| Archaeological Excavations |
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Defending as much as we do a revised chronology and the consequences our stance produces for interpreted results of modern excavations, it should only be natural that we try and make some sense of it all from our perspective. Palestinian excavations _ Dor Lachish Excavations Egyptian Excavations |
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A rich source for discarded or lost archaeological artifacts may be along the ancient caravane route following the shore of the Big Green Sea between Egypt's Nile Delta and Israel. |
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The City of Dor by Ephraim Stern In this report we rely on information found in an issue of `Biblical Archaeology Review', Mar/Apr 1993. At 45 feet of historical layers the magazine points out rightly that history runs deep at Dor. The Canaanite Layers Most of the Canaanite population lived in the four city centers now called Phoenicia by archaeologists 1. Arwad 2. Byblos 3. Sidon 4. Tyre. Estimates are that about 15% of the 45 foot high Tel has been washed away by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Dor is mentioned in the Bible the first time in Joshua 11:1-3: |
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"And it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Joab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings that were on the morth of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chineroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, and to the Canaanites on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh." |
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But in conventional view ` the earliest mentioning of Dor is found in a list of settlements along the Via Maris, in inscriptions from Ramses II' according to the article without naming the source, a claim which we could not confirm. "The archaeological finds, however, indicate that Dor was founded as early as the 20th century B.C.E. (Middle Bronze Age IIA). This was the Canaanite city that occupied the site for nearly a thousand years - until about 1200 B.C.E." Were any artifacts of particular interest found? The article states: "One day we will find more evidence of Canaanite Dor; however, because of the great depth of these remains, the present excavations have not yet reached the strata in which they lie." So for now all we have are assumptions on the Canaanite city of Dor. The next question we must ask therefore may be in which layer were the first artifacts found and what were they? The article continues by stating: "Even after 12 excavation seasons, we have little information about the Canaanite city, except in a few spots near the sea that helped us establish the existence of the city at such an early date. The finds from these levels include not only much Middle and Late Bronze pottery, but also some Egyptian seals where two scarabs flank |
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a ureus, the symbol for the sacred cobra. More than 50 percent of the pottery was imported, mostly from the west - Minoan, Mycenaean and Cypriot ware." So we see how a mountain of conclusions are being made on scraps of evidence which could also be explained otherwise. As we have pointed out already elsewhere that Mycenaean pottery and Geometric pottery belong into the same age and that there is evidence that Mycenaean pottery actually out-existed |
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Geometric ware. We are not talking at all about dates in the second millennium before our time in our view. Next the author cites written evidence on the city of Dor from the `Travels of Wenamon' which we already dated to about 417 BC and Ramses III who mentions repelling the attacks of the Sea Peoples: 1. the Denyen - which we identified as Athenians 2. the Philistines (Plst) - which we identified as the Pereset because `r' and `l' sounds can be interchanged in Egyptian 3. the Sikils Who were the Sikils (`skls')? In the translation of James Breasted they were presumably the `Shekelesh' (skls? sounding the `h') who, according to the author of the article, are described in texts from Ugarit "as pirates who live on their ships." Pirates of that description have been around all along. As long as it was easier to obtain supplies or even riches by robbery, that was a way of life for many reckless men throughout all centuries. The conclusion the author reaches in the 1st part of his 3 part article is as follows: "... the Egyptian sources and the archaeological evidence all provide information about Philistine controlled settlements in southern Palestine and their five great cities there. The northern border of Philistia was at Tell Qasile, where the remains of a flourishing Philistine city, with its buildings and temples, have been discovered. The Sikils lived in the northern Sharon plain, and the Sherden lived still further north, in the Acre valley. This conclusion is supported by other archaeologists excavating in the area. At Tel Zeror, near Hadera, ... excavators ... have uncovered Mycenaean IIIC pottery, which is usually associated with the Sea Peoples. The excavators of both sites believe that these sites were conquered by the Sherden, a name that may be associated with Sardinia in the same way that Sikil is associated with Sicily. What is the evidence from Dor? The principal area where we have gotten down this far is in what we call area B1. From this period, in the 10th season, we found massive evidence of a fiery conflagration that had oxidized the mudbricks and shattered the limestone used in the buildings, leaving great areas of ash and charcoal as much as 6 feet thick. This destruction stratum was sealed at the bottom by floors on which we found pottery from the 2nd half of the 11th century BC, say about 1050 BC. This was probably the remains of the Sikil city. ... The principal Phoenician cities - Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad - never fell to the Sea Peoples." In another issue of BAR [BAR, Nov./Dec. 2000, Vol. 26, No. 6, p.50] we are shown two Assyrian seals found at Dor in a residential section without stating the layer they were found in. One of the seals shows the Assyrian king holding up an offering bowl to the radiant figure of the god Assur underneath the crescent moon. The other seal depicts a king doing battle with two horned griffins. Palm trees bracket the scene and two incense altars can be seen. There is no writing on either seal. Revised respone: In revised view we suspect that many sites described as Canaanite are to be dated closer to the period of the early Israelite kings rather than before them. We find the conclusions of the author logical as far as conventional chronology is concerned but in our view we notice heavy artifactual evidence from later periods clear into Persian and Greek times. We do not agree with the Philistine equation but since the deeper layers have not yet been described that important part of the evidence remains unavailable. We do not think that the people of Sicily and Sardinia were involved in the affairs of Palestine and believe that the name similarities exploited by this author and others as to their island identity are to be rejected. We show elsewhere that most of these peoples named in the Egyptian inscriptions as part of invading forces were natives from areas of Greece, Asia Minor and Palestine and that the `plst/prst' were the Persians. In other words they were people playing a part during the Judaic kings and Persian period. Silver Ax Blade found in Israel Archaeologists discovered at Shuni a mass grave conventionally dated from 2100-1800 BC. The tomb contained thousands of objects, among them a silver ax-head, the first ever discovered in Israel. It is nearly a half circle with one straight side and two large holes in it. Lachish Excavations Described as an Iron Age fortified city characterized by a permanent military garrison, Lachish is of great archaeological interest. We shall endeavor to present its archaeological history layer by layer for it represents the impact of Assyrian conquerors and the history of its leading high priest-rulers in the days of Jonah, Nahum and Isaiah. |
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Egyptian Excavations Japanese Team Excavating the Ancient Necropolis of Dashur Dashur is located about 20 miles south of Giza, Egypt. There the team discovered the tomb of the royal butler Ipay so called because of a stamped brick with his name. The following 18th Dynasty artifacts were found in among the numerous adjacent shafts: 1. a jar stopper with the cartouche of Thutankhamen 2. a clay seal with Thut's nomen cartouche 3. a faience ring with his prenomen cartouche 4. a faience ring with the cartouche of the `Great Royal Wife' Ankhesenamen 5. a sherd of a `blueware' vessel typical for the time of Amenhotep III and Akhnaton 6. 3 scarabs with the name of Ramses II on them 7. the top portion of a Mycenaean style red-slip-strap bottle The apparently unfinished sarcophagy contained one ushabti of the royal scribe `Mes' probably from the time of Ramses II according to the article. The time span artifactually represented in conventional dates is about 45 years, in revised chronology it is some 300 years. The unfinished tomb fits well with our scenario of interrupted native Egyptian dynasties by the Libyan and Ethiopian rulers. Even though these rulers seemed to blend in with Egyptian customs quite well, there must have been some friction among long established natives and these new Libyan rulers. Needless to say it would be helpful if some artifacts from the Libyan and/or Ethiopian Dynasties would turn up at Dashur located about 19 miles south of Giza but since Tanis, the long time capital of Egypt, is removed from Giza by about 115 miles to the north-east that may not happen. As we pointed out already according to ancient sources Tanis and Sais are the same location and that the modern location of Sais from the days of Karl Lepsius was in error.
Seven new tombs found in Sakkara - June 6, 2002
The most important tomb is that of the royal scribe, Gahoti Moheb, who was also a priest at the Bitah temple, SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawas said, adding that the other tombs were for senior officials Thner, Hawi, and Nefer Renpit The burial complex consists of a corridor that leads to a courtyard, in the middle of which is a ten-metre deep well. Off the courtyard are the burial chamber and several chambers carved in the rock. [100] In the burial chamber of Thner, a limestone pyramid 37 cm high was found. On two faces of the pyramid are a bas reliefs of the deceased kneeling. The names and titles of Thner are inscribed on the other two faces. Dr Hawas said that excavations in the pyramid of Bitah turned up a part of a wooden sarcophagus on which there is a design depicting Thner standing raising his arms in worship of Anubis. A small terracotta statue of the god of wine dating back to the Graeco-Roman age was also found, in addition to carved figures of Thner and his wife, a cartouche of King Seti I of the XIX dynasty, a scarab with bas relief of Amenhotep III, some amulets, and parts of statues in the shape of a sphinx." How is it that the most ancient settlements are routinely found deep down archaeological layers on what is called `bed rock'? Does this term `bed rock' mean regular rocks or can it mean hard ground other then rock? We never heard that archaeologists digging down to bed rock take core samples of those `bed rocks' for later analysis. The question may come to mind when those early people lived was the ground then covered with rocks everywhere? Was there no top soil? Why would the most ancient civilizations always be found on `bed rock'? We read things like this: "At Hassuna in northern Iraq, it is possible to trace the development of the town from the time when man first camped there to the days when he had begun to make substantial buildings. Here in the bottom layer next to the virgin soil, the excavators found a camp site strewn with tools of stone and bone, crude pottery containers, and clay pellets for use in slings; but there was no trace of any dwelling. Here perhaps, a group of nomads had moved down from the mountains, perhaps in spring, and camped on the fertile grasslands at the junction of two streams. They were attracted, no doubt, by the abundance of game and fish, and the possibility of reaping a crop of wild barley before the winter storms forced them to move on. Later, when they returned, they found that the trees were again bearing fruit, and there was more wild barley. In time the idea would occur to someone that they might settle here, and build some form of protection against winter conditions." [`Lost Worlds', NY 1962, p. 123-124] There were grasslands, trees, barley, but the tools were found on bed rock. Why the river fork idea? No word on thorns and thistles instead of barley. Of course the hardy barley drove the weeds away, or did it? Give me a break, what kind of a scenario is this? Aren't they trying a little too hard to connect these people with Neanderthal man? Did they uncover all that soil to find all that or are they dreaming things up? How did the stone tools get strewn all over the bed rock with no trace of living quarters? Where the "tools" definitely chipped by man or were they just boulders and pebbles? Of course in Israeli excavations `bed rock' is also dug down to find the `oldest' layer. Again, no sample of the `bed rock' seems to be taken. Is it so obviously `bed rock' that no one will question it? Should we question it? Is it granite, sandstone or shale? Don't they try even once to check below the `bed rock' if there is another civilization underneath it all built on their `bed rock'? Wow, they could miss a whole ancient nation like that? So, what are we going to do with `bed rock'? Did the earliest civilizations like to live on it since there were no other type soils anywhere, with grass and trees, to provide more workable ground?
Any ideas anyone? Notes & References
[100] A formula for calculating the size of populations: (543 x 100) / 90 = 603 (as addition to 10% burials) [(603 x 100)/200 years] : 4.5 = 67 persons (543 x 100) / 50 = 1083 (an addition of 50% burials) [(1083 x 100) / 200] : 4.5 = 120.6 End Result. [BASOR, Feb 1989, p. 273-274.] |
 Crawl out of this tomb
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