Saturday, February 22, 2020

ARCHAEOLOGY: 3,100-Year-Old Canaanite Temple

Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. Joshua 10:33

"Lachish was one of the most important Canaanite cities in the Land of Israel during the Middle and late Bronze Ages. Its people controlled large parts of the Judean lowlands.
Found at Lachish Temple


The front of the compound is marked by two columns and two towers leading to a large hall.
The inner sanctum has four supporting columns and several unhewn ‘standing stones’ that may have served as representations of temple gods.
The Lachish temple is more square in shape and has several side rooms....archaeologists unearthed a trove of artifacts including, bronze cauldrons, Hathor-inspired jewelry, daggers and axe-heads adorned with bird images, scarabs, and a gold-plated bottle inscribed with the name Ramses II, one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs.


Of particular interest was a pottery sherd engraved with ancient Canaanite script,” the researchers said.
There, the letter ‘samek’ appears, marked by an elongated vertical line crossed by three perpendicular shorter lines. This makes it the oldest known example of the letter and a unique specimen for the study of ancient alphabets.”
SciNews