English Heritage offers £500,000 to Tynemouth Station

Tynemouth Station

Grant Adds to Recent Sea Change Award

English Heritage site announced this week that it is offering a further grant of £500,000 towards the restoration of historic Tynemouth Station, in North Tyneside.
The grant brings to a total of £1 million the amount awarded by English Heritage to save this Grade II* listed building which has been on its Heritage at Risk register since 1998.
The grant is a vital contribution towards the funding needed to match the offer, announced recently by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), of £2 million from its Sea Change programme. The English Heritage grant is for the repair of the station’s ornately decorated ironwork canopies.

Following the announcement of the Sea Change grant in November, English Heritage sites has been working closely with North Tyneside Council and the owners, Station Developments Limited, to investigate options for securing the necessary match-funding and is delighted to be able to announce this significant contribution today.

Carol Pyrah, English Heritage’s Director of Planning and Development for the North East, said: “Tynemouth Station is one of the highest priority buildings at risk in the region and the large grant we have offered is testament to the significance of the building and the urgency of repairs needed to the extensive iron canopies. We are delighted to have been working with Station Developments Ltd and North Tyneside Council to support a sustainable scheme for the site.

“After many years of uncertainty there is now a real opportunity to secure the future of the grade II* station which currently features in the highest priority category on English Heritage’s Heritage at Risk register because of the very poor state of its rusted canopies. It is crucial that repairs are undertaken without delay to stave off further decay and potential collapse and we are hopeful that, with our latest award, the remaining match-funding can be found.”

Morris Muter, Chief Executive of Station Developments Limited, said: “English Heritage has consistently supported this initiative to restore and conserve Tynemouth Station. They have played an instrumental role as members of the project development team, offering guidance and advice appertaining to emerging plans for the restoration and conservation of the listed building.

“This latest grant offer from English Heritage is most welcome and will be instrumental in filling a funding gap. I look forward to working with them and the other members of the project team in order to ensure delivery of the restoration and conservation scheme.”

Trevor Robertson, North Tyneside Council’s Head of Investment and Regeneration said: “North Tyneside Council is delighted that English Heritage have agreed to assist with funding towards the canopies restoration project at this key Coastal Gateway location and we now look forward to working with English Heritage and our other partners, to secure the remaining funding required to enable contractual negotiations to be concluded and a start on site made as soon as possible.”

The 2009 Heritage at Risk register was published in June and for the first time contains a list of all conservation areas at risk in the North East, as well as details of all scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, grade I and II* buildings and registered battlefields at risk in the North East.

Syrian archaeological site: Large shopping center dating back to the fourth millennium B.C

Syrian Civilized Centers from the 4th to the 1st millennium B.C

Iraqi Researcher Nael Hanon has chosen four archaeological sites in Syria to pursue the track of the ancient civilization in the Syrian cities B.C. and draw the features of the civilized society of those areas.

In his lecture under the title “Syrian Civilized Centers from the 4th to the 1st millennium B.C.”, Hanon made a presentation on the big city of Habbouba where a large shopping center dating back to the second half of the fourth millennium B.C. was discovered. The center was surrounded by a huge wall of grilled adobe. Clay tablets written by the oldest writing in the history were found in the city.

The Iraqi researcher said that the archaeological excavations in the city showed the existence of other industry of entertainment games like chess, in addition to the pottery production and trade exchange with the other cities along the Euphrates valley.

He believed that the importance of the city of Habbouba is reflected in its contribution to the human civilization because it is the container that conveyed the humanity from one phase to another and laid the foundation for the emergence of the states, in addition to the important of its location in trade.

The Researcher talked about the importance of the city of Mary, during the 3rd and the first half of the second millennium B.C., saying that this period is very important in the development of civilization because knowledge, management and law reached their peak.

Hanon said that the aim of building the city is controlling the trade road which follows the Euphrates passage. The original plan for the city is a full circle penetrated by a branch channel of the Euphrates that ensures water to the city and facilitates the arrival of ships to port.

The researcher moved from Mary to Tel Sheikh Hamad. Tel Sheikh Hamad is a city like an archaeological hill on Khabour River about 68 kilometers from the town of Deir Az-Zour.

Hanon pointed out that the site is consisted of a Castle overseeing the Khabour River and of two cities surrounded by a wall. Group of cuneiform clay tablets containing commercial correspondence and contracts were discovered in the houses located within the wall of the castle.

At the conclusion of his lecture, the Iraqi researcher pointed out that the city of Dora Oropus reflects Syria’s spirit, adding that it was characterized by the diversity of worship and religions and the nature of the buildings.

It is noteworthy that Dr. Nael Hanon holds an Master Degree in Archaeology from Baghdad University and a Master of Arts in Cuneiform Writings from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Language and Literature Akkadian. (SANA)

Archaeological Field Survey

Archaeological Field Srvey is the methodological process by which archaeologists collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human cultures across a large area. It may be:

• Intrusive or non-intrusive, depending on the needs of the survey team and the risk of destroying archaeological evidence if intrusive methods are used.
• Extensive or intensive depending on the types of research questions being asked of the landscape in question. Surveys can be a practical way to decide whether or not to carry out an excavation as a way of recording the basic details of a possible site and may also be ends in themselves, as they produce important information about past human activities in a regional context.

The land of Gennesaret

The land of Gennesaret and the Via Maris.

The Sea of Galilee is called the “lake Gennesaret” by Luke (Luke 5:1). The area on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee is called the “land at Gennesaret.” In the view below we see the land of Gennesaret and the Via Maris.
The route here leads to the Beit Netofa Valley and the sites of (Khirbet) Cana, Sepphoris, Nazareth, and Yodfat (Jotapata). Yodfat was fortified by Josephus during the Jewish revolt against Rome. Josephus, commander of the Jewish rebels, surrendered to the Roman Emperor Vespasian at Yodfat.
Many of the miracles of Jesus were performed in this area.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Queen Berenike’s Bastet Temple Discovered in Alexandria

The remains of a temple of Queen Berenike - wife of King Ptolemy III - have been discovered by archaeologists in Alexandria, Egypt.

Head of a statue from the Ptolemaic era, one of more than 600 statues discovered at the excavation site in Alexandria. - Image credit Supreme Council of Anitquities

The remains of a temple of Queen Berenike – wife of King Ptolemy III – have been discovered by archaeologists in Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. Zahi Hawass said the remains discovered are 60 meters by 15 meters, and extend under Ismail Fahmy street. About 600 Ptolemaic statues – amongst which are beautiful depictions of the cat goddess Bastet – were also unearthed.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, Head of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, said that the mission excavating at Kom el Dikka on property of the Alexandria Security Forces included 18 skilled excavators and restorers. The large collection of Bastet statues indicates that the temple was dedicated to her.

The Bastet statues were unearthed in three different areas of the site, alongside other limestone statues of unidentified women and children. Clay pots and bronze and faience statues of different ancient Egyptian deities have also been uncovered, as have terracotta statues of the gods Harpocrates and Ptah.

Early studies on site revealed that the temple’s foundation can be dated to the reign of Queen Berenice – the wife of King Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-222 BC) – making this the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to Bastet. It also indicates that her worship continued in Egypt after the decline of the ancient Egyptian era.

Bastet originally took the form of a lion and protected the king during battle. However the Greek rulers of the Ptolemaic Dynasty associated her instead with their own Artemis, changing her appearance to that of a cat and calling her Ailuros, a lunar goddess.

The temple is thought to have been destroyed in later eras when it was put to use as a quarry, which lead to the disappearence of most of its stone blocks.

The inscribed base of a granite statue from the reign of King Ptolemy IV (205-222 BC) was also unearthed. It bears ancient Greek text written in nine lines stating that the statue belonged to a top official in the Ptolemaic court. Dr. Maqsoud claims the base was made to celebrate Egypt’s victory over the Greeks during the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC.

A Roman water cistern, a group of 14 meter-deep water wells, stone water channels, the remains of a bath area and a large number of clay pots and sherds that can be dated to the 4th century BC were also uncovered.

According to Dr Maqsoud, it is very possible that this find – made during routine excavations at the Kom el Dikka area – is the first trace of the real location of Alexandria’s royal quarter.

Worship of Bastet extended to the Ptolemaic Period

Image of Bastet, the cat goddess of Egypt, discovered at Alexandria.

Christian Tietze and Ferrell Jenkins at Tell Basta, Egypt, 2005.

Egyptian archaeologists unearthed the remains of an ancient Greek temple dedicated to Egyptian cat goddess Bastet in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the antiquities department said Tuesday.
The mission, led by Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, discovered the remains of a temple of Queen Berenike, the wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt between 246 and 222 B.C., in the Kom al Dikka area in Alexandria.

“The discovered remains are 196 feet tall and 49 feet in width,” antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said in a statement. He said the temple was “subjected to destruction during later eras when it was used as a quarry, which led to the disappearance of many of its stone blocks.”

A group of 600 Ptolemaic statues were also unearthed during the routine excavations, including a large collection of icons depicting Bastet, goddess of protection and motherhood.

The discovery in Kom al Dikka is the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to the goddess Bastet, Abdel Maqsoud was quoted as saying in the statement.

“It indicates that the worship of the goddess Bastet continued in Egypt after the decline of the ancient Egyptian era,” he said.

The Ptolemaic period marks the Greek rule of Egypt from 305 B.C. until the Roman conquest in 30 B.C.

Alexandria became the capital city of Ptolemaic Egypt and thrived as the center of Greek culture and trade.
Egypt was noted for the worship of numerous gods. The plagues of Egypt were a judgment against “all the gods of Egypt”. Later, in the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the LORD again warned of judgment upon the gods of Egypt.

Every time I read Paul’s discussion about the condition of the Gentiles I think of the gods of ancient Egypt.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Bubastis in ancient Egypt was especially devoted to Bastet. The ruins of the city are now surrounded by the city of Zagazig in the Eastern Delta. It was mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel under the name Pi-besethx.

Prof. Christian Tietze and a team of Egyptian archaeologists have been working at Tell Basta (Bubastis).
The new discovery from Alexandria in the Ptolemaic period shows that the worship of Bastet continued, and was more wide spread than commonly thought.

New Evidence for Relations with Egypt’s First Dynasty at Tel Bet Yerah

A fragment of an Egyptian plaque attributed to the First Dynasty (c. 3000 BCE), found at Tel Bet Yerah.

One end of a decorated portable hearth, the Khirbet Kerak Culture (c. 2700 BCE).

Illustrations:

1. A fragment of an Egyptian plaque attributed to the First Dynasty (c. 3000 BCE), found at Tel Bet Yerah.

2. One end of a decorated portable hearth, the Khirbet Kerak Culture (c. 2700 BCE).

A fragment of a carved stone plaque bearing archaic Egyptian signs was the highlight of the second season of excavations at Tel Bet Yerah (Khirbet el-Kerak). The site lies in northern Israel, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, along an ancient highway which connected Egypt to the wider world of the ancient Near East. Work was completed there last week by a joint team from Tel Aviv University and University College London.
Excavation director Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv and David Wengrow, who headed the UCL contingent, noted that the four cm long fragment was the first artifact of its type ever found in an archaeological context outside Egypt. It depicts an arm and hand grasping a scepter and an early form of the ‘ankh sign, and can be attributed to the period of Egypt’s First Dynasty, at around 3000 BCE or shortly after.
Finds of this nature are rare even within Egypt itself. The signs are executed to a high quality, and bear comparison with those on royal cosmetic palettes and other monuments dating to the origins of Egyptian kingship. Earlier discoveries, both in Egypt and at Bet Yerah, have indicated that there was direct interaction between the Early Bronze Age site, then one of the largest in the Jordan Valley, and the Egyptian court. The new discovery suggests that these contacts were of far greater local significance than had been suspected.
This year’s excavations also provided new insights into contacts between the early town and the distant north when large quantities of “Khirbet Kerak Ware” (a distinctive kind of red/black burnished pottery first found at Tel Bet Yerah) were found in association with portable ceramic hearths, some of them bearing decorations in the form of human features. “The hearths are very similar to objects found in Anatolia and the southern Caucasus”, noted Greenberg, “and most were found in open spaces where there was other evidence for fire-related activities.
The people using this pottery appear to have been migrants or descendants of migrants, and its distribution on the site, as well as the study of other cultural aspects such as what they ate and the way they organized their households could tell us about their interaction with local people and their adaptation to new surroundings.”
A special focus of this year’s excavations was the large fortified structure that has been identified by experts in early Islamic history as the Umayyad palace of al-Sinnabra. Its colorful mosaic floors, discovered decades ago but long concealed from view, were revealed and properly recorded for the first time.
Deep and massive foundations showed that the structure had at least two major phases of use, and that it must have been an impressive monument before it was razed and its stones carted away for re-use outside the site. Some of these foundation walls showed severe cracking, perhaps related to the massive earthquake of 749 CE that destroyed many sites along the Jordan Valley.
The structures excavated in 2009 are all within the area designated as the Bet Yerah National Park, in the northern part of the ancient mound.
The structures excavated in 2009 are all within the area designated as the Bet Yerah National Park, in the northern part of the ancient mound.

Jerusalem at 3800 feet altitude

Old City of Jerusalem

In the last post about the aerial photos (January 18) we showed the mountains of Judea as we approached the central mountain ridge. Today’s photo shows the Old City of Jerusalem from about 3800 feet above sea level. The city itself is about 2400 to 2500 feet above (Mediterranean) sea level. The view is looking southeast across the Wilderness of Judea to the mountains of Moab in the Transjordan tableland.
In this photo one can see the proximity of Jerusalem to the Wilderness of Judea. The distance from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea is not more than 20 miles. The elevation drops from about 2600 at the Mount of Olives to (currently) about 1384 feet below sea level at the surface of the Dead Sea. The Transjordan Tableland is about 3000 above sea level.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

Rivers in the Desert

Rivers in the Desert

Rivers in the Desert

Rivers in the Desert

Rivers in the Desert

Rivers in the Desert is the title of Nelson Glueck’s 1959 history of the Negev. These rivers also may be seen in the Judean wilderness and in the Sinai. Thomas Levy followed up on some of Glueck’s research in a Biblical Archaeology Review article in 1990.
If one travels in the desert during the summer months he will see a dry, desolate bad land with only an isolated tamarisk tree or shrub where the last water of the winter rain flowed. In the winter it can be different. Israel has two dominant seasons: winter and summer. The summer is dry and the winter is wet. The early rains begin about mid-October and continue till the late rains of early April. See Deuteronomy 11:14 and Joel 2:23.

he wilderness of Judea receives very little rain, but the area is affected by the rains that fall in the central mountain range (Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives; Bethlehem; Hebron). We sometimes describe the road that runs along that range as the water parting route. The rain that falls must seek its lowest level. From an elevation of about 2500 feet above sea level the water flows east through the wadis to an elevation of more than 1300 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea.

Levy reminds us that “Nahal, incidentally, is Hebrew for a dry river bed or valley that flows at most a few times a year. In Arabic, the word is wadi. The two words are used interchangeably in Israel today.” The wadi is similar to the arroyo of the American southwest.
Several members of my group told me of being awakened during the morning of April 2 by the severe storms in Jerusalem. At breakfast I explained to the group that this would be no problem for our planned sightseeing; we would just go to the Dead Sea and Masada. Eli, our guide, told the group that when we came out of the new tunnel that now cuts through the mountain between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives, it would probably be dry. In fact it was still raining on us almost all the way to the Jordan Valley.

Our driver decided to pull off the highway onto the old road that overlooks the Wadi Kelt (Qilt) on the way down to Jericho. On the south side of the wadi there is an overlook allowing a view of the Monastery of Saint George of Koziba. There we saw one of the most fascinating sights that can be imagined. It rained an astounding 4.41 inches in Jerusalem. This is about three times what the city normally gets for the entire month of April.

In this normal desert land there was a tremendous waterfall pouring down the side of the cliff into the wadi. Our guide said, and another experienced guide is reported to have told his group, that he had never seen it like this. That evening Todd Bolen and his wife were my guests for dinner at the hotel. Todd has lived and taught in Israel for the past ten years. He has provided us with excellent photos in his Pictorial Archive of Bible Lands (see bibleplaces.com). He was excited about the photos I had taken that day and included three of them on his blog. He was headed for Galilee the next day. He reported seeing hail at En Gev on the Sea of Galilee. The Jerusalem Post ran a photo of the flooded road at the Megiddo junction, and reported that five people had died as a result of the heavy rains.

Not only could we not get to Masada that day, but we could not go to Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea. A couple of days later when we visited these sites we saw the damage to the road in multiple places where the wadis descended to the Dead Sea. Debris could be seen in the Dead Sea.
In forty years of travel in the Bible Lands, this was one of my most exciting days for photography. I am delighted to share it with you.

Archaeology director gives historical perspective to Dead Sea Scroll discovery

Dead Sea Scrolls

A historical perspective on religion was discussed Tuesday with the visit of Robert Eisenman, the archaeology director of the Institute for the Study of Judeo-Christian Origins at California State University, Long Beach, and professor of Middle East religions.

Eisenman spoke to the packed classroom about the release of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the early nineties, of which he played a key role.

The topic was “The True Story of Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: An Insider’s Account” and was co-sponsored by the Judaic studies program, the Center for Humanities and Digital Research and Central Florida Hillel.

Eisenman told the history of the scrolls: originally discovered in 1947 in a cave by a “shepherd/treasure hunter” and put into secrecy in the late 50s after the last scroll was found in 1956.

“They were being held, basically…under lock and key for 40 years,” said Eisenman. “Only selected persons were being allowed in to see those documents.”

Eisenman, unfortunately, wasn’t in that select group of early scroll viewers; he had to fight his way through the field to finally obtain the scrolls.

In 1986, a colleague of his told him that they would never see the scrolls in his lifetime, to which he replied, “The hell you say! We will see the scrolls,” said Eisenman.

Not soon after that, he and his associates acquired access to the scrolls and had all of them photographed and published in their A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Through handwriting analysis, or paleography, the team estimated 800 manuscripts contained in the scrolls. Eisenman found some issues with their use of paleography, such as dating.

“Paleography was the thing that they tried to nail everything on–the only thing is they didn’t have any real texts, they need manuscripts,” he said. “They have something from 200 BC and something from 100 AD, and they thought that they were dealing with a straight-line curve of handwriting development.”

He believes that many of the scrolls were written at the same time due to his comparison with previous written works, but the team believes that many of the scripts are chronological and not overlapping due to paleography–the difference between internal and external data.

“The scrolls to me are the literature of the Messianic movement–they are totally Messianic,” he said. “I think this is the literature of the first war against Rome…This is the literature of an opposition movement–it opposes the reigning priesthood.”

It is still up for debate whether or not the scrolls reinforce the Bible due to all this conflict in studies, as well as the fact that the scrolls talk in code, and Eisenman mentioned that even if they did carbon dating that it would still be just as confusing.

“The interpretation of the scrolls makes me livid because they are so important,” Eisenman said. “We’ve been given a gift of the upmost incredible, irreplaceable documents with precious insight into the past and [my colleagues] render them into…uninteresting documents.”

Senior anthropology major and Judaic studies minor Jeffrey Harris came to the presentation with an open mind, but came out with many questions.

“I came in here with no questions and just an idea, and I came out of it with more questions than what I had,” he said, “one answer leads to another question.”

Harris, like many scholars of the scrolls, is interested in the relation of the scrolls to early Christianity.

“I wanted to know if the Dead Sea Scrolls were originally part of the Bible,” he said.

“That’s the number one question that I have: does it mirror what we read? Of course it’s all up for interpretation.”