Archaeologists Unearth Ivory Referenced In 1st Kings, Amos

September 7, 2022234 views0

Archaeologists Unearth Ivory Referenced In 1st Kings, Amos

2022-09-07T12:03:10+01:00

By Church News

Archaeologists are describing the discovery of a collection of ivory plaques from the First Temple period recently unearthed in Jerusalem as extraordinary. They are among only a few ever found and the first to be unearthed in the city. 305301100_449801423851835_329574275468848816_n

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The plaques, approximately 2,700 years old, were discovered during the excavations being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University at the Givati Parking Lot in the City of David archaeological and tourism site, which is part of the Jerusalem Walls National Park.Decorated ivory objects are among the rarest archaeological finds. 305479446_449801847185126_338458391648567711_n

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“To date, we only knew of decorated ivories from the capitals of the great kingdoms in the First Temple period, such as Nimrud, the capital of Assyria, or Samaria, the capital of the Israelite Kingdom,” said professor Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures and Dr Yiftah Shalev of the IAA. “Now, for the first time, Jerusalem joins these capitals.”Ivory was one of the most expensive raw materials in the ancient world, even more, precious than gold, according to the IAA. The plaques were discovered in the ruins of a palatial building in active use when Jerusalem was at the height of its power, during the eighth and seventh centuries BCE.Ivory is mentioned a few times in the Bible and is always linked with royalty or great wealth, i.e. the description of King Solomon’s throne (I Kings 10:18); an ivory palace built by King Ahab in Samaria (1 Kings 22:39); and Amos the prophet’s rebuke of Israelite nobility: “They lie on ivory beds, lolling on their couches” (Amos 6:4).The impressive building where the plaques were unearthed was destroyed in a fire, which scholars surmise took place during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.ALSO READ The Earliest Known Images of Two Biblical Heroines Uncovered