Archaeology Archives

Feb 10

Destruction of the Altar of Joshua

Posted by CamelYoni_123 | Archaeology, current events, History | No Comments

Destruction of important bib

The mountain ranges of Judea and Samaria were the cradle of Jewish civilization.

Most of the stories we know from the Bible took place in those mountains, and a number of Biblical archaeological sites stand on those hills.

A large portion of the area is controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Over the last several years a number roads have been paved, towns built and groves of trees planted over important Jewish Historical sites, effectively destroying them.

Most recently this construction was carried out at a biblical site dating back 3200 years.

On an hill top beside the city of Nablus/ Shchem, there is a small, unimposing archaeological site of huge importance – the altar of Joshua on Mt. Eival.

In parshat ‘Ki Tavo’ God commands the Children of Israel that once they enter the land of Israel they will carry out a ceremony called the blessing and the curse, which is a reaffirmation of the pact between the Jewish people and their God.

In the Book of Joshua (8:30) we are told that Joshua does in fact carry out the ceremony as commanded:

“ Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Eival”

The site was discovered and identified by archaeologist Adam Zartal in 1980.

The Alter of Joshua is in area B of the West Bank, meaning Israeli security control and Palestinian civil control. Unfortunately the Palestinian Authority decided to make a road through this ancient archaeological site. To make gravel for the road, the workers actually crushed rocks from this 3500 year old biblical site.

Even though the PA has promised to protect sites such as this one, they have the authority to carry out such construction without regard for conservation.

As a guide who feels a strong connection to the land and the various sites that hold a place in our past, I can’t even describe the horror and loss that I feel from the site being damaged with such disregard.

I hope that the Israeli Government will be able to come to an agreement soon with the PA that will bring an end to these construction projects, and will ensure historical sites are protected.

All that we can do now is to spread the word, learn about these historic places and make sure that they are not forgotten.

lical archaeology sites

Sep 09

Brand new ancient dates- a rebirth of botanical history

Posted by CamelYoni_123 | Archaeology, current events, Food, History, Nature, plants, Uncategorized | No Comments

If you’ve been on a tour with me in the Judean desert, then you may remember hearing about the ancient history of dates and their significance in Jewish culture. I probably offered you dates and coffee and talked about the ancient seeds that were found in the area, and were planted by scientists.

Now there is an update to that story: fifteen years after those ancient seeds were planted, the date tree has borne fruit.

The story behind this fruity adventure is surprising, exciting and unlikely!

It started in 2005 ,at the Arava Institutein Kibbutz Ketura, when Dr. Solowey planted two thousand year old date pits.

In order to get the pits, that had been found in an archaeological dig at Masada in 1960, to sprout, secret combinations of heat, hydration, plant hormones and fertilizers were used.

Against all odds the seeds sprouted and grew to be a small palm tree. The tree, which was named Methuselah, turned out to be a male tree which can’t bear fruit.

The researchers went looking through other stores of ancient seeds that were discovered around the Judean desert and planted multiple seeds in the hope that they would be able to grow a female tree.

A pit (Hannah) found in a dig at Wadi Makhukh near Jericho grew to be the long-awaited female palm. She (the pit) dated back to the fourth century BC making her one of the oldest ever found.
After growing for six years Hannah flowered!

The researchers collected pollen from nearby Methuselah and brushed it onto Hanna’s flowers.
Against all odds, Hannah bore fruit which ripened and were harvested.

At a special celebration a few of the dates were tasted- they have a dry nutty flavour similar to dates originating from Iraq.

During this time of year right before Rosh Hashanna, The Jewish New Year, as dates are being harvested across the country and palm fronds are being collected for the celebration of Succot, the connection of dates and palms to Jewish culture and history is more tangible and flavourful than ever!

Jul 26

Beitar- a Trip through Time and Space

Posted by CamelYoni_123 | Archaeology, History, Jewish History | 2 Comments

‘I want to hike to the ruins of Beitar. Who wants to join?’

I looked at the message on my phone and my mind started racing!

We had all learned about Beitar. It had been the last and strongest fortress from which Shimon bar Kochva rebelled against the Roman Empire.

For some reason during the Tour-Guide course we didn’t visit the ruins, in fact I had never heard of anyone visiting the ruins and it had always troubled me.

Ever year on the fast day of Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the jewish month of Av) Jews around the world mourn the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples that stood in Jerusalem. This day on which both of the temples were destroyed has become the day on which all tragedies that befell the jewish people are remembered.

In Synagogues around the world congregations will read a scroll telling the story of the destruction of the first temple and then will read ‘kinot’ which are poems that were written to mourn tragedies. Many of these Kinot mention the fall of Beitar.

The second Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. Sixty two years later in the year 132 Shimon Bar Kochva led a widespread revolt against the Romans. Using Guerilla tactics and hiding in underground tunnels and caves the revolt was a surprising success at the beginning.

Over time the Roman army developed new tactics and was able to start getting the upper hand in the war.

In the year 135 after a number of losses, the forces retreated to the city of Beitar in the mountains not far from Jerusalem. They built heavy fortifications in order to hold out against the Romans.

The Romans in turn set siege to the fortress building a wall around it even longer than the wall that they built around Masada!

According to the Jerusalem Talmud the fortress fell on the ninth of Av (the fast day) and all of the defenders were slain.

The date that was chosen for the hike to the ruins of Beitar was the 1st of the month of Av- the beginning of nine days of mourning leading up to the fast day on the 9th.

The place identified with Beitar are ruins called ‘hurvat al yahud’ Arabic for ‘Ruins of the Jews’ and is located beside the Palestinian village of Battir.

The route that we chose was long and windy in order to stay as far as possible from the Palestinian cities. After a very long hike and extremely steep climb we found ourselves on the ruins of Beitar. Most of the ancient city is hidden under terraces of olive trees but here and there the size of the fortifications was unmistakeable.

Standing on top of the fortress surrounded by deep valleys on three sides, I understood why Shimon Bar Kochva had chosen that location.

Reading the kinot will be much more meaningful this year.

Sep 22

Archaeology, Altars, and our Footprints at Risk!

Posted by CamelYoni_123 | Archaeology, current events, History, Uncategorized | No Comments

Thousands of years ago Joshua lead the children of Israel across the Jordan river. According to the book of Joshua they crossed the Jordan River parallel to the city of Jericho at a place called Gilgal. When they completed the crossing they made a ceremony with twelve large stones symbolizing the twelve tribes. From there they began the conquest of the promised land.

In this week’s Torah portion (Ki Tavo) we read of a blessing and a curse which will be given to the twelve tribes once they are in the promised land. In the book of Joshua this same curse and blessing is recorded as having been given.

These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin and. these shall stand upon mount Eval for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.; Devarim 27:12-13

Adam Zartal- an Israeli archaeologist found the site on mount Eval where this blessing was given.

In1989 a number of ancient archaeological sites were discovered in the Jordan valley. The most intriguing of them are the five ‘foot print sites’. These sites are dated to the 12-13th century B.C., which aligns itself with the period of the conquest.

foot print site

Incredibly when viewed from above they have an uncanny resemblance to the sole of a shoe or a foot print. Hence being called ‘foot print sites’ (אתר כף הרגל )

The conquest of the land of Israel was completed over a period of many. It started with the city of Jericho followed by the Ai followed by other cities in the Jordan Valley.

Adam Zartal believed that these were ceremonial cites due to their shape and the presence of an alter at the center of each of them. He also drew a connection between these sites and ‘Gilgal’ ,which is mentioned multiple times in the bible, as they are made of conjoined circles.

He believed that the foot shape of the sites signifies that the children of Israel making a statement that they had taken ownership over the land.

The above-mentioned curse and blessing was given at one of these foot print sites which is located at mt. Eval which is close to the Palestinian city of Nablus (Shchem).

Shchem and Mt. Eival

These incredible archaeological and historical sites are in the mountains of the Jordan valley, The majority of which is Palestinian controlled territories. This area has little supervision, legislation and/or enforcement over the well being of archaeological sites.

Many decisions pertaining to building of infrastructure made by the Israeli military administration in the areas of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley are influenced by strategic, or sometimes monetary decisions while failing to take into account possible damage to archaeological site. The decisions or making them less accessible to Israeli citizens.

Unfortunately the Israeli military administration recently made such a decision with regards to one of these foot print sites. They have given permission to the Palestinian authority to build a garbage dump beside this archaeological and historical treasure.

I highly recommend learning more about these sites and getting out to see them if you can.
Further more If you are concerned about the protection of these and other precious archaeological sites you can write to The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT) at Cogatspokesman@gmail.com with your concerns about the foot print archaeological site located at Rimonim!

May 01

Of Harvesting Barley, Counting, and a Bloody Revolt against the Romans

Posted by CamelYoni_123 | Archaeology, History, Holidays, Jewish History | No Comments

The period of time between the holiday of Passover and Shavuot is known as ‘Sefirat haOmer’.
The Torah orders us to count the 49 days separating the two holidays, Passover, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, and Shavuot, commemorating receiving the An offering of barley was given in the Temple on each of the 49 days as this period coincides with the harvest of grains.

During the time of the Temple, the period of time between the holidays was an elongated celebration. This is very different from what happens now. Currently many traditions of mourning are kept for part of this period (from the first day until the 33rd of the 49 days).

Traditionally we learn that thousands of the students of Rabbi Akiva (circa 130 C.E.) perished from a divine plague during these 4 weeks as a punishment for acting disrespectfully towards each other.
How does this make sense? Rabbi Akiva is widely acclaimed for the statement, “ve’ahavta l’reacha kamocha” – love your neighbor as you would yourself. It doesn’t quite fit that specifically his students would disrespect each other to a point of receiving such a divine punishment.

Let’s take another look of what was going on at the time in the land of Israel and who the main players were.

60 years had passed since the great revolt against the Romans which had resulted in the destruction of the Temple and expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem. A widespread revolt had started. Lead by Shimon Bar Kochva, this revolt became known as the Bar Kochva revolt (132-136 C.E.). Rabbi Akiva was the main spiritual leader in Israel and supported the revolt.

A number of early successes against the Roman Empire lead to an independent Jewish territory in Judea for two years. This independence was eventually crushed by a force of more than six legions. The Roman Empire executed a swift and strong revenge against the Jews.

According to Cassius Dio (a Roman consul and historian), over 580,000 Jews were killed in the war. Those who survived were sold into slavery.

In addition to this widespread destruction, Hadrian took many steps to erase any chance of the Jews rising again. He executed many Jewish scholars, forbid the teaching and learning of Torah, and changed the name of the area of Judea and Samaria to Syria Palestina in an attempt to erase any memory of a Jewish homeland.

I suspect that the thousands of students who perished in such a short period of time where most likely fighting against the Roman legions.

Today we are still discovering secret hideouts that were used by Jewish fighters during the revolt! I recommend getting dirty and crawling/ climbing through the tunnels of the hideout in Hurvat Midras. This tunnel system in the area of Beit Guvrin shows one of the main Jewish tactics. Bar Kochva didn’t have the man-power or the weapons to take on a legion in a strait out battle. Instead, he used guerrilla tactics. After attacking Roman soldiers, the Jewish forces would escape into tunnel systems which were well hidden from sight. In the event that a Roman soldier did find the tunnel he would have to shed all of his weapons and armor to crawl in, rendering him defenseless.

As you travel to the ancient Jewish town, you can see the grains growing in the area and remember how those same grains were offered at the Temple during this period some two thousand years ago!

Archaeology Archives - Yoni Tours