Archaeology News for October, 2014

In this edition of the e-Journal’s ‘Archaeology News’ we travel from Israel and surrounding regions to Sudan, the Kingdom of Kush, stopping momentarily in the Jordan Valley for a free book download.

We commence in Israel, at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Department of Holy Land Studies, Tel Aviv University, a ‘Milestones’ committee was established in 1970 to “carry out a systematic survey of all the extant remains related to roads, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the Roman road network in Israel.” More detailed information about this project is available at their website.1

In August, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem reported on the Western Wall, with the headline: “Western Wall Wearing Away? Discovery of Extreme Erosion Process Could Guide New Preservation Techniques”2, commenting on the stability of the structure and research undertaken. The research relating to this concern is in the journal Geology but behind a Pay Wall. The Abstract is available: Limestone weathering rates accelerated by micron-scale grain detachment.3

August also revealed the “oldest metal object found to day in the Middles East” a Press Release by the University of Haifa under the title of “An awl-inspiring find at Tel Tsaf: The oldest metal object found to date in the Middle East”4 the “awl dates back to the late 6^th millennium or the early 5^thmillennium BCE, moving back by several hundred years the date it was previously thought that the peoples of the region began to use metals.”

Researchers Andrew J. Kohl, Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline saw publication of their research on “Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel”.5 On the PLOS One website, the research “opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace.”

At Phys.Org “Ancient metal workers were not slaves but highly regarded craftsmen”6 is a conclusion reached from excavations in the Timna Valley which included “unparalleled preservation of organic materials usually destroyed by the march of time: bones, seeds, fruits, and even fabric dating back to the 10th century B.C.E.”

Of more general interest, in an article “The Land of a Thousand Caves”, it is said that “The 480 caves of Beit Guvrin-Maresha, [are] Israel’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site”.7 This reminded me of Harry Tennant’s remark about David, “The labyrinth of caves and the nature of the terrain gave him protection without the need to fight for it.”8

The Israel Antiquities Authority National Treasures Department are worth a look. They are “responsible for the housing, documentation and control of antiquities in Israel”. Their on-line site “offers a selection of published artifacts from the collections of the National Treasures and is available for researchers, curators, students and the general public in Israel and abroad.”9

At Live Science, they also report on a “Massive 5,000-Year-Old Stone Monument Revealed in Israel.”10   The structure is not far from the Sea of Galilee. Dated between “3050B.C. and 2650B.C.,” the structure may be “older than the pyramids of Egypt.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have advised the discovery of “An Impressive Compound from the Byzantine Period Containing a Large Oil Press, Wine Press and Mosaics was Exposed in Bet Shemesh.”11  Irina Zilberbod’s (IAA Archaeologist) comments that the compound is “very likely a monastery”.

Before moving on, if any readers are visiting the Washington D.C. district between October 11, 2014 and June 7, 2015 you may care to look in on an Exhibition to be held at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery12 (Smithsonian Institution) “Unearthing Arabia: The Archaeological Adventures of Wendell Phillips.”13 Phillips was a geologist and palaeontologist, and during “1949 to 1951 (with other specialists) … was on a quest to uncover two ancient cities—Tamna, the capital of the once-prosperous Qataban kingdom, and Marib, the reputed home of the legendary Queen of Sheba—that had flourished along the fabled incense road some 2,500 years earlier.” – the Exhibition displays the significant finds of this journey.

Egypt continues to give up its hidden treasures and secrets.

Science & Scholarship in Poland (news of Polish Science), in their News report, say that “Scientists are studying mummies from the Temple of Hatshepsut”14 and using “computed tomography and X-ray to study more than 2.5 thousand years old mummies of the priests of the god Montu.”

At the website Live Science again, a wall painting dating back 4,300 years ago was discovered near the Great Pyramid; see “Ancient Priest’s Tomb Painting Discovered Near Great Pyramid at Giza.”15

Still at Live Science, an Egyptian carving dating some 3,300 years ago was discovered in Sudan and “bears the scars of a religious revolution that upended the ancient civilization”; see “Egyptian Carving Defaced by King Tut’s Possible Father Discovered.”16

News at Tulane University under the headline: “Egyptologist sheds light on Tulane mummies”17 is that “Answers don’t come easily when the mystery is 3,000 years old. Egyptologist Melinda Nelson-Hurst has spent two years researching the Egyptian artifacts that have resided at Tulane University since 1852. Her work is yielding surprising details about two mummies, two intact coffins and funerary materials that reside in Dinwiddie Hall.”

The magazine ‘Popular Archaeology’, in its Cover Story August 13, 2014, states that “Egyptian mummification started much earlier than previously thought, say researchers”.18 They comment that “Researchers from the Universities of York, Macquarie and Oxford have discovered new evidence to suggest that the origins of mummification started in ancient Egypt 1,500 years earlier than previously thought”; traditional theories are also discussed.

The University of Santa Cruz, News Centre, reports (September 08, 2014) a “Study traces ecological collapse over 6,000 years of Egyptian history”19 that “Ancient Egyptian artworks help scientists reconstruct how animal communities changed as climate became drier and human populations grew.”

Back at Live Science, it is reported that “Ancient Egyptian Woman with 70 Hair Extensions Discovered”20 showing that this is not just a modern fashion, “More than 3,300 years ago, in a newly built city in Egypt, a woman with an incredibly elaborate hairstyle of lengthy hair extensions was laid to rest.”

Stepping into the Jordan Valley momentarily – a free book download, “Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley” is worth a look. The abstract states: “Tell city of Abu al-Kharaz is situated in the central Transjordanian Jordan Valley and excavated by the author from 1989 to 2012. The town flourished in the Early Bronze Age, and after an occupational lacuna of more than thousand years the site was re-occupied in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age and remained permanently occupied until the end of the Iron Age. The new volume is No. III in a series of three (The Early Bronze Age Vol. I, published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press in 2008, and the Middle and Late Bronze Ages Vol. II, in 2006).”21

An interesting discovery in Iraq is reported at Live Science, “Remains of Long-Lost Temple Discovered in Iraq,”22 reporting the discovery of “Life-size human statues and column bases from a long-lost temple dedicated to a supreme god have been discovered in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq … The discoveries date back over 2,500 years to the Iron Age, a time period when several groups — such as the Urartians, Assyrians and Scythians — vied for supremacy over what is now northern Iraq.”

On August 7^th, 2014, ScienceAAAS reported a “Skeleton in the Closet Identified: Bones from Ancient Ur”23, a skeleton “lay hidden in a crate in the “mummy room” of the museum for decades.” The “mummy room” was located in the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania). In September, ‘Popular Archaeology’ further advised on the skeleton:  “Ancient 6,500-Year-Old Skeleton from Ur Excavations Gets a Public Audience”24 … “Following an early August announcement of a “rediscovered” find in a Physical Anthropology storage room—a rare, fragile, but largely intact 6,500-year-old human skeleton from the famous Ur excavations in what is now Iraq—the Penn Museum has moved the skeleton to a public space beginning Saturday, August 30.”

“‘Evil Eye’ Box and Other Ancient Treasures Found in Nile River Cemetery”25 it was reported at Live Science  “A 2,000-year-old cemetery with several underground tombs has been discovered near the Nile River in Sudan … The cemetery dates back to a time when a kingdom called Kush flourished in Sudan.”

‘Popular Archaeology’ similarly has recent news about the Kingdom of Kush in Sudan, “Kingdom of Kush Iron Industry Works Discovered”26 … “New techniques developed at the University of Brighton to help archaeologists ‘see’ underground are starting to unlock the industrial secrets of an ancient civilisation … The UCL Qatar research, investigating the iron industries of the Kingdom of Kush in Sudan, is attempting to identify 2000-year-old iron production workshops.”

The following links may also be of interest to e-Journal Subscribers:

ANE Placemarks for Google Earth27

“A preliminary set of placemarks (ANE.kmz) for Google Earth of a selection of the most important archaeological sites in the Ancient Near East can be downloaded here (as an alternative try right-click or ctrl-click).

ANE.kmz works with Google Earth, which has to be downloaded (free at earth.google.com). When opened inside Google Earth, ANE.kmz gives, to the left, an alphabetic list of ancient sites and, to the right, on the satellite photo the same sites marked. For the moment, there are some 2500 sites with modern names; among them some 400 have ancient names. Additions of more sites are planned.”

Manar Al-Athar28

Free multi-media resource for the study of the Middle East

“The Manar al-Athar website, based at the University of Oxford, aims to provide high resolution, searchable images for teaching, research, and publication. These images of archaeological sites, with buildings and art, will cover the areas of the former Roman empire which later came under Islamic rule, such as Syro-Palestine/the Levant, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The chronological range is from Alexander the Great (i.e., from about 300 BC) through, the Islamic period to the present. It is the first website of its kind providing such material labelled jointly in both Arabic and English. We will also be publishing related material, both online and on paper, in English and Arabic.”