Digging with Darren

Last week, Israel National News reported a very unique find has been made near the Zion Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s a limestone ritual vessel from the Second Temple period inscribed with not one, but 10 (ten!) lines of Hebrew or Aramaic text (which is still being debated). This is an extremely rare find, the first of its kind. Archaeologists say that because of the rare script used. Although the letters are very clear, they say it could take up to six months to translate the text, due to the unfamiliar cursive script. Can’t wait to find out what it says…

You can read the full report here:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132655

This Monday, Arutz Sheva posted news of a new archaeological discovery which is fascinating, especially to those of us who have recently attended the FFOZ Shavuot conference focusing on the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple). Archaeologists have recently discovered a stone quarry used for the stones of the Herod’s Temple. More information can be found here: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132231

If you’re not familiar with the saga surrounding the discovery, acquisition, translation and subsequent publications of the Dead Sea Scrolls, you don’t have enough excitement in your life. For the latest criminal investigations involving a major case of lashon hara, read up on the latest article from the New York Times in which a debate regarding the identity of the Qumran community ends up in an arrest for identity theft.

Walls of Jericho

Recently, BAR (Biblical Archaeology Review) published an article by Ronald S. Hendel connecting the origins of Jericho with the giant descendants of the Nephillim. His article is based on a connection he makes with the Grecian cities of Mycenae, Tiryns and Argos, and the enormous width of their walls. According to Greek mythology, these cities were built by the giant Cyclopes. Thus Hendel deduces that since the walls of Jericho were similar in size to these corresponding ancient cities, Joshua and the Isrraelites may have made a natural association with their biblical counterparts, “children of Anak” (Numbers 13).

You can read the full article here.

Another article related to my post Jewish Resurrected Messiah Text Causing Buzz can be found on the Biblical Archaeology website here:

http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=34&Issue=5&ArticleID=14

Yesterday the New York Times released a follow-up article based on one published in the most recent edition of Biblical Archaeology Review. It seems that there are a small, but growing number of archaeologists who are now re-examining the link between the Qumran Community and the cache of scrolls found among the caves along the Dead Sea. After ten years of working with the Qumran excavations, archaeologists, Yizhak Magen and Yuval Peleg of the Israel Antiquities Authority are now saying that Qumran is in no way connected to the scrolls which have been linked to the community almost since they surfaced in the middle of the last century.

Not only that, but they are denying Qumran’s connection to monasticism and an Essene identity as well. They conclude that the community at Qumran was a secular establishment was no more than a pottery factory, and that the repository of scrolls came from a divergent collection of sources fleeing from Roman persecution. One seemingly tell-tale sign is the conspicuous lack of a single manuscript addressing the topic of celibacy, a cornerstone of Essene doctrine. This, along with an extensive repository of pottery equipment and pottery-related items among the community, as well as the absence of any religious writings actually found “in” the Qumran sector have given this team of archaeologists a fair amount of evidence to support this theory. Read up on it when you have a chance.

A handwritten book of Psalms (or a least a portion of it) has been found in Ireland that dates to nearly 1200 years ago. It was dug up by accident in a bog and was in incredible condition for its age. The thing that caught my attention was this:

The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations’ attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

Timely, eh? It’s an incredible find, and worth your time to check out.

Special thanks to Bill Beyer for bringing this story to my attention.