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New Archeological Discoveries Reveal Jewish Life in Jerusalem during Second Temple Period

(Media Line-Jerusalem Post) Arieh O'Sullivan and Felice Friedson - Descending deep into the underground excavations in Jerusalem's Old City beneath the approaches to the ancient Jewish Temple, archeologists have cleared away centuries of debris to reveal an enormous arch, called the "giant causeway," which once carried Jewish pilgrims to the Second Temple over two millennia ago. Archeologists have discovered remnants of homes from the First Temple period some 3,000 years ago, including some rare ancient Hebrew stamps used by officials in the court of King Solomon. "We found a bronze seal of an archer with fine details. It's no bigger than a shekel, or a penny. The name on it is 'Hagav.' We find in the Book of Prophets 'b'nei Hagav' written once - the sons of Hagav. Is this the same Hagav who was mentioned? He might have actually stood here, lived here some 2,800 years ago," says Miri Sak of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. Archeologists uncovered a total of some 6,000 ancient coins, as well as tens of thousands of pottery shards spanning the city's history, from the First Temple, Roman and Byzantine, to the Persians, Umayyad, Crusaders, Mamaluks and Ottomans.
2009-12-25 08:25:41
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