Fragments of the fortifications of the ancient Jerusalem walls and a mysterious handprint carved into the rock were uncovered in archaeological excavations by the Antiquities Authority on Sultan Suleiman Street in Jerusalem.
Read more: Ancient Handprint Found In Moat Carved In The Bedrock Under Old-City Street
Archaeological finds related to the Judean Revolt against the Romans in Jerusalem have provided valuable insight into one of the most significant events in Jewish history.
Read more: Despite Palestinian Claims, Jewish History In Israel Is Well Documented
Everyone agrees on one thing: Already in the Middle Bronze Age (1550-2000 BC) Jerusalem was a significant city that is also mentioned in non-biblical writings. Was the city surrounded by a wall already in the Bronze Age? Is Jerusalem indeed a "walled city from the time of Joshua bin-Nun?"
Read more: How Old Are Jerusalem's Walls? Experts Say Parts Date Back To The Bronze Age
After over a century, researchers have verified with a considerable degree of certainty that the “Mesha Stele”, an engraved stone slab discovered in 1868 east of the Dead Sea in modern-day Jordan, in fact, does contain explicit references to King David and events that correspond to biblical writings. Also known as the Moabite Stone, the Stele has provided historians and linguists with the greatest source of the Moabite language to date, a Canaanite dialect, once spoken in the region described in the Bible as Moab in the early first millennium BC.
Read more: Researchers Confirm Biblical Story Using Oldest Reference To King David & YHWH
The work of the archaeology patrol unit is typically uneventful, some have even used the word boring to describe the role that requires employees to drive from one archaeological site to another seeking out anything out of the ordinary. Given the fact that Judea and Samaria are particularly rich with biblical era sites, there are a lot of places to scope out, but rarely is anything amiss. That changed earlier this week near the Tel Dotan area in northern Samaria, when the patrol came across two thieves trying to rob the ancient cemetery of Tel Dotan just a few miles south of the Palestinian Authority-run city of Jenin.
Read more: Two Men Caught Looting Site Where Joseph's Brothers Sold Him Into Slavery
