MetaFilter posts tagged with archaeology and Israel

i think plastered skulls is a pretty cool guy. eh sits in the dirt and doesn't afraid of anything

Greg Nog — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:07:20 -0800

Plastered Skulls! In the Middle East in the early Neolithic, one common burial practice involved digging up a previously-buried body, removing the skull, and using plaster over the skull itself to sculpt an image of the face of the deceased. Many seem to think these skulls were made as a form of ancestor-worship, but some disagree. Three such skulls were discovered a little over a year ago at Yiftah’el, in the lower Galilee. Here's a short article about the find. Here's a brief overview of prehistoric and early historic art, which features a really swell picture of a plastered skull.

Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land

Rumple — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:12:57 -0800

The Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land is a comprehensive spatially-referenced database of current archaeological knowledge of all periods of Levantine history and prehistory. Spatial search is a good entry point, as are the Palestine Exploration Fund historic maps. You can also search by time period or dig into the many ancient Empires of the area. Or just look at everything in the database. The site is a work in progress, but a cool one powered by a consortium of over 30 professional archaeologists. May require Google Maps. via

A three-thousand-year-old ruin with its own web site

XMLicious — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:05:07 -0800

Archaeologists find a pottery fragment with the oldest known example of written Hebrew at the Elah Fortress_(YT) in Israel - or maybe not Phot os of the shard, video concerning the find specifically, other photos from the site, and if you speak Hebrew a 5-minute interview with one of the archaeologists Already sparking nasty words about Israeli-Palestinian land rights. At least the archaeologists haven't unearthed an unspeakable ancient horror too... yet! Follow the action and / or buy a t-shirt at http://www.elahfortress.com/.

David's Palace "Discovered"

felix betachat — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 11:08:50 -0800

Archaeology in Israel has long been politicized. Perhaps never more than in recent years, when minimalist critiques of the Biblical Kingdom of David have found a ready audience in Muslims eager to deny a historical connection between modern Jews and the land of Israel. Even sober, scholarly discussions of chronology inevitably resonate with political implications.

So it should come as no surprise that the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar's recent announcement that she may have discovered the foundation of King David's palace_pdf in an area south of the Haram al-Sharif was funded, in large part, by the Ir David Foundation_flash/sound and the neo-conservative Shalem Center.

lagado — Wed, 18 Oct 2000 21:09:18 -0800

Deconstructing the walls of Jericho Old article, but an interesting one. Archaeologist Ze'ev Herzog of Tel Aviv University has said that "Following 70 years of intensive excavations in the Land of Israel, archaeologists have found out: The patriarchs' acts are legendary, the Israelites did not sojourn in Egypt or make an exodus, they did not conquer the land. Neither is there any mention of the empire of David and Solomon, nor of the source of belief in the God of Israel. These facts have been known for years, but Israel is a stubborn people and nobody wants to hear about it." Also the BBC Article.