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What We Dug Up This Month - Archeological News from Israel
05-02-2011
A new study by journalist Simcha Jacobovici has shed light on two rusty bent nails discovered during excavations at the Peace Forest outside Jerusalem in 1990 as the original nails used to crucify Jesus. The nails were located within twoossuaries, or stone vessels used to case bones of the dead according to Second Temple period customs, and feature inscriptions bearing the name Caiaphas--the family name of the Jerusalem high priest in Jesus' time and one of the primary antagonists in Christian scripture.
Remains of St. Therese of Lisieux, a revered French nun who died more than 100 years ago, arrived in Israel last month as part of a recent world tour to countries containing Catholic holy sites. St. Therese, whom Mother Teresa was named after, is one of only a few Doctors of the Church--a designation granted to distinguished Catholic thinkers. A ceremony at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport last month included 60 nuns, priests and local Catholics welcoming the Saint's arrival. The relics will be transferred to Spain in May for the next leg of the world tour.
A 1,500-year-old Byzantine church was recently unearthed on an uninhabited hill southwest of Jerusalem during an exhibition led by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The church site included exquisitely preserved mosaics depicting peacocks, lions, foxes, and fish, and included caves, agricultural installations and extensive underground hiding tunnels. The church is believed to have been built atop another structure 500 years prior, and was identified by a number of scholars as the location of a major community. The church will be transformed into a tourist site following preservation efforts by the IAA. 
An Aegean-style painted plaster floor adorned with floral and marbled motifs was recently discovered during an ongoing excavation at the Tel Kabri excavation site in the Western Galilee. The fresco, which was discovered inside a Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace, is the first of its kind to be discovered in Israel, opening a new window on the presence of ancient Minoans in the eastern Mediterranean.[Back to Press Releases Main]