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发帖数: 38403 | 1 For the first time, archaeologists have uncovered shrines from the time of
the early Biblical kings in the Holy Land, providing the earliest evidence
of a cult, they say.
Excavation within the remains of the roughly 3,000-year-old fortified city
of Khirbet Qeiyafa, located about 19 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of
Jerusalem, have revealed three large rooms used as shrines, along with
artifacts, including tools, pottery and objects, such as alters associated
with worship.
The three shrines were part of larger building complexes, and the artifacts
included five standing stones, two basalt altars, two pottery libation
vessels and two portable shrines, one made of pottery, the other of stone.
The portable shrines are boxes shaped like temples.
The shrines themselves reflect an architectural style dating back as early
as the time of King David (of the biblical David and Goliath story),
providing the first physical evidence of a cult in the time of King David,
according to an announcement by Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. [Religious Worship: Top 10 Cults]
The research is presented in the book, "Footsteps of King David in the
Valley of Elah" (Yedioth Ahronoth, 2012).
Radiocarbon dating on burnt olive pits found in the ancient city of Khirbet
Qeiyafa indicate it existed between 1020 B.C. and 980 B.C., before being
violently destroyed.
According to Biblical tradition, the ancient Isrealites' belief in one God
and their ban on human and animal figures set them apart from their
neighbors. However, it hasn't been clear when these distinct practices arose.
The discoveries offer a clue to the timing, since they contain none of the
human or animal figurines common at other sites. No bones from pigs showed
up here or elsewhere in the city.
"This suggests that the population of Khirbet Qeiyafa observed two Biblical
bans — on pork and on graven images — and thus practiced a different cult
than that of the Canaanites or the Philistines," Garfinkel said in a press
release issued by the university. The discoveries also offer support for the
Biblical depiction of King David, he said.
Garfinkel suggests some of the features and styles of the structures appear
analogous to those described in the Bible. For instance, one of the shrines,
the clay one, is decorated with an elaborate façade that includes two
guardian lions, two pillars, folded textile and three birds standing on the
roof. The two pillars are suggestive, he said, of Yachin and Boaz described
in the Bible as belonging to Solomon's Temple.
The announcement was met with some skepticism from scientists such as Aren
Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, who has studied the ruins of the nearby
Philistine city of Gath. Maeir told the Times of Israel the new finds don't
conclusively prove the site was inhabited by Israelites, and that the images
of lions and birds also undercut that no animal or human figures were found.
"There's no question that this is a very important site, but what exactly it
was — there is still disagreement about that," Maeir said in the Times of
Israel, adding that the finding doesn't add dramatic new evidence to the
broader debate over whether the Bible is an historical record of events,
largely mythical or a mix between fact and fiction.
http://news.yahoo.com/earliest-evidence-biblical-cult-discovere |
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