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RELICS OF
1ST AND 2ND TEMPLES UNEARTHED |
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Jerusalem (Israel): The
Israel Antiquities Authority on February 23, 2009
announced the discovery of a large building dating to
the time of the First and Second Temples during an
excavation in the village of Umm Tuba in southern
Jerusalem.
The excavation was conducted by Zubair Adawi on behalf
of the antiquities autho-rity, prior to the start of
construction t here by a private contractor. The
archaeological remains include several rooms arranged
around a courtyard, in which researchers found a
potter's kiln and pottery vessels. The pottery remains
seem to date from the eighth century B.C.E. (First
Temple period).
According to the antiquities authority, the site was
destroyed along with Jerusalem and all of Judah during
the Babylonian conquest. Jews reoccupied it during the
Hasmonean period (second century B.C.E.) and it existed
for another two hundred years until the destruction of
the Second Temple. During the Byzantine period, the
place was re-inhabited during the settlement of
monasteries and farmsteads in the region between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
The excavators also found royal seal impressions on some
of the pottery fragments that date to the era of
Hezekiah, King of Judah (end of the eighth century B.C.E.).
Four "LMLK" impressions (which indicate the items
belonged to the king) were discovered on handles of
large jars used to store wine and oil. Seals of two
high-ranking officials named Ahimelekh ben Amadyahu and
Yehokhil ben Shahar, who served in the government, were
also found. The Yehokhil seal was stam-ped on one of the
LMLK impressions before the jar was fired in a kiln and
this is a rare example of two such impressions appearing
together on a single handle.
Excavators also discovered a Hebrew inscription dating
600 years later than the Kingdom of Judah seals on a
fragment of a jar neck. An alphabetic sequence was
engraved below the vessel's rim in Hebrew script that is
characteristic of the beginning of the Hasmonean period
(end of the second century B.C.E.).
Three years ago, the remains of a monastery from this
period were also excavated. Together with the current
findings, they confirm the identification of the place
as "Metofa," which is mentioned in the writings of the
church fathers in the Byzantine period.
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This page
is updated on March 15, 2009 |
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PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY
10 YEARS CELEBRATION
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