Israel Active

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.

The Aliya to Israel of some of the 100 million plus Bnei Anusim (descendants of Sephardi Jews forced to convert to Christianity) could be larger than the return of the “lost tribe” of Ethiopian Jews. Many are discovering their Jewish roots and connecting with Israel.

The Feast of Tabernacles attracts huge numbers of Christian pilgrims who fulfil the Biblical command that all nations should go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival. This year the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem brought numerous foreign government officials to Israel, along with 5,000 Christian pilgrims.

Archeologists have been excavating the site for the new campus of Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. In the remains of the wall surrounding Jerusalem, they found weapons and scores of sling stones that the Romans fired from catapults 2000 years ago.

In two separate incidents in the Israeli city of Elad, two children fell from windows in their houses and were saved by the sukkahs (Tabernacles – ritual booths) that their neighbors had built in the apartment below.