3,500-Year-Old Metal Treasures Found on Israeli Beach By Power Plant Employee - Michael Bachner BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

The ancient metal artifacts were retrieved from the sea and turned over to the Israel Antiquities Authority. (Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority.)

3,500-Year-Old Metal Treasures Found on Israeli Beach By Power Plant Employee

 By Michael Bachner August 23, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalms 2:9 (The Israel Bible™)

Many archaeological artifacts, some dating back 3,500 years, were discovered in the sea near an Israeli power plant by an employee over the span of decades. Family members of the employee, the late Marcel Mazliah, have now presented the ancient finds to Israeli officials, who say they were surprised by what they found.

“The finds include a toggle pin and the head of a knife from the Middle Bronze Age, more than 3,500 years ago,” said Ayala Lester, a curator with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). “Other items include two mortars, two pestles, and fragments of candlesticks, all dating back to the time of the Fatimid Caliphate around the eleventh century CE.”

The artifacts also included grenade-like ceramic pieces commonly found in Israel during the Crusader, Ayyubid, and Mamluk periods.

A hand grenade hundreds of years old found at sea. (Amir Gorzalczany, Israel Antiquities Authority.)

The objects, most of which are decorated, are believed to have fallen overboard from a metal merchant’s ship in the Early Islamic period.

“The items were apparently manufactured in Syria and brought to Israel,” Lester speculated. “They are evidence of the metal trade that had taken place during that period.”

The discovery of the nature of the items started when members of the Mazliah family from the city of Givatayim, near Tel Aviv, contacted an IAA representative following the death of Marcel, who had numerous metal artifacts in his possession.

The family invited the official to examine the artifacts and explained that Marcel had been employed at the Hadera power station since its establishment and had retrieved the items from the sea while working there.

Toggle pin. (Amir Gorzalczany, Israel Antiquities Authority.)

The IAA said in a statement that it would present the Mazliah family with a certificate of appreciation in the coming days. The IAA has also invited them to tour its laboratories, where the finds are to undergo treatment and conservation.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev also praised the family for handing over the artifacts. She called on all Israelis to display good citizenship and to return treasures and antiquities that have historic and archaeological value.

Ancient Philistine Cemetery Unearthed in Ashkelon By Michael Bachner - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Senior staff discuss 9th-10th century BC burial in excavation of Philistine cemetery. (Photo: Tsafrir Abayov/Leon Levy Expedition.)

Ancient Philistine Cemetery Unearthed in Ashkelon

By Michael Bachner July 11, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines; and David waxed faint.” II Samuel 21:15 (The Israel Bible™)

A Philistine cemetery has been discovered for the first time in Israel, possibly shedding light on the mystery of the Philistines’ origins. According to biblical accounts, the Philistines were the arch-foes of ancient Israel.

“After decades of studying what the Philistines left behind, we have finally come face to face with the people themselves,” said Daniel Master, a professor of archaeology at Wheaton College. “With this discovery we are close to unlocking the secrets of their origins.”

Archaeologists and scholars have long searched for the Philistines’ origin. Artifacts found in the cemetery, which date back 2,700 to 3,000 years, may support the biblical account of the Philistines as migrants who arrived on the shores of ancient Israel from western lands in approximately the twelfth century BCE.

“Ninety-nine percent of the chapters and articles written about Philistine burial customs should be revised or ignored now that we have the first and only Philistine cemetery found just outside the city walls of Tel Ashkelon, one of the five primary cities of the Philistines,” said Lawrence Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel at Harvard University.

The discovery was made by the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon more than thirty years after the excavation began. The digs that took place in Ashdod, Ekron, Ashkelon, and Gath have shown how culturally distinct the Philistines were from their Israelite contemporaries.

Philistine burial practices were not like those of the Bronze Age Canaanites, nor were they similar to burial practices in later Iron Age Judea. The Philistines buried their dead primarily in pits that were dug for each deceased individual: male or female, adult or child. Later, more bodies were sometimes placed in the same pit, which was dug again along roughly the same lines, but the new remains were interred with their own grave goods. The cemetery was also found to contain evidence of cremations, together with pit interments and multi-chambered tombs.

After quelling Bar Kochba’s revolt in the Roman province of Judaea in 135 CE, Emperor Hadrian renamed the area Syria Palaestina, for the Israelites’ ancient enemies.

Research on artifacts found at the site, including bones, ceramics, jewelry and weapons, may connect the Philistines to related populations elsewhere in the Mediterranean Basin. Bone samples taken from the site are also being tested in order to ascertain the Philistines’ origins.

Physical anthropology member documents discovered skeleton in Ashkelon excavation. (Photo: Melissa Aja/Leon Levy Expedition)

Most of the items found in the graves were storage jars, small bowls, and decorated juglets filled with what is believed to have been perfumed oil. While bracelets and earrings were found upon some of the remains and weapons with others, most of the individuals seem not have been buried with personal items.

The discovery was made in Ashkelon, a key port and maritime trade center from the Bronze Age to the Crusades, when it was destroyed and left uninhabited until modern times.

The excavation was organized and sponsored by the Leon Levy Foundation; the Semitic Museum at Harvard University; Boston College; Wheaton College; and Troy University, under license from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

Israel Striking Down Against Hezbollah Threat, Netanyahu Reveals By Michael Bachner - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Illustrative: an Israeli F-16C Fighting Falcon. (Photo: Ofer Zidon/Flash90)

Israel Striking Down Against Hezbollah Threat, Netanyahu Reveals

By Michael Bachner April 12, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their due reward from Me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17 (The Israel Bible™)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted for the first time that Israel has conducted dozens of strikes abroad in order to prevent weapons from being transferred to the Hezbollah terror organization. The remarks came during a tour of a military drill near the Syrian border on Monday, April 11.

Netanyahu’s statement officially confirm previous reports attributing to Israel multiple airstrikes against targets in Syria and Sudan. The airstrikes, for which the Israeli government has officially declined to confirm or deny its involvement, reportedly hit military convoys in Syria carrying advanced surface-to-air missiles intended for Hezbollah, a terror group based in Lebanon that fought a war with Israel in 2006.

“We act when needed, including here across the border, with dozens of strikes in order to deny game-changing weapons from Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said. “We also act in other fronts, both near and far, but we do this sensibly.”

The Prime Minister was visiting the Golan Heights just across from the Syrian border, where reservists of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade are currently undergoing a military drill. Netanyahu spoke about the military challenges and threats faced by Israel.

“We have the Islamic State (ISIS) and Hezbollah across the borders, we have Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and we have global jihad and Islamic State members in the Sinai,” he said. “We are proud that in the midst of all this turmoil in the Middle East, we have succeeded in preserving relative calm and security in Israel.”

“We can see nations and states being eradicated in the surrounding chaos, and we cannot expect anyone to come and help us,” added Netanyahu. “If we have learned something, it is that we have to be able to defend ourselves on our own. This is our country, we need to defend it and nobody will defend it except us.”

An airstrike in Damascus killed multiple Hezbollah militants last December, including Samir Kuntar, a terrorist who brutally murdered a 4-year-old Israeli child and her father in 1979 but was eventually freed from an Israeli prison in a prisoner swap deal. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the assassination, a charge the Israeli government neither confirmed nor denied.

While serving as opposition leader in 2007, Netanyahu told an Israeli journalist that he had “personally” congratulated then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for having bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor, a strike which the government refused to confirm. The remarks stirred controversy as sources close to Olmert criticized Netanyahu’s “slip of the tongue.”

Ancient Byzantine Church Uncovered in Gush Etzion by Michael Bachner - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Excavation Site of Byzantine Church in Migdal Oz 23.3.16 The cave and crypt with the newly discovered mosaic. (Photo: Hillel Maeir/TPS)

Ancient Byzantine Church Uncovered in Gush Etzion

By Michael Bachner March 25, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah 56:7 (The Israel Bible™)

A colorful mosaic and various archaeological artifacts have been recently unearthed at the site of a large, uniquely structured Byzantine basilica in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.

The discovery was made at the Khirbet Bureikut archaeological site in Migdal Oz, where the Byzantine church was originally discovered in 1977, and indicates that the inhabitants there were very wealthy. The newly discovered mosaic indicates that the church was originally built in the fourth century, according to Hananya Hizmi, Head Staff Officer of Archaeology of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria.

Excavation Site of Byzantine Church in Migdal Oz 23.3.16.
Haim Shkolnik (L) and Hananya Hizmi (R) with the newly discovered mosaic. (Photo: Hillel Maeir/TPS)

“We started to expand the excavation at the end of 2015 to find out where all this wealth came from, since this area was probably isolated from major communities during the Byzantine era,” Haim Shkolnik, who led the excavation on behalf of the Archeology Staff Officer, told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

Artifacts recently discovered at the excavation include over five kilograms of glass items, pottery fragments, around 50 coins, including one of Alexander Jannaeus, and a handle with the seal of the Three Biblical Magi.

Some of the newly discovered artifacts. Excavation Site of Byzantine Church in Migdal Oz 23.3.16 (Photo: Hillel Maeir/TPS)

“The findings at the church indicate great wealth,” Shkolnik informed TPS. “There were many types of marble and glass used and it had drainage channels, a rare feature for Byzantine churches. It also had an underground crypt with two staircases leading down to it, which is also a very rare feature.”

According to Hananya Hizmi, the church was built on a cave from earlier times. “The cave was converted to a crypt and used to buried martyrs,” he said. “The Basilica has a prayer hall, aisles, a narthex running across the structure and an atrium with a big water hole. The church is built of massive stone blocks, suggesting that it was built on an earlier structure.”

“The church is different in its design from what was normal at the time,” said Shkolnik. “It was possibly founded by monks arriving from Syria, as was common in the fifth century.”

The practice of worshipping in the cave began in the fourth century and the cave was converted to a crypt when it was expanded in the 5th century and the church was built. The basilical complex was built during the Byzantine era. According to Shkolnik, the findings indicate that it had been a major pilgrimage site. The place ceased to serve as a church after the early Muslim conquest.

Excavation Site of Byzantine Church in Migdal Oz 23.3.16 (Photo: Hillel Maeir/TPS)

“We found evidence suggesting that they shattered many of the church items, contrary to what some believe about the ‘enlightened’ Muslim conquest,” Shkolnik noted.

The place also saw some activity in the ninth century, but that activity ceased until it was renewed by the Mamluks in the 14th century. The site was then abandoned until it was excavated in 1977.

The Archaeology Staff Officer is the body responsible for enforcing the antiquity laws in Judea and Samaria. It has Jewish and Palestinian employees and is in charge of protecting and developing over 2,500 archeological sites found in the region.

1700-Year-Old Gravestones of Unknown Rabbis Uncovered in Northern Israel - by Michael Bachner BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

(Photo: Courtesy/TPS)

1700-Year-Old Gravestones of Unknown Rabbis Uncovered in Northern Israel

By Michael Bachner January 28, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast the understanding.” (Job 38:4)

Three ancient gravestone epitaphs written in Aramaic and in Greek were recently uncovered in the Galilee region in northern Israel. The people commemorated in two of the inscriptions are described as rabbis, but their exact names and identities have yet to be identified by further research.

The two epitaphs end with the Hebrew greeting word “shalom” (meaning ‘hello’ or ‘peace’). The Greek inscription mentions the name “Jose”, which at the time had been a very common name among Jews in Israel and in the diaspora.

The gravestones were buried in the western part of the cemetery of the Jewish community of Zippori in the Lower Galilee region, which was a major Jewish city in ancient times. The information that ultimately led to the discovery originally came from residents of the community.

The excavation was conducted by researchers from the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology in Kinneret College, and from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

“One of the surprises in the newly uncovered inscriptions is that one of the people buried is nicknamed as ‘The Tiberian’,” said Dr. Motti Aviam from the Kinneret College. “This is the second case of a person from Tiberias buried in the Zippori cemetery. Perhaps Jews from all around the Galilee chose to be buried in Zippori due to Judah the Prince’s important activities in the city.”

Judah the Prince, nicknamed simply ‘Rabbi’, was the chief redactor of the Jewish Mishnah (the first major work of Rabbinic literature) and he lived in Zippori during the Roman occupation. Zippori was the first capital of the Galilee region in Hasmonean times, until Tiberias was founded in the first century CE.

The city was a bustling Jewish center as indicated by the many artifacts discovered in the city, including Jewish ritual baths (mikveh) and 17 epitaphs, mostly in Aramaic which had been the spoken language among Jews at the time. Some of them also spoke and wrote in Greek.

“The significance of the gravestones lies in the fact they reflect the daily life of Jews in Zippori and their culture 1,700 years ago,” said Dr. Aviam.

Gravestone with Inscription in Aramaic Commemorating Rabbis, Uncovered in Zippori 27.1.16
Process of cleaning the inscription. (Photo: Miki Peleg, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

“One of the inscriptions features the Hebrew word ‘leolam’ (meaning ‘forever’), for the first time in Zippori,” he added. “The word is known from epitaphs in other locations, and means in this context that their burial place shall remain his forever, without anyone robbing it from them.”

The inscriptions will be researched further, and the researchers believe that more research will likely produce new discoveries. The IAA and the Kinneret College also stated that the gravestones will be on display for the general public.