Ancient Jewish Site from United Kingdom
Period Discovered at Kana
(March 2006)
Salvage excavations conducted by the Israel
Antiquities Authority in Kfar Kana (north of Nazareth),
have uncovered remains of a settlement that existed
at the time of the United
Kingdom of King
Solomon and
the Kingdom
of Israel (following the split between
Israel and Judah, from the 10-9th centuries BCE). During
the course of the excavations, a section of the city
wall and remains of buildings were exposed. The director
of the excavation on behalf of the Antiquities Authority,
Yardenna Alexandre, reported that evidence was found
there indicating the site was vanquished during the
9th century BCE, probably by an enemy. Other artifacts
discovered at the site include pottery vessels, large
quantities of animal bones, a scarab depicting a man
surrounded by two crocodiles and a ceramic seal bearing
the image of a lion.
Following the destruction, the site was abandoned
until its ruins were re-inhabited by settlers in the Early
Roman period (1st century CE). The identity of
these residents as Galilean Jews is already known from
previous excavations that were carried out at the site
and from historic information that identifies the settlement
as “Kana of the Galilee” - known from
the New Testament. Some of the walls that were destroyed
were reused in the new construction and new floors
were laid down.
The Jewish settlers built igloo-shaped pits on the
ruins of the previous settlement, in which the
bedrock served as the floor of the pit. A rock-hewn
pit was discovered in one of the tunnels containing
11 complete storage jars characteristic of the second
half of the 1st century CE.
Alexandre noted that “the pits are connected
to each other by short tunnels and it seems that they
were used as hiding refuges - a kind of concealed
subterranean home - that were built prior to the Great Revolt against the Romans in the year 66 CE.”
Sources: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |