Showing posts with label Found. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Found. Show all posts

Monday, January 21, 2019

Found: First Altar Ancient Hebrews Ever Built in Israel - Standing with Israel, BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS


(YouTube/gtasoul)
Zvi Koenigsberg does not come from the world of academia, but he witnessed one of the most remarkable stories in archaeology: the discovery of the first altar the Hebrews built in the land of Israel. This discovery has gone largely unheralded, and some archaeologists have even gone to great lengths to deny the obvious.
In 1981, Koenigsberg was the chairman of the local governing council of Shavei Shomron. Adam Zertal, a student of archaeology at the time, came to the town to give a lecture about an archaeological survey that involved walking systematically over a given area and recording every surface find. Koenigsberg met Zertal and they immediately struck up a friendship that lasted until the archaeologist passed away in 2015. Zertal introduced him to a site that he had discovered 18 months previous to their meeting on Mount Ebal and that he very much wanted to excavate. Known as El-Burnat, Arabic for "the hat," the mound of stones was situated in a naturally occurring amphitheater 880 meters above sea level, and 60 meters below the summit. The site was dominated by a mound of stones.
Koenigsberg, motivated by friendship for Zertal and curiosity, helped set up the logistics of the dig. Koenigsberg was familiar with the region and helped procure necessary resources unavailable to the young archaeologist.
Zertal discovered the remains of a rectangular structure, nine meters by seven meters, built of unhewn stones. Internal walls seemed to be designed for people to walk on top of the structure. A seven-meter ramp—set at 22 degrees—ascended to the top of the structure. Pottery shards were present in the entire vicinity in huge quantities, almost all dating to a single period in the early Iron Age, approximately the 13th Century BCE.
Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
During one of their discussions concerning the dig, Zertal sketched the square platform and its adjacent ramp. Zertal, raised on a secular kibbutz that discouraged the study of Jewish traditional texts of all kinds, had no idea what the platform was. Koenigsberg, who had a yeshiva education, immediately recognized the image for what it was: a stone altar almost exactly matching the description in the Mishnah of the Second Temple altar in Jerusalem.
"Therefore, when you cross over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, which I am commanding you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall cover them with plaster. There you must build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them" (Deut. 27:4-5).
Koenigsberg introduced Zertal to all of the literature, biblical and rabbinic, concerning the construction of the altar and about the altar on Mount Ebal in particular. One of the books, a Mishnah (tractate Middot), contained a drawing almost identical to Zertal's sketch.
"Zertal was excited," Koenigsberg told Breaking Israel News. "He was convinced that this is what stood at Ebal."
Other aspects of the dig seemed to confirm that this was the site of a Jewish altar. Among the stones was a large quantity of ash and more than 3,000 animal bones. These bones had been burnt on an open flame, and many had butcher marks, implying that at least parts of them had been eaten. These bones were all from animals that the Torah declares to be pure; the overwhelming percentage of the specimens were year-old male cattle, sheep and goats, all sacrificial animals according to biblical law.
To confirm his theory, Zertal asked Koenigsberg to bring Benjamin Mazar, a pioneering Israeli historian who was recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists, to the site. Mazar arrived, Bible in hand. Mazar was visibly shaken by the experience though he was not ready to confirm their theory that this was the site of the biblical altar.
Since the site now appeared to have biblical relevance, they turned to Rabbi Yoel Bin-nun, a brilliant Bible scholar and one of the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion, who did a complete study of the site and compared it to the Jewish laws concerning altars. Though the site did not conform to previous beliefs that the altar stood near Shechem in between Mount Ebal and Mount Bracha, the structure on Ebal fulfilled all the requirements for an altar.
An altar must be constructed of uncut field stones. Stairs may not be used and a ramp is needed to access the top of the altar. The structure is surrounded on three sides by a ledge, which would allow anyone walking upon it to access the top of the structure. The two inner walls would allow priests access to the middle of the structure, which they lead to on either side. Rabbinic literature refers to a circular mound in the middle of an altar called the Tapuah.
Rabbi Bin-nun studied anew all of the relevant verses describing the location of the altar and concluded that they did not, in fact, necessarily refer to the city of Shechem. The rabbi was convinced that the site being studied by Zertal was indeed the altar.
The ritual complex was built around 1250 BCE and existed for less than a century, after which it was deliberately covered with stones. Zertal dated the final days of the altar site when it was intentionally covered in stones, to around 1140 BCE.
"This was likely done to both decommission the site and to protect it from being looted or reused," Koenigsberg conjectured.
It is important to note that the covering of the site on Ebal precisely corresponded to the rise of the site in Shiloh which has been identified as the location of the Tabernacle after Mount Ebal.
Koenigsberg relates this change in location to an enigmatic section of the Bible. When Joseph brought his two sons to his father, Jacob, for a blessing, he presents the older son, Menashe, on Jacob's right. But Jacob crosses his arms, blessing the younger, Ephraim, with his right hand.
"He blessed them that day, saying, 'By you Israel will bless, saying, "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh."' So he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (Gen. 48:20).
Koenigsberg explained that implicit in this blessing was a hint that the central cultic site of Israel would stand first in Ebal, in the territory belonging to the tribe of Menashe, before being transferred to Shiloh, in the territory of Ephraim.
Zertal's findings were hotly contested by other archaeologists and he became a controversial figure in the academic world.
"We had horrible encounters with academics who refused to accept that this is what he had found," Kroenigsberg said. "Zertal dug at the site for eight years and not one of his academic advisers ever acknowledged that the site was the altar from the time of Joshua."
Dr. Yitzhaki Paz, a senior archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authorities refuted Zertal's conclusion.
"There is a hypothesis that these ruins are the ruins of the base of a guard tower. In any case, archaeology isn't an exact science, and there is no way to prove the connection between this archaeological site and Yehoshua Ben Nun from the Bible 100 percent."
Zertal eventually published his findings in Biblical Archaeology Review, but many archaeologists criticized his conclusions.
"The real issue was less with the idea that the structure was an altar, and more with the corollary to his claim," Koenigsberg stated in an article about the site. "Zertal was not merely saying that this was an ancient Israelite altar, but that this was a specific altar, one described in detail twice in the Bible."
In his article, Koenigsberg dismissed these claims.
"Not only does El-Burnat date to this period (early Iron Age I), but it is the only site on all of Mount Ebal that does," Koenigsberg wrote.
Koenigsberg's remarkable story about the altar at Mount Ebal is recorded in his bookThe Lost Temple of Israel
Breaking Israel News offers a fresh and biblical perspective on the latest news from Israel and the Middle East. Our bias is not liberal nor conservativejust biblical.
This article originally appeared at breakingisraelnews.com.
Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
Great Resources to help you excel in 2019! #1 John Eckhardt's "Prayers That..." 6-Book Bundle. Prayer helps you overcome anything life throws at you. Get a FREE Bonus with this bundle. #2 Learn to walk in the fullness of your purpose and destiny by living each day with Holy Spirit. Buy a set of Life in the Spirit, get a second set FREE.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Mass Graves Found Under Church-Run Orphanage - CONOR HUMPHRIES/REUTERS

The entrance to the site of a mass grave of hundreds of children who died in the former Bons Secours home for unmarried mothers. (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo)

Mass Graves Found Under Church-Run Orphanage

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

The remains of babies, ranging from new-born to three-years-old, have been found in the sewers of a former church-run home for unmarried mothers in Ireland, the government said on Friday.
A report from an inquiry the government ordered in 2014 backed up a historian's claim that up to 800 children may lie in an unmarked grave at the home. It said: "significant quantities of human remains have been discovered in at least 17 of the 20 underground chambers which were examined."
Radiocarbon dating found the remains, which ranged from 35-week-old fetuses to 3-year-olds, dated from between 1925 and 1961, when the home was run by the Bon Secours Sisters.
The inquiry was launched after a local historian said there was evidence of an unmarked graveyard at the home, where records showed almost 800 children died between 1925 and 1961.
The church ran many of Ireland's social services in the 20th century, including mother-and-baby homes where tens of thousands of unmarried pregnant women, including rape victims, were sent to give birth.
Unmarried mothers and their children were seen as a stain on Ireland's image as a devout Catholic nation. They were also a problem for some of the fathers, particularly powerful figures such as priests and wealthy, married men.
Government records show that in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, the mortality rate for "illegitimate" children was often more than five times that of those born to married parents. On average, more than one in four children born out of wedlock died.
In 2014, the Archbishop of Dublin said that "if something happened in Tuam, it probably happened in other mother-and-baby homes around the country." The commission is investigating 17 other church-run institutions.
Ireland's Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone said Friday's news was "sad and disturbing," adding that the commission of inquiry would work with local authorities to investigate further and decide what should happen to the remains.
The commission did not say how many babies' remains were recovered or how many might still be buried in what are believed to be the home's sewage and/or waste water treatment system.
Ireland's once powerful Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of scandals over the abuse and neglect of children. The Archbishop of Tuam said in 2014 he was horrified and saddened by the historian's discovery. 
© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
Leaders are readers! Subscribe now and get 3 magazines for the price of 1. Get Ministry Today, Charisma and SpiritLed Woman all for $24. YES - Sign me up!
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Click Here to draw closer to God!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Has the Location of the Garden of Eden Been Found? [VIDEO] - Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

ADVERTISEMENT

Has the Location of the Garden of Eden Been Found? [VIDEO]


“For Hashem hath comforted Tzion; He hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Hashem; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3 (The Israel Bible™)
It seems the entire globe has been fully explored and no secrets remain, yet no signs of Eden, its garden, or the flaming sword set to guard its entrance have ever been found. One unusual theory, put forth by a young woman who witnessed a remarkable phenomenon she believes marks the beginnings of a prophetic fulfillment, is supported by Biblical verse.
Samantha Siegel, a young American immigrant living in Jerusalem, first came to prominence two months ago when her video showing fish swimming in the sinkholes surrounding the Dead Sea went viral, garnering over 280,000 views. The video excited the public, who saw in it the fulfillment of the prophecy in Ezekiel quoted below.
In her recent video, Siegel suggests this phenomenon is the beginning of a drastic change in the Dead Sea that will turn it into a lush and fertile region. She begins by noting that the Garden of Eden was referred to in the Bible as a garden of God. In a leap of reason based on Biblical sources, she noted the plains of Jordan where the Dead Sea stands today are also referred to in the Bible as a garden of God.
And Hashem God planted a garden eastward…Genesis 2:8
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Hashem destroyed Sdom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Hashem… Genesis 13:10
Similarly, the Garden of Eden had every kind of fruit tree, and the Dead Sea is prophesied to be so in the Messianic era.
And out of the ground made Hashem God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food…Genesis 2:9
And by the river upon the bank thereof on this side and on that side shall grow every tree for food…Ezekiel 47:12
From these Biblical parallels, Siegel proposes that Eden and the Dead Sea are one and the same. Though it might be difficult for the average person to envision the Dead Sea, a salt lake devoid of life, as the fabled Garden, for Siegel, this comes naturally. After personally witnessing the improbable existence of life in the waters surrounding the Dead Sea, Siegel can easily envision in this the first signs of what she believes is the rebirth of the Garden of Eden.
As proof of her theory, she notes the four rivers of Eden, listed in the Bible as the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. According to her theory, the Pishon and Gihon could be the two sources of the Nile, southwest of Israel.
The Tigris and Euphrates are located in what is today Iraq, northeast of modern-day Israel. She describes these four rivers as encircling Israel with the center point being the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.
Stay up to date with all your Prophecy News!
Rabbi Natan Greenberg, the head of Bat Ayin Yeshiva, was intrigued by Siegel’s interpretation, but noted that there is no Jewish source to support her theory. “For our purposes today, Eden was once a place but it transcended that, becoming a spiritual concept of geula (redemption) and tikkun (fixing) with no specific geographic reference,” Rabbi Greenberg told Breaking Israel News.
“Once it was in the physical world but now it is gone, and there is no return. That connection between the physical and spiritual is unattainable today.”
Rabbi Greenberg compared Eden to a mythical elven land in the “Lord of the Rings” series written by J.R.R. Tolkien. “It’s like Valinor, where the elves first came from. It became a myth, a place of high spiritual transformation and something to strive towards, but there is no return.”
Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman director of Ohr Chadash Torah Institute, also noted there was no source that suggested a geographic location for the Garden of Eden, but that does not detract from its relevance.

“Jewish history follows a cycle of constant states of exile and redemption,” Rabbi Trugman explained. “The first exile was from Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) and it thereby forms the paradigm for exile for all of history. Geula is what is referred to as returning to the Garden – the full tikkun of the primordial sin and exile from the garden.”
The Garden does have present-day ramifications, according to the rabbi, even political overtones.
“According to Jewish tradition, the Garden of Eden is associated with the Land of Israel, according to the big borders – from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates,” Rabbi Trugman said to Breaking Israel News.
The borders of Israel are described several times in the Bible. When God promised the land to Abraham, specific borders were described allotting to his descendants a piece of land significantly larger than what was eventually conquered in the days of Joshua Ben Nun. These more expansive borders were based on the description of the Garden of Eden.
In that day Hashem made a covenant with Avram, saying: ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Genesis 15:18
“The future geula is centered around Israel,” explained the rabbi. “But geula means a revelation of the primordial utopian state of the garden of Eden.”

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Noah’s Ark Has Been Found. Why Are They Keeping Us In The Dark? - MYSTERIOUS EARTH

145114188041629[1]Noah’s Ark Has Been Found. Why Are They Keeping Us In The Dark? 

MYSTERIOUS EARTH  04.11.16 

I’m often amazed at our lack of knowledge about history. Ordinary people are hungry for this information, yet the organizations responsible to disseminate these facts seem to have an agenda to keep us in the dark. This is especially true when it comes to our ancient human history.
I won’t hold you in suspense with this article: The Ark of Noah has been found. It’s real. I’ll describe the evidence in some detail and end with the historical and religious implications.
How It Was Discovered
In 1959, Turkish army captain Llhan Durupinar discovered an unusual shape while examining aerial photographs of his country. The smooth shape, larger than a football field, stood out from the rough and rocky terrain at an altitude of 6,300 feet near the Turkish border with Iran.
Capt. Durupinar was familiar with the biblical accounts of the Ark and its association with Mount Ararat in Turkey, but he was reluctant to jump to any conclusions. The region was very remote, yet it was inhabited with small villages. No previous reports of an object this odd had been made before. So he forwarded the photographic negative to a famous aerial photography expert named Dr. Brandenburger, at Ohio State University.
Brandenburger was responsible for discovering the Cuban missile bases during the Kennedy era from reconnaissance photos, and after carefully studying the photo, he concluded: “I have no doubt at all, that this object is a ship. In my entire career, I have never seen an object like this on a stereo photo.”
In 1960 the picture [above] was published in LIFE magazine under the heading of Noahs Ark? That same year a group of Americans accompanied Capt. Durupinar to the site for a day and a half. They were expecting to find artifacts on the surface or something that would be unquestionably related to a ship of some kind. They did some digging in the area but found nothing conclusive and announced to the anxiously waiting world that it appeared to be a natural formation.
Most of the global media turned away from the find and it became a non-story.
In 1977 Ron Wyatt visited the site. Obtaining official permission, Ron and others conducted more thorough research over a period of several years. They used metal detection surveys, subsurface radar scans, and chemical analysis — real science — and their findings were startling. The evidence was undeniable. This was the Ark of Noah.
The Visual Evidence
The first part of the survey was to examine the object and take its measurements. The shape looked like hull of a ship. One end was pointed as you would expect from bow [below: D] and the opposite end was blunt like a stern. The distance from bow to stern was 515 feet, or exactly 300 Egyptian cubits. The average width was 50 cubits. These were the exact measurements mentioned in the Bible.
On the starboard side (right) near the stern there were four vertical bulges protruding from the mud [B], at regular intervals, that were determined to be the “ribs” of the hull [see below]. Opposite to these, on the port side, a single rib [A] protrudes from the mud. You can see its curved shape very clearly. Surrounding it are more ribs, still largely buried in the mud, but visible upon close examination.
Remember that this object, if it is the Ark, is extremely old. The wood has been petrified. Organic matter has been replaced by minerals from the earth. Only the shapes and traces of the original wood remain. Perhaps this is why the expedition in 1960 was disappointed. They anticipated finding and retrieving chucks of wood, long since eroded.
From the position of the object in the middle of an obvious mud flow, it is obvious that the object slid down more than a mile from its original location. Geologists believe it was originally over 1000 feet higher in the mountain and encased in a shell of hardened mud. They think that an earthquake in 1948 cracked the mud shell and revealed the structure. This is confirmed by stories from the surrounding villagers who tell of its “sudden appearance” around that time.
Biblical accounts of the Ark describe it as having as many as six levels. The assumed shape of the Ark seems consistent with the bulge [C] in the middle of the object. In fact, as we will soon learn, radar scans of the structure suggest that this bulge is the collapsed debris of these levels.
Although most people think of the Ark as being rectangular, that only applies to the top decks. The sleek shape of the hull is necessary to enable the huge ship to remain stable in the water and survive tremendous waves.
Ground Penetrating Radar
The human eye needs to see reflected light to recognize an object. To visualize what remains below the earth, scientists use microwaves which can penetrate the ground and bounce back when they hit something solid. This technique is commonly used to locate oil and other minerals. Called Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), the apparatus us made from an antenna that transmits, then listens to receive the “echo” and prints the result on a piece of paper. The delay and strength of this echo tell the geologists how solid and at what depth the objects are under the earth
The team of geologists didn’t scan the entire object. Instead, they marked out lines that crossed the object with yellow tape. Then they dragged the antenna (about the size of a lawnmower) over the lines and watched the output on the paper recorder. When they got a strong “hit” — meaning there was something solid underneath — they would record the position on the tape [above]. Later, when they made a map of the object, the tape and the location of the “hits” they realized that there was indeed a structure underneath the mud.
“This data does not represent natural geology. These are man made structures. These reflections are appearing too periodic… too periodic to be random in that type of natural pace.” – Ron Wyatt of SIR Imaging team
The radar cans revealed this structure [above] under the mud. The symmetry and logical placement of these objects shows that this is unmistakably a man made structure, most likely the Ark of Noah.
Artifacts Retrieved From The Ark
Using the GPR, Ron Wyatt discovered an open cavity on the starboard side. He used an improvised drill to make core sample inside this cavity and retrieved several very interesting objects. Below you can see the artifacts which were sent for laboratory analysis. On the left is the bore hole [see below], followed by what turned out to be petrified animal dung, then a petrified antler and lastly a piece of cat hair.
Perhaps the most significant find from the Ark itself is a piece of petrified wood. When this was first found it appeared to be a large beam. But upon closer examination it is actually three pieces of plank that have been laminated together with some kind of organic glue! This is the same technology used in modern plywood. Lamination makes the total strength of the wood much greater than the combined strength of the pieces. This suggests a knowledge of construction far beyond anything we knew existed in the ancient world.
Examination reveals the glue oozed from the layers. The outside of the wood appears to have been coated with bitumen.
Even more surprising were laboratory analyses which not only revealed that the petrified wood contained carbon (proving it was once wood) but there were iron nails [above right] embedded in the wood!
We like to imagine that humanity evolved in a neat sequence of eras, each named after the technology that was discovered. We have the Stone Age (where man developed arrows and stone tools), the Bronze Age (where metals were combined and heated to make tools and household items) and lastly the Iron Age (where iron and steel objects were made by heating iron ore and adding other material — like charcoal — to strengthen it). The Iron Age is usually placed at 1200-1000 BC, yet we have iron nails being used in this extremely old construction.
But Wait… There’s More!
The most surprising find was discovered with sensitive metal detectors. The team located several strong “hits” that, when dug up, revealed large disc shaped rivets. From simple observation of the metal it was possible to see where the rivet had been hammered after being inserted through a hole [below].
If rivets being used in ancient construction doesn’t impress you, this surely will.
An analysis of the metal used to make the rivets revealed that they were a combination of iron (8.38%), aluminum (8.35%) and titanium (1.59%). Remember these trace metals have survived petrification and so do not indicate the exact content in the original material. (see Report from Galbraith Labs)
We know the aluminum was incorporated in the metallic mixture because it does not exist in metallic form in nature. This implies an extremely advanced knowledge of metallurgy and engineering. Characteristics of an iron-aluminum alloy have been investigated in The Russian Chemical Bulletin (2005) and reveal that this alloy forms a thin film of aluminum oxide which protects the material from rust and corrosion. The addition of titanium would provide added strength. This seems to have worked. The rivets have survived from antiquity!
The Surrounding Areas
Several miles from the location of the Ark, huge stones were discovered, some standing upright while others lying on the ground. These stones, weighing many tons, have holes carved in them. Scientists have determined that they were anchors and the holes would have been their attachment to a ship with hemp rope.
Often these stones will have crosses carved in them, from centuries ago when pilgrims made the journey to visit the Ark. Yes, the Ark was well known in the Middle Ages and even before. And its location was recorded in many historical documents.
“And the Ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.” – Genesis 8:4-5
The Gilgamesh Epic (650 BC) gives Mt. Nisir as the landing place of the Ark. The local name for the town where the Ark was found is Nasar.
The annals of Ashurnasurpal II of Assyria (833-859 BC) places it south of the Zab river (correct).
Theophilus of Antioch (115-185 AD) said the Ark could be seen in his day in the Arabian mountains. Later Church Fathers also mention the Ark as late as the mid 7th century.
In the 13th century, Willam, a traveler, stated for the first time that Mt. Masis was the Ark location (present-day Mt. Ararat).
Ptolemy’s Geographia (1548) mentions the mountains of Armenia as the place of landing. So does the traveler Nicolas de Nicolay (1558).
Pilgrims to the site would gather bits and pieces of the petrified wood which would be used as charms to ward off evil. When they encountered the anchors, they had no doubt about their association with the Ark. They often carved one big cross to represent Noah and smaller crosses representing his family.
The huge anchors would have been suspended from the keel of the ship. This was a common practice among ancient mariners to stabilize a heavy ship and ensure that the bow is always facing the on-coming waves. A “top heavy” ship, such as the Ark, could easily be capsized by a wave approaching from the side. This is yet further proof that Noah’s Ark was a reality and that it has indeed been found in Turkey.