Tag Archives: Archaeology in Israel

Hebrew Voices #3 – Temple Mount Treasures (Rebroadcast)

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Zachi Dvira holding a paving stone from Herod's Temple. This piece of bituminous limestone was smoothed by millions of Jewish pilgrims who visited the Temple in the First Century AD. Yeshua of Nazareth may have stepped foot on this very paving stone.In this episode of Hebrew Voices, Temple Mount Treasures, Nehemia speaks  with Zachi Dvira (Zweig), co-founder and co-director of the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Dvira relates the shameful history of when the Islamic Religious "Waqf" bulldozed 9,000 tons of material from the Temple Mount and dumped it in the nearby Kidron Valley. But the news gets better as we learn how Israeli scholarship, ingenuity, technology, and chutzpah are reclaiming the travesty and unearthing treasures—one bucketful at a time. Continue reading →

Hebrew Voices #10 – Lost Tomb of the Maccabees (Rebroadcast)

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Maccabee Tombs by Amit ReemIn this episode of Hebrew Voices, Lost Tomb of the Maccabees, Nehemia Gordon visits with Israeli archaeologist, Amit Reem, at the newly-discovered probable site of the Tomb of the Maccabees in Modi’in. Reem and Gordon once studied together at Hebrew University. Reem now works for the Israeli Antiquities Authority and is acquiring a PhD in archaeology. For the first twenty years of his career, Reem excavated the walls, fortifications and palaces of Jerusalem and thought he would be bored when reassigned to Modi’in, but has since become impassioned with the area and finding the lost tomb of the Maccabees. According to Reem, every inch of Israel is filled with marvelous things, and no less so in Modi’in. Reem and Gordon discuss the history of Modi’in, the setting of the Hanukkah story, and why Christian connections to this place gives credence to the site being the elusive tomb of the Maccabees. Reem also shows Gordon the place among the tombs where 23 Israelis created a fox hole in the 1948 War of Independence. Unused ammunition was found there, for like the ancient Maccabees, these Israelis sacrificed their lives for the nation of Israel. Continue reading →

Hebrew Voices #23 – The Temple Floor Lady (Rebroadcast)

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In this episode of Hebrew Voices, The Temple Floor Lady, I meet with The Temple Floor Lady, Frankie Snyder. Frankie works at the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem, reconstructing ancient floors. Frankie explains how she pieces together the pieces of floor discovered in the archaeological excavations. I got excited when she showed me, and let me touch, the ancient paving stones that covered the surface of the Jerusalem Temple in the 1st century CE. Unlike a Mosaic, which makes use of uniform cubes, the "opus sectile" floors of the Temple were made up of light and dark stones from all over the ancient world, cut into diverse shapes and sizes, and fit together into a grand puzzle to form intricate patterns. As I was speaking to Frankie I realized the floor tiling of the "House of Prayer for All Nations" was a picture of God's people. Made up of diverse colors and shapes, coming from far off lands with different backgrounds and ideas, the nations flowing unto Jerusalem will prophetically fit together into Yehovah's plan of salvation for mankind! Continue reading →