Showing posts with label Dr. Oren Gutfeld. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Oren Gutfeld. Show all posts

Friday, December 1, 2017

Drone Flight Reveals 2,200 Year Old Idumean Structure in Central Israel - CBN News

Aerial View of 2,200-Year-Old Idumean Structure, Photo, IAA
Aerial View of 2,200-Year-Old Idumean Structure, Photo, IAA
Drone Flight Reveals 2,200 Year Old Idumean Structure in Central Israel
CBN News 12-01-2017
JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli archaeology's newest tool, the drone, revealed an intriguing find during a pass over the Lachish region during the recent Sukkot holiday.
The compact aircraft discovered what excavation directors – Dr. Oren Gutfeld of the Hebrew University, and Pablo Betzer and Michal Haber of the Israel Antiquities Authority – called "a rare and exciting find."
The structure, in what was the town of Horvat Amuda, is one of only a handful of its kind in Israel.  Archaeologists said that it is most likely a 2,200-year-old Idumean palace or temple, the IAA said in a press release.

Two stone incense altars were discovered at the site. One of them bore the engraved image of a bull standing in what appears to be a columned temple.  According to the archaeologists, the bull was one of the deities worshipped by the Idumeans.
In addition to the altar, archaeologists also uncovered fragile pottery vessels, including painted bowls, juglets and oil lamps.
In the Hellenistic period, Horvat Amuda was one of the agricultural resource villages for the neighboring Idumean capital of Maresha. The Idumeans, originally a Semitic people hailing from what is now southern Jordan, settled in the Judean hills and created Maresha as a center for their religion and commerce.
Archaeologists believe the structure was intentionally dismantled around 112 BCE when Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus I sacked Maresha. The residents later converted to Judaism and assimilated into the Judean population. (The most famous Idumean is probably King Herod from the Bible.)
Also discovered at the site were numerous underground passages cut by residents of nearby Beit Guvrin for escaping from the Romans during the time of the second Jewish Revolts in 132–135 CE.
The dig is sponsored by the IAA and Beit Lehi, a U.S.-based Mormon non-profit organization, which sponsors excavations in the Land of Israel. Archaeology students from the Hebrew University, Bar-Ilan University and a group of U.S. volunteers helped in the excavations the Times of Israel reported. 

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Friday, September 16, 2016

THIS SCALE WEIGHT BELONGED TO A PRIEST IN ISRAEL'S SECOND TEMPLE by Eli Mandelbaum - JERUSALEM JOURNAL

2nd Temple priestly scale stone with Oren Gutfeld Photos IAA and YNetTHIS SCALE WEIGHT BELONGED TO A PRIEST IN ISRAEL'S SECOND TEMPLE


"I went pale and ...felt a small tremble to see the name of the high priest."
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Nearly 2,000 years after the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, archaeologist Dr. Oren Gutfeld of Jerusalem's Hebrew University has found a scale weight from that period. Apparently, it belonged to the family of the high priest—and which has his name carved on it.
The weight was found as part of the excavation carried out at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out the dig together with Hebrew University, and it is being funded by the Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Ltd.
This is the second time that such a weight has been uncovered. Excavations at the nearby Burnt House found a similar weight.
Gutfeld explained that he himself unearthed the weight, which has two lines of Aramaic text and a lyre between them. This was initially obscured by a burnt layer, which is presumably from the burning of Jerusalem. While the first line of text has not been fully deciphered, the family name of the high priest was discernible.
"It doesn't happen very much that I get emotional when I find artifacts. But here, I went pale and even felt a small tremble to see the name of the high priest."
The Tiferet Israel Synagogue was built in the 19th century, but when the Jordanians seized the area, it was destroyed. In 2014, a cornerstone was laid for its rebuilding, but an excavation of the site has since expanded. Artifacts have been uncovered from the Ottoman, the Mamluk, the Byzantine, the Second Temple and the First Temple periods.
Gutfeld expanded, "New mikvehs (ritual baths) that we didn't know about and their heating system have been uncovered."
The findings from the Second Temple period were about a meter beneath the building's floor. They also include stone and glass tools, rings, pottery and candles that were put there for storage.
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This is a lightly edited version of the original article published by YNet News at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4854160,00.html