Merneptah Stele, circa 1208 BCE, known as the Israel stela, was discovered in 1896 and is now found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (CC-BY-SA, via wikipedia)
Posted on 09/19/2022 6:53:07 AM PDT by SJackson
During construction work at Palmachim National Park near Tel Aviv, a fallen rock reveals an ancient treasure trove from the era of the biblically notorious pharoah
A team of archaeologists was essentially transported back in time when it entered an untouched 3,300-year-old cave at the Palmachim National Park, just south of Tel Aviv, last week. The vast array of discovered items date to the Late Bronze Age, close to or during the rein of the biblically notorious Ramses II.
The cave was spotted when a rock shifted during the course of construction work and light was literally shed on an intact burial assembly about 2.5 meters (eight feet) below. Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors were called to the scene and their excitement is felt in a Hebrew-language video recording an initial inspection of a place no person has walked for more than three millennia.
“Simply amazing,” said IAA’s Uzi Rothschild repeatedly as “Wow, wow,” is heard in the background. “There are jars inside the jars! Wow!” said another voice. “Unbelievable!” said Rothschild.
The excitement peaks even as the video ends with the discovery of potentially multiple skeletons in the corner of the square-shaped cave.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime find! It’s not every day that you walk onto an Indiana Jones set — a cave with tools on the floor that haven’t been touched in 3,300 years,” IAA Bronze Age expert Eli Yannai said in a press release.
Yannai believes the vessels were imported from Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, which he said was common for burial assemblages of the era. Dozens of pottery vessels of different sizes and shapes were found, including deep and shallow bowls, some of which are painted red, some holding bones; cooking pots; jugs and clay oil lamps that still held their burnt wicks.
Other organic materials may have disintegrated over the millennia, including a likely quiver that held an array of bronze arrowheads or spearheads that were found in the cave.
These are hardly the first archaeological finds from the popular beach park, where there are remains of settlements through the Muslim era. The park holds a designated archaeology trail, which celebrates, among other structures, an ancient fortress that protected the coastline some 3,500 years ago when it was populated by Canaanites, vassals of the ruling Egyptians. Since 1992, archaeologists have dug intermittently at the site and earlier construction there revealed a quarry contemporary to the newly discovered cave.
Merneptah Stele, circa 1208 BCE, known as the Israel stela, was discovered in 1896 and is now found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (CC-BY-SA, via wikipedia)
Yannai dates the finds in the cave date to the 13th century BCE (Late Bronze Age IIB), or roughly the period that most date the biblical Exodus story in which Rameses II is often cast as the hard-hearted pharoah who would not let Moses’s people go.
While there is no direct evidence of Rameses II in Israel, a stele attributing victory over the Canaanites by his son, Merneptah, was discovered in 1896. The stele is considered the earliest textual reference to “Israel” found outside the Holy Land.
“In this period, in the long reign of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty Pharaoh Rameses II, the Egyptian Empire controlled Canaan, and the Egyptian administration provided secure conditions for extensive international trade. These economic and social processes are reflected in the burial cave that contains pottery vessels imported from Cyprus and from Ugarit on the northern Syrian coast, as well as from nearby coastal towns, including Yafo (Jaffa), Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza and Tel Ajjul, clearly showing that the population of Yavneh-Yam (Palmahim Beach), played an integral part in the lively trading activity that took place along the coast,” he said.
“The fact that the cave was sealed, and not looted in later periods, allows us, with the scientific means available today, to extract a great deal of information from the objects and materials that survived in them, and which are not visible to the eye, including organic materials. The cave can provide us with a complete picture of burial customs in the Late Bronze Age,” said Yannai.
Despite a requested media blackout until Sunday morning when social media began buzzing with the find on Friday, the initial preliminary video tour went viral even as IAA teams attempted to reseal the cave to prevent damage and theft prior to scientific excavation.
Unfortunately, some items were stolen before the resealing was completed, according to IAA head Eli Eskozido.
“Shortly before the cave was sealed, and despite guarding it, a number of archaeological items were stolen from the cave, and the matter is under investigation,” he said in a statement.
The IAA told The Times of Israel that the IAA and several universities are now in talks to begin formulating plans for a full excavation of the remarkable site.
The cave was spotted when a rock shifted during the course of construction work and light was literally shed on an intact burial assembly about 2.5 meters (eight feet) below.
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This is a once-in-a-lifetime find! It's not every day that you walk onto an Indiana Jones set...
Well, actually it turns out that at the same time you posted this (I had not been aware of that), I had been remarking to someone that the BBC commentator had just got done explaining that there will be a "Breaking of the wand" ceremonial tradition by the Lord Chamberlain. Taking place at the end of the service at Windsor, it will signify the end of the queen's reign, and she will buried with it.
He then said that this is the first time in history that it will be televised, so the whole world will be able to see.
Of course the memory of Raiders was triggered by his comment, because just a few days ago I had been watching the scene in the Map Room where Indiana breaks the Staff of Ra so that the Nazis would not be able to use it to pinpoint the location of the Ark of the Covenant.
"Prior to the final Hymn, the Imperial State Crown, the Orb and the Sceptre will be removed from Her Majesty The Queens Coffin, and placed on the Altar.
"At the end of the final Hymn, The King will place The Queens Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on Her Majestys Coffin. At the same time, The Lord Chamberlain will "break" his Wand of Office and place it on the Coffin.
Good reminder about the headpiece, because there's an obvious "error" in the formation of the letters. Check the letter hei in the strange text for the measurement. The others heis on the medallion are fine, but that one is missing its leg.
A letter hei without its leg is a... dalet. Well now, that makes a big difference in the letter string meanings and overall imagery on that side.
Amazing what's been run through iconic movies in plain sight. Who'd even look there, in the lowest world of Hollywierd. Well, actually everyone, when the most iconic scenes in cinematic history are concerned.
Like with the famous writing on the wall, by the time everyone finally catches on that they should have learned from history, it'll be too late.
Bill and Ted got an A+ on their history report, so no one has any excuse.
Here's the page with the big image about the services and the readings from the Bible.
Rev 21:1-7 catches the eye.
"Be excellent to each other."
I watched the procession to, and the service at Windsor Castle (missed the earlier one) and the Sky News broadcasts from last week.
I have over 300 pictures on my cell phone from last week to today.
History…
Ezekiel, tell us about the spaceship you saw land and the four-wing counter-rotating helicopter you saw when you were among the captives by the river of Chebar.
Interpretations belong to God but "chashmal" is electricity.
Ironic thing about the dark side and its negative waves, keeping people dumbed down and feeling hopeless... where a good day is always just out of reach as the goalposts are moved... otherwise there goes business as usual.
Electrons *are* negative charges. The key to the life force, of power -- baked right into the world system of negativity, in order to keep the lights on.
Ingenious. Gotta laugh. God's got this. 😊
See my tagline. 😊
Have you checked out Ginny's logo? She's MRS Helicopter, because she replaced the "Scarlet Letter" A in the iconic red NASA worm font. Gone!
Proof that rectification is not only possible, but that there's someone for everyone, even Mars aka the god of war.
Stand by your man. It's Mission from God-level stuff.
It's an art as well as a science. Freedom is mine, and I know how I feel.
On this day in history, the old world was buried with the queen.
the fact that the stele names Israel means Israel was already a country and a people in the land, meaning that Ramases was not pharoah of the exodus
Israel as slaves of Egypt were in Goshen
So, translation errors.
What translation errors.. because it all works in the weirdest ways, but if you’re just messing around?
Truth is stranger and way funnier than fiction, in any case.
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