Ancient Tomb Is Found Near Giza Pyramids<\/b><\/p>\n
ABU SIR, EGYPT – Archeologists have found a 3,200-year-old underground tomb near the Pyramids of Giza and say it may be part of a previously unknown necropolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in front of a very big discovery,\u201d the director of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Mohammed Ibrahim Bakr, told reporters yesterday outside the tomb, cut into a sand-covered slope of rock rising above the village of Abu Sir.<\/p>\n
The tomb consists of a limestone-paved courtyard and a room cut into the rock at one level and a series of four chambers underneath stretching deep into the desert hillside. It was built for a man named Nakh-min, \u201coverseer of chariots\u201d and \u201cmessenger to foreign lands\u201d for Pharaoh Ramses II.<\/p>\n
Ramses the Great reigned for 67 years in the 13th century BC during the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt, when the Pharaoh controlled a military empire stretching into what is now Jordan and Syria.<\/p>\n
The three Pyramids of Giza, 7 miles northwest of Abu Sir, and the pyramids and tombs of Sakkara, just to the south, all belong to the much earlier Old Kingdom, which began about 5, 000 years ago. The area is just beyond the southern outskirts of Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be the beginning of the discovery of a whole necropolis in Abu Sir,\u201d said one of the archeologists working on the site. One of the tomb\u2019s underground chambers, about 12 feet square and 5 feet high, is decorated with figures of animal-headed gods, representations of gateways and inscriptions from The Book of the Gates, a book of spells to guide the soul through the underworld.<\/p>\n
Fossils Show Gulf Area Had Forests, Report Says<\/b><\/p>\n
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Scientists have found new fossil evidence that the arid Persian Gulf region was once covered by lush forests with abundant wildlife.<\/p>\n
The animals included elephants, crocodiles, hippopotamuses and giraffes, according to early results of research detailed in the annual report of Abu Dhabi\u2019s leading oil-producing company.<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi today, like other countries along the southern shores of the gulf, is mere sand dunes as far as the eye can see. Temperatures are searing hot, and only a few inches of rain fall annually.<\/p>\n
Skeletons With Weapons Confirm Fall Of Nineveh<\/b><\/p>\n
Donald Smith – National Geographic News Service<\/b><\/p>\n
They lie as they fell more than 2, 600 years ago, a writhing clump of humanity frozen in a moment of fearful combat. Pieces of armor, iron daggers, pikes, and other weapons litter the ground. Buried in the desiccated leg bone of one of the soldiers is another emblem of blood and pain: a triple-bladed bronze arrowhead, cunningly shaped to inflict maximum harm.<\/p>\n
This tableau of nine skeletons, recently uncovered in northern Iraq, represents the first clearly documented evidence of an epic story that has been shrouded by centuries of myth and speculation: the downfall of Nineveh, the capital of what was then the world\u2019s mightiest empire.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 77<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not often that you get such vivid evidence for an event that has been in the consciousness of the world through the Bible and classical sources for such a very long period,\u201d says archaeologist David Stronach of the University of California at Berkeley. \u201cIt\u2019s quite remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n
At its height, Nineveh was the center of the Assyrian Empire, which dominated Mesopotamia and the Near East hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n
The city itself, reputedly founded by a great-grandson of Noah, shows evidence of having been inhabited as long ago as 6, 000 years. It reached its pinnacle with the reign of Sennacherib, 705-681 B.C., builder of the fabulous \u201cPalace Without a Rival.\u201d<\/p>\n
A force for stability and prosperity in the region, the Assyrians constructed arches, tunnels, aqueducts, and the world\u2019s first botanical and zoological gardens. The great cuneiform library of the last major monarch, Ashur-bani-pal, preserved for the world the \u201cEpic of Gilgamesh\u201d and the \u201cEpic of Creation\u201d, two masterpieces that include the story of the Flood.<\/p>\n
Epic of Gilgamesh<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
But among some of the peoples conquered by the Assyrians, Nineveh and its successive rulers were synonymous with cruelty and repression. The Bible characterizes the approach of the Assyrian host as \u201ca whirlwind.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a stone pillar, one Assyrian ruler boasted of \u201cnoble I flayed.\u201d He reported: \u201cThree thousand captives I burned with fire. I left not one hostage alive. I cut off the hands and feet of some. I cut off the noses, ears and fingers of others. The eyes of numerous soldiers I put out. Maidens I burned as a holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Impaling prisoners on stake caused agonizing death<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The Hebrew prophet Zephaniah foretold the fall of Nineveh as the act of a vengeful God: \u201cHe will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.\u201d<\/p>\n
First excavated in the mid-19th century by the pioneer English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard, Nineveh is only now yielding the secrets of its final hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this mass of tangled bodies with weapons in the midst of them.\u201d says Stronach. \u201cThe <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 78<\/p>\n
desperation of the defense is now manifest.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city was overrun in 612 B.C. by allied forces of Babylonians from southern Iraq and of Medes from Iran. According to Stronach, the conquest may have involved a manipulation of water to flood the city, as mentioned in another Bible passage.<\/p>\n
But Stronach\u2019s excavation at one of the city\u2019s 15 gates indicates that the final battle included a furious frontal assault, as well. His research was supported in part by the National Geographic Society and Columbia University.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may have used water as a weapon at the center of the eastern wall, where the Khosr River winds its way through the city.\u201d says Stronach. \u201cAnd to draw away the defenders from that critical point, they may have also assaulted at the opposite ends of the city at the north and south.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stronach also found evidence that the city withstood an attack two years before the final fall. After the first attack, the Assyrians appear to have narrowed the width of the city gates from about 20 feet to about 6 feet, so that fewer people could pass through at one time.<\/p>\n
The final battle was a \u201cdesperate struggle,\u201d Stronach says. \u201cPeople fell in the most extraordinary sort of jumbled poses. I think the mud brick superstructure of the gate, which was probably burning, collapsed on them, so they lay buried for the last 2, 600 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story of the final days of Nineveh is still incomplete. Stronach and his team plan to return to the site this spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are other bodies there awaiting excavation,\u201d he says, \u201cwe can see their feet and hands emerging. We just don\u2019t know how far back within the gate this scene of carnage will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Excavation Work Continues At Nineveh<\/b><\/p>\n
The Iraqi Antiquities Department is reconstructing the ruins of ancient Nineveh in Northern Iraq. Four huge statues of winged bulls which apparently guarded the Nergal Gate area were reported uncovered by excavators. The bulls have the head of a bearded man, with the feet and body of a bull and stand about six feet tall.<\/p>\n
Winged Bull<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Reported by Reuters, quoted in the National & International Religion Report, April 19, 1993; Editor\u2019s Note: The prophets Jonah and Nahum focused on Nineveh because it was the international capital of its time. Hezekiah\u2019s nemesis Sennacherib, and Sargon II before him, built up and beautified the Assyrian capital. Extensive excavations last century by British explorer Austen Henry Layard uncovered Sennacherib\u2019s palace, and <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 79<\/p>\n
the famous library of Ashurbanipal, which housed 22,000 inscribed clay tablets. David Stronach, of the University of California-Berkeley, excavated at Nineveh between 1987 and 1990 but was unable to continue after the Persian Gulf War broke out.<\/p>\n
ALASKA<\/i> – At a recent news conference two archaeologists announced they had found evidence of two distinctly different cultures co-existing in Alaska between 11,000 and 12, 000 years ago. This discovery by Michael Kunz of the Bureau of Land Management and Richard Reanier of the University of Washington suggests several waves of human immigration from Asia into Alaska long before the generally accepted date of 12, 000 years ago.<\/p>\n
The evidence, reported by Boyce Rensberger in The Philadelphia Inquirer (March 25, 1993), consisted of several flint spear points and other stone tools found in 1978 atop a hunting lookout. The age of the stone weapons has been established only recently by means of radio carbon dating. While the weapons, themselves, could not be precisely dated, it was charcoal found with the tools that provided the date.<\/p>\n
Among the finds, the spear points are considered remarkable. They resemble \u201cPaleoindian\u201d weapons common in the continental United States. This culture, which may have come in one wave of immigration from Asia, used very different forms of stone tools from another culture of comparable antiquity – the Nenana culture.<\/p>\n
The differences between the tools are so significant, archaeologists tend to think the people who made them belonged to different cultures – perhaps so different that they even spoke separate languages. Although geographically, the two groups were separated by only a few hundred miles.<\/p>\n
Paying For Jezebel\u2019s Palace by Gordon Govier<\/b><\/p>\n
On a hill overlooking the Jezreel valley, King Ahab built a palace for his bride Jezebel. Exactly why he chose Jezreel is a mystery, at least for now.<\/p>\n
No particular trading or strategic advantage is apparent over such nearby cities as Megiddo and Bet Shean. The climate does not seem appreciably better than his other capital, Samaria. But build it he did.<\/p>\n
A joint Israeli-British excavation may come up with an answer why, as it returns for its fourth season at Jezreel. The work this year is expected to expose a major portion of the royal enclosure.<\/p>\n
Ahab invested his resources heavily in the construction, says John Woodhead, of the British School of Archeology in Jerusalem. The palace is massive, maybe twice the size of its counterpart in Samaria, 140 by anything up to 350 meters.<\/p>\n
The fortifications are 35 meters wide. And then there\u2019s the moat. It\u2019s the only iron age moat known in the Middle East, the most amazing piece of architecture from the period, says Woodhead.<\/p>\n
After Jehu\u2019s revolt and the death of Jezebel, the palace was destroyed and abandoned. It\u2019s relatively intact, compared to the typical multi-layered archeological tel. As the only excavatable palace from the monarchy period, it may offer a treasure-trove of new information.<\/p>\n
Jezebel\u2019s Palace will also provide another interesting stop for pilgrims who continue to travel to The Holy Land to study for themselves the context of the stories they read in their Bibles. As archeologists excavate more and more locations, there\u2019s more and more to be seen in Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ancient Tomb Is Found Near Giza Pyramids ABU SIR, EGYPT – Archeologists have found a 3,200-year-old underground tomb near the Pyramids of Giza and say it may be part of a previously unknown necropolis. \u201cWe are in front of a very big discovery,\u201d the director of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Mohammed Ibrahim Bakr, told reporters … Continue reading “NEWS
\nAND NOTES. . .”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}