Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evolving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Rules For the rest of the Site also accessible on the sidebar.
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This was recovered from the piles of 'debris' the Arabs hauled from the site of the 1st Temple. They carelessly dumped it in the Kidron Valley.
Rare Assyrian inscription found in Jerusalem by Dario Radley October 22, 2025 https://archaeologymag.com/2025/10/rare-assyrian-inscription-found-in-jerusalem/
Archaeologists have unearthed an extraordinary Assyrian inscription from the First Temple period in Jerusalem—the first of its kind to be discovered in the city. The tiny fragment of pottery, just 2.5 centimeters in diameter and inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform, was discovered close to the Temple Mount’s Western Wall in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David Foundation.
Rare Assyrian inscription found in Jerusalem The sealing is rare evidence of written communication between the King of Assyria and the King of Judah. Credit: Eliyahu Yannai, City of David Foundation. Dating to about 2,700 years ago, the inscription likely formed part of a royal seal impression on an official dispatch sent from the Assyrian royal court to the Kingdom of Judah. Scholars believe it may refer to a delay in the payment of tribute, possibly connected with a time of tension or rebellion as described in the Bible when King Hezekiah rebelled against Assyrian rule.
The fragment was recovered through wet sifting at Jerusalem’s Davidson Archaeological Park to ensure its authenticity. According to the research team, this is direct evidence of correspondence between Assyria, the ancient Near Eastern dominant power, and Judah, a former vassal state. The document includes a date (“the first of the month of Av”) and mentions a “chariot officer,” a royal courier whose responsibility was to deliver official messages.
The soil layer containing the inscription was taken from Second Temple period deposits from Jerusalem’s ancient drainage canal. Archaeologists believe it originated from the collapse of an older First Temple structure, near one of the closest known sites west of the Temple Mount with remains from that era.
Rare Assyrian inscription found in Jerusalem The rare sealing was discovered next to an ancient drainage channel. Credit: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority Petrographic analysis revealed that the clay was not local but came from the Tigris Basin region—home to Assyria’s major cities of Nineveh, Ashur, and Nimrud (Kalḫu). This proves that the document was produced in an Assyrian administrative center and sent to Jerusalem. A chemical study by the Geological Survey of Israel is underway to identify its exact origin
Although the text is incomplete, scholars have interpreted it as evidence of political tensions between Judah and the Assyrian Empire, possibly over missed tribute payments. The discovery sheds light on the extent of Assyrian power in Jerusalem and the mechanisms of imperial communication during the late 8th and early 7th centuries BCE.
Rare Assyrian inscription found in Jerusalem The Assyrian sealing is the only one ever discovered from the First Temple period. Credit: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority The find attests to Jerusalem’s importance as an administrative and political hub even under imperial control. It is evidence of the city’s incorporation into the international system of the time, where letters, seals, and tax documents circulated between the world’s most powerful empire and its western vassal.
The inscription will be presented to the public on October 23 at the “New Discoveries in Jerusalem and Environs” Conference.
Wait there's more:
https://archaeologymag.com/2025/12/section-of-hasmonean-city-wall-in-jerusalem/
Longest and most intact section of Hasmonean city wall uncovered in Jerusalem by Dario Radley December 9, 2025 Archaeologists in Jerusalem completed the exposure of a remarkably well-preserved segment of a city wall dating to the late 2nd century BCE, in the Hasmonean-Maccabean period. Unearthed within the Kishle complex at the Tower of David, adjacent to the historic citadel, it represents one of the longest and most intact fortification sections ever found within the city. Excavation work was done by the IAA as part of preparations for the future Schulich Wing of Archaeology, Art, and Innovation at the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.
Longest and most intact section of Hasmonean city wall uncovered in Jerusalem On the left is the Hasmonean-period wall uncovered in the excavation. Credit: Emil Aladjem The newly uncovered wall is identified with the so-called “First Wall” familiar from ancient historical sources. Well over 40 meters long and about five meters wide, the fortification was built from massive stone blocks that were finely dressed with a distinctive chiseled boss, typical of the Hasmonean period.
Researchers believe the wall stood over ten meters high in its original state. Similar sections of the defensive system have been uncovered around Mount Zion, the City of David, the courtyard of the citadel, and along parts of the western boundary of Jerusalem, but none is as extensive or as well-preserved.
Longest and most intact section of Hasmonean city wall uncovered in Jerusalem The IAA Excavation at the Kishle compound. Credit: Yoli Schwartz The first-century CE ancient historian Josephus described this city wall as a powerful and almost impregnable defense, reinforced by dozens of towers. Archaeological evidence from the Kishle, however, suggests that this wall did not simply disintegrate over time. Rather, remains suggest deliberate and systematic dismantling, raising questions as to who ordered its destruction and why.
Longest and most intact section of Hasmonean city wall uncovered in Jerusalem Tower of David Jerusalem Museum. Credit: Tower of David Jerusalem Museum Researchers propose two different historical scenarios. One explanation links the demolition of the wall to events surrounding the Seleucid siege of Jerusalem by Antiochus VII Sidetes in the 130s BCE. Historical sources tell of how the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus I negotiated an agreement to end the siege, which might have entailed the removal of Jerusalem’s fortifications as one of the conditions of peace. The section of the dismantled wall may constitute the physical evidence of that political compromise.
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One alternative possibility places responsibility decades later, during the reign of King Herod. In seeking to distance himself from the Hasmonean dynasty that he supplanted, Herod might have deliberately erased their monumental building projects. The systematic nature of the wall’s destruction is consistent with broader Herodian policies aimed at reshaping Jerusalem’s urban and political landscape.
Excavations nearby give further context to the turbulent period in which the wall stood. In the 1980s, archaeologists discovered a large cache of Hellenistic weapons at the foot of the First Wall: catapult stones, arrowheads, slingstones, and lead projectiles. This is generally interpreted as remnants of the failed assault of Antiochus VII, with heavy siege weapons accumulating at the foot of defenses they could not breach.
Longest and most intact section of Hasmonean city wall uncovered in Jerusalem Hasmonean-period arrowheads and catapult stones on display. Credit: Emil Aladjem, IAA The exposed wall will remain as the centerpiece of the new wing of the museum, with the stones to be viewed from above through a glass floor. The project aims to integrate archaeology with contemporary artistic interpretation in such a way that allows the public to engage in a direct and tangible encounter with the ancient defenses.