Archaeology
300-metre-long ancient aqueduct found at Giv‘at Hamatos
![](https://conspirazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/aqua1-B18e97.jpeg)
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered a large section of the upper aqueduct that transported water to the city of Jerusalem, Israel.
The discovery was made during archaeological works in preparation for housing development in the Giv‘at Hamatos neighbourhood.
Excavations revealed a 300-metre-long section that was built by King Herod some 2000-years-ago. During Herod’s reign, the city population saw a large period of growth, meaning that the water flowing in springs and stored in the cisterns was no longer sufficient to support the city inhabitants.
“Due to this situation, the Hasmoneans and King Herod built two complex aqueducts to transport water to Jerusalem, constituting one of the grandest and most sophisticated water projects in the country, and indeed, the ancient world,” said Dr. Ofer Sion from the IAA.
Image Credit : Emil Eljam
According to the researchers, the aqueducts transported water to Jerusalem from springs in the Bethlehem region using the principle of hydraulic laws (the siphon principle of communicating vessels based on the force of gravity).
Following the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the Roman 10th Legion continued to maintain the aqueduct to support the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem).
The route of the Upper Aqueduct followed a convenient and gentle topographical course. So far, three distinct parts have been identified: the lower two parts dating from the Late Second Temple period, and the upper part dating from the days of the Roman Legion stationed in the upper city.
Excavations also revealed 25 coins in the aqueduct foundations distributed at early distances that were likely deposited as offerings for good fortune.
“The exposure of this section of the Upper Aqueduct and the discovery of the 25 coins may enable– possibly for the first time—an absolute dating of the different stages of the construction of Jerusalem’s water aqueducts. It may shed light on the question of who built the first aqueduct—whether it was the Hasmoneans, or King Herod,” said an IAA representative.
Header Image Credit : Emil Eljam
Archaeology
Ornate grave goods found in Murom burial ground
Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been excavating a burial ground associated with the Finnic Muromians.
The Finnic Muromians were groups of settlers that lived within the vicinity of the Volga and Oka rivers. They spoke Muromian, an Uralic language that became extinct following their assimilation by the Slavs.
The burial ground, which dates from the early 10th century AD, was discovered on the eastern bank of the Oka river, located in the Nizhny Novgorod Region of Russia.
A total of seventeen burial pits have been identified, nine of which have been severely damaged through looting.
The surviving 8 burials contain the remains of four children, two women, and two men.
The men were accompanied with an ornate collection of grave goods, including arrowheads, knives, bronze bracelets, iron plates, a bronze buckle, and a whetstone.
At the bottom of one of the pits is a heavily corroded axe, along with a flint that has traces of iron-coated embossed leather and textile threads.
The burials containing women were also accompanied with high status funerary goods, such as a necklace of red-brown prismatic and dark blue berry-shaped beads of Byzantine origin, signet ring-shaped pendants, plate bracelets, a bronze spiral, and a silver ring.
Traces of wood within the pit fillings suggest that they originally contained a wooden structure, similar to a log house made of thin beams and covered with birch bark.
According to the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “The culmination of the discoveries at the site were two clay vessels, testifying to direct and close contacts between the right-bank Muromians and the Old Russian population.”
Header Image Credit : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Sources : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeology
Ghastly finds at gallows execution site
![](https://conspirazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/gast2-S78Iej.jpeg)
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt are currently excavating the site of a former gallows in Quedlinburg, Germany.
Gallows are usually wooden structures made of two vertical posts, a horizontal crossbeam, and a hanging noose. They have been used for executing criminals by hanging, a prevalent form of capital punishment in Europe since the Middle Ages.
Archaeologists are currently excavating a gallows site on Galgenberg, or ‘Gallows Hill,’ which was used for public executions by the courts in Quedlinburg from 1662 to 1809.
Excavations have revealed complete and partial burials in the area, along with bone pits containing multiple bundled burials, likely the result of mass executions carried out in a short period.
Image Credit : LDA
According to the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt, “these discoveries provide unique insights into penal practices from the Middle Ages and early modern times.”
A burial unrelated to the gallows has also been unearthed, featuring a wooden coffin containing the skeletal remains of an individual buried with a rosary chain.
Archaeologists propose that the burial’s characteristics suggest that the individual was likely a suicide victim, denied burial in consecrated ground so was placed in the cemetery near the gallows.
Also discovered is a so-called ‘revenant grave’, where the skeletal remains of a man was found placed on his back with several large stones placed across his chest.
According to the researchers, the stones were likely placed to prevent the individual from rising as a revenant, which are described as animated corpses in the verbal traditions and lore of many European ethnic groups.
In medieval times, those inflicted with the revenant condition were generally suicide victims, witches, corpses possessed by a malevolent spirit, or the victim of a vampiric attack.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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