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Archeologists unearth 3,300 year old complex in Israel
Phys dot org ^
| October 16, 2014
| Bob Yirka
Posted on 10/17/2014 9:02:45 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Initial examination of the ruins suggests the site was an ancient cult complexa rather large one at that with side walls measuring up to 52x52 feet. Thus far arch[a]eologists have uncovered mask fragments (parts that covered the nose), connected cups (their purpose has yet to be discovered), scarabs (stone representations of the beetle typically used as an amulet) and very large vessels known as pithoi.
The relics suggest the site was use as a cult complex, likely dedicated to the worship of a god, though the researchers can't say with any certainty which one that might have been. The most likely candidate, they told the press recently, is the storm god Baal, who was worshiped by many Middle Eastern peoples during the time that the complex was active. Like many others, he was believed to be a fertility deity, one of the most important or popular of the time. Other gods have not been ruled out, including the war goddess Anat. Other evidence of worship was burnt animal bones, suggesting sacrificial rituals.
The connected cups are particularly intriguing as examples of them have been seen beforethe ones found at the new dig site are believed to have come from Syria, due to their design. Though there is scant evidence of their use or purpose, arch[a]eologists generally believe, the researchers report, that they were likely cultic objects. Because of the newness of the site, the artifacts have not yet been tested for residue analysisthe researchers are eager to find out what was held in the large pithoi, some of which were nearly as large as a full grown personsome at the site were sunken and some held smaller vessels inside of them...
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; godsgravesglyphs; israel; telburna; ugarit
1
posted on
10/17/2014 9:02:45 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
2
posted on
10/17/2014 9:05:27 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
3
posted on
10/17/2014 9:06:19 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...
4
posted on
10/17/2014 9:06:57 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
Connected cups = early telephone? ;^)
To: afraidfortherepublic
I was thinking the same thing... :-)
6
posted on
10/17/2014 9:36:46 AM PDT
by
NCjim
(Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.)
To: afraidfortherepublic; NCjim
7
posted on
10/17/2014 10:16:53 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
likely dedicated to the worship of a god Why is it never likely that the ancients used buildings for barns, warehouses, or shelter from the elements?
8
posted on
10/17/2014 10:21:57 AM PDT
by
meadsjn
To: meadsjn
If a Chuck E Cheese were to survive 3,000 years and be discovered by future archaeologists, I wonder what sort of theory regarding its purpose would get them grant money?
To: RegulatorCountry
How about the average garage?
These people reserved the largest space in their dwellings to worship their four-wheeled mechanical beasts. Shelves lined the walls with various containers of religious oils. Round metal cans held various sizes of nuggets decorated with spiraled grooves; likely carved imitations of the body parts of the beasts ...
10
posted on
10/17/2014 10:34:33 AM PDT
by
meadsjn
To: meadsjn
Here's a great very short story by Robert Nathan called "Digging the Weans" wherein a future archaeologist writes of his discoveries at Pound-Laundry (Washington).
Click here
11
posted on
10/17/2014 10:59:51 AM PDT
by
dorothy
( "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." - Thomas Jefferson)
To: dorothy
12
posted on
10/17/2014 11:26:54 AM PDT
by
meadsjn
To: meadsjn
Ah the riddle of the great Philippine organic civilization. Wood burns and rots. Stone endures.
13
posted on
10/17/2014 11:35:09 AM PDT
by
Domangart
(Tho I walk Through the valley of Wall Mart, I fear no man.)
To: RegulatorCountry
If a Chuck E Cheese were to survive 3,000 years and be discovered by future archaeologists, I wonder what sort of theory regarding its purpose would get them grant money?There have been numerous science fiction stories on this theme.
One is "Digging the Weans," about archaeologists excavating an ancient civilization of the people who referred to themselves as "us," and whose capital was Pound-Laundry.
Another, that appeared years ago in ANALOG, purports to be an interview with a far-future archaeologist about his career. He spent years studying "religious sites" that consisted of small rooms, lined with tile, whose primary feature was a porcelain object of undetermined use. He states that despite spending a lifetime at it, he was never able to determine the precise use of these rooms. He says of his studies, "Waste. All waste."
14
posted on
10/17/2014 1:04:35 PM PDT
by
JoeFromSidney
(Book: RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY. Available from Amazon.)
To: dorothy
You beat me to it. I'm away from home, so couldn't give a reference.
15
posted on
10/17/2014 1:05:54 PM PDT
by
JoeFromSidney
(Book: RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY. Available from Amazon.)
This may be an update, anyway, it's new:
16
posted on
02/05/2015 4:33:09 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary men)
To: meadsjn
They did, but from different materials — wooden houses would not last as long as stone. That also means that we may not know a lot about different civilisations that used perishable materials instead of stone.
17
posted on
01/13/2016 12:38:23 AM PST
by
Cronos
(Obama�s dislike of Assad is not based on Assad�s brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Mosl)
To: RegulatorCountry
well, 3000 years is an incredibly long time -- I remember that I was once trying to picture back different language groups back in time (I love Indo-EUropean socio-cultural-religious-linguistic history) -
- 1000 to 1400 years ago, most of the Slavic speakers spoke mutually intelligible languages - may be even the same language
- around 200 AD (1800 y.a.) the various Germanic groups, whether Goths, Vandals, Suebi, Angles, Jutes, etc. spoke the same language with slight variations, but mutually intelligible
- 3000 y.a. (1000 B.C.), the various northern Indic languages (the indo-aryanic branch of the indo-european family) was just one: Sanskrit and its prakrits (dialects) - and was nearly intelligible with Avestani (ancient Irani),
- while there were Irani speakers in all of what is now Iran, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan, south Kazakhstan and Ukraine
- There were Indo-european speakers in Western China (what is now Uighuristan) -- these and the above Iranis were chased out by Turkic speakers from 700 AD onwards - chased, killed or assimilated
- the various Celtic languages were spreading across Europe from their base in the Czech republic (which wasn't Czech at that time :)
- Semitic languages were dominated by Assyrian, Babylonian, Aramaic etc. with Arabic not even developed yet
3000 years is a huge amount of time -- even politically -- in 1000 AD:
- Rome was not even founded -- Western Europe was mostly forest with the only great culture areas being in the south of Spain founded by Phoenicians (like Cadiz or Gades as they called it)
- Eastern Europe was forest, with the southern part mostly barbaric -- the Greeks were in the middle of their Dark age with the Dorian invasions and Athens, having been sacked in 1200 BC still smouldering...and Crete abandoned
- The situation in the near east was similar, with the hittite empire, the Egyptian new kingdom and the myceneans collapsed and gone. in Assyria you had Assur-Rabi, but he focused on fighting the Mushki in the north while the kingdom of Israel attained great power status with the collapse of the northern and southern superpowers
Ok, I could go on and on, but the situation was completely different and I can imagine that in 3000 years, the cultural, political and language.
18
posted on
01/13/2016 1:03:53 AM PST
by
Cronos
(Obama�s dislike of Assad is not based on Assad�s brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Mosl)
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