Pictures: Pagan-Cult Worship Objects Found

Rock-Hollow Discovery

Photograph courtesy Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologist Uzi Ad (right) helps to remove a ritual stand from a rock hollow during a dig of pagan-cult artifacts in northern Israel.

"There is nothing in the assemblage of vessels which gives any clue as to who was worshiped in this temple," said Ad's colleague, archaeologist Edwin van den Brink.

(See: "Ancient Pagan Temple Found in Israel.")

"Here in the southern Levant [Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories], writing was not yet developed in this 'protohistoric' period of around 1400 B.C."

Published June 16, 2010

Face-Adorned Cup

Photograph by Sebastian Scheiner, AP

Of the 200 objects found during the Israel dig, half were perfectly preserved—including a cup adorned with a sculpted face (pictured in Jerusalem's Israeli Antiquities Authority), archaeologists say.

"It felt like Christmas everyday in this dig," said archaeologist Edwin van den Brink.

Van den Brink said many of the ritual items were imported from Mycenae, Greece, a powerful civilization that peaked between 1400 and 1200 B.C.

He suspects that the objects were used during idol worship in the local temple. But another theory, he said, is that the sacred items were ritually buried when they were no longer needed in the temple—a custom also practiced in modern-day Judaism.

Published June 16, 2010

Man's or Woman's Face?

Photograph courtesy Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority

Whether a cup recently found in Israel (pictured) bears the image of a woman or a man "depends upon the beholder," said archaeologist Edwin van den Brink.

"This item comes from a tradition of Anatolian-Syrian cups," van den Brink added.

"The face was part of a vessel in which libations were offered to the god or goddess of that temple. It is not assumed to be a face of the god or goddess, but is probably of one of the worshipers who gave this as a gift to the gods."

Published June 16, 2010

Preserving Artifacts

Photograph by Sebastian Scheiner, AP

Israel Antiquities Authority conservator Elisheva Kamaisky (pictured in the authority's offices in Jerusalem) was brought to the archaeological site to do the first evaluation of the pagan-cult goods.

"We are now cleaning and restoring the vessels," archaeologist Edwin van den Brink said. "Then we will conduct all sorts of analyses ... which will allow us to see where the vessel[s] came from."

Other tests will analyze residue found on the inside of the vessels' walls to determine whether they held, for example, oil or honey.

"We will get a pretty good idea about the daily cult within the temple," said van der Brink.

The pagan temple has not yet been discovered, he added, but it's likely located about 330 feet (100 meters) away from the rock hollow.

Published June 16, 2010