Daily News

The worlds of archaeology and the Bible move fast. Check back regularly for the latest news.

Ancient Inscription has Major Implications for Qur’an Scholarship

A 1,300-year old inscription written by an Arabic traveler on red sandstone will have a significant impact on modern Qur’an scholarship. A major question that has puzzled Qur’an scholars for centuries is why the text was seemingly written without any diacritical marks, which are notations that distinguish one letter from another and aid in the pronunciation of the words. When added or removed, they can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence. The newly discovered inscription, which predates the earliest known copies of the Qur’an, is considered to be the earliest Islamic inscription discovered to date. It demonstrates that diacritical marks were already in use before the Qur’an was written.

Robert Hoyland, a professor of Arabic and Middle East Studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, explains the significance of such a discovery: “Whether the Qur’an was originally written in a script that contained diacritical marks is very important,” he says. “Western Qur’an scholars generally say that it wasn’t and therefore feel free to make some amendments to the Qur’anic text by changing the diacritical marks to give it a different meaning, which is, of course, very unpopular with modern Muslim scholars and Muslims in general, who mostly feel that the Qur’anic text they use is the original text revealed to Muhammad by God.”

Discovery News reports on the discovery of the oldest known Islamic inscription.

Herod’s Palace and Mausoleum Yield More Discoveries

Nine miles south of Jerusalem, the site of King Herod’s mausoleum and palace is still yielding important discoveries regarding what is turning out to be a lavish compound. Not far from the mausoleum, which was discovered last year, the remains of a theatre complete with a VIP room have been identified. The theater, which could hold approximately 750 people, is believed to have been constructed around 15 B.C., coinciding with a state visit to Herodian made by Marcus Agrippa, the deputy of the Roman emperor Augustus. In addition to the theater complex, two additional tombs were uncovered in the mausoleum area, thought to belong to two members of Herod’s family.

Known as “Herod the Great,” the Jewish king ruled Judea between 37 – 4 B.C. with the support of Rome. He had a tremendous impact on architecture throughout Israel, and is responsible for the rebuilding of the Great Temple, also known as the “Second Temple.” His palace at Herodian is considered to be the largest in the Roman world during his lifetime, complete with gardens, a massive swimming pool, a bath complex and—as we now know—a theatre.

Arutz Sheva reports of the new discoveries at Herodian.

Ancient Christian Church Discovered in Syria

In an ancient trading city 150 miles northeast of Damascus in Syria, a Syrian-Polish archaeological team has discovered an 8th-century Christian church. The new discovery is the fourth, and largest, church to be found in Palmyra, the ancient center of the Arab state that was under Roman rule for centuries. In antiquity, the ancient city thrived on caravan trades across the desert to Mesopotamia and Persia.

Walid Assaad, the head of the Palmyra Antiquities and Museums Department, said that the church’s base measures 51-by-30 yards, and archaeologists estimate its columns stood 20 feet tall and its wooden ceiling would have been about 50 feet high. “In the northern and southern parts of the church there are two rooms that are believed to have been used for baptisms, religious ceremonies, prayers and other rituals,” Assad adds. In addition to the structure itself, there is also evidence of an outdoor amphitheatre, where experts believe that Christian rituals were practiced.

The Washington Times reports on the ancient church discovered in Palmyra.

Inscription Reveals Ancient Beliefs About the Soul

In southeastern Turkey, a monument had been discovered form the 8th century B.C. that archaeologists say provides the first written evidence that people of the region held the religious concept of the soul apart from the body. In the ruins of a mountainous kingdom that existed 2,800 years ago, a royal official, Kuttamuwa, oversaw the completion of an inscribed stone monument, or stela, to be erected upon his death. The words instructed mourners to commemorate his life and afterlife with feasts “for my soul that is in this stela.”

By contrast, Semitic contemporaries, including the Israelites, believed that the body and soul were inseparable. “Normally, in the Semitic cultures, the soul of a person, their vital essence, adheres to the bones of the deceased,” said David Schloen, an archaeologist at the university’s Oriental Institute and director of the excavations. “But here we have a culture that believed the soul is not in the corpse but has been transferred to the mortuary stone.” Further study of the stela is expected to provide scholars with insights into the dynamics of cultural contact and exchange in the borderlands of antiquity where Indo-European and Semitic people interacted in the Iron Age.

The New York Times reports on the discovery of the 2,800-year-old stela.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Brought to Light—Literally

The Colossus of Rhodes that has captured the imaginations of historians, poets, artists and statesmen for over 2,000 years will be literally brought to light once again. Thanks to international funding and an East German artist named Gert Hof, the statue, or at least its image, will once again grace the Aegean Island. In what is likely to be one of the 21st century’s largest artistic projects, a 60 – 100m recreation of the Colossus is planned as an innovative light sculpture. It will be a work of art that will allow visitors to physically inspect it by day as well as enjoy—through light shows—a variety of stories it will “tell” by night.

While the original statue, which stood 34m in height before it was toppled by an earthquake in 226 B.C., straddled the ancient harbor, the new installation is planned for an outer pier of the modern harbor, where it will be visible to passing ships. Like its ancient predecessor, the new Colossus will be dedicated to celebrating peace. The project, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, is being funded by international organizations led by the World Trade Centre Association, a network of exporters who promote peace through trade.

The Guardian reports on the planned recreation of the Colossus of Rhodes.

Piecing the Past Back Together

Four decades ago, a 2,500-year old Egyptian sarcophagus was destroyed during a violent student protest at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montreal, which had received the piece as a gift from the Cairo Museum in 1927. The ancient wooden coffin was shattered into several large pieces and hundreds of tiny fragments, a devastating loss in a country that owns only a handful of similar pieces. However, the ancient sarcophagus has been given a new lease on life as conservators at the Museum of Civilization painstakingly piece the Hetep-Bastet coffin back together. The sarcophagus and the mummy inside are on loan to the museum from the University of Quebec in Montreal, which will receive its rare artifact bact in far greater condition than it was in when they loaned it out.

The lavishly painted sarcophagus is particularly valuable because of the fine detail of the decorations and hieroglyphs. As part of the restoration, curators are taking paint that has flaked off and reattaching it to the surface of the sarcophagus, gluing the broken wooden fragments together, and cleaning the coffin with a vacuum and soft brush. Once the restoration is complete, the coffin will be displayed as part of the exhibit Tombs of Eternity: The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, which opens Dec. 19 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

CBC News reports on the restoration of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus.

Over 100 Phoenician Burial Jars Discovered in Southern Lebanon

More than 100 “tombs” consisting of clay jars have been discovered during excavations of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre, located in the southern coastal region of modern-day Lebanon. Spanish and Lebanese archaeologists identified the 2,900-year-old pottery as the earthenware that ancient Phoenicians used to store the bones of their dead. Smaller, empty jars that were also found at the site are thought to represent the resting place of the soul, according to the archaeologist in charge in Tyre, Ali Badawi.

“These discoveries help researchers who work on past Phoenician colonies in Spain, Italy and Tunisia, to pin down a large number of their habits and traditions,” said Maria Eugenia Aubet, who leads the Spanish team. “Especially since there are few studies of the Phoenicians in their motherland ‘Lebanon’” she adds. The site itself was discovered in 1997, but the rate of excavation has been slow due to recent political turmoil in the area.

Reuters reports on the ancient Phoenician burial jars discovered in Lebanon.

Enormous “City of the Dead” Discovered in Sicily

What is believed to be the largest Greek burial ground on the island of Sicily has recently come to light. Archaeologists working at the ancient Greek site of Himera in northern Sicily have uncovered the city’s necropolis, which means “city of the dead” in Greek. While hundreds of graves have been excavated, scientists believe that there could be as many as 10,000 tombs. Most of the remains date from the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., and many are young adult males that exhibit signs of violent battle wounds. It is thought that a great number of the graves belong to soldiers killed in two bloody battles with Carthage that took place in 480 B.C. and 409 B.C. Several of the remains still have arrows attached to them.

However, not all the excavated remains are adult. Some of the most interesting finds were the remains of newborn infants, which were placed in funerary amphorae (clay vessels), along with small clay beakers that were used as baby bottles. Finds are being transferred to a small museum at the site, where they will be cataloged until a new museum that is planned reaches completion. In light of this extremely important discovery, Sicily's regional minister of culture has announced that the process to create a national archaeological park at Himera will be initiated.

Italian news agency ANSA reports on the huge necropolis discovered in Sicily.

New Discoveries Illuminate Agriculture, Trade in Ancient Iran

Recent archaeological discoveries in southern Iran have shed light on ancient agricultural development in the region. Artifacts dating from 2,100 to 5,000-years-old have been recovered in excavations from the Iranian province of Hormozgan. Among them is what is considered to be the smallest known ancient dish in the world: a tiny clay vessel measuring 1.7 centimeters in length and only 8 millimeters in width. Archaeologists believe that it was used to measure medicine.

Two date seeds that were determined to date to approximately 3000 B.C. have led researchers to believe that the date trade influenced the development of economic life in the region. Artifacts that were also discovered included clay vessels, agricultural tools and glassware, all of which were found to date to the period of the Parthian Empire (238 BC – 226 AD).

Persian publication Press TV reports on the ancient artifacts discovered in southern Iran.

New Discovery from Ancient Egypt

A 4,000-year-old pyramid has been discovered by archaeologists in the sands of the Egyptian desert south of Cairo. The pyramid is thought to belong to Queen Shesheshet, the mother of King Teti, who ruled from 2323 to 2291 BC and founded ancient Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty. Though the remains of the pyramid currently reach 5 meters in height, it is thought that the structure would have been about 14 meters tall in its entirety. It was discovered in Saqqara, the ancient burial ground of the Egyptian pharaohs.

The pyramid is believed to have been originally covered in white limestone, which would have been quarried at the nearby site of Tura. Though archaeologists plan to enter the burial chamber in a few weeks, it is likely that most of its contents were looted in antiquity. This discovery marks the 118th pyramid discovered in Egypt to date.

Reuters reports on the 4,000-year-old pyramid discovered in Egypt.

Monks Clash over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

One of Christianity’s most sacred sites in Jerusalem has long been the subject of conflict between various denominations, but this week the conflict erupted into violence. Monks from the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenian Church traded blows and kicks this week at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre while shocked pilgrims looked on. Decorations and tapestries were toppled in the clash as the Armenians prepared to mark the annual Feast of the Cross.

The conflict apparently erupted when members of the Greek Orthodox Church protested that one of their members was not allowed inside the Edicule, an ancient structure which is said to encase the tomb of Jesus, during the Armenian ceremony. Two monks from each side were detained by police. The church is often the source of conflicts between different sects, though actual violence is rare. Control over the church is shared by a total of six different Christian denominations.

BBC News reports on the conflict at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.