War on Film – Palestine 36
Taylor Downing reviews the latest film and television releases.
Israel
Threads of Contact: Tracing the relationship between Egypt and the Southern Levant through textile tools
REVIEW BY HILARY WILSON Spinning and weaving are among the earliest ancient technologies, and implements used in textile production turn up in archaeological excavations worldwide. Introducing this volume, part of Oxbow’s ‘Ancient Textiles’ series, Chiara Spinazzi-Lucchesi emphasises the rarity of…
Rare Ptolemaic coin
Another recent find connected to Berenice II has been announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority. A rare gold coin depicting the Ptolemaic queen without her consort (and a cornucopia on the reverse) has been discovered during the excavation of a…
Ancient Egypt news in brief
• Egyptian and Greek pottery discovered by Israeli archaeologists at Megiddo (‘Armageddon’) confirms that Egyptian forces and Greek mercenaries were present around the period of the biblical battle between King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho II, c.609 BC. • A recently…
Crusader criminals: The other side of soldiering
The Crusades are known for spectacular military engagements. But they also saw all manner of crimes committed beyond the battlefield. In a new book, Steve Tibble uncovers some dark secrets.
After 1177 BC: The Survival of Civilizations
REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS In his 2014 book 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (reviewed in AE 85) Eric Cline charted the ‘perfect storm of calamities’ that led to the sudden collapse of the thriving interconnected Bronze Age civilisations. In…
Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK Let’s do some biblical archaeology. Nazareth is not well known. Bethlehem, where the Bible tells us that Jesus was born, has a magnificent basilica; Jerusalem has the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; but Nazareth, which was…
A spectacular synagogue
Excavations in Israel have unearthed a 1,600-year-old synagogue, home to an exceptional set of mosaics.
The British Templars: A new warrior elite
The Knights Templar were renowned for their extraordinary feats of bravery in defence of the Holy Land. But the British contribution to their story is often overlooked, argues Steve Tibble.
Shipwrecked cargo containing Roman-era marble artefacts discovered in Israel
The cargo comprises around 44 tonnes of marble architectural elements, including Corinthian capitals and marble columns
Jalame, 1963-1971
Viewers of the Netflix competition series Blown Away will be familiar both with the mesmerising transformations that take place under extreme heat as glass is blown, shaped, and decorated, and with the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York,…
Early example of cranial surgery identified in late Bronze Age tomb
This discovery represents the earliest example of its kind found in the ancient Near East.
Ivory comb with rare Canaanite inscription
Until now, inscriptions found in the Canaanite alphabet have been limited to two or three words; this is the first meaningful Canaanite inscription found in Israel.
Extremely rare inscribed sling bullet from 2nd century BC found in Israel
It bears the Greek inscription ‘Victory of Heracles and Hauronas’, signifying the bullet’s use as both a physical and psychological weapon
Decorated ivories
What is it? This collection of decorated ivory plaques found in Jerusalem was probably once inlaid in a piece of ornate wooden furniture. The plaques, which are believed to date to the 8th-7th centuries BC, were discovered broken into many…
Fragments of decorated ivory plaques found among the ruins of an ancient palace in Jerusalem
It has been suggested that the ivories were made by Assyrian artists and possibly arrived in Jerusalem as a gift to the nobility.
Ancient settlement and mosaics uncovered on the shores of the Sea of Galilee
Analysing pottery fragments recovered from the site, archaeologists have dated the construction of the settlement to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.
New study identifies world’s earliest evidence of opium use
The study sheds light on how the hallucinogenic drug was used in Late Bronze Age burial customs.
Knucklebones used for gaming and divination found in Israel
Researchers discovered that many of the bones had been modified – shaved down, polished, perforated, or filled with lead – in order to improve the roll of the dice.
Ancient elephant tusk discovered in southern Israel
Excavations at the site, located near Revadim, have previously unearthed stone and flint tools assigned to the Late Acheulean.
Excavation in Rahat reveals one of the earliest-known mosques
A 'luxurious estate’ featuring painted wall frescoes and marble-paved halls was also unearthed within the vicinity.
World news in brief: maya dentistry, medieval hand grenades and early Islamic burials
A round up of some of the latest archaeological news from around the globe.
Ancient ceramic vessels were used as hand grenades, analysis suggests
Four pot sherds found between 1961 and 1967 in the Armenian Garden, located within the walled Old City of Jerusalem, were studied as part of the research.
Remains of a Hellenistic fortress revealed in Israel
Weapons, pottery, charred wooden beams, and dozens of coins dating to the late 2nd century BC were also unearthed.
Byzantine wine factory
Excavations in the city of Yavne in Israel have discovered a vast 1,500-year-old industrial complex thought to be the largest wine production centre known from the Byzantine period. The factory complex encompasses five large wine presses, each covering an area…
War of Words – ‘ARMAGEDDON’
'Armageddon’ came to English, via Greek, from Hebrew har megiddo, meaning ‘mountain of Megiddo.’
Byzantine wine factory unearthed in Israel
Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered the largest complex of Byzantine winepresses ever found. The industrial estate, where around 2 million litres of wine were produced every year, was recently unearthed in the city of Yavne and dated to c.1,500 years ago.
Southern Levant: what was on the menu in the land of milk and honey?
Just how much can ancient diet tell us about past lives? Shyama Vermeersch considers what cuisine reveals about the southern Levant in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Previously unknown ancient hominin discovered in Israel
A team of researchers has identified 140,000-year-old fossilised remains found in Israel as belonging to a previously unknown type of ancient hominin, which may have been an early precursor of Neanderthals that co-existed alongside other prehistoric groups, including Homo sapiens.…
AI advances in archaeology
Recently, researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have used the latest in AI technology to study the Great Isaiah Scroll (known as 1QIsaa), an ancient manuscript dating to the 2nd century BC that is considered one of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Discoveries in the Judean Desert
The newly discovered fragments consist of over 20 pieces of parchment belonging to the Minor Prophets Scroll, including sections of the books of Zechariah and Nahum.
Olga Tufnell’s ‘Perfect Journey’
When 22-year-old Olga Tufnell set off on her first ‘perfect journey’ in 1927 – to join Flinders Petrie’s expedition in Egypt – she had little training in archaeology beyond several years assisting the Petries with their annual exhibition. Over the…
Crusader strategy: a contradiction in terms?
Medieval warfare was not just a matter of crude feudal violence, argues Steve Tibble.
Discoveries in the desert
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940s, the caves - which have preserved fragile objects like the scrolls – have been the target of looters.
Allenby: making the modern Middle East
Edward Henry Hynman Allenby was born in 1861 in Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire in comfortable circumstances – a Victorian squire perhaps destined to help govern the British Empire on behalf of the Queen-Empress.
One of the magnificent six: secrets from the Byzantine city of Shivta
How did cities come to flourish in the Negev Desert? George Nash has gone in search of Shivta’s former glory.