Evidence of farming and industrial activity dating back some 1,500 years has been unearthed at an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in the upper middle-class Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The project, initiated by the Ramat Hasharon Municipality in preparation for the construction of a new residential neighborhood, has thus far uncovered a large wine vat, a gold coin, and a bronze chain used to hang a lighting fixture.

"We have discovered evidence of farming and industrial activity that took place here 1,500 years ago, during the Byzantine Era," said Dr. Yoav Arbel, who is overseeing the dig on behalf of the IAA.

"Among other finds, we have unearthed a large wine vat with a mosaic bottom, plastered rooms, and the foundations of a large building that appears to have served as a storage facility and possibly a farm house," Arbel added.

According to the archaeologist, it appears that in Byzantine times, people not only worked the site, but also lived there.

"We have found remains of homes and two large ovens," he observed. Other artifacts uncovered in the excavation include intact clay pottery lamps and serving bowls – both locally made and imported. Some of the bowls feature decorations. Based on the findings, researchers believe that the site was inhabited until the 11^th century CE.

"Inside the structures we found fragments of storage jugs and cooking vessels, which appear to have been used by the people who worked the fields here. We also found grinding stones used to grind wheat and barley, and apparently also cooking and medicinal herbs. Some of the stone tools are made of basalt originating from the Golan Heights and the eastern Galilee," Arbel explained.

Video: Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority

The excavation also turned up a gold coin that Arbel said was minted in 638 or 639 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (Heraklion). One side of the coin features the emperor with his two sons, and the second side depicts a cross on top of Golgotha, where according to Christian tradition Jesus was crucified.

Arbel said that the coin had also been inscribed with a simple inscription in Greek letters, and possibly in Arabic. The inscription appears to have been the name of its owner, who marked it and treated it as a precious object.

Dr. Robert Cole, a numismatics expert with the IAA, said, "The coin contains various information about the end of the Byzantine rule in the Land of Israel and historical events like the Persian invasion and the advent of Islam, information about the symbolic significance of Christianity and paganism, and the local population living in the Land of Israel at that time."

Cole said that another important find was a bronze chain used to hang a lighting fixture that included glass lamps. "Fixtures like these were generally found in churches," he explained.

According to Cole, after the Muslim conquest in the seventh century CE, a glassmaking factory was built at the site, as well as a storehouse. Four large storage jugs have been found in the ruined storehouse, sunk into the floor, and appear to have been used to hold seeds and other goods and protect them from pests and weather.

Ramat Hasharon Mayor Avi Gruber said he was "thrilled" at the finds, and that the city was already working with the developers of the planned Naveh Gan residential project on ways of preserving the discoveries and integrating them into the construction.

"I want every resident to enjoy them and learn about life here in ancient times and the Middle Ages. We're working on a heritage program and this adds another huge angle to life here on this land," Gruber said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Tel Aviv suburb was farmland in Byzantine era, excavation reveals appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Crosses etched in mysterious abundance across the walls of Christianity's most sacred church were long assumed to be graffiti, but they may be the work of medieval masons paid to carve them by pilgrims, research suggests.]

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial, Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre usually bustles with worshippers and clergy. That has made study of the sacred markings difficult.

But renovations in 2018 at one of its chapels featuring thousands of the close-bunched and hand-engraved crosses gave the Israel Antiquities Authority and Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem an opportunity for research.

In coordination with the Armenian Orthodox Church, which controls the chapel, the scholars used digital cameras and three-dimensional imaging to map out, compare and date the crosses.

Video: Reuters

"This unique phenomenon always baffled us: Is it graffiti of the pilgrims, or rather, something else?...," said Amit Re'em, Jerusalem regional archaeologist for the IAA.

"We saw that all of them (crosses) have the same depth and even the marking of the mason," he said, provisionally dating them to the 15th century.

"Maybe two or three hand artists made these crosses," Re'em said. "...So it's not graffiti, it's something more organized."

He suggested an intercesionary purpose.

"Let's say that you are an Armenian pilgrim, so you pay something to the priest, you pay something to this special artist and he carved for you, for the benefit of your soul and your relatives' souls, ...a special cross in the most sacred place for Christianity on earth," Re'em said.

Father Samuel Aghoyan, the Armenian superior at the Holy Sepulchre, saw benefits to the church from the research, especially as it struggles to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns and prepares for Easter.

"Now there are no pilgrims here, (but) still their spirit is here, we know, I believe in that," he said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Cutting-edge tech takes a closer look at crosses cut into Holy Sepulchre walls appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israeli researchers announced last week the discovery of an ancient Christian church in the Golan Heights that dates from the Byzantine Era.

An excavation team from the Israel Antiquities Authority said that the church dated back to 400 CE and had likely built upon a pagan temple dedicated to the Greek god Pan, according to The Times of Israel.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

According to Professor Adi Erlich of the University of Haifa, the 5th-century builders likely converted the ancient temple for their own purposes. Erlich also noted that the church may be the site where Jesus tasked Peter with establishing Christianity, as mentioned in Matthew 16:18.

"You are Peter and, on this rock, I will build my Church," the passage reads.

After discovering an inscription carved on an altar to Pan, the satyr god of shepherds, music, and sex, IAA archaeologists said they were confident the highly stylized open-air temple had once been dedicated to Pan.

The very word Banias, the name of the Golan Heights spring that is the source of the Jordan River, is thought to be a slight Arabic corruption and alteration of the word Panias or Paneus – a reference to the same god.

The church was discovered as part of a conservation project by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the University of Haifa to preserve monumental archaeology.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Byzantine-era church on Golan Heights likely replaced Greek temple appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.