Archeologists Make Rare Discovery West of Jerusalem

Algemeiner ^ | December 26, 2012

[SJackson]

Archeologists made a rare discovery at Tel Motza, to the west of Jerusalem, recently: evidence of the Jewish religious practices and rituals in the early days of the Kingdom of Judah. Among the finds are a ritual building and a cache of sacred vessels some 2,750 years old.

Anna Eirikh, Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz, the directors of the excavation, released a joint statement provided by the Israeli Antiquities Authority in which they said: “The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judaea at the time of the First Temple. The uniqueness of the structure is even more remarkable because of the vicinity of the site’s proximity to the capital city of Jerusalem, which acted as the Kingdom’s main sacred center at the time.”

Their statement continued: “The finds recently discovered at Tel Motza provide rare 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.”

Tel Motza and the surrounding region is known for its archaeological treasures. Many finds have previously been uncovered at the site, from a variety of different periods. The Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting excavations at the Tel Motza archaeological site, prior to work being carried out on the new Highway 1 from Sha’ar HaGai to Jerusalem by the National Roads Company.

[SJackson]

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[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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[NYer]

Archaeologist Anna Eirikh displays a horse figurine at Tel Motza archaeological site on the outskirts of Jerusalem December 26, 2012.

[NYer]

An Israel Antiquities Authority archeologist displays on December 26, 2012 clay figurines used for religious rituals and practices, dated to the early monarchic period (9-10th century. BC) of the Judaean monarchy, uncovered in Tel Motza near Jerusalem during rescue excavations

[GreenHornet]

Isn’t that Bart Simpson?

[Biggirl]

Helps bring the Bible to life.

[reagan_fanatic]

Aye carumba - it sure looks like him!

[DManA]

Good thing they got there before the Arabs could blow it up.

[Adder]

Must have been the Motza balls they found to give the place its name.

[Adder]

Must have been the Motza balls they found to give the place its name.

[daku]

They have a “ Marty Feldman” kind of thing happening

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Isn’t that Bart Simpson?

It must be because that was my first thought. I almost posted before I saw yours.

[huldah1776]

Since this is from before the “reforms” I gather it is a pagan ritual site?

[Resettozero]

I wonder if these are some of the personal family idols that God hated and told them to destroy. And that horse looks more like a big dog.

[FreedomPoster]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought “Hey, that’s a Matt Groening character!”

[Adder]

Must have been the Motza balls they found to give the place its name.

[Gasshog]

Yes these are relics from idol worship. Graven images.

[DocRock]

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