GATH, finalmente!

Si sapeva già che Gath era - nell XI/X secolo a.C. - una delle fortezze dei Filistei: era la città di Golia (il gigante apparentemente invincibile, poi sconfitto dal giovane Davide con un preciso lancio di fionda, che si è dimostrata sperimentalmente cosa possibile per i mezzi e costumi dei pastori di allora). 
Ma non s'immaginava che fosse una fortezza dell'entità appena scoperta dagli scavi dell'Università Bar-Ilan. Si trattava di una grande città fortificata con porte imponenti e mura impressionanti..
Si tratta di zone e di epoche rimaste un poco in ombra, nella ricostruzione storica. 

Di queste "ombre" hanno approfittato i cantastorie e contafrottole della Fantarcheologia, al solo ultimo scopo di lucro (perché a questo, in ultima analisi, mira l'autopromozione continua che essi cercano).

La verità scientifica continua lentamente a delinearsi sempre meglio, per fortuna: i Plst erano davvero potenti ed armati e saldamente stanziati definitivamente nella zona loro attribuita: poche tracce, ed insignificanti, di altri gruppi (e, comunque, non di solo mitici "popoli del mare"!). Probabilmente  i Filistei erano l'unica forza militare pericolosa che potesse impensierire da Est gli Egizi (oltre ai Libu, questi però provenienti da occidente).
 Esistono anche tracce di terremoto (citate anche in Samulele I  XXI), un fenomeno geologico citato non a caso dai geologi esperti (vedi i lavori di Amos Nur: "Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God") per motivare validamente vari spostamenti di popolazioni a piccoli gruppi proprio in questo torno di anni...
Lo studio è multicentrico: difficile pensare che persegua scopi deviati da motivi identitari: che interesse avrebbero i Koreani a promuovere l'identità palestinese?


Monumental fortifications 

of   Philistine city of Gath

unearthed 

ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Greater Middle East, Israel, Near East 


 The Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath, headed by Prof. Aren Maeir, has discovered the fortifications and entrance gate of the biblical city of Gath of the Philistines, home of Goliath and the largest city in the land during the 10th-9th century BCE, about the time of the "United Kingdom" of Israel and King Ahab of Israel. 

The excavations are being conducted in the Tel Zafit National Park, located in the Judean Foothills, about halfway between Jerusalem and Ashkelon in central Israel. 

This is a view of the remains of the Iron Age city wall of Philistine Gath  

[Credit: Prof. Aren Maeir, Director, Ackerman Family,  Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath] 

Prof. Maeir, of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, said that the city gate is among the largest ever found in Israel and is evidence of the status and influence of the city of Gath during this period. 
In addition to the monumental gate, an impressive fortification wall was discovered, as well as various building in its vicinity, such as a temple and an iron production facility. These features, and the city itself were destroyed by Hazael King of Aram Damascus, who besieged and destroyed the site at around 830 BCE. 

The city gate of Philistine Gath is referred to in the Bible (in I Samuel 21) in the story of David's escape from King Saul to Achish, King of Gath. 

Aerial view of the  monumental city gate and fortification of the biblical city  of Philistine Gath (home of Goliath) on August 4, 2015  

[Credit: Griffin Aerial Imaging] 

Now in its 20th year, the Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath, is a long-term investigation aimed at studying the archaeology and history of one of the most important sites in Israel. 
Tell es-Safi/Gath is one of the largest tells (ancient ruin mounds) in Israel and was settled almost continuously from the 5th millennium BCE until modern times. 
The archaeological dig is led by Prof. Maeir, along with groups from the University of Melbourne, University of Manitoba, Brigham Young University, Yeshiva University, University of Kansas, Grand Valley State University of Michigan, several Korean universities and additional institutions throughout the world. 
Among the most significant findings to date at the site: Philistine Temples dating to the 11th through 9th century BCE, evidence of an earthquake in the 8th century BCE possibly connected to the earthquake mentioned in the Book of Amos I:1, the earliest decipherable Philistine inscription ever to be discovered, which contains two names similar to the name Goliath; a large assortment of objects of various types linked to Philistine culture; remains relating to the earliest siege system in the world, constructed by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus around 830 BCE, along with extensive evidence of the subsequent capture and destruction of the city by Hazael, as mentioned in Second Kings 12:18; evidence of the first Philistine settlement in Canaan (around 1200 BCE); different levels of the earlier Canaanite city of Gath; and remains of the Crusader castle "Blanche Garde" at which Richard the Lion-Hearted is known to have been. 

Source: Bar-Ilan University [August 04, 2015]

Protesi ortopedica egizia, 3000 anni fa!

Prosthetic pin 

discovered in ancient 

Egyptian mummy 


ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Egypt, Forensics, Greater Middle East, Near East 


Researchers during a routine DNA test on a male Egyptian have made an astonishing discovery after finding a 23 cm iron orthopaedic screw inside his knee. 

The mummy is believed to date to between the 16th and 11th centuries BC  

[Credit: Beyond Belief Archive] 

The mummy is thought to have died between the 16th and 11 century BC and the pin is held in place by organic resin, similar to modern bone cement. 
Medical experts were so amazed by this discovery they drilled through the bone to allow access for an arthroscopic camera to take a closer look. 

This confirmed what they believed was impossible – that this operation was performed over 3,000 years ago. 

Not only were the researchers astonished that the pin is ancient, but the highly advanced design had the visiting surgeons in awe. 

The 23cm long nail found inside the mummy's knee  

[Credit: Beyond Belief Archive] 

"The pin is made with some of the same designs we use today to get good stabilisation of the bone," said Dr. Richard Jackson, an orthopeadic surgeon from Brigham Young University. 
Apparently, the ancient Egyptian doctors knew how to use the flanges on a screw to stabilise the rotation of the leg.
 To date, no other mummy has ever been found with evidence of a similar surgery. "I have to give the ancients a lot of credit for what they have done," added Dr. Wilfred Griggs, who led the team of scientists conducting DNA research on the mummy when they made this incredible find. 


Author: Jenny Paschall | Source: Express [July 12, 2015]

Sidone, novità!

Anche belle notizie, dall'Oriente! 
In questo dissennato periodo - nel quale 'sacre' reliquie dell'Umanità intera vanno distrutte per cieco odio insensato di barbari - altre zone del Medio Oriente mostrano un'attitudine molto più razionale ed aperta. 
Il fortunato ritrovamento di quello che sembrerebbe essere stata una stanza di un tempio di Sidone dell'età del Bronzo, rimasta fino ad oggi segreta (per la sovrapposizione di un edificio d'epoca persiana),  è stato motivo per la nascita dell'ardito piano di realizzazione di un nuovo museo, che sarà il più importante del Medio Oriente e ostenterà reperti dal 3.000 a.C. al 1300 a.C. 
Sono stati rapidamente reperiti i fondi (quelli che tanto mancano a tutta l'Archeologia, quella italiana in testa) godendo inaspettatamente della fortuna di tempi migliori, in cui 
la ragionevolezza pacata della Scienza riesce  a mettere d'accordo tutti. 
Per un interesse comune.

Secret room in ancient Sidon temple discovered 

 Dozens of workers were busy covering old Sidon’s Frères archaeological site Monday, to protect a major new discovery unearthed by a delegation from the British Museum.

 Archaeologists excavating old Sidon’s Frères archaeological site  

[Credit: The Daily Star/Mohammed Zaatari]

 “A small contingent of the British Museum/Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon team of archaeologists discovered a new deeply concealed room,” read a statement released by the delegation. The newly discovered monumental room is believed to be an extension of the underground Temple of Sidon, which dates back to the Bronze Age. 

This finding comes as workers prepare the foundations of a new national museum, which will be established beside the archaeological site. Construction of the museum led to urgent excavations at the site last month. 
Ten years ago, the delegation discovered an underground “holy of holies” room, dating back to 1300 B.C., where ancient residents are believed to have worshipped their gods. 
The newly discovered room was found adjacent to it, and is thought to be an extension of the site’s temple. It is believed to have been used by high-status members of the community. 
Claude Serhal Doumit, head of the delegation, described the finding as significant, and said the room had been concealed by later developments built over it. 

View of old Sidon’s Frères archaeological site  

[Credit: The Daily Star/Mohammed Zaatari] 

“Sealed by the imposition of a Persian period building constructed on top of it, this new room is of the highest importance in terms of its monumentality and untouched pottery material, both [domestically produced] and imported from Cyprus and Mycenae,” read a statement released by the delegation. 

The British Museum delegation conducted excavations at the Frères site for nearly 17 years, after receiving approval from the Directorate General of Antiquities. 
The room’s walls were constructed with monumental stones to a height of 4.5 meters, while the floor of subterranean room would have been 7.5 meters below street level. Archaeologists unearthed a number of artifacts inside. 
“Wooden material, pottery and utensils for ritual celebrations used for eating, drinking and mixing fluids were found,” Doumit told The Daily Star. 
Sidon MP Bahia Hariri hailed the new discovery, saying it helped reveal the rich history of the ancient city. 

Cypriot vase found at the newly unearthed concealed room 

 [Credit: The Daily Star/Mohammed Zaatari] 

Hariri, who visited the Frères archaeological site Monday, praised the excavation work carried out by the Directorate General of Antiquities’ Sidon office and the British Museum delegation. 
Sidon is a repository of many ruins, which reflect the various civilizations and cultures that inhabited the city. 
Hariri believes that the finding will contribute to the city’s new museum, which in turn will revive south Lebanon’s economy and culturally. 
Construction on the new national museum has been underway after workers broke ground in November of last year. 
Grants by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development have helped provide financing for its construction. 
The Kuwaiti Fund has contributed $4 million to the project, while the Arab Fund has committed $850,000. 
The museum will showcase artifacts and ruins from the various civilizations that inhabited Sidon, some of which date back to 3000 B.C.

Artefacts found at the newly unearthed concealed room  

[Credit: The Daily Star/Mohammed Zaatari]

 “The dream of creating a museum is coming true,” Doumit said. “This is will be one of the most important museums in the Middle East.” 
The museum will be designed to preserve the site’s archaeological ruins in situ. 
Pathways connecting ancient and modern Sidon will be created, in addition to a footbridge in the museum’s basement level that will show visitors where the ruins were discovered. “The ruins will be displayed on the museum’s upper floor,” said Doumit, who also stressed that every new discovery helps raise the profile of the new museum. 

Over the years, the delegation has unveiled numerous archaeological ruins and artifacts, shedding light on the early history of Sidon. 
More than 1,000 such artifacts, dating from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period will be showcased in the new space. 
The landmark museum is expected to provide a boost to Sidon, the capital of the south, creating job opportunities for local residents and encouraging tourism in the region.


Author: Mohammed Zaatari  

Source: The Daily Star [February 26, 2015]

Nuova "Stele di Rosetta"

E' stata scoperta presso Alessandria e paragonata alla 

famosa Stele di Rosetta, perché è scritta in più lingue 

('solo' geroglifico e demotico, per la verità, mentre quella di 

Rosetta era scritta in tre: geroglifico, demotico e greco) che 

descrivono lo stesso argomento e sono pertanto un ottimo 

strumento di traduzione. Ma è grazie al lavoro di sei anni (!) 

di decifrazione e studio su di essa che molte altre scoperte 

sono state nel frattempo rese possibili: 

tombe di nobili, un buon numero di statue di Iside, molte 

monete bronzee di Cleopatra VII (sì: quella di Antonio).


Rosetta-style inscription unearthed in Egypt

  A 2,200 year-old “an upright stone slab bearing a commemorative inscription” was unearthed at the Mediterranean coast, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty announced Thursday. 

The stele bearing hieroglyphic and demotic inscriptions was discovered  at Taposiris Magna 

[Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities] 

The stele, which was discovered at Taposiris Magna archaeological site on Lake Mariout, southwest of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria,  “dates to the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204 B.C - 180 B.C) of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (332 B.C.-30 B.C) that has ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.” said Damaty in a statement on the ministry’s Facebook page. 

The stele, measuring 1.05 X 0.65 X 0.18 meters, was discovered by an archaeology mission of the Catholic University of Santo Domingo in collaboration with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), he added.

“It consists of two registers carved in two different scripts; the upper one features over 20 lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions bearing the cartouches [oval shapes bearing royal names only] of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes, his sister Princess Cleopatra I, his mother Queen Arsinoe III and his father King Ptolemy IV Philopator,” said Damaty adding that archaeologists are currently working on transliterating the text.

View of the Osiris Temple at Taposiris Magna  

[Credit: Koantao/WikiCommons] 

The bottom register features a 5-line demotic script that seems to be a translation of the hieroglyphic inscriptions, said Damaty. Demotic language was used by ordinary people while hieroglyphic was used by royals, high officials, priests and the elite of the ancient Egyptian society. 

The famous Rosetta stone, currently displayed in the British Museum in London, dates back to the reign of the same Greek king but was carved in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek scripts, according to Damaty. 

Chief of the Dominican Egyptian archaeology mission, Dr. Kathleen Martinez said that the mission, has been working at Taposiris Magna for six years, has made a lot of significant discoveries related to the history of Alexandria. 

“Some of the major discoveries are tombs of Nobles, a number of statues of goddess Isis in addition to many bronze coins belonging to Queen Cleopatra VII, the famous Cleopatra of Anthony,” said Martinez. 

Author: Rany Mostafa  

Source: The Cairo Post [February 12, 2015]

PRIME ABITAZIONI EGIZIE - IN 3D

Sembra essere solamente un gioco: per esempio, la sceneggiatura di un video game di ruolo ambientato nell'antichità. Ma è invece  il risultato grafico di uno studio serio con il quale, in base alle 
- risultanze archeologiche aggiornate ad oggi, 
- a studi compilativi presenti in letteratura di quanto si sa fino ad ora delle costruzioni egizie, 
- ad osservazioni sui rilievi ed i dipinti autentici dell'epoca ed infine
- osservazioni sull'edilizia tradizionale attuale,
si è cercato di ricostruire l'aspetto che le prime abitazioni comparse in Egitto potrebbero avere avuto. 
La maggiore incertezza concerne la ricostruzione dei tetti, circa i quali lo scavo archeologico non ha lasciato molto su cui lavorare. Malgrado l'uso del mattone di fango e la distruzione quasi totale a cui vanno incontro gli edifici realizzati con esso, i realizzatori dello studio sono abbastanza soddisfatti dei risultati ottenuti. 


Houses of the first Egyptians reconstructed 

 Virtual 3D models of more than 5,000 years old Egyptian homes, discovered during the excavations at Tell el-Farcha in the Nile Delta, prepared by Jacek Karmowski, PhD student 
of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

"We associate the architecture of ancient Egypt primarily with stone construction - due to the most recognizable structures left by this civilization: the pyramids and monumental stone temples" - Jacek Karmowski told PAP.
 "In fact, the contemporary villages and towns were dominated by houses made of mud bricks" - he added. 
Structures built with such bricks are not particularly durable, unlike to those made with stones. Durability of the building material ensured their present, in some cases very good state of preservation. "It must be remembered that the stone architecture is a special, cult type of Egyptian construction, associated with religion and belief in the afterlife" - explained Karmowski. 
Work on the reconstruction of non-existent mudbrick structures really began during the excavations - the way of conducting excavations and documenting discovered layers is important.

The scientist traced the visible relics of bricks and outlines of houses from the functioning of the settlement with a total station laser and imported to a computer with CAD software - although archaeologists still usually draw on excavations in the classical way, using pencil and paper. 
With specialized software, he combined these data with photographs taken during field work. "But this is just the beginning. 
Then I went to the library and looked for other sources on possible reconstruction of houses. A big help are preserved models of houses from this period and dated a bit later depictions in painting and reliefs, showing different types of residential buildings" - described the archaeologist.
 The researcher also studied the ancient Egyptian building tradition. 

In the Egyptian religious architecture of the Old Kingdom (2686 - 2181 BC), the builders mirrored less durable materials in stone buildings - including wood and mud bricks.
 It was another clue. "An important role in the reconstruction had observations made in modern villages, including Gazala, which is near our site" - added Karmowski. 
Detailed analyses made by the Polish scientist showed that Egyptians living in the Nile Delta approx. 5,000 years ago, lived in houses made on regular, rectangular plan, with an area of tens of square meters.

Structures were built tightly next to each other. The windows were small and located in the upper part of the wall. "Their location was probably intended to protect the interior against unwanted intruders, such as scorpions and snakes. On the other hand, a small window clearance allowed for only the necessary amount of light entering the home, so that its interior would not get too heated" - explained the archaeologist. Lintels and window had support beams - their task was to relieve the empty space, and to protect mud bricks against erosion of and mechanical damage.

As is clear from contemporary analogies and archaeological documentation, the lower part of the door had a doorstep, probably placed above the ground level. This type of solution, according to the archaeologist, results from the need to protect homes from water during the periodic river flooding - these occurred in Egypt until the twentieth century, when the Aswan Dam was built. 

Houses did not have a door - Egyptians used mats to cover door openings instead. "It was difficult for us to reconstruct the roof - excavations have not provided conclusive information.

We turned to modern mud brick buildings again" - said Karmowski. According to the researcher it should be assumed that the roofs were made of light materials such as boards, branches of small trees, reeds or straw. The roofs were flat. In addition to the mud brick buildings, a number of other elements can be found in modern cities in the Nile Delta that have analogies in the historic materials and archaeological documentation. An example can be of various types of fences made of organic materials and property walls made of mud bricks.

These elements completed the virtual reconstruction. 
The site Tell el-Farcha has been studied for sixteen years by the Polish Expedition to the Eastern Nile Delta led by Prof. Krzysztof Ciałowicz of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University and Dr. Marek Chłodnicki from the Archaeological Museum in Poznań. The settlement functioned in this place for almost 1000 years, from approx. 3700 to 2700 BC

First, there was a strong Lower Egypt local culture centre, then an important centre of power during the formation of a unified Pharaonic state. Tell el-Farcha became famous a few years ago after the discovery of one of the world's oldest brewing centres, two gold statues of rulers dating back more than 5,000 years, extremely rich temple deposits, which included masterpieces of early Egyptian art - some of them can be seen today in the famous Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 

Photos by J. Karmowski Source: PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland 

[February 09, 2015]

Dopo i Buddha Afgani, Ninive

ISIS destroys large parts of Nineveh historical wall

  A Kurdish official revealed on Tuesday evening that the ISIS organization had bombed large parts and tracts of the ancient Nineveh wall, indicating that such an act violates the right of human culture and heritage. 

The media official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Mosul, Saed Mimousine said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, “ISIS militants blew up today large parts and expanses of the archaeological wall of Nineveh in al-Tahrir neighborhood,” explaining that, “The terrorist group used explosives in the process of destroying the archaeological fence.” 

Mimousine added, “The Wall of Nineveh is one of the most distinctive archaeological monuments in Iraq and the Middle East” adding that, “The fence dates back to the Assyrian civilization.” Mimousine stressed that, “Bombing the archaeological monuments by ISIS is a flagrant violation of the right of human culture, civilization and heritage,” calling the international community to “take a stand to curb the destruction of historic monuments.” 

Source: Iraqi News 

[January 28, 2015]

La più antica pietra lavorata

Oldest stone tool ever found 

discovered 

in Turkey  

Scientists have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever to be found in Turkey, revealing that humans passed through the gateway from Asia to Europe much earlier than previously thought, approximately 1.2 million years ago. Stone tool approximately 1.2 million years old [Credit: University of Royal  Holloway London] 

According to research published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, the chance find of a humanly-worked quartzite flake, in ancient deposits of the river Gediz, in western Turkey, provides a major new insight into when and how early humans dispersed out of Africa and Asia. 

Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, together with an international team from the UK, Turkey and the Netherlands, used high-precision equipment to date the deposits of the ancient river meander, giving the first accurate timeframe for when humans occupied the area. 

Professor Danielle Schreve, from the Department of Geography at Royal Holloway, said: "This discovery is critical for establishing the timing and route of early human dispersal into Europe. 

Our research suggests that the flake is the earliest securely-dated artefact from Turkey ever recorded and was dropped on the floodplain by an early hominin well over a million years ago." 

The researchers used high-precision radioisotopic dating and palaeomagnetic measurements from lava flows, which both pre-date and post-date the meander, to establish that early humans were present in the area between approximately 1.24 million and 1.17 million years ago. 

Previously, the oldest hominin fossils in western Turkey were recovered in 2007 at Koçabas, but the dating of these and other stone tool finds were uncertain. 
"The flake was an incredibly exciting find," Professor Schreve said. "I had been studying the sediments in the meander bend and my eye was drawn to a pinkish stone on the surface. 
When I turned it over for a better look, the features of a humanly-struck artefact were immediately apparent. 
"By working together with geologists and dating specialists, we have been able to put a secure chronology to this find and shed new light on the behaviour of our most distant ancestors." 

Source: University of Royal Holloway London [December 23, 2014]

Sigilli. Di Re: Davide e Salomone?

Trovati sigilli d'argilla - sei - in una zona di confine tra la Palestina e Giuda. La zona è studiata proprio per comprendere le differenze tra le due entità. Si pensava fosse un terreno agricolo: ora invece si è capito che era un pascolo. Non si pensava che nella zona - nel 1000 a.C. - potesse già esistere un 'regno' (uno Stato in corso di formazione o già definito), ma la presenza di sigilli per corrispondenza ufficiale lascia credere che la zona fosse sotto controllo di una ben definita autorità centrale e che il livello economico non fosse di semplice sussitenza agro-pastorale individuale. Le datazioni del materiale rinvenuto sono state ottenute con criteri multipli (stili dei vari materiali, comparazione, stratigrafia, datazione elettromagnetica) e sono state scomodate le maggiori autorità nel loro campo, fino anche a Christopher Rollston.
Il risultato è che si dà adesso credito all'esistenza di re, nella regione nel 1000 a.C. (cosa di cui prima si dubitava): forse gli ulteriori studi permetteranno di scoprirne i nomi: se anche non si arriverà ai biblici Davide e Salomone, certamente si affinerà la precisione temporale ai decenni, invece che al secolo. 

Clay seals said to support existence of biblical kings 






Six official clay seals found by a Mississippi State University archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. 
A Mississippi State University team found this bulla, or ancient clay seal, on a  dig site in southern Israel last summer. 

It offers evidence of government activity  in the 10th century B.C., a time when many scholars said a kingdom could not  exist in the region 

[Credit: University of Wisconsin/Nathaniel Greene] 

Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. 
The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period. 
Jimmy Hardin, associate professor in the MSU Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, said these clay bullae were used to seal official correspondence in much the same way wax seals were used on official documents in later periods. Hardin, co-director of the Hesi Regional Project, has been excavating each summer at Khirbet Summeily, a site east of Gaza in southern Israel, since 2011. Hardin's findings were published in the December 2014 issue of Near Eastern Archaeology. "Our preliminary results indicated that this site is integrated into a political entity that is typified by elite activities, suggesting that a state was already being formed in the 10th century B.C." Hardin said. "We are very positive that these bullae are associated with the Iron Age IIA, which we date to the 10th century B.C., and which lends general support to the historical veracity of David and Solomon as recorded in the Hebrew biblical texts. 
"These appear to be the only known examples of bullae from the 10th century, making this discovery unique," he said. The finds contribute significantly to an ongoing debate in the archaeological community about whether governments or states existed in the early Iron Ages. 
The artifacts hold far-reaching implications for the growing number of scholars who maintain that such political organization occurred much later than biblical texts suggest. "Some text scholars and archaeologists have dismissed the historic reliability of the biblical text surrounding kings David and Solomon, such as recorded in the Bible in the books of Kings and Second Samuel, which scholars often date to the Iron Age IIA or 10th century B.C," Hardin said. 
"The fact that these bullae came off of sealed written documents shows that this site -- located out on the periphery of pretty much everything -- is integrated at a level far beyond subsistence," he said. "You have either political or administrative activities going on at a level well beyond those typical of a rural farmstead." Jimmy Hardin, an associate professor in the Mississippi State University Department  of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, co-directed a team in Israel that found  archaeological evidence from the time of kings David and Solomon.

In his  MSU laboratory, Hardin examines an Egyptian figurine dating to  the 10th or 11th century BC 

[Credit: Megan Bean] 

The journal article describes the dig site as a borderland area between the heartlands of Judah and Philistia. 
It was originally assumed to be a small Iron Age farmstead. However, the excavation of the bullae and other recent archaeological finds indicate a level of political organization previously thought not to exist at that time. "We believe that the aggregate material culture remains that have been discovered at Summeily demonstrate a level of political-economic activity that has not been suspected recently for the late Iron Age I and early Iron Age IIA," the journal article states. "This is especially the case if one integrates data from nearby Hesi [a much more extensively excavated site]. 

"It is our contention that, when taken together, these reflect a greater political complexity and integration across the transitional Iron I/IIA landscape than has been appreciated recently, as scholars have tended to dismiss trends toward political complexity (e.g., state formation) occurring prior to the arrival of the Assyrians in the region in the later eighth century b.c.e." 
Two of the bullae Hardin's team excavated have complete seal impressions, two have partial seal impressions, and two others have none. 
Two bullae were blackened by fire. 
One bulla has a well-preserved hole where the string used to seal the document passed through the clay. 
The impressions in the bullae do not contain writing. 
The dig site was chosen so researchers could study border dynamics between the nations of Philistia and Judea in the area previously dated to the 10th century B.C. 
"We were trying to identify in the archaeological record the differences between Philistia and Judah," Hardin said. 
"Why is there a border in this area and only at this time? We're trying to learn what was the process by which these political entities were created. Within that larger question, you have a number of questions about whether the archaeological record matches the historical record from the texts, and if it disagrees, how do we reconcile the two." The bullae the team found were in the layer of material tested by the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Rock Magnetism at the University of Minnesota. 
The markings were examined and dated by Christopher Rollston, an epigrapher in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University. 
Jeff Blakely of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is co-director of the Hesi Regional Project and has studied the region for 40 years. Blakely explained how the age of the bullae was determined. "Our dates for the bullae are based on multiple types of evidence we combined to determine a general 10th century B.C. date," Blakely said.
 "The style of the bullae, the types of ancient pottery found in the same contexts as the bullae, the types of Egyptian scarabs found, the style of an Egyptian amulet, and the overall stratigraphy or layering of the site each suggested a 10th century date.

"In addition, archaeomagnetism dating, which is based on the strength and direction of the earth's magnetic fields in the past, also suggested the layers in which the bullae were found must be 10th century. 
Further research and analysis should refine our dating to decades rather than a century," he said. 
From the start of the project, archaeologists have tried to determine what people were doing in the region of Khirbet Summeily, Blakely said. "Generations of scholarship have suggested farming, but over the past few years, we have slowly realized that humans rarely farmed this region," he said.
 "It was a pasture. Shepherds tended sheep and goats under the protection of their government. Finding the bullae this past summer strongly supports our idea that Khirbet Summeily was a governmental installation."

Source: Mississippi State University [December 15, 2014]