Human migration out of Africa may have followed monsoons in the Middle East

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on November 26, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Early Humans, Earth Science, Israel, Jordan, Middle East, Palaeoclimate, Palestine, Syria

Last year, scientists announced that a human jawbone and prehistoric tools found in 2002 in Misliya Cave, on the western edge of Israel, were between 177,000 and 194,000 years old.

Ian Orland at Soreq Cave, Israel, where some calcite cave formations are 185,000 years old [Credit: Ian Orland]

The finding suggested that modern humans, who originated in Africa, began migrating out of the continent at least 40,000 years earlier than scientists previously thought.

But the story of how and when modern humans originated and spread throughout the world is still in draft form. That's because science hasn't settled how many times modern humans left Africa, or just how many routes they may have taken.

A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by American and Israeli geoscientists and climatologists provides evidence that summer monsoons from Asia and Africa may have reached into the Middle East for periods of time going back at least 125,000 years, providing suitable corridors for human migration.

The likely timing of these northward monsoon expansions corresponds with cyclical changes in Earth's orbit that would have brought the Northern Hemisphere closer to the sun and led to increased summer precipitation. With increased summer precipitation there may have been increased vegetation, supporting animal and human migration into the region.

"It could be important context for experts studying how, why, and when early modern humans were migrating out of Africa," says lead author Ian Orland, a University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscientist now at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, in the Division of Extension. "The Eastern Mediterranean was a critical bottleneck for that route out of Africa and if our suggestion is right, at 125,000 years ago and potentially at other periods, there may have been more consistent rainfall on a year-round basis that might enhance the ability of humans to migrate."

For as long as humans have kept records, winters have been wet and summers have been hot and dry in the Levant, a region that includes Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Before modern times, those hot, dry summers would have presented a significant barrier to people trying to move across the landscape.

Scientists, though, have found it difficult to determine what kinds of precipitation patterns might have existed in the prehistoric Levant. Some studies examining a variety of evidence, including pollen records, ancient lake beds, and Dead Sea sediments, along with some climate modeling studies, indicate summers in the region may have, on occasion, been wet.

To try to better understand this seasonality, Orland and colleagues looked at cave formations called speleothems in Israel's Soreq Cave. Speleothems, such as stalactites and stalagmites, form when water drips into a cave and deposits a hard mineral called calcite. The water contains chemical fingerprints called isotopes that keep a record, like an archive, of the timing and environmental conditions under which speleothems have grown.

Among these isotopes are different forms of oxygen molecules -- a light form called O16 and a heavy form called O18. Today, the water contributing to speleothem growth throughout much of the year has both heavy and light oxygen, with the light oxygen predominantly delivered by rainstorms during the winter wet season.

Orland and his colleagues hypothesized they might be able to discern from speleothems whether two rainy seasons had contributed to their growth at times in the past because they might show a similar signature of light oxygen in both winter and summer growth.

But to make this comparison, the scientists had to make isotope measurements across single growth bands, which are narrower than a human hair. Using a sensitive instrument in the UW-Madison Department of Geoscience called an ion microprobe, the team measured the relative amounts of light and heavy oxygen at seasonal increments across the growth bands of two 125,000-year-old speleothems from Soreq Cave.

This was the first time that seasonal changes were directly measured in a speleothem this old.

At the same time that Orland was in pursuit of geologic answers, his UW-Madison colleague in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Climatic Research, Feng He, was independently using climate models to examine how vegetation on the planet has changed with seasonal fluctuations over the last 800,000 years. Colleagues since graduate school, He and Orland teamed up to combine their respective approaches after learning their studies were complementary.

A previous study in 2014 from UW-Madison climatologist and Professor Emeritus John Kutzbach showed that the Middle East may have been warmer and wetter than usual during two periods of time corresponding roughly to 125,000 years ago and 105,000 years ago. Meanwhile, at a point in between, 115,000 years ago, conditions there were more similar to today.

The wetter time periods corresponded to peak summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere, when Earth passes closer to the sun due to subtle changes in its orbit. The drier time period corresponded to one of its farthest orbits from the sun. Monsoon seasons tend to be stronger during peak insolation.

This provided He an opportunity to study high and low insolation rainfall during summer seasons in the Middle East and to study its isotopic signatures.

The climate model "fueled the summer monsoon hypothesis" because it suggested that "under these conditions, the monsoons could have reached the Middle East and would have a low O18 signature," He, a study co-author, says. "It's a very intriguing period in terms of climate and human evolution."

His model showed that northward expansion of the African and Asian summer monsoons was possible during this time period, would have brought significant rainfall to the Levant in the summer months, would have nearly doubled annual precipitation in the region, and would have left an oxygen isotope signature similar to winter rains.

At the same time, Orland's speleothem isotype analysis also suggested summers were rainier during peak insolation at 125,000 and 105,000 years ago.

For similar reasons, the Middle East may have also been warm and humid around 176,000 years ago, the researchers say -- about when the jawbone made its way to Misliya Cave. And before the jawbone, the previous oldest modern human fossils found outside of Africa were at Israel's Skh?l Cave, dating back between 80,000 and 120,000 years ago.

Overall, the study suggests that during a period of time when humans and their ancestors were exploring beyond the African continent, conditions may have been favorable for them to traverse the Levant.

"Human migration out of Africa occurred in pulses, which is definitely consistent with our idea that every time the Earth is closer to the sun, the summer monsoon is stronger and that's the climatic window that opened and provided opportunities for human migration out of Africa," says He.

Author: Kelly April Tyrrell | Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison [November 26, 2019]

Study reveals that humans migrated from Europe to the Levant 40,000 years ago

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on November 05, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Early Humans, Europe, Israel, Near East

Who exactly were the Aurignacians, who lived in the Levant 40,000 years ago? Researchers from Tel Aviv University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Ben-Gurion University now report that these culturally sophisticated yet mysterious humans migrated from Europe to the Levant some 40,000 years ago, shedding light on a significant era in the region's history.

A view of Manot cave and a close up of the area where some of the teeth were found [Credit: Prof. Israel Hershkovitz/American Friends of Tel Aviv University]

The Aurignacian culture first appeared in Europe some 43,000 years ago and is known for having produced bone tools, artifacts, jewelry, musical instruments, and cave paintings. For years, researchers believed that modern man's entry into Europe led to the rapid decline of the Neanderthals, either through violent confrontation or wresting control of food sources. But recent genetic studies have shown that Neanderthals did not vanish. Instead, they assimilated into modern human immigrant populations. The new study adds further evidence to substantiate this theory.

Through cutting-edge dental research on six human teeth discovered at Manot Cave in the Western Galilee, Dr. Rachel Sarig of TAU's School of Dental Medicine and Dan David Center Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Sackler Faculty of Medicine in collaboration with Dr. Omry Barzilai of the Israel Antiquities Authority and colleagues in Austria and the United States, have demonstrated that Aurignacians arrived in modern-day Israel from Europe some 40,000 years ago -- and that these Aurignacians comprised Neanderthals and Homo sapiens alike.

Upper and lower molars taken from the Manot cave, dated to 38,000 years ago, showing a mixture of characteristics [Credit: Dr. Rachel Sarig]

"Unlike bones, teeth are preserved well because they're made of enamel, the substance in the human body most resistant to the effects of time," Dr. Sarig explains. "The structure, shape, and topography or surface bumps of the teeth provided important genetic information. We were able to use the external and internal shape of the teeth found in the cave to associate them with typical hominin groups: Neanderthal and Homo sapiens."

The researchers performed in-depth lab tests using micro-CT scans and 3D analyses on four of the teeth. The results surprised the researchers: Two teeth showed a typical morphology for Homo sapiens; one tooth showed features characteristic of Neanderthals; the last tooth showed a combination of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens features.

Findspots of the teeth in Manot Cave [Credit: Sarig et al. 2019]

This combination of Neanderthal and modern human features has, to date, been found only in European populations from the early Paleolithic period, suggesting their common origin.

"Following the migration of European populations into this region, a new culture existed in the Levant for a short time, approximately 2,000-3,000 years. It then disappeared for no apparent reason," adds Dr. Sarig. "Now we know something about their makeup."

"Until now, we hadn't found any human remains with valid dating from this period in Israel," adds Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, head of the Dan David Center, "so the group remains a mystery. This groundbreaking study contributes to the story of the population responsible for some of the world's most important cultural contributions."

A report on the new findings was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

Source: Tel Aviv University [November 05, 2019]

1,400-year-old Byzantine hammer and nails discovered in Israel

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on November 01, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

The IAA community excavation, carried out predominantly by youth and volunteers, has exposed part of an impressive Jewish settlement with ritual baths, and oil and winepresses in which olive oil and wine were processed in a state of ritual purity.

The 1,400 year-old iron hammer and nails [Credit: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

About 8,500 people participated over the Sukkot holidays in the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeological excavations and activities, but nobody expected to discover the items most closely associated with building the Sukkah–the hammer and the nails– from the Byzantine period, about 1400 years ago. Such was the luck of a family from Tur’an in Lower Galilee, who took part in the dig at Usha.

Pottery lamp decorated with the symbol of the Menorah and a palm branch discovered at Usha [Credit: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

According to Yair Amitzur and Eyad Bisharat, directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “About 20 iron hammers are registered in the Israel Antiquities Authority records, only six of them from the Byzantine period. We already knew that the Usha settlers extensively manufactured glass vessels, since we found many wine glasses and glass lamps together with glass lumps that were the raw material; the discovery of the hammer, the nails and the adjacent iron slag teaches us that they also produced iron tools at the site.”

Ancient wine glasses found at the site provide evidence of widespread glass manufacture at Usha [Credit: Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority]

Alongside these industries, complex pressing installations for the production of olive oil and wine indicate that the primary occupation and source of income of the Usha inhabitants was the large-scale processing of the agricultural produce of the olive trees and the vines that they cultivated on the surrounding gentle hillslopes. Adjacent to the oil and winepresses were exposed two rock-hewn ritual baths with plastered walls and steps, dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods, about 1800 years ago. The discovery of the ritual baths indicates that the Jewish press workers took care to purify themselves in the ritual baths in order to manufacture ritually-pure oil and wine.

Aerial view of the winepresses and the adjacent ritual bath at ancient Usha [Credit: Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

The main ‘workforce’ excavating the site are school children, youth and volunteers, who participate in the excavations thanks to the Israel Antiquities Authority's policy of bringing the community closer to its own cultural heritage. Over the past year, more than 15,000 youth and families have taken part in the educational venture at Usha, digging and exposing the fascinating past of the site.

Oil press at ancient Usha [Credit: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

According to Yair Amitzur, director of the Usha excavation and of the Sanhedrin Trail for the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The settlement of Usha is mentioned in the Jewish sources many times in the Roman and Byzantine periods, as the village where the institution of the Sanhedrin was renewed, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and after the failure of the Bar Kochba Revolt in 135 CE. The Sanhedrin was the central Jewish Council and Law Court, and it was headed by the President, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel the Second, who both presided in Usha, and then his son Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. Here in Usha the Rabbis of the Sanhedrin made decrees to enable the Jewish people to recover after the war against the Romans, and to reconstruct Jewish life in the Galilee. The Jewish sources mention that Rabbi Yitzhak Nafha was an inhabitant of Usha, and his name ‘Nafha’, meaning ‘the blower’ indicates that he probably worked as a glass manufacturer. The many delicate wine glasses, glass lamps and glass lumps indicate that Usha inhabitants were proficient in the art of glassblowing. The ritual baths adjacent to the presses indicate that the Sanhedrin Sages paid particular attention to issues of ritual purity."


The excavations at Usha are part of the Sanhedrin Trail Project that was initiated by the IAA, crossing the Galilee from Bet Shearim to Tiberias, following the movement of the Sanhedrin sages who finally convened in Tiberias. The excavation is underway, continuing throughout the year with the participation of thousands of school children, youth and volunteers. Also planned are special activity days open to the general public.

Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs [November 01, 2019]

Byzantine church to mystery martyr unearthed near Jerusalem

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 23, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

Israeli archaeologists have revealed an elaborately decorated Byzantine church dedicated to an anonymous martyr that was recently uncovered near Jerusalem.

Site of the church exposed in Ramat Beit Shemesh [Credit: Asaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

The Israel Antiquities Authority showcased some of the finds from the nearly 1,500-year-old structure on Wednesday after three years of excavations. The findings will be exhibited at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum.

A general view of an ancient church in the Israeli town of Bet Shemesh [Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

An inscription on a mosaic says the site was built in honor of a “glorious martyr.” The martyr is not identified, but other inscriptions commemorate the empire’s expansion under the sixth-century ruler Justinian and one of his successors, Tiberius II Constantine.

Israeli archaeologists wash the mosaic floor in an ancient church that was recently uncovered in Beit Shemesh [Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

Because of the church’s size and rich trappings, researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority believe it was a popular pilgrimage site until it was abandoned during the Muslim Abbasid caliphate in the 9th century AD.

The Eagle, symbol of the Byzantine Empire, discovered at a Byzantine-era church complex in Ramat Beit Shemesh [Credit: Asaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

The elaborate design of the church, including a lattice marble chancel, calcite flowstone baptismal and floor mosaic depicting an eagle, a symbol of the Byzantine Empire, shows the site’s notable funding and significance.

Greek inscription in the floor of the Byzantine-era church in Ramat Beit Shemesh [Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

The excavation’s director, Benjamin Storchan, said the excavation showcases a phenomenon known as “imperial church building.”

Cross-shaped baptismal font and Greek inscription in the floor of the Byzantine-era church in Ramat Beit Shemesh [Credit: Asaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority]

He said the empire maintained important sites and supported a tourist industry. “They took part in ensuring the development of pilgrimage routes,” he said.

Timnah Goloubin, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, shows the crypt of the Byzantine-era church in Ramat Beit Shemesh [Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

The site was discovered during construction of a new residential neighbourhood. It covers 1,500 square meters (16,000 square feet) and includes a large courtyard, a corridor and the basilica-style church.


Following the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the church entrances were sealed shut with large stones which excavators have opened and found glass lamps, mosaics and a piece of the vault where the unknown martyr was buried.

Author: Patty Nieberg | Source: The Associated Press [October 23, 2019]

Archaeologists uncover 2,000-year-old street in Jerusalem built by Pontius Pilate

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 20, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

An ancient walkway most likely used by pilgrims as they made their way to worship at the Temple Mount has been uncovered in the "City of David" in the Jerusalem Walls National Park.

View of the foundations of the Western Wall (left) and the retaining wall that abutted it, built on bedrock (below). To the right are the constructive layers that filled  the support system [Credit: M. Hagbi, IAA]

In a new study published in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, researchers at the Israel Antiquities Authority detail finding over 100 coins beneath the paving stones that date the street to approximately 31 CE. The finding provides strong evidence that the street was commissioned by Pontius Pilate.

After six years of extensive archaeological excavations, researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University have uncovered a 220-meter-long section of an ancient street first discovered by British archaeologists in 1894. The walkway ascends from the Pool of Siloam in the south to the Temple Mount.

Both monuments are hugely significant to followers of Judaism and Christianity. The Temple Mount, located within the Old City of Jerusalem, has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years. At the time of the street's construction, it is where Jesus is said to have cured a man's blindness by sending him to wash in the Siloam Pool.

The excavation revealed over 100 coins trapped beneath paving stones. The latest coins were dated between 17 CE to 31 CE, which provides firm evidence that work began and was completed during the time that Pontius Pilate governed Judea.

The pavement of the street and the solid foundation that was exposed in a place where no paving stones were preserved [Credit: A. Peretz, IAA]

"Dating using coins is very exact," says Dr Donald T. Ariel, an archaeologist and coin expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and one of the co-authors of the article. "As some coins have the year in which they were minted on them, what that means is that if a coin with the date 30 CE on it is found beneath the street, the street had to be built in the same year or after that coin had been minted, so any time after 30 CE."

"However, our study goes further, because statistically, coins minted some 10 years later are the most common coins in Jerusalem, so not having them beneath the street means the street was built before their appearance, in other words only in the time of Pilate."

The magnificent street - 600 meters long and approximately 8 meters wide - was paved with large stone slabs, as was customary throughout the Roman Empire. The researchers estimate that some 10,000 tons of quarried limestone rock was used in its construction, which would have required considerable skill.

The opulent and grand nature of the street coupled with the fact that it links two of the most important spots in Jerusalem - the Siloam Pool and Temple Mount - is strong evidence that the street acted as a pilgrim's route.

Location map marking excavation sites [Credit: Drawing: D. Levi, IAA; printed by permission of the Survey of Israel]

"If this was a simple walkway connecting point A to point B, there would be no need to build such a grand street," says Dr Joe Uziel and Moran Hagbi, archaeologists at the Israel Antiquities Authority, co-authors of the study. "At its minimum it is 8 meters wide. This, coupled with its finely carved stone and ornate 'furnishings' like a stepped podium along the street, all indicate that this was a special street."

"Part of it may have been to appease the residents of Jerusalem, part of it may have been about the way Jerusalem would fit in the Roman world, and part of it may have been to aggrandize his name through major building projects," says author Nahshon Szanton.

The paving stones of the street were found hidden beneath layers of rubble, thought to be from when the Romans captured and destroyed the city in 70 CE. The rubble contained weapons such as arrowheads and sling stones, remains of burnt trees, and collapsed stones from the buildings along its edge.

It is possible that he had the street constructed to reduce tensions with the Jewish population. "We can't know for sure? although all these reasons do find support in the historical documents, and it is likely that it was some combination of the three."

Source: Taylor & Francis Group [October 20, 2019]

Study finds prehistoric humans ate bone marrow like canned soup 400,000 years ago

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 09, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Early Humans, Israel, Near East

Tel Aviv University researchers, in collaboration with scholars from Spain, have uncovered evidence of the storage and delayed consumption of animal bone marrow at Qesem Cave near Tel Aviv, the site of many major discoveries from the late Lower Paleolithic period some 400,000 years ago.

Marrow inside a metapodial bone after six weeks of storage [Credit: Dr. Ruth Blasco/AFTAU]

The research provides direct evidence that early Paleolithic people saved animal bones for up to nine weeks before feasting on them inside Qesem Cave.

The study, which was published in the Science Advances, was led by Dr. Ruth Blasco of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations and Centro Nacional de Investigacion Sobre la Evolucion Humana (CENIEH) and her TAU colleagues Prof. Ran Barkai and Prof. Avi Gopher. It was conducted in collaboration with Profs. Jordi Rosell and Maite Arilla of Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social (IPHES); Prof. Antoni Margalida of University of Lleida, University of Bern, and the Institute for Game and Wildlife Research (IREC); and Prof. Daniel Villalba of University of Lleida.

"Bone marrow constitutes a significant source of nutrition and as such was long featured in the prehistoric diet," explains Prof. Barkai. "Until now, evidence has pointed to immediate consumption of marrow following the procurement and removal of soft tissues. In our paper, we present evidence of storage and delayed consumption of bone marrow at Qesem Cave."

"This is the earliest evidence of such behavior and offers insight into the socioeconomics of the humans who lived at Qesem," adds Dr. Blasco. "It also marks a threshold for new modes of Paleolithic human adaptation."

"Prehistoric humans brought to the cave selected body parts of the hunted animal carcasses," explains Prof. Rosell. "The most common prey was fallow deer, and limbs and skulls were brought to the cave while the rest of the carcass was stripped of meat and fat at the hunting scene and left there. We found that the deer leg bones, specifically the metapodials, exhibited unique chopping marks on the shafts, which are not characteristic of the marks left from stripping fresh skin to fracture the bone and extract the marrow."

Skinning in combination with tendon removal during the development of the experimental series. Note the use of the tool with an inclination almost parallel to the bone [Credit: Maite Arilla]

The researchers contend that the deer metapodials were kept at the cave covered in skin to facilitate the preservation of marrow for consumption in time of need.

The researchers evaluated the preservation of bone marrow using an experimental series on deer, controlling exposure time and environmental parameters, combined with chemical analyses. The combination of archaeological and experimental results allowed them to isolate the specific marks linked to dry skin removal and determine a low rate of marrow fat degradation of up to nine weeks of exposure.

"We discovered that preserving the bone along with the skin, for a period that could last for many weeks, enabled early humans to break the bone when necessary and eat the still nutritious bone marrow," adds Dr. Blasco.

"The bones were used as 'cans' that preserved the bone marrow for a long period until it was time to take off the dry skin, shatter the bone and eat the marrow," Prof. Barkai emphasizes.

Until recently, it was believed that the Paleolithic people were hunter gatherers who lived hand-to-mouth (the Stone Age version of farm-to-table), consuming whatever they caught that day and enduring long periods of hunger when food sources were scarce.

Examples of cut marks associated to disarticulation and/or skinning on deer metapodials from Amudian and Yabrudian levels of Qesem Cave [Credit: Ruth Blasco]

"We show for the first time in our study that 420,000 to 200,000 years ago, prehistoric humans at Qesem Cave were sophisticated enough, intelligent enough and talented enough to know that it was possible to preserve particular bones of animals under specific conditions, and, when necessary, remove the skin, crack the bone and eat the bone marrow," Prof. Gopher explains.

According to the research, this is the earliest evidence in the world of food preservation and delayed consumption of food. This discovery joins other evidence of innovative behaviors found in Qesem Cave including recycling, the regular use of fire, and cooking and roasting meat.

"We assume that all this was because elephants, previously a major source of food for humans, were no longer available, so the prehistoric humans in our region had to develop and invent new ways of living," concludes Prof. Barkai. "This kind of behavior allowed humans to evolve and enter into a far more sophisticated kind of socioeconomic existence."

Source: Tel Aviv University [October 09, 2019]

Excavations in Israel uncover vast 5,000-year-old city and temple for religious rituals

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 06, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

A vast city, around 5000 years old, the largest and the most central ever uncovered in Israel, was uncovered during extensive excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority that have been in progress for two and a half years in the Ein Iron area. The excavations, revealing a city stretching over 650 dunams accommodating around 6,000 inhabitants, are being carried out prior to the construction of the Harish  interchange, a project initiated and funded by the Netivei Israel – the National Transport Infrastructure Company Ltd.

Aerial photograph of the excavation site [Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority/Assaf Peretz]

Widespread excavations at the En Esur (Ein Asawir) archaeological site, located near Wadi Ara, reveal a planned Bronze Age 1B city (end of the 4th millennium B.C.), surrounded by a fortification wall, with residential and public areas, streets and alley .An even earlier settlement, dating to the Chalcolithic period from 7,000 years ago, was uncovered in deeper excavations made beneath this city's houses. It seems that two abundant springs originating in the area in antiquity were a site of attraction throughout the period.

Aerial photograph of the excavation site [Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority/Assaf Peretz]

Approximately 5,000 teenagers and volunteers participated in the excavations as part of the Israel Antiquities Authority's Sharing Heritage Project, which aims to create an emotional and experiential connection to the past and cultural heritage, develop a sense of belonging to the land, and an awareness of the importance of preserving its antiquities. Participants included Menashe Regional Council  students, mechina (pre-army program) cadets, Land of Israel and Archeology study track students, service year participants, IDF Nahal Brigade members, special education students, as well as the participation of students and joint groups of Jews and Arabs in collaboration with the SHARE International Organization.

Archaeologists work at a large, 5,000-year-old city in northern Israel [Credit: Tsafrir Abayov, AFP]

According to Noah Shaul, a guide on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The challenges the archaeological excavation presented the students, and the uncovering of its findings, contributed both to their personal development and enriched their acquaintance with the country's landscape, its sites and history."

Figurines from the Early Bronze Age excavation site near modern Harish [Credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority]

According to Itai Elad, Dr. Yitzhak Paz and Dr. Dina Shalem, directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "There is no doubt that this site dramatically changes what we know about the character of the period and the beginning of urbanization in Israel. This is a fascinating period in the history of the Land of Israel – the Canaan of those days – whose population undergoes changes altering its face completely. The rural population gives way to a complex society living mostly in urban settings. These are the first steps in the country of Canaanite culture consolidating its identity in newly established urban sites; hence the immense importance of the ancient city exposed in northern Hasharon. Such a city could not develop without having behind it a guiding hand and an administrative mechanism. Its impressive planning, the tools brought to Israel from Egypt found at the site, and its seal impressions are proof of this. This is a huge city – a megalopolis in relation to the Early Bronze Age, where thousands of inhabitants, who made their living from agriculture, lived and traded with different regions and even with different cultures and kingdoms in the area."

An archaeologists shows a figurine found at the 5,000-year-old city in northern Israel [Credit: Tsafrir Abayov, AFP]

In the public area of the city, archaeologists discovered an unusual ritual temple striking in its dimensions, and in its courtyard a huge stone basin for liquids used during performance of religious rituals. A facility containing burnt animal bones - evidence of sacrificial offerings - as well as rare figurines, including a human head with the seal impression of a man hands lifted and next to him the figure of an animal, were uncovered inside the temple. These findings allow us to look beyond the material into the spiritual life of the large community that lived at the site.

Seal impression of a man with hands lifted and next to him the figure of an animal [Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority/Yoli Schwartz]

These surprising findings allow us, for the first time, to define the cultural characteristics of the inhabitants of this area in ancient times .The inhabitants earned a living from agriculture thanks to the nearby springs, and the land used for crops. The remains of residential buildings, diverse facilities and the public buildings are an indication of the organized society and the social hierarchy that existed at the time. The excavation revealed millions of pottery fragments, flint tools, and basalt stone vessels that were brought to the site, and more.


Following the Israel Antiquities Authority's exposure of the unique excavations site, Netivei Israel carried out planning changes to protect the site of this impressive city. The archaeological ruins are documented using advanced means; they will be covered in a controlled manner, studied and investigated by IAA researchers, and the new interchange will be built high above these ruins, to permit its preservation for future generations.

Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs [October 06, 2019]

A technological 'leap' in the Edomite Kingdom during the 10th century BCE

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 18, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

During the late 10th century BCE, the emerging Edomite Kingdom of the southern Levant experienced a "leap" in technological advancement, according to a study released September 18, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Erez Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University, Israel and colleagues. This finding supports the use of a "punctuated equilibrium" model for the development of ancient technology.

More than 6m of copper production waste were excavated at Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan. The excavated materials from here and other sites were used to track more than four centuries of technological and social evolution in Biblical Edom [Credit: T. Levy/American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU)]

Punctuated equilibrium was originally proposed as a model for evolutionary change characterized by long-term stasis punctuated by short-lived episodes of rapid change, in contrast to a "gradualistic" model of slow and consistent change over time. In this study, Ben-Yosef and colleagues propose that the same theoretical model might be a useful tool for understanding the advancement of ancient technologies.

To test this hypothesis, the authors compiled an unparalleled dataset of over 150 samples of slag leftover from metallurgical technology in the Wadi Arabah region of the Levant in the Middle East, dating from 1300 to 800 BCE.

Using copper content as a proxy for the efficiency of smelting techniques, they established a timeline of metallurgical advancement. The analysis revealed a long period of relatively gradual development across the region followed by a rapid "leap" to more efficient technology in the late 10th century BCE.

Excavations of ancient copper mines as part of Tel Aviv University's Central Timna Valley Project. Copper production technologies and the organization of the industry reflect the society responsible for this enterprise [Credit: E. Ben-Yosef and the Central Timna Valley Project]

This case study provides support for the idea that ancient technologies could, in some cases, have developed through occasional "leaps" of rapid change. In this circumstance, the technological leap was an important part of the emergence of the Biblical Edomite Kingdom and the transition of this region from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age.

"Our study sheds new light on the emergence of the archaeologically-elusive biblical kingdom of Edom, indicating that the process started much earlier than previously thought" says Ben-Yosef.

"That said, the study's contribution goes beyond the Edomite case, as it provides significant insights on ancient technological evolution and the intricate interconnections between technology and society. The results demonstrate that the punctuated equilibrium evolutionary model is applicable to ancient technological developments, and that in turn, these developments are proxies for social processes".

Source: Public Library of Science [September 18, 2019]

The enigma of Bronze Age tin

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 13, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Greece, Israel, Near East, Southern Europe, Turkey

The origin of the tin used in the Bronze Age has long been one of the greatest enigmas in archaeological research. Now researchers from Heidelberg University and the Curt Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry in Mannheim have solved part of the puzzle.

Some of the studied tin ingots from the sea off the coast of Israel (approx. 1300-1200 BCE) [Credit: Ehud Galili]

Using methods of the natural sciences, they examined the tin from the second millennium BCE found at archaeological sites in Israel, Turkey, and Greece. They were able to proof that this tin in form of ingots does not come from Central Asia, as previously assumed, but from tin deposits in Europe.

The findings are proof that even in the Bronze Age complex and far-reaching trade routes must have existed between Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Highly appreciated raw materials like tin as well as amber, glass, and copper were the driving forces of this early international trade network.

Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was already being produced in the Middle East, Anatolia, and the Aegean in the late fourth and third millennia BCE. Knowledge on its production spread quickly across wide swaths of the Old World.

"Bronze was used to make weapons, jewellery, and all types of daily objects, justifiably bequeathing its name to an entire epoch. The origin of tin has long been an enigma in archaeological research", explains Prof. Dr Ernst Pernicka, who until his retirement worked at both the Institute for Earth Sciences of Heidelberg University as well as the Curt Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry.

Tin deposits on the Eurasian continent and distribution of tin finds in the area studied dating from 2500-1000 BCE. The arrow does not indicate the actual trade route but merely illustrates the assumed origin of the Israeli tin based on the data [Credit: Berger et al. 2019 (Prepared by Daniel Berger)]

"Tin objects and deposits are rare in Europe and Asia. The Eastern Mediterranean region, where some of the objects we studied originated, had practically none of its own deposits. So the raw material in this region must have been imported", explained the researcher.

Metals traded in ingot form are particularly valuable for research because questions of origin can be targeted specifically. Using lead and tin isotope data as well as trace element analysis, the Heidelberg-Mannheim research team led by Prof. Pernicka and Dr Daniel Berger examined the tin ingots found in Turkey, Israel, and Greece. This allowed them to verify that this tin really did derive from tin deposits in Europe. The tin artefacts from Israel, for example, largely match tin from Cornwall and Devon (Great Britain).

"These results specifically identify the origin of tin metal for the first time and therefore give rise to new insights and questions for archaeological research", adds Dr Berger, who conducts research at the Curt Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry.

The findings were published in the journal PLoS ONE.

Source: Heidelberg University [September 13, 2019]

Byzantine mosaic floor discovered at the Burnt Church site in Hippos

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 12, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Israel, Near East

A colourful mosaic, well-preserved and laden with decorations, including dedication inscriptions and descriptions of baskets with loaves and fish, was exposed in the excavation at the “Burnt Church” in Hippos. According to the researchers, the descriptions in the mosaic along with the location of the church, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, immediately raise the connection to the Feeding the Multitude (the 5000) miracle performed by Jesus, according to the New Testament, in the area.

Credit: University of Haifa

“There can certainly be different explanations to the descriptions of loaves and fish in the mosaic, but you cannot ignore the similarity to the description in the New Testament: for example, from the fact that the New Testament has a description of five loaves in a basket or the two fish depicted in the apse, as we find in the mosaic”, said Dr. Michael Eisenberg, head of the excavation team in Hippos on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology.

Hippos, which overlooks the Sea of Galilee from the top of a mountain approximately 2 km to the east, is located within the Hippos National Park of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. It was the central city in the region around the eastern Sea of Galilee and the south of the Golan during Roman and Byzantine times. The ancient city has been exposed over the past twenty years by an expedition on behalf of the Institute for Archaeology.

Part of the mosaic floor showing fish and bird [Credit: Dr. Michael Eisenberg]

A few weeks ago, the researchers exposed the Burnt Church, built in the second half of fifth-early sixth century AD and was probably burnt down during the Sasanian conquest in the beginning of the seventh century. This church was partially exposed about a decade ago, and now Dr. Eisenberg and his partner in managing the excavation, Arleta Kowalewska, have returned to expose it. The fire caused the church mosaic floor to be conserved in an amazing way, since the roof was burnt down and collapsed on the floor of the church and covered it in a layer of ash, thus protecting it from being damaged over time.

Now, as the researchers have returned to expose it, they have found a magnificent mosaic, which was excellently preserved. The excavation of the church was placed in the hands of Jessica Rentz from the USA, who has exposed the entire internal area of the church, at an area of 10x15 metres. During the excavation of the main portal, she exposed within the remains of the burnt doors, a pair of door knockers in bronze casting in the form of roaring lions.

Mosaic decoration depicting a basket with five loaves [Credit: Dr. Michael Eisenberg]

During the preservation process, headed by Yana Vitkalov from the Israel Antiquities Authority, most of the mosaic area was cleaned and preserved, and most of its decorations and two inscriptions in Greek were exposed. The first one tells about the two fathers of the church, Theodoros and Petros constructing a sanctuary for a martyr, while the second one, which is located inside a medallion at the center of the mosaic, exposes the name of the martyr – Theodoros. An initial reading of the inscriptions was done by Dr. Gregor Staab from the University of Cologne in Germany, expedition epigraphist.

According to Dr. Eisenberg, the people who ordered the mosaic wanted to create an extremely prominent and dense colourfulness, which includes geometric patterns and depictions of birds, fish and fruit placed densely throughout the mosaic. In some of the baskets, the researchers have found five or more loaves in different colors, which, along with the fish, were associated to the Feeding the Multitude miracle described four times in the New Testament.

A peacock in the mosaic floor [Credit: Dr. Michael Eisenberg]

According to the New Testament, Jesus performed the miracle in an isolated area, probably in the northeast part of the Sea of Galilee, where he used five loaves and two fish to feed a multitude of 5,000 men without counting the women and children. Later, as the story goes, he performed the miracle of walking on water and reached the north-west of the Sea of Galilee. At this place, around current day Kibbutz Ginosar/Tabgha, the Church of the Multiplication was built already in the fifth century, and according to the early Christian tradition, is where the miracle took place.

Dr. Eisenberg continues to be cautious about the interpretation of the new mosaic, however he states that there are a number of points worth paying attention to, “nowadays, we tend to regard the Church of the Multiplication  in Tabgha on the north-west of the Sea of Galilee as the location of the miracle, but with careful reading of the New Testament it is evident that it might have taken place north of Hippos within the city’s region.

Aerial view of the Burnt Church and mosaic floor [Credit: Dr. Michael Eisenberg]

According to the scripture, after the miracle Jesus crossed the water to the north-west of the Sea of Galilee, to the area of Tabgha/Ginosar, so that the miracle had to take place at the place where he began the crossing rather than at the place he finished it. In addition, the mosaic at the Church of Multiplication has a depiction of two fish and a basket with only four loaves , while in all places in the New Testament which tell of the miracle, there are five loaves of bread, as found in the mosaic in Hippos. In addition, the mosaic at the burnt church has a depiction of 12 baskets, and the New Testament also describes the disciples who, at the end of the miracle, were left with 12 baskets of bread and fish”, stated Dr. Eisenberg.

However, he is also aware that there are also differences between the depiction in the mosaic at the burnt church and the description in the New Testament: thus, for example, some of the baskets in the mosaic are full of fruit and not only bread, and in other places there are three fish, one next to the other, and not only two.

Roaring lion in the charred remains of the front door of the church [Credit: Dr. Michael Eisenberg]

“The church is located right at the western edge of Mount Sussita and is the most western point in the city and overlooks – today as it did then – the Sea of Galilee and Jesus ministry and where most of his miracles occurred. There is no doubt that the local community was well familiar with the two miracles of Feeding the Multitude and perhaps knew their estimated locations better than us. The assumption that the artisan or the persons who ordered the work wanted to create an affinity to a miracle which took place nearby must be logical. We will finish the excavation and cleaning of the remaining twenty percent of the mosaic and will carefully examine this assumption. The fish themselves have a number of additional symbolical meaning in the Christian world, and their interpretation requires caution”, he summarized.

Source: University of Haifa [September 12, 2019]