Daily News

The worlds of archaeology and the Bible move fast. Check back regularly for the latest news.

The Jerusalem forgery trial will go on, despite the judge’s suggestion to the prosecution that it consider dropping the case. (See “Forgery Case Collapses” BAR, January/February 2009) The next session will be held on January 20.

The decision to reject the suggestion of Judge Aharon Farkash was made by head Jerusalem prosecutor Eli Abavranel, according to Justice spokesman Tal Vider.

The indictment charges a forgery ring with forging a variety of artifacts including the ossuary inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” The indictment also alleges that the ivory pomegranate inscribed “(Belonging) to the Temple of [Yahwe]h; holy to the priests” is a forgery. Originally charged were five defendants, but three have been dropped. The remaining defendants are collector Oded Golan and antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch.

The trial has been going on for more than three years now. The prosecution recently rested its case and the two remaining defendants will now present their case. It is estimated that this will take from one to two more years.

Mr. Abravanel declined to comment on his decision to proceed with the case. For additional coverage of this case, see Supporters of James Ossuary Inscription Vindicated.

Medical researchers at the University of Chicago gave their new CT scanner a test run by examining a very unusual patient: a 3,000-year-old mummy known as “Meresamun.” The new scanner, which is the first of its kind in the state of Illinois, uses technology called computed tomography (CT) in order to obtain three-dimensional, cross-sectional images of the body, which allow for faster and more accurate diagnoses of conditions such as blood clots and tumors. In Meresamun’s case, scientists are hoping to gain insight into how the ancient Egyptian woman died.

The mummy is owned by the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. In 1992, it took a similar machine 8 hours to scan the mummy, obtaining images of 16 cross-sections. This new machine completed a full-body scan in about 10 seconds, and provided 265 cross-sectional images.

The Chicago Tribune reports on modern medicine and an ancient mummy.

Construction on a house in southwestern Turkey has revealed two burials that are believed to belong to members of a noble family that lived 2,700 years ago. In the village of Damlibogaz in Mugla’s Milas district, Mehmet Çoban had started construction on a cesspool when workers discovered the graves containing burial goods such as prayer pots, ceramic pots, wineglasses, accessories, hunting equipment and candles.

The 7th century B.C. graves are thought to be affiliated with the ancient city of Hydai, which means “water” in ancient Greek.

Hurriyet reports on ancient burials discovered during cesspool construction.

Archaeologists in Syria have found a Roman-era sarcophagus during excavations at Daraa, an ancient city located in southern Syria near the Jordanian border. The sarcophagus is the second such piece to be found at the site in less than two months. Made of basalt, the sarcophagus features carved images of a lion and a bull on one side, while the other side depicts two human female faces and a flower with four petals. A female skeleton was discovered inside the stone coffin, and a gold ring was found placed next to the head.

Daraa is mentioned in Egyptian inscriptions from the 15th century B.C. Also mentioned in the Old Testament as “Idraai,” the city maintained its importance in the Greco-Roman period.

The Syrian Arab News Agency reports on the Roman sarcophagus discovered at Daraa.

An unusual alliance between archaeologists and satellite technology has revealed just how much history has yet to be uncovered. In an analysis of satellite images taken of Egypt from space, hundreds of as-yet-unexcavated sites have been identified in the regions of the eastern Nile River Delta and Middle Egypt. The results are causing archaeologists to reconsider the complexity of layering of the ancient sites, and the enormity of the work that is still left to do. It is estimated that the sites recorded so far represent a small fraction of archaeological sites in Egypt.

Sarah Parack, an archaeologist who directs the Laboratory for Human Health at the University of Alabama, has pioneered the project that has used space technology to reveal the past. According to Parack, the use of satellite technology allows scientists to see much more than traditional archaeological methods would allow. “We can see patterns in settlements that correspond to the [historical] texts,” she says, “such as if foreign invasions affected the occupation of ancient sites. We can see where the Romans built over what the Egyptians had built, and where the Coptic Christians built over what the Romans had built.” While archaeologists needn’t relinquish their trowels anytime soon, this technology, says Parack, “gives us information about broader ancient settlement patterns, such as patterns of city growth and collapse over time, that excavations do not.”

CNN reports on the partnership of satellites and archaeology.

The discovery of two 4,300-year old tombs in Saqqara, Egypt indicates that the ancient necropolis south of Cairo is larger than previously believed. The pair of rock-cut tombs was constructed for high officials of the Pharaoh’s administration. They lie to the southwest of the two pyramids in the area: the step-pyramid of King Djoser, and that of King Unas, who was the last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty. Most excavations in the area have focused on only one side of the pyramids, whereas the area where the new discoveries were made is largely unexcavated. The presence of the tombs indicates that the ancient burial ground extends farther than archaeologists had formerly supposed.

USA Today reports on the discovery of the ancient tombs .

A rare half-shekel coin has been recovered form the soil of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Minted in 66 or 67 A.D. during the period of the Great Revolt against the Romans, the coin exhibited evidence of some fire damage, believed by experts to be the same fire that destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D. The face of the coin is decorated with a branch of three pomegranates and ancient Hebrew letters reading “holy Jerusalem.”

The coin was discovered by a 14-year-old boy who was volunteering in a sifting project sponsored by BAR Ilan University. For the last four years, archaeologists and volunteers have been sifting through the mounds of dirt that were dug up by the Muslim authority in charge of the Temple Mount during an unauthorized project in 1999. The sifting project was begun in an effort to salvage at least some of the archaeological data from the destroyed ancient layers of the mountain.

Ha’aretz reports on the half shekel coin found on the Temple Mount

An Israeli scientist employed by the defense in the Jerusalem forgery trial has concluded that the inscription on the famous ivory pomegranate (“[Belonging] to the Temple of [Yahwe]h, consecrated to the priests”) is authentic.

If the inscription is authentic, the pomegranate is probably the only surviving artifact from Solomon’s Temple.

Read a BAR Special News Report on the ivory pomegranate inscription.