Jerusalem Markings From Ancient Past Stump Archeologists
MATTI FRIEDMAN
12/ 7/11 04:47 AM ET
Associated Press
耶路撒冷 - 最近在耶路撒冷下一個洞穴發現的幾千年前神秘石雕難倒了考古學家。
Israeli diggers who uncovered a complex of rooms carved into the bedrock in the oldest section of the city recently found the markings: Three "V" shapes cut next to each other into the limestone floor of one of the rooms, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) deep and 20 inches (50 centimeters) long. There were no finds to offer any clues pointing to the identity of who made them or what purpose they served.
在城市最古老的部分出土一列雕刻成岩床的複式房子的以色列挖掘者最近發現那些標記：其中一個房間的石灰石地板中有三個彼此相鄰切割成的“V”形，大約 2英寸（5厘米）深和20英寸（50厘米）長，沒有發現可提供任何線索指向製造者的身份或它們帶有何目的。
The archaeologists in charge of the dig know so little that they have been unable even to posit a theory about their nature, said Eli Shukron, one of the two directors of the dig.
負責挖掘的考古學家知道的這麼少，他們甚至無法斷定有關其性質的理論，兩名挖掘主任之一的以利Shukron說。
"The markings are very strange, and very intriguing. I've never seen anything like them," Shukron said.
“標記都很奇怪和很有趣，我從來沒有見過任何像它們一樣的東西，Shukron說。”
The shapes were found in a dig known as the City of David, a politically sensitive excavation conducted by Israeli government archaeologists and funded by a nationalist Jewish group under the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem. The rooms were unearthed as part of the excavation of fortifications around the ancient city's only natural water source, the Gihon spring.
那些形狀被發現在稱為大衛城的挖掘場，一處政治上敏感的古蹟，由以色列政府的考古學家進行，及由一個民族主義的猶太組織資助，在東耶路撒冷巴勒斯坦居民區的Silwan市下。出土的房間作為古城唯一的天然水源 - 基訓泉 - 周圍防禦工事的挖掘的一部分。
It is possible, the dig's archaeologists say, that when the markings were made at least 2,800 years ago the shapes might have accommodated some kind of wooden structure that stood inside them, or they might have served some other purpose on their own. They might have had a ritual function or one that was entirely mundane. Archaeologists faced by a curious artifact can usually at least venture a guess about its nature, but in this case no one, including outside experts consulted by Shukron and the dig's co-director, archaeologists with decades of experience between them, has any idea.
There appears to be at least one other ancient marking of the same type at the site. A century-old map of an expedition led by the British explorer Montague Parker, who searched for the lost treasures of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem between 1909 and 1911, includes the shape of a "V" drawn in an underground channel not far away. Modern archaeologists haven't excavated that area yet.
Ceramic shards found in the rooms indicate they were last used around 800 B.C., with Jerusalem under the rule of Judean kings, the dig's archaeologists say. At around that time, the rooms appear to have been filled with rubble to support the construction of a defensive wall.
It is unclear, however, whether they were built in the time of those kings or centuries earlier by the Canaanite residents who predated them.
The purpose of the complex is part of the riddle. The straight lines of its walls and level floors are evidence of careful engineering, and it was located close to the most important site in the city, the spring, suggesting it might have had an important function.
A unique find in a room beside the one with the markings – a stone like a modern grave marker, which was left upright when the room was filled in – might offer a clue. Such stones were used in the ancient Middle East as a focal point for ritual or a memorial for dead ancestors, the archaeologists say, and it is likely a remnant of the pagan religions which the city's Israelite prophets tried to eradicate. It is the first such stone to be found intact in Jerusalem excavations.
But the ritual stone does not necessarily mean the whole complex was a temple. It might simply have marked a corner devoted to religious practice in a building whose purpose was commonplace.
With the experts unable to come up with a theory about the markings, the City of David dig posted a photo on its Facebook page and solicited suggestions. The results ranged from the thought-provoking – "a system for wood panels that held some other item," or molds into which molten metal would could have been poured – to the fanciful: ancient Hebrew or Egyptian characters, or a "symbol for water, particularly as it was near a spring."
The City of David dig, where the carvings were found, is the most high-profile and politically contentious excavation in the Holy Land. Named for the biblical monarch thought to have ruled from the spot 3,000 years ago, the dig is located in what today is east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967. Palestinians claim that part of the city as the capital of a future state.
The dig is funded by Elad, an organization affiliated with the Israeli settlement movement. The group also moves Jewish families into the neighborhood and elsewhere in east Jerusalem in an attempt to render impossible any division of the city in a future peace deal.
Palestinians and some Israeli archaeologists have criticized the dig for what they say is an excessive focus on Jewish remains. The dig's archaeologists, who work under the auspices of the government's Israel Antiquities Authority, deny that charge.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/jerusalem-markings_n_1133613.html
耶路撒冷老城考古發現聖經故事石刻印章
中國網china.com.cn
時間： 2008-01-18
以色列一支考古隊日前在耶路撒冷老城城牆考古中發現一枚《聖經》中記載的2500年前第一聖殿時期的石刻印章。
這枚石刻章上刻有提邁赫的名字。據《聖經》舊約尼希米書記載,公元前5世紀的提邁赫家族是第一聖殿的僕人,巴比倫人公元前586年毀滅聖殿後,把猶太人驅趕到巴比倫,後來他們又返回耶路撒冷。
考古隊長馬扎爾說,他們在耶路撒冷老城的丹門附近挖掘出了這枚黑色的石刻章,上刻圖案記載了祭祀儀式。祭壇兩邊站立2個牧師,雙手上舉祈禱。祭壇上方是代表巴比倫主神的滿月,最下面有3個希伯萊字母——提邁赫。圖案表明,猶太人似乎並不反感巴比倫的主神,所以才把滿月主神刻上去。石刻章發現地點離尼希米時期聖殿僕人居住地奧派勒地區數十米。馬扎爾說,考古證實了聖經的記載,這枚石刻章是聖經中記載的家族的直接證據。陳克勤
http://www.china.com.cn/culture/txt/2008-01/18/content_9555019.htm
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