Ancient Fountain Found in Ramla

   An archeological dig south of Highway 44 has turned up the foundations of a home and garden believed to be 900 years old.

   The home was built from hewn stone. The fountain included a mosaic and a system of ceramic pipes. The remains of a large well and irrigation systm were found nearby.
About 20 meters to the south archaeologists found a furnace that was apparently used to make iron tools.

   Antiquities Authority expert Hagit Turgeh said, “The place was apparently the home of a well-to-do family, and the fountain was apparently decorative. This is the first time a fountain has been found outside the known wealthy neighborhoods of ancient Ramla.”
Most of the ancient fountains that have been found were located near what was once the city center, she explained.

   “This is also the first time a fountain’s pipe has been found entirely intact,” she added. “The other fountain’s pipes did not survive the earthquakes of 1033 and 1068.”
The entire area seems to have been abandoned in the eleventh century, apparently in the wake of the earthquakes.

   The city of Ramla was established in the 8th century, and for some time was one of the most important cities in the land of Israel. The city’s location on the road from Cairo to Damascus, and from Yafo to Jerusalem, added to its importance as a central trade point.
The current archaeological digs are being done as part of the preparations for a road project in the area. The latest discoveries were moved and will be displayed elsewhere.

   The work on Highway 44 is expected to take another two and a half years. Planners hope it will significantly reduce traffic jams during rush hour.

Source: israelinationalnews.com

Fishermen Leave Behind Bible Era Treasure

  It started with a phone call from Osnat Lester, a resident of Poriya Illit, to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). “Stored in my warehouse,” she said, “there are crates full of ancient jars that were left behind by a relative, a fisherman, who has passed on. I want to hand over the jars to the state, but it is important for me that my grandchildren will know where they will be kept in the future.”

  Two archaeologists were dispatched to Lester's home, where they were astounded to discover a real archaeological treasure: numerous whole ancient jars – or amphoras – from different eras, wrapped in bedsheets and pieces of cloth.

  The jars had apparently been carried by ancient ships that sank at sea at different eras. They were covered by a layer of encrustation that includes sea shells and chalk sediment, as is typical of findings that have been on the sea floor for a long time.

   One of the amphoras was an impressive Biblical era jar from about 3,000 years ago, the archaeologists said. Other jars were from the Roman and Byzatine eras. The IAA commended Lester for her act of good citizenship and promised that the jars would be placed on display for viewing by the general public.

Source: israelinationalnews.com

Temple Mount: Oldest Artifact Ever Found!

     Working near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar has unearthed the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city.    

    The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found with six others at the Ophel excavation site. According to Dr. Mazar, the inscription, in the Canaanite language, is the only one of its kind discovered in Jerusalem and an important addition to the city’s history.

  Dated to the tenth century BCE, the artifact predates by two hundred and fifty years the earliest known Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem, which is from the period of King Hezekiah at the end of the eighth century BCE.

  A third-generation archaeologist working at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Mazar directs archaeological excavations on the summit of the City of David and at the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

   The discovery will be announced in a paper by Dr. Mazar, Prof. Shmuel Ahituv of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Dr. David Ben-Shlomo of the Hebrew University, following their extensive research on the artifact. Prof. Ahituv studied the inscription and Dr. Ben-Shlomo studied the composition of the ceramic materials.

   The press release issued Wednesday did not specify what the inscription actually says.
Archaeological finds in Jerusalem, and specifically in the Temple Mount region, are also of political significance. Some of the finds, like the recent discovery of evidence corroborating contemporary accounts of the Roman seige of the Second Temple, or the possible site of the Tabernacle at Shilo, fly in the face of Arab attempts to deny that the Jewish Temple ever existed.

   While the anti-Israeli propaganda machine is sophisticated and heavily funded, the Israeli counter-effort has been relatively ineffective. However, every few weeks or months, it appears that the Jews' ancestors, along with modern archaeologists, are there to lend a hand in the campaign to prove that Zion was indeed the historical homeland of the Jews, long before Mohammed was born in Arabia.

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169787#.Utk1LT3nawk