Statues of Roman goddesses returned to rightful place of honor at Tel Ashkelon

JUDITH SUDILOVSKY

The remains of five marble statues have been rescued from anonymity and placed standing using a special frame between the southern portion of the basilica and the odeon, a small covered theater.

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Five spectacular marble statues of Roman godesses and gods have been raised up from a pit where they were languishing and put on display using a special metal frame at Tel Ashkelon National Park.(photo credit: IRINA DUBINSKY/INPA)

For almost one hundred years after they were first excavated at Tel Ashkelon, the magnificent marble statues of Roman gods and goddesses languished virtually neglected in an excavation pit.

Now, as part of the continued conservation and development at the Tel Ashkelon National Park archaeological site, these five massive Roman statues have been raised from the dead, in a sense, and put respectfully on display at the park for the first time since their discovery.

“They had been left and ignored for a long time. We rescued them and cleaned them and put them in a very nice way to present to visitors.”

Zeev Margalit, director of the conservation and development department of the INPA

The impressive marble sculptures include two almost complete statues and three partial statues. In one statue, the Greek goddess of victory—the winged Nike—is depicted standing on the world, which is itself carried on the shoulders of the god Atlas. One hand of the goddess holds a laurel wreath, the symbol of victory.

Another statue depicts Isis, the Egyptian goddess of fertility as Tyche, often depicted as a city’s goddess of fortune. At the time many religions adopted beliefs and modified their own religious practices as they came into contact with other religions. Both Greek and Roman religious beliefs were influenced by religions of the east, including the Egyptian cult of Isis.

The restored and reconstructed odeon complex in Tel Ashkelon National Park. (credit: IRINA DUBINSKY/INPA)

The Tel Ashkelon National Park has been undergoing a large-scale renovation project, funded by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), the Ashkelon Municipality and the Leon Levy Foundation and conservation and restoration work has been carried out on the statues as well as on a large Roman basilica and odeon—a small covered theater of sorts.

Following a year of work, the odeon and the statues were officially inaugurated on June 27 by founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, Shelby White. Reconstructed tribunals and orchestra platforms were built in the odeon.

Restoration of ancient relics

The statues, whose beauty once graced the basilica, were raised up and placed standing between the southern part of the basilica and the odeon, using special frames.

“They had been left and ignored for a long time. We rescued them and cleaned them and put them in a very nice way to present to visitors,” said architect Zeev Margalit, director of the conservation and development department of the INPA. “They were ornamental and decorated the basilica. It is now a very impressive feeling to see the statues standing once again, though some are broken, and you can understand the quality of the work and the high level of skill used to sculpt the marble.”

Located on the main trade route from Egypt to the north, the city of Ashkelon was a very important commercial center for trade, with a 5,000-year history that stretches back to the Early Canaanite period, and on to the Philistines where it was one of their five cities mentioned in the bible, and continuing to the Hellenistic and Roman periods through to Crusader times.

Biblical origins

In Judges 1:18 the bible recounts how Ashkelon, along with Gaza and Ekron, briefly fell into the hands of the tribe of Judah, but by 2 Samuel 1:20, the Philistines had already regained control of the city.

Ribbon cutting ceremony at the inauguration of the odeon plaza in Tel Ashkelon National Park. (credit: JORGE NOVOMINSKI)

Later, during the time of Herod, the city especially flourished during the Roman period, and Herod built the grandest of basilicas—which were more for communal gatherings and not religious in nature at that time—ever constructed in this part of the ancient world. Some sources say Herod’s family even hailed from Ashkelon.

The first excavations of the ancient city were led by the famous adventurer and traveler Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope in 1815. The niece of British Prime Minister William Pitt, Stanhope shirked societal conventions of the time and came seeking treasures in the Middle East, making Lebanon her home base. And to there she returned, after having found nothing that glittered in Ashkelon.

The first scientific excavations of the site were held by John Garstang of the British Palestine Exploration Fund in 1920-1922 during the British Mandate. During these excavations, Herod’s basilica, the odeon and remains of the statues were discovered.  Garstang created an open-air museum for his finds, but with time the area was abandoned and neglected, noted Margalit.

More recent excavations in 2008-2012 and 2016-2018 fully uncovered the basilica, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 363 CE, and revealed over 200 marble artifacts including monumental columns and capitals from the basilica.  

Currently, restoration and conservation work continues on the basilica complex and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 or mid-2023, said Margalit, and will include new and accessible paths around the heritage and landscape sites of the park.

News From Israel- July 05, 2022

ILTV Israel News

Lapid to tell Macron: Hezbollah should not play with fire

LAHAV HARKOV

Prime Minister Yair Lapid gives first cabinet meeting address / (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Prime Minister Yair Lapid plans to ask French President Emmanuel Macron to relay to Lebanon that Israel will not negotiate its maritime border while under threat from Hezbollah.

Lapid’s first trip abroad as prime minister will be to Paris on Tuesday, where he is expected to meet with Macron and French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and return to Israel later that day.

The trip, originally planned for former prime minister Naftali Bennett, is set to take place days after the IAF shot down three unmanned aircraft launched by Hezbollah toward Israel’s Karish gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea.“Hezbollah should not play with fire,” a senior diplomatic source said Monday.

“We want to complete negotiations on the maritime border, but we will not do it under threat from Hezbollah.”

Prime Minister Yair Lapid

Lapid plans to ask Macron to use his connections and influence in Lebanon to relay the message: “We want to complete negotiations on the maritime border, but we will not do it under threat from Hezbollah.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, candidate for his re-election in the 2022 French presidential election, attends a political campaign rally at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, April 2, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/SARAH MEYSSONNIER)

He also plans to present new materials showing how Hezbollah, which in addition to being an Iran-backed terrorist group is a party in the Lebanese government, is endangering Lebanon and its security.

“Lebanon should take advantage of this time,” the diplomatic source said. “There are good conditions to reach an agreement on the maritime border with an active US envoy. The Israeli and Lebanese official stances are known and will allow us to reach an agreement. The lines Lebanon submitted to the UN are reasonable even if there are disagreements on the details.”

Maritime border dispute

Israel and Lebanon have a long-standing dispute on the demarcation of their maritime border in the Mediterranean Sea, which has been subject to on-and-off US-mediated negotiations since October 2020, including a visit to the region by US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein in recent weeks.

The dispute between Lebanon and Israel, which began over a decade ago, involves an 860-sq.km. triangle in the Mediterranean Sea. Talks broke down in 2021 when Lebanon sharply increased its demands after four rounds of US-mediated talks, almost tripling the disputed area to 2,300 sq.km. to include the northern end of the Karish natural-gas field.

In June, Energean hooked up a production ship to the Karish gas field in Israeli waters about 80 km. west of Haifa, and it planned to start delivering gas from the reservoir later this year.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said the vessel had entered “the disputed maritime area with Israel” and threatened that Beirut would view the gas extraction as “a provocation and an aggressive action.”

“We want to ensure that the French tell the Lebanese to act so Hezbollah doesn’t stand in the way of an agreement,” the senior diplomatic source said.

The Iranian nuclear threat is also expected to be a major topic of discussion between Lapid and Macron, following France’s role in the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governor’s statement calling for greater transparency from Iran, as well as discussions of Tehran’s nuclear program at recent meetings of the G7 and the UN Security Council.

“The prime minister will present the same stance as his predecessor,” the diplomatic source said. “Israel’s policy is that a return to the JCPOA [2015 nuclear deal] is a mistake because the sunset clauses are near. At the same time, we do not oppose any agreement; we want a long and strong deal in the future.”

Israel hopes to work with its partners on an international campaign against Iran with diplomatic and economic elements, the source said, adding that Lapid will try to gain an understanding of what France, specifically, and the E3 – the three European countries involved in Iran talks, the UK, Germany and France – are willing to do on that front.Other matters on Lapid’s agenda for the Paris trip include the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine and economic and security bilateral relations between Israel and France.

News From Israel- July 04, 2022

ILTV Israel News

Israel to examine bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – IDF spokesperson

TOVAH LAZAROFF

It was previously reported that the bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh would be given to US experts for investigation.

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Palestinians bid farewell to Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed during a live fire exchange between Palestinians and IDF in Jenin, in Ramallah in the West Bank May 12, 2022. / (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)

Israel will be able to examine the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to determine if the shooter was an IDF soldier or a Palestinian gunman, military spokesman Brigadier-General Ran Kochav told Army Radio on Sunday.

He spoke just one day after Palestinian Authority Attorney-General Akram Khatib told the media that the bullet had been handed over to a US team of experts who had come to the region specifically for this purpose.

Kochav, however, said that “the examination won’t be an American one, the examination will be an Israeli one with an American presence.”

Mistrust in joint investigation

Abu Akleh, 51, an east Jerusalem resident who held US citizenship, was killed on May 11th while covering an IDF raid on a refugee camp in Jenin. The PA has blamed the IDF for her death. For reasons of mistrust the PA had not wanted to transfer the bullet to Israeli so that it could perform ballistic tests to see if the bullet match one of the rifles used by soldiers at the scene.

On Saturday, less than two weeks before US President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Israel, the PA relented and agreed to give to a US team.

Shireen Abu Akleh (credit: AL JAZEERA)

Deputy Public Interior Minister Yoav Segalovitz (Yesh Atid) told army radio that it could take several days to conduct the necessary tests. He said that Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who heads his party, had been involved in securing an agreement to transfer the bullet.

“The matter was concluded only last night,” he said.

“the examination won’t be an American one, the examination will be an Israeli one with an American presence.”

Military spokesman Brigadier-General Ran Kochav

Who fired the bullet?

The IDF had said Abu Akleh was killed during an exchange of fire between the IDF and Palestinian gunmen and that it was not possible to conclusively determine which of the two forces was responsible for her death without the bullet.

Kochav said on Sunday, “we are waiting for the [test] results.” If they show “we killed her, then we will take responsibility.”  If the bullet “can be matched then it will be matched,” Kochav said. “If we can’t make a determination then there won’t be a determination. If it can be determined that she was killed by armed Palestinians, then the Palestinians will be responsible.”

In any scenario, Kochav said, Israel regrets Abu Akleh’s death.

In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday, Khatib insisted that Israel would not be conducting the ballistic tests on the bullet, explaining that the examination would take place at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

“We got guarantees from the American coordinator that the examination will be conducted by them and that the Israeli side will not take part,” Al-Khatib told Voice of Palestine radio, adding that he expected the bullet to be returned on Sunday.

An embassy spokesperson said: “We don’t have anything new at this time.”

“We got guarantees from the American coordinator that the examination will be conducted by them and that the Israeli side will not take part.”

Palestinian Authority Attorney-General Akram Khatib

Reuters contributed to this report.