![]() Then, on the last day of the season, we did indeed make a number of important discoveries. Left to right, back: Bryant Wood, ABR, Manheim, PA, Square Supervisor William Barrick, The Master's Seminary, Santa Clarita, CA Ellen Jackson, SIL International, Dallas, TX, metal detectorist front: Regina Brown, Automation Controls Inc., Valley Falls, KS Mark Hassler, The Master's Seminary, North Hills, CA. Square S19 excavation team posing at the opening of the pit where 128 coins were found. In a coin production facility the leftover bronze pieces would have been saved and melted down to be recast as coin blanks. It is hard to imagine the presence of such scraps in any context other than a coin-making operation. Our numismatist will sort them out after all of the bronze pieces have been cleaned. When first excavated, a fragment of scrap bronze is difficult to differentiate from a genuine coin due to corrosion. This is entirely feasible, since many of our "coins" appear to be square pieces of bronze leftover from the making of strips of coin blanks in a mold. She theorized that perhaps coins were being manufactured at our site. When we turned the coins over to our conservator for cleaning, she, too, was amazed. Our Israeli numismatist said he had never heard of any other dig in Israel that produced so many coins in such a short period of time! ![]() After three days of digging the pit, we had an amazing 128 coins! Added to that were another 17 from my square and 60 from other squares, for a grand total of 205 coins. In my square, S19, the pit contained many coins and other artifacts. From the pottery, it appears that they all date to the first century AD. I was wrong! This season, in each of the four squares excavated east of the gate, we uncovered an underground pit or storage chamber carved into bedrock. In 2012 we recovered a record 71 coins, a number I thought would never be surpassed. In order to preempt looters, we have been using metal detectors to locate coins. The other lower socket stone from the outer door is still out there somewhere!Ĭity of Ai gate socketstone in secondary use, discovered on the first day of the 2013 Dig season. It was exposed only a few inches below the surface, about 33 feet east of the outer (northern) door of the gate. Now, 17 years later, we have uncovered a third lower socket stone. Although the three socket stones were not in their original positions, their locations just south of the southern pier of the west gate chamber suggest that they were part of the inside (southern) door of the gate. ![]() Just a few feet away we could see the tops of the surviving stones of the west chamber of the gate, measuring approximately 23 x 30 feet.ĭuring the second season, in 1996, we unearthed a second lower socket stone, as well as an upper counter socket stone, a very rare object. The top of the socket stone, with its well-worn post hole, was visible on the surface. Gary Byers found the first lower socket stone during our initial 1995 season. At the top of the pivot post was a counter socket stone. The pivot post of a gate (or door) turned on a stone sunk into the floor, which had a hole hollowed out for the pivot post to turn in. We broke that custom by making a major find on the very first day -a third lower gate socket stone from the LBI fortress of the time of Joshua. Important discoveries are usually made on the last day of a dig season. But the 2013 season eclipsed the 2012 season in terms of the importance of the finds. I reported a year ago that our 2012 season was the best yet, apart from the finding of the gate in our first season. ![]() God gave us safety, with only one noteworthy accident (a broken rib) wonderful volunteers and many significant discoveries. Thank you for praying for our 11th season of excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir, May 20–31. Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Chronologies.People, Places, and Things in the New Testament.People, Places, and Things in the Hebrew Bible.Inspiration, Authority, Biblical Criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis.Ancient Manuscripts, Translations, and Texts.Amazing Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology.Life & Ministry of Jesus & the Apostles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |