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Grand Staircase of a king discovered in Ancient Town mentioned in the Bible.
Seven stunning large basalt stairs recently excavated at Tel Hazor give new indication of the ancient grandeur of the Canaanite kingdom 3,500 years ago, that according to biblical tradition was conquered by the Israelites and razed to the ground.
As depicted in Joshua 11:10, Hazor was the “head” of the Canaanite settlements taken by the Israelite leader. While there are still more stairs to be uncovered, it is thought that they lead into the large palace complex from where the King of Hazor ruled on the northern slopes of the upper city facing the lower city.
The newly unearthed 4.5-meter wide monumental staircase is unprecedented in its craftsmanship in this era and region, according to Bechar. Each stair is shaped to fit snugly into place in a manner that is not found anywhere else, said Bechar in conversation with The Times of Israel.
Hazor has served as a training ground for Israeli archaeologists — past, present and future. In 1955–1958 and 1968-70, celebrity archaeologist Yigael Yadin led excavations at the site assisted by another stalwart researcher, Yohanan Aharoni. Now its 30th consecutive dig season, the current Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin was founded by Hebrew University Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor in 1990 and under the auspices of the Israel Exploration Society.
Located north of the Sea of Galilee on a trade route connecting Egypt and Babylon, Hazor was the largest biblical-era site in Israel. With an estimated population of 20,000, its size and strategic location made it an important city in antiquity. After its fiery destruction, it was rebuilt by the Israelites, perhaps by King Solomon. Several hundred years later, the Israelite settlement was destroyed by the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BCE.
According to a Hebrew University press release, the remains of the last Israeli settlement of Hazor were also uncovered this year, including a considerable quantity of shattered pottery vessels — evidence of its destruction.
The stairs and two other much smaller basalt steps nearby were first uncovered in 2018. They have undergone conservation and are now available for viewing by the public. Bechar said she intends to continue the staircase’s excavation within the next three or four years.
Hazor has served as a training ground for Israeli archaeologists — past, present and future. In 1955–1958 and 1968-70, celebrity archaeologist Yigael Yadin led excavations at the site assisted by another stalwart researcher, Yohanan Aharoni. Now its 30th consecutive dig season, the current Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin was founded by Hebrew University Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor in 1990 and under the auspices of the Israel Exploration Society.
Located north of the Sea of Galilee on a trade route connecting Egypt and Babylon, Hazor was the largest biblical-era site in Israel. With an estimated population of 20,000, its size and strategic location made it an important city in antiquity. After its fiery destruction, it was rebuilt by the Israelites, perhaps by King Solomon. Several hundred years later, the Israelite settlement was destroyed by the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BCE.
According to a Hebrew University press release, the remains of the last Israeli settlement of Hazor were also uncovered this year, including a considerable quantity of shattered pottery vessels — evidence of its destruction.
The stairs and two other much smaller basalt steps nearby were first uncovered in 2018. They have undergone conservation and are now available for viewing by the public. Bechar said she intends to continue the staircase’s excavation within the next three or four years.
Alongside the finely-worked black stone steps, there is also significant archaeological evidence of the large conflagration which destroyed the Canaanite settlement. Bechar said the building, constructed in the 13th century, existed for 200 to 250 years.
The city is found in extra-biblical documentation found in two major archives of cuneiform tablets, in Mari (Syria) and Amarna (Egypt).
In an article Bechar wrote for the Biblical Archaeology Review in 2017, she writes about the Amarna archive: “Dated to the 14th century BCE, this archive contains the correspondence in cuneiform Akkadian between Egyptian pharaohs and their vassal kings, as well as other rulers in the eastern Mediterranean basin. It includes two letters from the king of Hazor. Interestingly, the king of Hazor is the only vassal ruler in the southern Levant who refers to himself and is referred to as ‘king’ (melek) in the Amarna correspondence with the pharaoh.”
Asked how this very confident king fits into the biblical narrative timeline, Bechar said that it was not the same king, but it’s likely he would have walked these stairs in his lifetime. Their size shows his high status, she said. “The king of Hazor is not the king of Egypt, but we see he can use his resources to build this grand staircase,” said Bechar.
Co-director Ben-Tor wrote in a 2013 Biblical Archaeology Review article, “Of all the sites mentioned in the Book of Joshua as having been conquered by the Israelites, none is as important, with a destruction as significant, as Hazor.” For the Israel Prize-winning professor emeritus, the Hazor site offers insight into the nexus of biblical narrative and archaeological evidence.
“Biblical historiography, in particular the books of Joshua–Kings, cannot be considered a completely accurate account of the events described in them, because they are motivated by a theological and — to some extent — a political agenda. They do contain a considerable number of true historical nuclei, however, and the account of the downfall of the last Canaanite city of Hazor is very probably one of them,” wrote Ben-Tor.
world news
Northeast Syrian Minorities Seeking to Preserve Free Enclave, Ask for Western Help against Turkey, and for Christians’ Prayers
Just days after the fall of the Assad Government in Syria, the region is adjusting to the new realities on the ground.
One area inside Syria could be ground zero for another battle between Western values and Islamic ambitions.
While the leader of the main faction of Syria’s rebel forces is pledging no new war, a democratic enclave in northeast Syria that is home to Kurds, Yazidis, and Christians is being attacked by a proxy army of Turkey.
CBN News spoke with a Christian from northeast Syria by phone. To protect his identity, we’ve disguised his voice and can’t show his face. We’re calling him “Gabriel.”
Gabriel told us, “So, yeah, we are under attack, and we don’t think that (Turkish President) Erdogan and his proxies are going to stop (attacking) in this place in the north.”
The Autonomous Administration in Northeast Syria is unique in all of the Middle East. CBN News reported on the then-fledgling government in a 2019 report.
In that report, freelance journalist Karlos Zurutuza told us, “It’s completely new—completely new in the Middle East, and I’d say it’s completely new in the whole world.”
Zurutuza added, “So literally from day one, since 2012—since they liberated their territories—they are in the process of reconstructing civil society, integrated their components in the region; not just Kurds. It’s Arabs, Armenians, Syriacs.”
During the war to defeat ISIS, the Autonomous Administration partnered with the US and allied forces.
Charmaine Hedding, founder of the Shai Fund, an organization that helps people groups in volatile situations, explained, “They are most similar in human rights to what we believe in the West. And critically, they have freedom of religion and belief, and an overrepresentation of religious minorities. So, what’s happened is they stand in direct opposition to these jihadi, Islamist groups. And so today, we are seeing the Sunni is being used as the militia to break down and attack northeast Syria.”
The Autonomous Administration fears the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has stated his intention to defeat the Kurds of northeast Syria.
Given the attacks by Turkish-backed forces and Erdogan’s threats, the people of northeast Syria are calling out to the US and the West, and the Christian world for help.
“We call on all the Christians in the world to call their nations and brothers and sisters in their administration to make the Christians, the Kurds and Druze, and all minorities to be able to protect themselves from these kinds of atrocities,” Gabriel told us.
He claims Northeast Syria is not asking for foreign troops, but for the resources to defend themselves.
“Especially [for the] Trump administration and the Israeli government to make this happen because, Christians all over Syria, Christians all over Lebanon, all over Iraq, they want to survive,” he declared.
Gabriel continued, “We are demanding to survive in our fatherland, to speak to our family, our language, and to be able to represent our religion, which is the ancient Christian, really ancient Christian religion, and speak freely our Aramaic language, which was the language of Jesus. We call especially America to stop Turkey from invading the project of Northeast Syria.”
Hedding believes it’s important to pray for this emerging Middle East democracy.
“Because in this area you have people who can believe whatever they want. Christians, Yazidis, [and] even Muslim background Believers who have come to faith in Jesus are able to practice their religion in this area. So, pray for northeast Syria that it will remain stable and that the international community would stand and back northeast Syria against these Islamist jihadis.”
Sources:BREAKING CHRISTIAN NEWS
നൈജീരിയയിലെ പ്ലാറ്റോ സ്റ്റേറ്റിൽ ഫുലാനി തീവ്രവാദികൾ 19 പേരെ കൊലപ്പെടുത്തി. മുൻപ് തീവ്രവാദികൾ തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയ വ്യക്തിയും അതിൽ ഉൾപ്പെടുന്നു. ഡിസംബർ ഒന്നിനാണ് ആക്രമണങ്ങൾ നടന്നത്.
ഫുലാനി തീവ്രവാദികളെന്നു കരുതുന്ന ആറ് തോക്കുധാരികൾ ഡിസംബർ ഒന്നിന് റിയോം കൗണ്ടിയിലെ ക്വി ഏരിയയിലെ ദുവാങ് ഗ്രാമത്തിൽ മോട്ടോർ സൈക്കിളിൽ സഞ്ചരിക്കുകയായിരുന്ന രണ്ട് ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളെ പതിയിരുന്ന് ആക്രമിച്ച് കൊലപ്പെടുത്തിയതായി മനുഷ്യാവകാശ അഭിഭാഷകൻ അറ്റോർണി ഡാലിയോപ് സോളമൻ മവന്തിരിയുടെ പത്രക്കുറിപ്പിൽ പറയുന്നു.
അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ മൃതദേഹം കണ്ടെത്തിയത് ഒരു മണിക്കൂറിലധികം നടത്തിയ തിരച്ചിലിനുശേഷമാണ്. പ്രദേശത്ത് നിലയുറപ്പിച്ച സൈനിക ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥർ പ്രദേശം സന്ദർശിച്ച് മൃതദേഹങ്ങൾ മോർച്ചറിയിലേക്കു കൊണ്ടുവന്നതായി മവന്തിരി പറഞ്ഞു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com
Nigeria — A pastor and Christian businesswoman were killed in two separate attacks on Dec. 6 in Taraba state, Nigeria.
The first attack occurred at midnight in the Mayo Dasa area of Jalingo, the state capital. Reports from the Taraba State Police Command spokesperson, Abdullahi Usman, reveal that assailants entered the home of a young businesswoman and shot her to death. In a separate attack in the Jerbanbur area, a clergyman was murdered in his home.
Residents have expressed concerns regarding the attacks, and some have identified the attackers as Muslim extremists, with accusations pointing to more than 100 deaths of Christians since January. However, authorities have only categorized the attackers as unidentified gunmen.
The latest attacks reflect a broader trend of violence against Christians in Taraba and surrounding states. Notably, in November 2023, Oluwakemi Moses Konye, a pastor’s wife, was killed while traveling with her infant child. Such incidents, despite the presence of the military and police, highlight the ongoing security challenges that Christians face in Nigeria.
Advocates for Christian rights are calling for increased accountability and a more responsive approach from authorities regarding the plight of persecuted communities. Many believe that these targeted attacks indicate a concerning trend aimed at destabilizing Christian populations in Nigeria’s Northern and Central regions.
Sources:persecution
Northeast Syrian Minorities Seeking to Preserve Free Enclave, Ask for Western Help against Turkey, and for Christians’ Prayers
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