Pagan Antiquities in Israel

In a natural hollow in the bedrock of Lower Galilee, southeast of Haifa, Israeli archaeologists have discovered a rare treasure trove of ancient vessels. The area has yielded several archaeological finds, but the latest discovery was surprising because the 3,500-year-old vessels were found intact.

Edwin Van Den Brink, and archeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority said: “We found in a cave about three metres below the ground, an assemblage of cultic ceramic pottery, vessels, coming from a temple. The temple itself has not been excavated, we don’t even know where it is located, but we did find this cave which contains a lot of material which comes from this unexcavated temple.”

Each find was moved with the utmost care, before being thoroughly documented. The purpose of these objects is not fully understood but according to the archaeologists here, considerable time and thought was taken over the placement of the vessels in the rock-hollow. The evidence is that different kinds of vessels were buried separately.

Said Edwin Van Den Brink: “Our work in the field, the excavation work, has finished now, but actually now our real work starts to do the research about what we excavated.”

One of the theories is that these items were buried to protect them from possible destruction during the preparations ahead of an impending battle… but that theory has yet to be proved!

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