Israel Active

Readers asked me for a photo of the Arabic inscription mentioning the Beit Mikdash (Jewish Temple) that was discovered in the wall of the Mosque of Umar in Nuba, near Hebron.  This article shows the inscription that proves early Moslems knew the origin of the Dome of the Rock.

Hebrew University Professor Eliezer Sukenik purchased the Dead Sea scrolls from an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem on Nov 29 1947.  As he was examining them that evening, his radio was broadcasting the UN vote on the partition of Palestine.  What amazing timing!

In the Western Wall (Kotel) is a 2000-year-old stone that measures 40 feet long by 12 feet high by 14 feet deep. It weighs 600 tons - the equivalent of two 747 jumbo jets including passengers and luggage.  The Romans tried to destroy it, but couldn’t – and it is still there today.

With minimal publicity, the Islamic Waqf has permitted the Israel Antiquities Authority to conduct limited scientific excavations on Temple Mount over the past decade. At a conference at Hebrew University, archaeologists presented new details of olive pits, animal bones and pottery fragments dating to the time of the First Temple.

The Israel Antiquities Authority has recovered a papyrus from the time of the 1st Temple (7th century BCE) documenting a wine shipment from Na’artah to Jerusalem. This is the earliest extra-biblical source to mention Jerusalem in Hebrew writing. The papyrus was written by a woman administrator in the Kingdom of Judah.

Archaeologists have located a 10th century CE inscription above a mihrab-prayer niche in an active mosque in the village of Nuba, near Hebron. It states that the original name of the Dome of the Rock was Beit al Makdas (in Arabic), Beit Hamikdash (in Hebrew) or Temple (in English).

Three days following commencement of the prayers for rain, thunderstorms arrived in Israel. Whilst central areas experienced scattered showers, the south had flash floods and strong rain that temporarily closed Eilat airport. 32 mm of rain fell in Eilat, 10 mm more than the yearly seasonal average.

Sandra Solomon is the niece of Saher Habash, one of the founders of the Fatah party. Born in Ramallah, raised in Saudi Arabia, moved to Canada and converted to Christianity. She now loves the State of Israel so much, she had “Israel” in Hebrew tattooed across her shoulder blades.

I reported previously about the discovery of a garment bell that a High Priest would have worn on his robes when administering in the Temple’s Holy of Holies.  The sound of all 72 bells has now been recreated, so you can hear exactly what it would have sounded like on Yom Kippur 3000 years ago.

The Israel Antiquities Authority’s has now fully excavated the 8th Century BCE (1st Temple period) Lachish city gate near Mount Hebron. They say that it may prove King Hezekiah’s Biblically-recorded efforts to abolish idol worship in the region.