Pictures: "Emergency" Gold Treasures Found in Holy Land

Better and Bigger

Photograph from Tel Aviv University via European Pressphoto Agency

"This is really a very impressive piece," Finkelstein said of this golden earring adorned with ibex, or wild goats.

When excavating in the Megiddo region, "usually you get the sort of common earrings we also see in this same hoard"—simple crescent designs. "But this one is better, it's bigger, it's more elaborate—and as far as I know it's a unique piece in the history of the Levant region."

Spanning the eastern Mediterranean and parts inland, the Levant comprises Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and other Mideast areas.

(Related: "Ancient Transylvanians Rich in Gold, Treasure Shows.")

Published June 19, 2012

City on the Hill

Photograph courtesy Megiddo Expedition

Megiddo (pictured) was a notable Canaanite city-state during the 11th century B.C., when the jewels are believed to have been hidden, based on dating of sediment layers. That century saw the end of Egyptian rule in the region, and the hoard might have been left behind in the Egyptian withdrawal, Finkelstein guessed.

The 3,000-year-old trove was found near a site that's yielded hundreds of finely carved ivory artifacts. "So it's very close to what was the palatial part, or sector, of the city ... ," Finkelstein said.

The elevated status of the jewels' owners, he added, is obvious from "the quality of the hoard itself but also from the pottery on the site and from the quality of the architectural construction."

(Also see National Geographic magazine's report on the Holy Land's prehistory.)

Published June 19, 2012

Plain Brown Wrapper

Photograph by Dan Balilty, AP

These fractured ceramic fragments concealed the Megiddo treasure hoard for some 3,000 years. But the container itself, Finkelstein said, was originally hidden in plain sight.

"They simply put the hoard in the vessel, put the vessel in the corner of a room, and covered it with two bowls—and that's it," he said.

"You can infer that, in this situation, they didn't have enough time to bury it under the floor ... Then the house was put to the torch, and these people never came back."

(Pictures: The Real Price of Gold.)

Published June 19, 2012

Out of Africa?

Photograph from Tel Aviv University via European Pressphoto Agency

Carnelian beads found with the Iron Age treasure trove match Egyptian designs of the period and may even have been imported from Egypt. Finkelstein's team is keen to tackle such questions when excavations begin again this week.

"I think we are in the period right after the collapse of the Egyptian hegemony in the late 12th century," he said.

"Of course there is a slight possibility that we are actually in the last stage of that system."

(Related: "Bible-Era Mystery Vessel Found—Code Stumps Experts.")

Published June 19, 2012

Layer Cake

Photograph courtesy Megiddo Expedition

Long made legendary by biblical tales of an apocalyptic battle between good and evil, Megiddo is now a quiet spot where excavators are painstakingly wresting the city's history from stone and sediment.

From about 7,000 B.C. to the biblical era, the city loomed over a key overland trade route. During this long period the site was home to a succession of cultures, including Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, and Persians—creating an archaeological layer cake that's become irresistible to archaeologists.

(Also see "Ancient Semitic Snake Spells Deciphered in Egyptian Pyramid.")

Published June 19, 2012

Emergency Funds

Photograph by Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency

On June 5 archaeologist Emil Aladjem holds one of four rare Roman-era coins found near the city of Qiryat Gat (map)—part of the second recent gold find from Israel. The 2,000-year-old treasure hoard was stashed during the era of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (A.D. 132 to 135), said Aladjem, of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Bar-Kokhba was the most violent [Jewish] revolt against the Romans," he said. "It lasted for three years, and there was an era of freedom" during the defiant period, "until the Romans came back and destroyed all the communities and killed everyone"—which may explain why the treasure was found buried in the courtyard of a long-gone home.

"We call this an emergency hoard," he said. "You collected all your most valuable things very quickly when you saw the enemy coming, and you hid them and hoped that everybody will be OK. In this case, they apparently were not."

(Pictures: In Rome's Basement.)

Published June 19, 2012

Rare Bloom

Photograph courtesy Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority

Pure gold, this 2,000-year-old, flower-shaped earring was owned by a person of significant wealth, Aladjem said. "Usually, out here in the Roman provinces, they were just using stones and rubbing them with gold foil to give the appearance of gold."

Found outside a building dating to the Roman and Byzantine era, the jewelry had long ago been wrapped in cloth with other valuables and buried for safekeeping.

(Also see "Gold Treasure, Roman Coins Revealed in U.K.")

Published June 19, 2012

Lasting Impression

Photograph courtesy Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority

This Roman-era ring, also part of the Kiryat Gat trove, would have been used as a stamp, perhaps for wax seals, leaving behind a robed woman. "We suppose it is a victory goddess"—the Roman deity Victoria, archaeologist Emil Aladjem said. "The carving is very symbolic and very stylistic."

Published June 19, 2012

Old Money

Photograph courtesy Sharon Gal, Israel Antiquities Authority

In addition to four gold coins dating to the era of Roman emperor Trajan—rare finds for the Mideast—the 2,000-year-old hoard (pictured) included some 140 silver coins. Still corroded, they'll eventually be cleaned to match the luster of the restored gold coins.

The hoard also contained some non-obvious items which confirm that its primary purpose was simply to hide the most valuable things in the household as danger approached.

Along with the money and jewelry are two silver spoons. Based on similar finds from other Roman sites, including Pompeii, Aladjem thinks the spoons are either makeup applicators or surgical implements. "In either case they were valuable—not only because they were made of silver but because they were also valuable as instruments."

Published June 19, 2012

More Pictures: Rare Viking-Era Treasure

Photograph courtesy M. Jórdeczka

Published June 19, 2012