2000-year old skeletons in Jerusalem
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 2:43 am
Ha'aretz Oct. 14, 2018 reports that archaeologists dated some violently killed people to the reign of Alexander Jannaeus. In a leap, they called the skeletons Pharisees; they might indeed be Pharisees, but bones per se don't reveal that. What is more reinforced is that King Jannaeus, who was reportedly advised by Sadducees, was indeed cruel, as noted in
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/jannaeus.pdf
The Ha'aretz artcle is here:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.pr ... -1.6553289
...Most of the 125 skeletons belonged to women and children from the Jewish Pharisee sect, who were likely massacred by king Alexander Yannai of the rival Sadducees, archaeologists say.
Some 125 human skeletons dating back more than 2,000 years have been dug up in the Russian Compound in downtown Jerusalem. Researchers have established that most of them are the remains of women and children who belonged to the separatist Pharisee community and had been decapitated. Members of this ancient sect of Judaism opposed the rule of Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus – popularly as Alexander Yannai – who apparently slaughtered them in the first century B.C.E.
In the stratum above the skeletons, Israeli archaeologists unearthed burned bones and other remains that are believed to have belonged to Roman legion soldiers serving in Jerusalem.....
....The earliest layer, from the first and second centuries B.C.E. – dated according to the ceramic shards and coins found in situ – consisted of the remains of at least 125 individuals, including men but also mostly women, children and infants. Three tiny skeletons found there are presumed to be fetuses from the wombs of murdered women. A large number of the skeletons had marks showing that neck vertebrae and skulls had been cut or severed.
It was evident that the incisions had not healed, so the IAA team concluded that they had been the cause of death – in the majority of cases, by decapitation. An examination of the skeletons also showed there was no trauma or other wounds in the hands and feet, corroborating the conclusion that the death was not caused during battle, but by execution.
The skeletons were lying at the base of the huge cistern in a disorderly fashion, not in a typical burial position, so the researchers assumed the bodies had been thrown in after the execution. ....
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/jannaeus.pdf
The Ha'aretz artcle is here:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.pr ... -1.6553289
...Most of the 125 skeletons belonged to women and children from the Jewish Pharisee sect, who were likely massacred by king Alexander Yannai of the rival Sadducees, archaeologists say.
Some 125 human skeletons dating back more than 2,000 years have been dug up in the Russian Compound in downtown Jerusalem. Researchers have established that most of them are the remains of women and children who belonged to the separatist Pharisee community and had been decapitated. Members of this ancient sect of Judaism opposed the rule of Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus – popularly as Alexander Yannai – who apparently slaughtered them in the first century B.C.E.
In the stratum above the skeletons, Israeli archaeologists unearthed burned bones and other remains that are believed to have belonged to Roman legion soldiers serving in Jerusalem.....
....The earliest layer, from the first and second centuries B.C.E. – dated according to the ceramic shards and coins found in situ – consisted of the remains of at least 125 individuals, including men but also mostly women, children and infants. Three tiny skeletons found there are presumed to be fetuses from the wombs of murdered women. A large number of the skeletons had marks showing that neck vertebrae and skulls had been cut or severed.
It was evident that the incisions had not healed, so the IAA team concluded that they had been the cause of death – in the majority of cases, by decapitation. An examination of the skeletons also showed there was no trauma or other wounds in the hands and feet, corroborating the conclusion that the death was not caused during battle, but by execution.
The skeletons were lying at the base of the huge cistern in a disorderly fashion, not in a typical burial position, so the researchers assumed the bodies had been thrown in after the execution. ....