A clay jug containing silver earrings and ingots, dating back approximately 3,200 years, was discovered by archaeologist Robert Mullins, Ph.D., associate professor at Azusa Pacific University, and his team during last summer’s dig at Abel Beth Maacah, a 35-acre tel and the northernmost site in Israel.
“The jug and its contents appear to be Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, in the 13th century BC, the time of the Exodus and wilderness wanderings described in the Hebrew Scriptures,” Mullins said. “This is 1 of only 20 silver hoards ever found in Israel.”
For Mullins, the intriguing discovery confirmed his belief that this historically significant site, once an ancient guardian city on the border of Lebanon, lies rich with treasures waiting to be unearthed.
He anticipates confirming the existence of a large structure, specifically a siege ramp the Assyrian army may have used to conquer the city in 732 BC and a city gate complete with an inscription.
Abel-beth-maachah was a city in the north of Israel, in the neighbourhood of Dan and Ijon, in the tribe of Naphtali. The city was also besieged by Benhadad and by Tiglath-pileser about 734 BC. It is elsewhere called Abel-maim, meadow of the waters.
Its site is occupied by the modern Abil or Abil-el-kamh, on a rising ground to the east of the brook Derdarah, which flows through the plain of Huleh into the Jordan, about 6 miles to the west-north-west of Dan.
Header Image Credit : Azusa Pacific University
Contributing Souce : Edited from Azusa Pacific University
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