Showing posts with label Canaan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canaan. Show all posts

Monday, June 4, 2012

Jewelry Find at Megiddo


Hot off the presses…..or screen since this is a digital world…..pieces of gold and silver jewelry have been found at Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.   The find actually occurred back in March, but it has taken this long for folks in the know to take a closer look.

They’ve determined the jewelry dates back to 1100 B.C.E.   It was found wrapped in fabric and hidden in ceramic vessels in what is described as a private home dating from the Iron Age.   Researchers believe the jewelry belonged to a Canaanite woman.

Did the owner die?   Was she forced to flee suddenly?   Why did they hide it?

One of the most exciting pieces is a gold earring decorated with molded ibexes, or wild goats.   

Usually, in a find like this researchers already have something similar they can compare objects with to place them in the proper cultural and chronological settings.   In the case of the “goat” earrings there is NO comparison item.

The most amazing thing is the container where the jewelry was found has been in the hands of archaeologists since 2010 and has been sitting around waiting for a molecular analysis of its content.

It is believed some of the collection could have originated in Egypt due to beads made from the carnelian stone.  The style of the jewelry is consistent with Egyptian designs from the same period.   Another hint regarding an Egyptian origin has to do with the large number of gold items.  If the items didn’t originate in Egypt then the designer was at least influenced by Egyptian styles of the time.  There were instances of trade between the Egyptians and Megiddo during the Bronze and Iron Age.

Tel Megiddo was an important Canaanite city-state until the early 10th century B.C.E. 

During the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.E. Tel Megiddo continued to be an important center.   

It was easy for the researchers to date the jewelry since layers of archaeological matter exist at the site and are very easily dated. 
  
The jewelry in question was found in a layer that researchers have identified as 11th century about the time of an Egyptian withdrawal or when the people who owned the jewelry would have been influenced by Egyptian culture.

Visit the Tel Megiddo expedition website here.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Current Events...Canaanite Wall Found in Jerusalem

This article was in Saturday’s news telling about a 3,700 year old wall found inside the City of David….near the old city of East Jerusalem on a slope of the Silwan Valley. The article states the wall is believed to have been built by the Canaanites, an ancient pagan people who the Bible says inhabited Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East before the advent of monotheism.

Wait……wasn’t Jerusalem a Hebrew city….always inhabited by the Jews?

No, no it wasn’t.

Archeological evidence indicates the oldest part of Jerusalem dates back to the Copper Age, and evidence for permanent settlement dates back to between 3,000 to 2,800 BC.

The earliest inhabitants of the area are not just mentioned in the Bible but are mentioned in the Execration texts…..these are also referred to as the Proscription Lists. These are ancient Egyptian texts that basically served as a list of enemies or troublesome folks in the area. Scholars believe that the city referred to as Roshlamem or Rosh-ramen is Jerusalem.

The Amarna Letters, a record of correspondence between Egyptian leaders and representatives of Canaan and Amurru, also mention the city.

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary states, in the Pentateuch, the city of Jerusalem is not directly mentioned. Moriah…. Genesis 22:2; associated with the site of Solomon’s temple in 2 Chronicles 3:1…and Salem…. Genesis 14:18; associated with Zion in Psalm Psalm 76:2….apparently refer to the same site and establish a link between the city and the patriarch Abraham.

Jewish tradition holds that city was originally founded by Shem and Eber…..ancestors of Abraham. In fact, Genesis 10 mentions the Jebusites through the lines of Ham and Canaan. A Jewish encyclopedia though contends many scholars are uncertain if Melchizedek was actually a Jebusite himself, but could have been a member of another group in charge of the city. The argument stems from the fact that the town is referred to as Salem rather than Jebus in the passages mentioning Melchizedek.

Judges 19:10-11 refers to the city as Jebus and was captured in Joshua’s time…. Judges 1:8…but the Jebusites were not driven out … Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21

You can find out more regarding the archeology of Jerusalem here.
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