is clear the building was constructed after the pottery underneath it, but less clear exactly how much later...
Muslims, in their never-ending denials of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount, hauled off truckload after truckload of archaeological treasures. Thanks to their stupidity, what used to be inaccessible evidence, is now a digger's delight.
The contempt they have shown for Jewish artifacts is appalling, and who knows what has been lost and destroyed in the process. The "blame" for any discovery, however, falls squarely on the idiots who couldn't wait to dispose of the evidence.
What Waqf or Pali official (Arafat?) didn't think this one through? As Bugs would say, "What a maroon!"
Doesn't matter.
Mohammed was taken on a horse...no....half man...no half goat....to uhh...Mecca...err...Las Vegas..or...JERUSALEM!...yeah, that's the ticket.
Erlanger and other NYT slime are tracked at
http://www.timeswatch.org/
Come to think of it, I wish FR would ban all posting from the NYT except from sources like timeswatch.org or other NYT-refuters.
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