Ancient Pagan Altar Unearthed In Israel

ט״ז בסיון תש"ע
Mab 17

Mati Milstein in Ashqelon, Israel
for National Geographic News
Published May 28, 2010

Ancient Pagan Altar Unearthed in Israel

A 2,000-year-old altar where wealthy pagans worshiped has been unearthed in an Israeli cemetery, archaeologists say.

The 24-inch-high (60-centimeter-high) granite structure—adorned with carvings of three bull heads, ribbons, and laurel wreaths—was found May 17 during salvage excavations for a new hospital emergency room in the southern city of Ashqelon (see map).

One of the oldest port cities in the Holy Land, Ashqelon may have been inhabited as early as the Neolithic period, which began around 9,500 B.C.

The cemetery where the altar was found served Ashqelon's general pagan population, said Israel, who added that altars were "found everywhere, in cemeteries, in town squares, and also in temples."

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Mati Milstein in Zippori National Park, Israel
for National Geographic News
August 15, 2008

Ancient Pagan Temple Unearthed in Israel

Ruins of a pagan temple from the second century A.D. have been unearthed in the heart of a Jewish capital that existed during Israel's Roman period.

In its heyday, the temple sat within a walled courtyard abutting the most centrally-located homes in the ancient city of Zippori, about halfway between Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and the Mediterranean.

Although pagan artifacts have been found in Zippori before, the temple represents the first significant structural evidence of a pagan settlement in the capital.

"We have textual accounts from the second century indicating the presence of a pagan population in Zippori," said Zeev Weiss, lead archaeologist of the Noam Shudofsky Zippori Expedition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Based on the new find, "it is clear [the pagans] had the influence and the ability to erect this temple in the center of the city."

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