Mysterious handprint found in 1,000-year-old Jerusalem defensive moat
The mystery handprint was discovered on an ancient moat wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
A mysterious hand imprint was discovered carved into a 1,000-year-old dry moat that surrounded Jerusalem’s Old City during excavations of defensive fortifications, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement Wednesday.
The archaeological work, carried out as part of an infrastructure project along Sultan Suleiman Street, which runs adjacent to the city walls, revealed a deep rock-hewn moat likely dating from the 10th century, or possibly even earlier, the IAA said.
At one point along the moat’s wall was a handprint carved into the stone, leaving archaeologists baffled as to its purpose.
“Does it symbolize something? Does it point to a specific nearby element? Or is it just a local prank? Time may tell,” researchers said in the statement.
The moat, at least 10 meters wide (approximately 33 feet) and two to seven meters deep (6-23 feet), encircled the whole of Jerusalem at the time, explained Zubair Adawi, Israel Antiquities Authority excavation director.
“People are not aware that this busy street is built directly over a huge moat, an enormous rock-hewn channel,” he said. “Its function was to prevent the enemy besieging Jerusalem from approaching the walls and breaking into the city.”
Zubair Adawi, Israel Antiquities Authority excavation director, points to a carved hand imprint discovered in an ancient moat wall around the Old City of Jerusalem.
Unlike moats surrounding many European castles, the Jerusalem moat was left dry, but its depth and breadth would still have slowed down an approaching army.
So strong were the defenses that it took the Crusader army that arrived in June 1099 some five weeks to cross the moat as Jewish and Muslim defenders fought back, said Amit Re’em, Jerusalem regional director at the IAA.
The stone walls of the Old City that are visible today were built in the sixteenth century by Turkish Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent.
However, earlier fortifications around the ancient city were much stronger.
“In the eras of knights’ battles, swords, arrows, and charging cavalry, the fortifications of Jerusalem were formidable and complex, comprising walls and elements to hold off large armies storming the city,” Re’em said. “Armies trying to capture the city in the Middle Ages had to cross the deep moat and behind it two additional thick fortification walls, while the defenders of the city on the walls rained fire and sulfur down on them.”
Burning sulfur, which produces noxious fumes, was used to deter invaders.
The moat also had secret tunnels enabling defenders to rush out and attack the approaching army before slipping back behind the fortifications. Such tunnels have been uncovered in previous excavations.
Excavations along Sultan Suleiman Street in Jerusalem.
“Many dreamed about and fought for Jerusalem, and the city fortifications are a silent testimony,” said IAA director Eli Escuzido.
“The archaeological finds enable us to visualize the dramatic events and the upheavals that the city underwent,” he said.
Escuzido said the IAA will try to make the discoveries available for public viewing.
Archaeologists of the National History Museum of Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca have discovered a Roman road in the city’s central area. Roughly 2,000 years old, the road has been preserved in good condition.
“Several fragments of a Roman road were found, covered with slabs and built of river stones, sometimes glued with mortar, at a depth of about 80 cm.
The orientation of the road is north-south, and it is probably related to the street network of the Roman settlement of Napoca,” archaeologist Cristian Dima from the National History Museum of Transylvania told Agerpres.
According to him, the roads made by the Romans were used for a long time after the fall of the Roman Empire, and some are still used today, at least their route.
In fact, many of today’s roads preserve at least the course of the roads from 2,000 years ago.
“Part of the Roman road networks/routes are still preserved today,” Cristian Dima said, adding that this is especially true in rural areas. “In larger cities, where there are more interventions, these are not kept exactly. Between localities, mostly the same routes are used.
In Transylvania, where the Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires were, they did a lot of construction works, many of them were modified.”
According to the Romanian archaeologist, the roads and other constructions made by the Romans passed the test of time mainly because they were reused and maintained later, but also because the technology used by the Romans, advanced for that time.
“They had quite advanced technology for the time. […] A fairly solid structure was made, with large stones at the base, then with small stones and then large slabs at the top, more or less processed. Feleac tiles, some of them rounded, were used in Cluj.
On a smaller scale, it closely resembles what is preserved today in Pompeii,” Cristian Dima explained.
Scientists discover 43 million-year-old fossil of a four-legged whale
Whale fossil
Scientists have discovered the 43 million-year-old fossil of a previously unknown four-legged whale species, which helps trace the transition of whales from land to sea.
The newly discovered amphibious whale was found in Egypt and belongs to the Protocetidae, a group of extinct whales that falls in the middle of that transition, say the team of researchers.
Its fossil was unearthed from the middle Eocene rocks in Egypt’s Western Desert – an area once covered by sea that has provided an array of discoveries showing the evolution of whales. It was then studied at Mansoura University Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre (MUVP).
The whale, named Phiomicetus anubis, had an estimated body length of around three metres and a body mass of about 600 kg, and was likely a top predator. Its partial skeleton revealed it to be the most primitive protocetid whale known in Africa.
“Phiomicetus anubis is a key new whale species, and a critical discovery for Egyptian and African paleontology,” said Abdullah Gohar of MUVP, lead author of the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Despite recent fossil discoveries, the big picture of early whale evolution in Africa has largely remained a mystery, say the researchers. More work in the region has the potential to reveal new details about the evolutionary transition from amphibious to fully aquatic whales.
The new whale has raised questions about ancient ecosystems and pointed research towards questions about the origin and coexistence of ancient whales in Egypt.
A group of scientists have discovered a fossil of a now-extinct whale with four legs. This visual reconstruction shows Phiomicetus anubis preying on a sawfish.
Are whales endangered?
Whales are at the top of the food chain and play an important role in the overall health of our oceans. In particular, they play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere.
Each whale sequesters a huge amount of CO2 in their lifetime. Because they store tonnes of carbon dioxide in their bodies, they are key to mitigating the climate crisis.
But six out of the 13 great whale species are classified as endangered or vulnerable, according to WWF.
Threats include habitat degradation, contaminants, climate and ecosystem change, disturbance from whale watching activities, noise from industrial activities, illegal whaling, reduced prey abundance due to overfishing, and oil spills.
It is crucial that we continue to have a healthy, dynamic population of these top predators, as if whales are threatened, it’s bad news for us all.
Mummified crocodiles give insight into ancient embalming techniques
The mummified crocodiles were found in an Egyptian archeological site.
The discovery of 10 mummified crocodiles at a historical site in Egypt has given fresh insight into the ancient embalming technique. Archaeologists say the mummies found in an undisturbed tomb at Qubbat al-HawÄ, on the west bank of the Nile, date to the 5th Century BC and were mummified in a unique manner.
Study leader Dr. Bea De Cupere said that mummified animals are common finds at Egyptian archaeological sites but, despite several hundred mummified crocodiles being available in museum collections worldwide, they are not often examined thoroughly.
Dr. Cupere, of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and her team conducted a detailed analysis of the preservation of the mummified crocodiles found in rock tombs.
She said: “Ten crocodile mummies, including five more or less complete bodies and five heads, were found in an undisturbed tomb.
“The mummies were in varying states of preservation and completeness. The mummies included five isolated skulls and five partial skeletons.”
The research team were able to examine without unwrapping or using CT-scanning and radiography.
Dr. Cupere said: “Based on the morphology of the crocodiles, two species were identified: West African and Nile crocodiles, with specimens ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 meters in length.
“The preservation style of the mummies is different from that found at other sites, most notably lacking evidence of resin use or carcass evisceration as part of the mummification process.
“The style of preservation suggests a pre-Ptolemaic age, which is consistent with the final phase of funerary use of Qubbat al-HawÄ during the 5th Century BC.”
She added: “Comparing mummies between archaeological sites is useful for identifying trends in animal use and mummification practices over time.
“The limitations of this study included the lack of available ancient DNA and radiocarbon, which would be useful for refining the identification and dating of the remains.
“Future studies incorporating these techniques will further inform scientific understanding of ancient Egyptian cultural practices.”
Living Quarters and Sugarcane Mills Found on Martinique
Circular structures were unearthed from an access road, evidence of animal mills.
A recent excavation of a historical estate on a Caribbean island found stories from the past hiding in plain sight in wooden posts and rectangular stones.
The Estate of Château Gaillard in Trois-Ilets sits by the ocean on the south side of Martinique, a French territory and part of the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean.
Researchers began excavation of the site ahead of a development project that would build new housing on the historical property.
The historical property sits by the ocean and included a mansion house, living quarters for enslaved people and an animal mill. Alexandre Coulaud Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives
The historical property sits by the ocean and included a mansion house, living quarters for enslaved people and an animal mill.
Alexandre Coulaud Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives The researchers found evidence of a vast animal mill preserved under an access road, likely used to crush sugar cane.
Measuring about 50 feet across, a circular structure was unearthed with indications that wooden rollers wrapped in iron and pulled by oxen or mules had been used to crush sugar cane and collect the sweet juice inside later refined into sugar loaves.
The animal mills were operated by enslaved people during the 18th century, and housing for these workers was also found on the estate.
The researchers found living quarters aligned in rows on the west side of the property, built with perishable materials, like wood, compared to the stone of the main house.
Living quarters for enslaved people were found in rows, as depicted by a 1770 map of the estate. National Library of France
The industrial revolution reached Martinique in the 1820s and 30s, rendering animal mills obsolete, according to a news release from the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives.
The introduction of the steam engine meant animal strength was no longer needed to crush the sugar cane.
Shortly after, in 1848, slavery was abolished in Martinique, changing society as a whole. The Chateau Gaillard estate now had to find a new use for its buildings and resources.
Researchers say they found evidence the huts were transformed into housing for seasonal workers that would harvest sugar cane during the months of February to June.
Along the east facade of what remains of the workers hut, researchers also found coins, bottle caps and furniture items, suggesting the building was used as a residential shop into the 20th century. They even found a glass bottle labeled “Super,” a popular soda from the 1950s among the historical stones.
Researchers found evidence of a residential shop, including bottle caps, coins and furniture. Alexandre Coulaud Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives
The excavation was the first of its kind in Martinique, showing how the small island territory transitioned through the 18th and 19th centuries.
Archaeologists from the Center for Egyptological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences have discovered the bodies of an eight-year-old child and 142 dogs buried together in Egypt.
The discovery, made near Cairo, was dated between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. During this time, the Romans assumed control over Egypt.
Dogs in ancient Egypt
The buried dogs, 87% of which were puppies, are thought to have died as a result of flooding.
The Archaeologists were able to assess that they died simultaneously, with no violence involved.
They also found blue clay on the dogs, which was found in reservoirs during that period, supporting the theory that the dogs had drowned.
Despite ancient Egyptians worshipping numerous animals, dogs were not generally believed to be sacred.
They were used as pets and for labor. However, some dogs were mummified and buried with their owners.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the dog-headed gods Anubis and Upuat were with the souls of the dead in the afterlife. Some dogs were sacrificed to play the role of an amulet in a burial.
The only case to which similarities can be drawn is the discovery of a child’s body with 12 dogs in a cemetery in Hierakonpolis.
It is unknown why the boy was buried there. The researchers working theory is that the boy died while caring for the dogs and was buried with them.
It is unknown why the boy was buried there. The researchers’ working theory is that the boy died while caring for the dogs and was buried with them.
Children in ancient Egypt
It is unlikely that the boy and his dogs were executed. According to Egypt Today, children in ancient Egypt were treated well with access to education and were forbidden to learn a trade.
Adding to the mystery, the boy was found with a linen bag over his head. The only other time a body was found with a linen bag covering the head, the person had been executed by an arrow.
The average life span in ancient Egypt, according to the American Society of Research Overseas, is 22.5-25 years for men and 35-37 years for women.
First evidence of unknown ancient ‘Israeli Silk Road’ uncovered in Arava trash dump
Newly uncovered remains of fabrics from the Far East dating to some 1,300 years ago in Israel’s Arava region suggest the existence of a previously unknown “Israeli Silk Road,” according to a team of researchers from Israel and Germany.
“Our findings seem to provide the first evidence that there was also an ‘Israeli Silk Road’ used by merchants along the international trading routes,” said Prof. Guy Bar-Oz from the University of Haifa, who is leading the excavation.
In a joint excavation sponsored by Germany and carried out by the University of Haifa, the University of Göttingen, and the Israel Antiquities Authority, large quantities of cotton and silk fabrics that likely originated in China, India and modern-day Sudan during the 8th century CE were uncovered in a massive garbage pit at the Nahal Omer site in the Arava Valley, according to a statement issued by the researchers on Wednesday.
“As far as textiles are concerned, Nahal Omer is the most important of all the ancient sites discovered to date in Israel,” the researchers said in the press release.
The findings have not been published in a scientific article yet, as the first season of the ongoing excavation was only completed two weeks ago, Bar-Oz told The Times of Israel. Nevertheless, researchers say they provide far-reaching implications for our understanding of ancient trade routes and, for the first time, the role this region played in the ancient world.
“The findings include a large proportion of imported items, including fabrics bearing typical Indian origin and silk items from China,” said Dr. Orit Shamir from the Israel Antiquities Authority, an expert on ancient textiles in Israel.
“This is the first time that these items dating back to this period have been found in Israel,” she said.
A map showing the traditional routes of the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes used to move exotic goods from China through India, Egypt, and the Middle East to Europe. Most routes were active between the second century CE and the mid-15th century. According to Bar-Oz, his team’s findings seem to provide the first evidence that there was also an Israeli route used by traveling international merchants.
“This route branched off from the traditional Silk Route that passed to the north of Israel, crossing the Arava and connecting to the main historical trade routes that crossed the country, as well as to the main ports of Gaza and Ashkelon that served as a major gateway to the Mediterranean world,” he explained.
Analyzing ancient garbage
According to the archaeologists, their ongoing investigation is unique in that it explores changes in the Arava Valley over long periods of time by analyzing “accumulations of garbage at sites along the trading routes.”
By examining trash mounds at Nahal Omer, which dates to the seventh century CE — the beginning of the Islamic Era in the region — the researchers hope to learn about the everyday lives of traders passing through ancient Israel and to gain an idea of the products they were carrying.
Excavations will resume next summer, said Bar-Oz, and there will be at least two more seasons. Much further research will be carried out on the uncovered textiles, he noted.
Bar-Oz, who specializes in locating and analyzing deposits of trash on ancient trade routes, told The Times of Israel that others have carried out numerous archaeological excavations at Nahal Omer and the surrounding region before, but nobody thought to focus on garbage deposits and the valuable information they could provide.
“We started examining not the well or the fortress or the wall, but things in the perimeter,” he said,
Previous research and academic discussion about ancient trade relied mainly on historical accounts, often from people located far away, according to Bar-Oz.
Prof. Dr. Guy Bar-Oz, School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa.
“We discovered the trash mounds [at Nahal Omer] two years ago and started digging,” he said. “This was new.”
Archaeological remains that allow researchers to touch the material itself are rare but at Nahal Omer they were found in abundance.
“We dug holes five meters deep — imagine the volume of a Suzuki Alto made of garbage. Nearly all mounds we found included mainly organic material. The large volume of such material is the mind-blowing aspect of this excavation,” Bar-Oz said.
“The items we found allowed us to touch, see and measure them with molecular tools. It made it possible to track the production line of the goods that were moved along the trade route,” he added.
Bleached linen textile, dinolite Nofar Shamir.
High demand
Analyzing their findings, researchers were surprised to find “a veritable treasure trove” that included fabrics, items of clothing, hygienic products, leather straps, belts, socks, shoe soles, and combs.
This wealth of organic material allows the researchers to precisely date the items to the 7th-8th centuries CE using carbon dating, a method that uses the properties of radiocarbon to determine the age of organic material.
Uncleaned textiles uncovered at Nahal Omer.
This was made possible due to the dry conditions in Israel’s Negev desert. Materials that would usually disintegrate in humid climates were excellently preserved, researchers said.
One specific finding that excited researchers was fabrics bearing ikat design, a technique originating from Indonesia that includes tying the yarns before dyeing the warp or weft. Ikat fabrics have only been found at a small number of sites in the Middle East and researchers say these findings at Nahal Omer represent one of the earliest archaeologically documented occurrences of this type of textile. Another find included fabrics woven together in a complex process common in Iran and other parts of Central Asia.
“The variety and richness of the findings show that luxury goods from the East were in high demand at the time,” said the IAA’s Shamir.
A view of Timna Park in the Arava Valley in southern Israel, January 26, 2021.
“The findings from the excavation reflect unique contacts on a global level with sources of fabric manufacturing in the Far East. They provide us with new ways to track political, technological and social interactions that have been constantly reshaped by trade networks,” said Bar-Oz.
“We can now explore in more detail the long-distance movement of goods, geographic diffusion of people and ideas and connections along the roads and production centers. All these were, until now, historically and archaeologically invisible or incompletely recorded. Our new findings are an important step in that direction,” he concluded.
Preserved textile from Nahal Omer that was made in the so-called warp-ikat technique.
While the excavation at Nahal Omer provides an invaluable account of the vivid life in ancient Israel, its findings are not the oldest in the area. Last month, Israeli archaeologists from the University of Haifa discovered the earliest evidence of cotton in the ancient Near East during excavations at Tel Tsaf, a 7,000-year-old town in the Jordan Valley.
Tel Tsaf, located near Kibbutz Tirat Zvi, has in recent years provided a wealth of exciting discoveries, including the earliest example of social beer drinking and ritual food storage.
Column Cleaning at Egypt’s Great Hypostyle Hall Completed
Egypt has completed the restoration of 37 columns as part of the Karnak Temples’ Great Hypostyle Hall restoration project.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the restorers have cleaned the surface of the columns, removing sand, dust and bird pots. He added that the columns’ original engravings and colours now appear.
Furthermore, Waziri noted that the first phase of the project started in July 2021 with the restoration of the 16 opened papyri shaped columns located in the centre of the hall.
The Karnak was the largest and most important religious complex in ancient Egypt. Therefore, its development never ceased for over a 1000 years.
Located in the south of Upper Egypt on the east bank of the city of Luxor, Karnak houses several temples, obelisks and shrines built throughout the Middle and New Kingdoms.
The temple of Amun-Ra is particularly famous for the vast Hypostyle Hall constructed during the reign of King Seti I.
Ptolemaic rulers and Copts altered parts of the complex for their own use.
