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 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.