Published by Editor at 10:49 am under Press Releases
A 3,200-year-old round bronze tablet with
a carved face of a woman, found at the El-ahwat
excavation site near Katzir in central
The
El-ahwat site, near Nahal
‘Iron, was exposed by a cooperative delegation excavating there during
1993-2000 from the Universities of Haifa and
One
of the objects uncovered at the site remained masked in mystery. The round,
bronze tablet, about 2 cm. in diameter and 5 mm. thick, was found in a
structure identified as the “Governor’s House”. The object features a carved
face of a woman wearing a cap and earrings shaped as chariot wheels. When
uncovered in 1997, it was already clear that the tablet was the broken end of
an elongated object, but Mr. Cohen, who included the tablet in the final report
of the excavations, did not manage to find its parallel in any other
archaeological discoveries.
Now,
13 years later, the mystery has been solved. When carrying out a scrutinizing
study of ancient Egyptian reliefs depicting chariot battles, Mr. Cohen
discerned a unique decoration: the bronze linchpins fastening the chariot
wheels were decorated with people’s faces - of captives, foreigners and enemies
of
“This
identification enhances the historical and archaeological value of the site and
proves that chariots belonging to high-ranking individuals were found there. It
provides support for the possibility, which has not yet been definitively
established, that this was Sisera’s city of residence and that it was from there that
the chariots set out on their way to the battle against the Israelite tribes,
located between the ancient sites of Taanach and