In the unique structure, which was uncovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority on the eastern slope of the City of David, in the Jerusalem Walls National Park, eight rock-cut rooms were discovered, including an altar, a tombstone, a wine press and a winepress for wine production. In a new article in the scientific journal "Antiquities" led by the director of the excavation, Eli Shukron, he suggests that the structure was used by the residents of Judea for the worship of God.
An extraordinary structure from the time of the First Temple was uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David. New article, Which is published this week In the Israel Antiquities Authority's journal 'Atiqot, it is suggested that the unique structure, which contains a row of eight rock-cut rooms, was used for religious purposes, and was in use when the Temple stood on the Temple Mount, a few hundred meters south of it. It is the only religious structure from this period to have been discovered in Jerusalem to date, and among the only ones discovered so far in the country.
The structure that was uncovered covers an area of approximately 220 square meters, and contains eight rooms carved into the rock with facilities for various uses: an oil press for producing oil, a winepress for producing wine, the foundations of a carved facility from which a drainage channel emerges that the researchers identify as an altar, and a large stone standing upright, next to which ritual work took place. In one of the rooms, mysterious V-shaped carving marks were discovered on the floor of the room, the meaning of which has not yet been clarified by the researchers. According to Eli Shukron, the site's excavator, it is possible that the carvings marked the bases of facilities that were used in the ritual ceremonies that were held at the site.
On the edge of the ritual structure, a small cave was uncovered, containing a cache of tools from the 8th century BCE. Among the tools uncovered were cooking pots, jars with parts of names in ancient Hebrew script, loom weights, scarabs, seal impressions with drawings on them, and grindstones used for grinding grains.
The team of authors of the article from the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem, led by archaeologist Eli Shukron, who directed the excavation in the City of David on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, believes that the special structure was in use until the middle of the period of the kings of Judah. According to Shukron, "The structure fell into disuse during the 8th century BC - possibly as part of the religious reform of King Hezekiah, who, according to the Bible, sought to unify the worship of God in the Temple in Jerusalem, and therefore abolished the places of worship that were scattered throughout the kingdom. The Bible describes that during the First Temple period, additional places of worship also operated outside the Temple, and two of the kings of Judah - Hezekiah and Josiah - implemented religious reforms with the aim of abolishing these places of worship and concentrating the worship of God in the Temple in Jerusalem.
"When we began the excavation in the City of David, in 2010, we discovered that the site had been sealed with earthen fill from the 8th century BCE - it had apparently fallen into disuse at that time," says Shukron. "The tombstone we uncovered at the site remained standing on a mound, and the other rooms in the building were also well preserved."
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Many years ago, a friend climbed with a group of climbers to the top of Mount Karkum,
Several travelers who sat down to rest set up a row of flat stones.
May they be protected from the wind,
Years later, a well-known archaeologist arrived at the site.
And he stated that: "The stones standing in a row symbolize deities."
The same archaeologist and many others defined rock paintings as
As: "A religious ceremonial gesture"
Again and again when archaeologists cannot find an explanation for the findings
They return to the ultimate repentance "for the purpose of a religious ceremony,"
It's a shame they don't learn to say "I don't know."
Instead of making nonsense…