Historic Find at Tel-Hazor: A Statue of an Egyptian Official

In a historic find, a large fragment of an Egyptian statue measuring 45 X 40 centimeters, made of lime-stone, was discovered In the course of the current season of excavations at Tel-Hazor, north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Only the lower part of the statue survived, depicting the crouching feet of a male figure, seated on a square base on which a few lines in the Egyptian hieroglyphic script are inscribed.

The archaeologists estimate that the complete statue would equal the size of a fully-grown man. At present only a preliminary reading of the inscriptions has been attempted, and the title and name of the Egyptian official who originally owned the statue, are not yet entirely clear.

The statue was originally placed either in the official's tomb or in a temple – most probably a temple of the Egyptian god Ptah – and most of the texts inscribed on the statue's base include words of praise to the official who may have served and most probably practiced his duties in the region of Memphis, the primary cult center of the god Ptah. They also include the customary Egyptian funerary formula ensuring eternal supply of offerings for the statue's owner. This statue, found this year, together with the sphinx fragment of the Egyptian king Mycerinus (who ruled Egypt in the 25th century B.C.E.) discovered at the site by the research team three years ago, are the only monumental Egyptian statues found so far in second millennium contexts in the entire Levant.

Egyptian Artifacts Salvaged from Robbed Tomb in Israel

by Megan Gannon, News Editor   

In an underground cave in Israel, archaeologists have unearthed 3,000-year-old Egyptian artifacts that had been spared by tomb robbers.

courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Inspectors with the Israel Antiquities Authority's (IAA) Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery say they found pickaxes and other signs of looting in a cave near Kibbutz Lahav in southern Israel.

Upon further investigation, the excavators discovered a hoard of ancient artifacts. IAA officials say they don't yet know how the cave was used or why these objects were placed there, but they found several intact ceramic pots; jewelry made of bronze, shells and faience; oil lamps; small amulets; alabaster jars; cosmetic vessels; and Egyptian scarab seals that date back to the 15th and 14th centuries B.C.

"During this period, Canaan was ruled by Egypt," Daphna Ben-Tor, curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum, explained in a statement from the IAA.

"The names of kings appeared on some of the seals," Ben-Tor added. "Among other things, we can identify a sphinx lying opposite the name of the pharaoh Thutmose, who reigned from about 1504-1450 B.C. Another scarab seal bears the name of Amenhotep, who reigned from about 1386-1349 B.C. Still another scarab depicts Ptah, the principal god of the city of Memphis."

The announcement was timed just before Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the biblical story of the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt. There's no solid archaeological evidence to back the Exodus as a historical event, and these newfound artifacts don't offer new insights on that front. But from these findings, historians could potentially "learn about the great influence of the Egyptian administration and culture on the inhabitants of the Land of Israel during the Late Bronze and Iron Age periods," Eitan Klein, an archaeologist with the IAA, told Live Science.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/50335-egyptian-artifacts-salvaged-from-robbed-tomb.html

Archaeologists Investigate Early Urban Center Near Sea of Galilee

The 5,000-year-old city had diplomatic and commercial ties with First Dynasty Egypt.

Situated near the southern coast of the Sea of Galilee in the present-day State of Israel, the ancient remains of one of the earliest urban centers of the Levant has been explored off-and-on by teams of archaeologists for more than 70 years. Known as Tel bet Yerah, or Khirbet Kerak, it was built around 3,000 BCE as a fortified city, and archaeologists have discovered evidence indicating the center had significant political and commercial importance to the First Dynasty kings of ancient Egypt. 

In 2009, a team of archaeologists under the direction of Dr. Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv University, Dr. Sarit Paz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Prof. David Wengrow of the University College London, uncovered an Egyptian relief-carved stone fragment illustrating a hand grasping a scepter and the ‘ankh’ (eternal life) symbol, which they dated to about 3000 BCE. It was one clear sign, among other finds, that testified of a trade and political relationship between the city and First Dynasty Egypt.

Greenberg and colleagues have been excavating at the site to address unanswered questions about the history and culture of the site, the location of an ancient city that is shedding additional light on the development of urbanization in this part of the Levant, an area that has functioned historically as a crossroads between the great urban centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt to the south.

But unlike many other similar sites in the region, Tel bet Yerah features finds that also tell of the distinctive presence of a migrant group from an area far to its north.

Archaeologists Return to Excavate Ancient Jaffa

Investigations include further excavations at the famous Egyptian Gate, a search for the ancient harbor, and exploration of the ancient destruction level at the Lion Temple.

Teams of archaeologists, students and volunteers will return this month to the site of ancient Jaffa on the central coast of Israel to pick up where they left off in 2013, when they uncovered more of the sensational evidence of a fiery destruction at the site's ancient Amarna period New Kingdom Egyptian fortress gate. The continuing investigations will also include new elements -- the search for the ancient harbor complex, and excavation of evidence of a 14th century B.C. destruction layer at the remains of the site's Lion Temple. 

Under the direction of project co-directors Aaron Burke, Associate Professor of the Archaeology of Ancient Israel at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Martin Peilstöcker of the Israel Antiquities Authority, one team will continue the excavations at the famous fourteenth century B.C. Egyptian fortress gate complex, where in 2013 they uncovered the stark remains of an extensive violent destruction.

Excavations in 2012 first revealed the evidence, with clues to its extent indicated when excavators discovered a commemorative scarab of Amenhotep III dated to the mid-fourteenth century B.C., found within the upper destruction layers and apparently fallen from what the archaeologists interpreted as a second story administrative office floor. A year later, in 2013, they exposed the city gate’s passageway below more than 1.5 meters of destruction debris. The finds included arrowheads, a spearhead and lead weight, decorative ivory inlays, numerous charred seeds, a number of ceramic vessels, antlers from deer, and nearly two dozen cedar timbers thought to have once made up the gate’s roof and upper story. The seeds, identified as those of barley, olive pits, grape pips, and chick peas were a welcome find, as they provide an insight to the foods consumed at the site.

3,300-year-old coffin from time of pharaohs found in northern Israel

Researchers find coffin with image of a person and rare gold signet ring bearing name of Egyptian pharoah Seti I, father of Ramses II.

By Nir Hasson | Apr. 9, 2014

A 3,300-year-old Egyptian coffin from the time of the pharaohs has been discovered in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.

The cylindrical clay coffin from the Late Bronze Age, which was discovered with the skeleton of an adult inside, has a cover fashioned in the image of a person, called an anthropoidal lid. It is the first anthropoidal coffin found in the country in 50 years.

A rare gold signet ring was discovered near the coffin, with the gold-encased scarab seal bearing the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I. That Egyptian ruler is the father of Ramses II, identified by some scholars as the pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, which Jews around the world will be celebrating on Passover next week.

Photo by Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

The coffin, dating to the 13th century B.C.E., was discovered near Tel Shadud amid the skeleton of an adult and objects that appear to have been meant as religious offerings, including food storage vessels, tableware, cultic vessels and animal bones.

"As was the custom, it seems these were used as offerings for the gods, and were also meant to provide the dead with sustenance in the afterlife," excavation directors Edwin van den Brink, Dan Kirzner and the Israel Antiquities Authority's Ron Be'eri said in a statement.

The skeleton of an adult was found inside the clay coffin, and the researchers said the corpse appears to have belonged to an official of Canaanite origin who was engaged in the service of the Egyptian government, or to a wealthy person who imitated Egyptian funeral customs.

"An ordinary person could not afford the purchase of such a coffin," the researchers said. "It is obvious the deceased was a member of the local elite."

The discovery of the coffin at Tel Shadud is evidence of Egyptian control of the Jezreel Valley in the Late Bronze Age, the Israel Antiquities Authority said. During the period when the pharaohs governed the country, Egyptian culture greatly influenced the local Canaanite upper class.

The antiquities authority is looking into the possibility of sampling the DNA from inside the coffin to see if the deceased was originally a Canaanite or an Egyptian who was buried in Canaan.

The graves of two men and two women who may have been members of his family were also located near the coffin.

Next to the skeleton were buried pottery, a bronze dagger, bronze bowl and hammered pieces of bronze.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-1.584757#

Ancient Egyptian Fortress Yields New Finds

Archaeologists at the ancient Egyptian fortress at Jaffa in Israel uncover new clues to understanding a monumental city gate complex

Since 2011, a team of achaeologists have been uncovering some tantalizing new finds at the remains of a fourteenth century B.C. Egyptian fortress gate complex at the coastal city of Jaffa in Israel. It is today the only Egyptian gate ever excavated in Israel, and excavation co-directors Aaron A. Burke of the University of California, Los Angeles and Martin Peilstöcker of the Israel Antiquities Authority are convinced that the site may tell an important story about how an Egyptian enclave survived and persisted within Canaanite territory well over 3,000 years ago.

"New archaeological data combined with well-known historical texts of the Late Bronze Age are now shedding light on the nature of interactions between the Canaanite inhabitants of Jaffa and its environs and the Egyptian inhabitants of the New Kingdom fortress built atop the city’s earlier remains," reports Burke and Peilstöcker. "The resulting picture is one colored by episodes of violence and peaceful social interactions in Jaffa over a period of more than 300 years, from ca. 1460 to 1130 BC."

Excavations in 2012 revealed strong evidence of a violent destruction event, with clues to its extent indicated when excavators discovered a commemorative scarab of Amenhotep III dated to the mid-fourteenth century B.C., found within the upper destruction layers and apparently fallen from what the archaeologists interpreted as a second story administrative office floor. In 2013, they exposed the city gate’s passageway below more than 1.5 meters of destruction debris. The finds included arrowheads, a spearhead and lead weight, decorative ivory inlays, numerous charred seeds, a number of ceramic vessels, antlers from deer, and nearly two dozen cedar timbers thought to have once made up the gate’s roof and upper story. The seeds, identified as those of barley, olive pits, grape pips, and chick peas were a welcome find, as they provide an insight to the foods consumed at the site.

Part of Egyptian Sphinx found in Northern Israel

Artifact bears the name of Mycerinus, the king who was one of the builders of the Giza pyramids.

By Arutz Sheva

First Publish: 7/9/2013

As modern Egypt searches for a new leader, Israeli archaeologists have found evidence of an ancient Egyptian leader in northern Israel.

At a site in Tel Hazor National Park, north of the Sea of Galilee, archeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unearthed part of a unique Sphinx belonging to one of the ancient pyramid-building pharaohs.

Photocredit: Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman

The Hazor Excavations are headed by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, the Yigael Yadin Professor in the Archaeology of Eretz Israel at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, a lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology.

Working with a team from the Institute of Archaeology, they discovered part of a Sphinx brought over from Egypt, with a hieroglyphic inscription between its front legs. The inscription bears the name of the Egyptian king Mycerinus, who ruled in the third millennium BCE, more than 4,000 years ago. The king was one of the builders of the famous Giza pyramids.