First Temple period bone seal found in Jerusalem excavations

A bone seal, engraved with the name Shaul, from the time of the First Temple, was found in the IAA excavations in the walls around Jerusalem National Park, in the City of David. The seal was displayed during a visit there by the Knesset presidium prior to Jerusalem Day

Today (Tuesday, 19 May 2009) the Knesset presidium, headed by Speaker Reuben Rivlin, visited the City of David in Jerusalem. A Hebrew seal that dates to the time of the First Temple was displayed for the first time during the visit.

The seal was found in an excavation that is being conducted in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority, under the direction of Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the IAA, and underwritten by the ‘Ir David Foundation'.

The seal, which is made of bone, was found broken and is missing a piece from its upper right side. Two parallel lines divide the surface of the seal into two registers in which Hebrew letters are engraved:

A period followed by a floral image or a tiny fruit appear at the end of the bottom name.

The name of the seal’s owner was completely preserved and it is written in the shortened form of the name (Shaul). The name is known from both the Bible (Genesis 36:37; 1 Samuel 9:2; 1 Chronicles 4:24 and 6:9) and from other Hebrew seals.

According to Professor Reich, “This seal joins another Hebrew seal that was previously found and three Hebrew bullae (pieces of clay stamped with seal impressions) that were discovered nearby.  These five items have great chronological importance regarding the study of the development of the use of seals. While the numerous bullae that were discovered in the adjacent rock-hewn pool were found together with pottery sherds from the end of the ninth and beginning of the eighth centuries BCE, they do not bear any Semitic letters. On the other hand, the five Hebrew epigraphic artifacts were recovered from the soil that was excavated outside the pool, which contained pottery sherds that date to the last part of the eighth century.

It seems that the development in the design of the seals occurred in Judah during the course of the eighth century BCE. At the same time as they engraved figures on the seal, at some point they also started to engrave them with the names of the seals’ owners. This was apparently when they started to identify the owner of the seal by his name rather than by some sort of graphic representation.”

It appears that the “office” which administered the correspondence and received the goods that were all sealed with bullae continued to exist and operate within a regular format even after a residential dwelling was constructed inside the same “rock-hewn pool” and the soil and the refuse that contained the many aforementioned bullae were trapped beneath its floor. This “office” continued to generate refuse that included bullae, which were opened and broken, as well as seals that were no longer used and were discarded into the heap of rubbish that continued to accumulate in the vicinity.

(Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority Spokesperson)
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May 19, 2009

250,000 TOURISTS VISITED ISRAEL IN APRIL 2009:

13% LESS THAN APRIL 2008 AND

23% MORE THAN APRIL 2007

Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov: "The increased marketing activities that the Tourism Ministry will launch in the coming weeks are designed to further reduce the decline and bring us back to the achievements recorded in 2008."

The decrease in incoming tourism to Israel is slowing down: in April 2009, 252,000 tourists visited Israel – a decrease of 13% on April 2008 (290,000) and an increase of 23% compared to April 2007 (200,000). It should be noted that the average decrease in incoming tourism over the first quarter of 2009 (January – March) stands at 25%.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 222,000 of incoming tourists stayed at least one night in Israel (a decrease of 13% compared to April 2008). 29,000 were day visitors (a decrease of 17% compared to April 2008). A significant increase was recorded in the number of tourists arriving on cruises – 5,200 in April 2009 which represents an increase of 53% over 2008.

Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov : "Despite the effects of the global economic crisis and the Gaza operation, the Tourism Ministry has succeeded in slowing down the sharp declines in incoming tourism, thanks to intensive marketing activities. The Tourism Ministry will invest more than 90 million shekel in marketing activities around the world targeted at specific market segments, of which 30 million shekel has been allocated for the Catholic market following the Papal visit. These activities are designed to further reduce the decline as we move toward 2010 and bring us back to the achievements recorded in 2008, which was a record year for incoming tourism to Israel."

More than 735,000 tourists have visited Israel between the months of January to April 2009, 22% less than the same period last year (938,500) but an increase of 13% over the same period in 2007 (653,200).

(Courtesy of Israel Ministry of Tourism) 

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May 18, 2009

FOLLOWING THE PAPAL VISIT, TOURISM MINISTRY LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE MARKETING ACTIVITIES WORLDWIDE TO PROMOTE CHRISTIAN TOURISM

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov: Following the Papal visit, the Tourism Ministry is ready to leverage the visit and increase the number of Catholic pilgrims to 900,000 by end 2009

Following the Papal visit, the Tourism Ministry is launching comprehensive marketing activities via the Israel Government Tourist Offices overseas to promote Christian tourism to Israel. During the coming months, the ministry will target 1.3 billion Catholics around the world and encourage them to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI.

The Israel Government Tourist Offices, located around the world, have been working with target audiences and leading tourism bodies in target countries and will launch focused marketing campaigns within the next few weeks, in accordance with the various market segments.

A special Tourism Ministry camera crew accompanied the Pope during his recent pilgrimage. Within the next few days, a special film of the visit will be produced and used to lead the marketing activities overseas. In addition, the ministry's marketing activities include using other visual elements and material from the visit; conventions on the theme of pilgrimage travel; launching focused itinerary suggestions; hosting opinion formers from the Christian world and launching complementary public relations activities.

Alongside these marketing activities, the dedicated website developed by the Tourism Ministry in honor of the Papal visit, which has proved to be highly successful, will remain online. Since the beginning of the campaign three weeks ago, over 170,000 visitors have been recorded on the site, mainly from the USA, Brazil, Poland, Italy, Spain, France and Germany – the most important source countries for incoming Christian tourism to Israel. In addition, short movies following the Pope's visit to Israel, uploaded to the Internet by the Tourism Ministry, have been viewed by millions around the world.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov noted that 'the visit of the Pope represents a strategic anchor for Christian tourism to Israel in the coming years and the Tourism Ministry will operate in all areas to realize the great potential in this type of tourism."

3 million tourists visited Israel in 2008 (a record year), of whom over 1 million were Catholics. As a result of the effect of the Gaza operation and the global economic crisis, the Tourism Ministry has set a target for 2009 for 650,000 Catholic tourists. Following the papal visit, the ministry expects that the marketing activities will encourage a further 250,000 Catholic pilgrims to visit Israel this year, thereby bringing the total number of Catholics expected to visit Israel in 2009 to about 900,000.

(Courtesy of Israel Ministry of Tourism)
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May 4, 2009

Tuesday, May 5, 2009, the Speaker of the Knesset, Mr. Reuven Rivlin will dedicate, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority, a very special archaeological garden dubbed “Peace be within thy Palaces – Jerusalem Antiquities at the Israel Knesset”

High resolution pictures can be downloaded from the Israel Antiquities Authority site via the following link: http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14

1.    A stone dating to the Second Temple period from the Temple Mount wall, opposite the Knesset. Photograph: Niki Davidov, Israel Antiquities Authority.

2.   A mosaic from Nahal Kidron. Photograph: Niki Davidov, Israel Antiquities Authority.

3.   Inscription from the Late Roman period. Photograph: Mariana Salzberger, Israel Antiquities Authority.

4.   A stone, decorated in relief, dating to the Second Temple period. Photograph: Mariana Salzberger, Israel Antiquities Authority.

(Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)