A recent excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovered a millennia-old agricultural settlement that appears to have been swiftly abandoned. As a result, Judith Sudilovsky reports, the inhabitants’ belongings seem to have been “frozen in time.”
The dig revealed tens of loom weights used for weaving garments, large ceramic storage vessels, and iron agricultural implements, including various picks and scythes. The coins retrieved date the farmstead to the second half of the second century BCE, according to the IAA.
In addition, the foundations of buildings, pottery vessels and other finds dating to the Iron Age (10th and 9th centuries BCE) were uncovered.
“We were very lucky to discover a time-capsule . . . in which the finds remained where they were left by the occupants of the site, and it seems that they left in haste in face of an impending danger, possibly the threat of a military attack,” said Dr. Amani Abu-Hamid, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, noting that weaving loom weights were still on the shelf, and the storage jars were intact.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-707627