Earliest evidence of blood vengeance found in Jerusalem's hills

History's earliest evidence of blood vengeance in ancient times has been discovered in a cave in the Jerusalem hills.

The cracks in the skull [Credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority]

In an archaeological survey conducted in the cave, Prof. Boaz Zissu, of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, discovered a human skull and palm bones that have been dated to the 10th-11th centuries CE.

The bones were identified by Dr. Yossi Nagar, an anthropologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and the National Center for Forensic Medicine and Tel Aviv University's Dr. Haim Cohen as belonging to a man aged 25-40 years.

The cave in the Judean Hills where the skull was found [Credit: Prof. Boaz Zissu, Bar-Ilan University]

According to the researchers, "The skull cap shows signs of two traumatic injuries that eventually healed -- evidence of previous violence experienced by the victim -- as well as a small cut-mark caused close to the time of death, and a blow by a sword that caused certain and immediate death.

A morphological examination of the skull shows a great resemblance to the local Bedouin population, which apparently had a tradition of blood vengeance even before the birth of Islam. This is consistent with historical knowledge that in the period under discussion some 1,000 years ago, the Jerusalem hills were inhabited by a Bedouin population that came from Jordan and northern Arabia.

Researchers who are studying the first evidence of blood vengeance, discovered in a cave in the Jerusalem Hills.
From left to right: Prof. Boaz Zissu Dr. Yossi Nagar and Dr. Haim Cohen with the skull
[Credit: Chen Galili/Israel Antiquities Authority]

A text from the beginning of the 20th century tells the story of a case of revenge, during which the murderer presented his family with the skull and right hand of the victim in order to prove the carrying out of a commandment. These are precisely the parts of the body that were discovered in the present case. Since this is a person who was previously involved in violent incidents who then died from the fatal blow, the researchers say it can be concluded that the earliest evidence of blood vengeance has been discovered.

The findings of a joint study by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Bar-Ilan University and Tel Aviv University will be presented on Tuesday at the 44th Archaeological Congress, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority and the Israel Exploration Society.

Source: Israel National News [May 17, 2018]

Archaeologists uncover earliest evidence for equid bit wear in the ancient Near East

An international team of archaeologists has uncovered the earliest example of the use of a bridle bit with an equid (horse family) in the Near East. The discovery provides first evidence of the use of the bit (mouth piece) to control an animal long before the appearance of the horse in the Near East.

View of the donkey in situ [Credit: Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project]

Evidence of the bridle bit was derived from the skeleton of a donkey dating to the Early Bronze Age III (approximately 2700 BCE) found at the excavations of the biblical city Gath (modern Tell es-Safi) of the Philistines, the home of Goliath, located in central Israel. The donkey was laid as a sacrificial offering before the construction of a house in a domestic neighborhood.

The international team, including archaeologists from Bar-Ilan University, the University of Manitoba (St. Paul's College), University of Saskatchewan (St. Thomas More College), Ariel University and Grand Valley State University published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

The donkey being excavated [Credit: The Tell es-Safi/Gath project]

"This is significant because it demonstrates how early domestic donkeys were controlled, and adds substantially to our knowledge of the history of donkey (Equus asinus) domestication and evolution of riding and equestrian technology. It is also significant that it was discovered on the remains of an early domestic donkey that was sacrificed probably as an offering to protect what we interpret to be a merchant domestic residence uncovered during our excavations," said Prof. Haskel Greenfield, of the University of Manitoba, the paper's lead author.

"The use of a bridle bit on a donkey during this period is surprising, since it was commonly assumed that donkeys were controlled with nose rings, as depicted in Mesopotamian art," said Prof. Aren Maeir, from Bar-Ilan University's Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology. Prof. Maeir has led the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project since its inception more than 20 years ago. The excavations take place every summer in the Tel Zafit National Park, about halfway between Jerusalem and the coastal city of Ashkelon.

The bridle bit from a donkey burial from the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1700-1550 BCE) found
at the Tel Haror excavation in the Negev [Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem]

The authors propose that the wear on the tooth of the donkey was made with a soft bit, likely made from rope or wood. "Only later, from the Middle Bronze Age and onward (after 2000 BCE), was it thought that bits, in particular metal bits, were used - first with horses that were introduced to the Near East at the time, and subsequently with other equids, such as donkeys," added Maeir. Examples of these later bits were found in Israel at Tel Haror.

The donkey is one of four that were found buried under neighbourhood houses, which indicates the importance of the donkey in this society -- most likely as a beast of burden used in trade, the researchers said.

Vertical aerial view of Area E, where the donkey was found in an Early Bronze Age neighbourhood
[Credit: Skyview Inc.]

In a previously-published study the researchers provided evidence, based on isotopic analyses, that this very donkey was born in Egypt and brought to Canaan sometime during its lifetime. This demonstrates that this animal -- and most likely others -- was transported over large distances. Using bits allowed donkey herders to control the animals more easily during their transport.

Studies of the dental isotopes from the same donkey demonstrate, as well, that it was born and raised in Egypt and brought to the site only in the last few months of its life, before it was sacrificed and buried beneath the floor of the house as it was being rebuilt. Domestic horses were not yet present in the Near East at that time. As a result, donkeys were not only used as beasts of burden, but also were used to pull and be ridden by the newly emerging elites in these early city-states.

Source: Bar-Ilan University [May 16, 2018]

Scientists call for 'open-skies' imagery policy over Israel and Palestine

New Oxford University research has called for an 'open-skies policy' around the availability of high resolution satellite imagery of Israel and Palestine.

A 2013 CNES/Airbus satellite image of a new site that could be identified because looting pits over the site
are visible on high-resolution satellite imagery [Credit: Map data ©2018 Google]

Since 1997, the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment (KBA) to the 1997 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act, has limited the availability of high-resolution satellite imagery of these countries. Although this law only applies to the United States of America, as a global super power, with dominance over the commercial satellite imagery market, its international impact has been significant. However, new Oxford University research has called for these restrictions to be lifted immediately and set in line with the international standard.

Satellite imagery has transformed the way that scientists can investigate, map and monitor the changing human and physical landscape of the earth. The current KBA Amendment limits the resolution of U.S - produced imagery for Israel to c.2m, which is relatively blurry and means that features smaller than this are not detectable from aerial footage. As a result, the satellite images available on platforms such as Google Earth, of both Israel and Palestine, are of poor quality, significantly restricting the scientific research opportunities in these areas.

In an attempt to overcome these limitations, researchers from the Endangered Archaeology Project at the Oxford School of Archaeology, which relies on satellite imagery to identify and monitor heritage sites across the Middle East and North Africa, investigated the justification for the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, and reviewed how the regulations works in practice.

Published in Space Policy, the research conducted by Dr Andrea Zerbini and Dr Michael Fradley of Oxford's School of Archaeology, finds that while this regulation was broadly assumed to be a static censorship, the limitations were intended to mirror the standard of satellite imagery available outside the United States. However, much stronger high-resolution images have in fact been available from companies such as Airbus in France from as long ago as 2012.

The paper also reveals that there has been some quiet resistance to the US regulation, particularly from Google Earth, where high-resolution images covering areas of the West Bank, Golan Heights and the border areas of Israel, provided by Airbus, are already available on the platform.

The findings demonstrate that these regulations need urgent review, and recommends that US imagery should meet what has become the international standard of 0.5m.

Dr Michael Fradley said: 'Our research demonstrates not only how the current restrictions have hampered scientific research in this area, but also importantly highlights a clear rationale for moving on from the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment. The reduction or removal of these restrictions would open up access to modern satellite imagery, as well as historical images captured by spy satellite that remain classified due to the legal reach of the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, which could allow researchers to record longer-term landscape change.'

The minutes of the latest meetings of the U.S. regulatory body for commercial satellite imagery suggest that restrictions may indeed be lifted, potentially ushering in a new phase of remote-sensing research by archaeologists, geographers and earth scientists across this area of the Levant.

Staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who regulate the implementation of the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, have acknowledged the important role of this new research by the EAMENA team in their ongoing evaluation of regulations. The Endangered Archaeology project has already begun to identify new archaeological sites using higher-resolution satellite in the region, and its work has set a precedent for future scientific research in this area.

Commenting on the potential impact of lifting these sanctions, Dr. Brian Boyd, Program Director, Center for Archaeology, Columbia University, said: 'Zerbini and Fradley's call for an "open-skies policy" with regard to the availability of high resolution satellite imagery of archaeological sites and landscapes in Israel/Palestine has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the human occupation of this region from the earliest prehistoric times to the present day. Their research will also be invaluable in highlighting contemporary endeavors to record and hopefully preserve sites, monuments and landscapes that are under threat from political and military actions not only in Israel/Palestine but in the wider Middle East'.

Source: Oxford University [May 04, 2018]

Unique grooves carved into deer bones 35,000 years ago in a cave in Galilee

Deer bones found in a cave in the Galilee have pointed to a unique cultural group that may have arrived in the region from Europe between 35,000 and 38,000 years ago.

Fragments of notched scapulas superimposed on an intact model to show where the notches were
[Credit:: Hebrew University]

Newly published research regarding this group in the Levant (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria), points toward distinct cultural entities with distinguishing characteristics already existing in the early stages of human history.

The research was a collaborative effort between Dr. Jose-Miguel Tejero of the French National Center for Scientific Research; Prof. Anna Belfer Cohen and Dr. Rivka Rabinovich of the Archaeology Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; emeritus Harvard University Prof. Ofer Bar-Yosef; and Hebrew University’s Dr. Vitaly Gutkin.

Fragments of notched scapulas superimposed on an intact model to show where the notches were
[Credit:: Hebrew University]

The study examined remains of ancient Levantine deer bones, found in the Hayonim Cave in the Western Galilee, and discovered a cultural symbol: bones with specific grooves appearing in a fixed area. The study posits that this may have been a unique symbol of the local ancient culture that acted as a marker for the group – perhaps sewn into a garment or worn as a pendant to differentiate the group’s members from other groups living in the same area.

This is in contrast to other objects found in the area, used for everyday activities, such as hunting, preparing food or processing skins.

The purple marks show where the sawn notches were found; the pink marks are cuts from butchering
[Credit:: Hebrew University]

Other remains found, which included stone vessels, bone vessels and horns, are similar to remains found of an ancient culture in Western and Central Europe that existed during the years of the Levantine period. Thus, there is a working assumption that the group arrived here from Europe, lasted a relatively short time and then disappeared or merged with the local cultural entities.

“It was interesting to examine systematically the nature of these items which were created out of dissect- ed animals and to note how different they are,” Rabinovich explained.

Electron microscope scan showing the difference in size between notches (E and G) and butchering marks (F and H)
[Credit:: Hebrew University]

“Microscopic observations, as well as data obtained with the help of the scanning electron microscope (which has become an important tool in archaeological research), made us aware of the uniqueness of the symbols.”

“Likewise, at the end of each observation like this, the question remains: What were these items really used for? This is the most fascinating part – trying to understand behavior not necessarily tied to survival,” she said.

Author: Judy Siegel-Itzkovich | Source: The Jerusalem Post [May 03, 2018]