The researchers: The harsh scenes, including beheadings, are probably evidence of the Hasmonean king Alexander Yanai's cruelty towards his opponents among the Jews of the city of Jerusalem, as described in the writings of Yosef ben Mattathias and in "Pashar Nahum" from the stored scrolls. The research was presented on Thursday at the conference "Innovations in the Research of Jerusalem and its Surroundings" of the Antiquities Authority, held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
A surprising and horrifying find was discovered at random in the excavation of the Antiquities Authority at the site of the Russian Lot - the backyard of the Jerusalem Municipality. During the excavation of an ancient cistern containing finds from the Hellenistic period to the Roman period, fragments of human bones were discovered, which were apparently thrown together into the cistern in a one-time event, and covered with dirt, stones and rocks. The research was presented last Thursday at the conference "Innovations in the Research of Jerusalem and its Environs of the Antiquities Authority", which was held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In the excavation, which was conducted by Kafir Arbiv on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, fragments of pottery dating from the time of the Hasmonean king Alexander Yanai, who was known in historical literature for his cruelty towards his opponents among the Jews of Jerusalem, were also found with the bones.
"During the excavation, we discovered a shocking find," said Dr. Yossi Nagar, an anthropologist at the Antiquities Authority. "We took out of the pit more than twenty neck vertebrae cut with a sword!" according to him,
"The bodies and body parts of babies and adult individuals, women and men, who were apparently victims of a brutal massacre, were thrown into the pit.
According to the archaeologist Arbiv and his research partner Tahila Lieberman, "The cruelty can be attributed to King Alexander Yanai, of whom the historical sources tell that he captured and killed many Jews among his opponents - including their sons and wives in front of their eyes. Indeed, the bones that were found thrown in the water pit had countless marks of being cut by a sword, which hit not only the neck, but also the tip of the lower jaw and sometimes the base of the skull as well, indicating that the heads were beheaded. Moreover, bones of fetuses discovered in the excavation indicate that among the slaughtered were also pregnant women."
Alexander Janai (103-76 BCE). He was a king and high priest, a scion of the Jewish royal dynasty of the Hasmoneans, the third of his five sons] of Yohanan Hyrcanus I. The twenty-seven years of Yanai's reign were characterized by a series of wars, which were designed to allow him to expand the borders of the Hasmonean kingdom for political, security and economic needs.
Among other things, Yanai fought for the conquest of the western coastline from the Hellenistic cities, in Nabatim in the east and across the Jordan, as well as with the forces of Demetrius III, in the north. In addition to this, Alexander Yanai also had to deal with enemies from the house of the Pharisees who waged an internal war against him.
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