Ancient Stone Bowl Unearthed in Jerusalem Perplexes Experts

The fragment of an historic limestone bowl that has the identify "Hyrcanus" in Hebrew engraved on it.

Credit score: Israel Antiquities Authority

It is unclear whether or not a mysterious 2,100-year-old stone bowl fragment not too long ago unearthed in Jerusalem belonged to royalty or a commoner, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) introduced late final week.

The fragment — constituted of chalk, a kind of limestone — is sufficiently small to slot in an individual's hand. However it's massive sufficient to include a putting element on its facet: the identify "Hyrcanus" engraved in Hebrew letters.

Hyrcanus was the identify of two completely different kings who dominated in the course of the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty, which lasted from about 140 B.C. to 37 B.C., when Herod the Nice got here into energy. Nevertheless, Hyrcanus was additionally a generally used identify throughout that point, the IAA mentioned. Though the identify itself is Greek, many Jews used it in the course of the Hellenistic interval, The Occasions of Israel reported.

"This is among the earliest examples of chalk vessels to seem in Jerusalem," Doron Ben-Ami, an archaeologist with the IAA, and Esther Eshel, a professor within the Bible division at Bar-Ilan College in Israel, mentioned in an announcement. "These stone vessels have been extensively utilized by Jews as a result of they have been thought of vessels that can not turn into ritually unclean." [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]

Researchers found the fragment in 2015, however the IAA determined to delay the announcement in order that researchers may have time to review the artifact. The researchers famous that the fragment was discovered underneath the Givati parking zone on the Metropolis of David — Jerusalem's oldest neighborhood and one in all its largest archaeological websites.

Archaeologists discovered the fragment underneath the traditional foundations of a mikvah advanced, a pool used as a Jewish ritual tub. However its placement sheds little gentle on its previous house owners, the researchers mentioned.

There are so few engraved vessels within the archaeological file from this era that it is tough to say whether or not the newfound artifact was a routine creation or a particular tribute, the IAA mentioned.

"The identify Hyrcanus was pretty frequent within the Hasmonean interval," Ben-Ami and Eshel mentioned within the assertion. "We all know of two personages from this era who had this identify: John Hyrcanus, who was the grandson of Matityahu the Hasmonean and dominated Judea from 135 [to] 104 B.C.E., and John Hyrcanus II, who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus and Salome Alexandra; nonetheless, it's not attainable to find out if the bowl belonged particularly to both of them."

The Givati parking zone additionally holds the stays of a well-known fortress (referred to as the Akra or Acra), constructed underneath the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek king of the Seleucid Empire who tried to manage Judea in the course of the Maccabean Revolt, the revolt whose occasions led to the primary Hanukkah.

The Hasmoneans finally conquered the Akra. Intriguingly, the bowl fragment was found close to the Akra's stays, the researchers mentioned.

Authentic article on Stay Science.

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