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Monday, December 31, 2012

King Solomon's Temple Relics Show Up in Highway Construction

Nadene Goldfoot
In the process of building a highway this month, Israel Antiquities Authority was called in because the construction crew found artifacts that turned out to be relics from King Solomon's Temple, 3,000 years ago.  They uncovered pottery, chalices, pedestals, and figurines including harnessed animals and a man with a beard.  This was part of Tel Motza near Jerusalem "which acted as the Kingdom's main sacred center at the time."

This shows "archaeological evidence for the existence of temples and ritual enclosures in the Kingdom of Judah in general, and in the Jerusalem region in particular, prior to the religious reforms throughout the kingdom at the end of the monarchic period (at the time of Hezekiah and Isaiah), which abolished all ritual sites, concentrating ritual practices solely at the Temple in Jerusalem."  It is a rare find.  

Earlier in August at the same Tel Motza, stone age figurines were unearthed.  In fact, discoveries have continued all over Israel.  Two years ago, the main road of Jerusalem from 1,500 years ago was exposed.  

Prof. Haim Goldfus, archaeologist, reported in 1992 of finding the remains of a ceramics workshop of the 10th Roman Legion in Jerusalem, who were part of the Roman conquest in 70 CE.  

I know that when I lived in Israel from 1980-1985, people loved to go on hikes just to see what they could spot that would be something from our past.  Digging in Israel's soil can be quite exciting.  

Resource: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/26/3115431/3000-year-old-temple-and-sacred-vessels-unearthed-near-jerusalem
http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?modul_id=14
http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1282
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/jeruceram.html
1/8/13 http://unitedwithisrael.org/3000-year-old-jewish-temple-unearthed-near-jerusalem/

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