BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Rare 1,800-Year-Old Sarcophagus Discovered in Ashkelon, Israel

Bible and archaeology news

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A rare 1,800-year-old sarcophagus was recently exposed in Ashkelon, Israel. Photo: Yoli Schwartz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

A unique 1,800-year-old sarcophagus was recently unearthed at a construction site in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon in Israel. Workers at the site reportedly discovered the sarcophagus more than a week before officials from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were alerted to the find. To avoid any delays, the contractors dug out the sarcophagus with a tractor and buried it underneath piles of boards and sheet metal. They then filled in the area with concrete to hide the ancient site.

Due to this negligence, the exceptional limestone coffin is now irreparably damaged. The hasty excavation-by-tractor severely scarred the lid and the decorations sculpted on the sides. As a result, the IAA will take legal action against those involved. If convicted for failing to report the discovery and damaging an ancient site, the workers could face up to five years imprisonment.

As Amir Ganor, head of the Inspection Department at the IAA, explained in an IAA press release, “This is an extremely serious case of damage to a rare antiquity of unprecedented artistic, historical and cultural importance.”


As the point where three of the world’s major religions converge, Israel’s history is one of the richest and most complex in the world. Sift through the archaeology and history of this ancient land in the free eBook Israel: An Archaeological Journey, and get a view of these significant Biblical sites through an archaeologist’s lens.


Weighing around 2 tons and measuring about 8 feet long, the sizeable sarcophagus is sculpted on all sides with images of wreaths, bulls’ heads and naked cupids. The head of the serpent-haired Medusa appears on one end of the coffin.

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The head of Medusa was carved on one end of the sarcophagus.
Photo: Yoli Schwartz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

A life-size male figure is carved on the lid. Dressed in an embroidered shirt and tunic, the figure—possibly an image of the deceased—wears his hair curled in a typical Roman hairstyle. The figure’s eyes were apparently once inlaid with precious stones, which are no longer there.

According to Dr. Gabi Mazor, a retired IAA archaeologist who inspected the find, “The high level of decoration [attests] to the family’s affluence … [J]udging by the depicted motifs, [the family] was probably not Jewish.”


Olivia Chapman is an intern at the Biblical Archaeology Society.


 

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

The Philistine Marketplace at Ashkelon

Excavating Ashkelon in 2014

Digging into Ancient Ashkelon: The 2015 Season


 


1 Responses

  1. Kurt says:

    Remembrance by God. In view of the underlying thought of remembrance associated with mne·meiʹon, the use of this word (rather than taʹphos) at John 5:28 with regard to the resurrection of “all those in the memorial tombs” seems particularly appropriate and contrasts sharply with the thought of complete repudiation and effacement from all memory as represented by Gehenna. (Mt 10:28; 23:33; Mr 9:43) The importance attached to burial by the Hebrews (see BURIAL, BURIAL PLACES) is indicative of their concern that they be remembered, primarily by Jehovah God in whom they had faith as “the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Heb 11:1, 2, 6) Inscriptions of the tombs of Israelite origin are very rare and, when found, often consist of only the name. The outstanding kings of Judah left no magnificent monuments with their praises and exploits engraved thereon, as did the kings of other nations. Thus it seems evident that the concern of faithful men of ancient times was that their name be in the “book of remembrance” described at Malachi 3:16.—Compare Ec 7:1; see NAME.

    The basic idea of remembrance involved in the original Greek words for “tomb” or “memorial tomb” also gives added meaning to the plea of the evildoer impaled alongside Jesus to “remember me when you get into your kingdom.”—Lu 23:42.
    http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200270978

Write a Reply or Comment

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1 Responses

  1. Kurt says:

    Remembrance by God. In view of the underlying thought of remembrance associated with mne·meiʹon, the use of this word (rather than taʹphos) at John 5:28 with regard to the resurrection of “all those in the memorial tombs” seems particularly appropriate and contrasts sharply with the thought of complete repudiation and effacement from all memory as represented by Gehenna. (Mt 10:28; 23:33; Mr 9:43) The importance attached to burial by the Hebrews (see BURIAL, BURIAL PLACES) is indicative of their concern that they be remembered, primarily by Jehovah God in whom they had faith as “the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Heb 11:1, 2, 6) Inscriptions of the tombs of Israelite origin are very rare and, when found, often consist of only the name. The outstanding kings of Judah left no magnificent monuments with their praises and exploits engraved thereon, as did the kings of other nations. Thus it seems evident that the concern of faithful men of ancient times was that their name be in the “book of remembrance” described at Malachi 3:16.—Compare Ec 7:1; see NAME.

    The basic idea of remembrance involved in the original Greek words for “tomb” or “memorial tomb” also gives added meaning to the plea of the evildoer impaled alongside Jesus to “remember me when you get into your kingdom.”—Lu 23:42.
    http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200270978

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