2100 year old cave found under high school (in Israel)

[JohnLocke]

2100 year old cave found under high school
Students at Rogozin High School in Tel Aviv don't need to go far to get an archeology lesson: Just a few feet under their classrooms, municipal workers discovered ancient burial cave
By Roee Mendel -- Yedioth Ahronoth
Monday, September 4, 2006
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History lesson at Rogozin High: While carrying out ordinary infrastructure work on Mesilat Haolim Street in Tel Aviv, unsuspecting public works authority employees stumbled onto a surprising archeological find. While digging in front of the city’s Rogozin High School, a massive underground cavern opened up beneath them, that was apparently used as a burial space during the first century BCE.
Yossi Cohen, chief archeologist of the central district, described the subterranean space as 20 meters long by 4 meters wide and subdivided into a central vestibule flanked by three smaller rooms, all carved into the sandstone. According to Cohen, archeologists in the 1950s – before Rogozin High was built – were already aware that a burial cave may be located in the area. In 1964 the whole area was declared an official antiquities site.
Now, however, the public works authority and the Tel Aviv municipality are hastening to seal the cave, as the infrastructure work damaged it and the stone it was carved into has cracked. Tel Aviv district safety staff declared that the street is in severe danger of collapse if immediate emergency work isn’t carried out to stabilize the foundations.
Laborers were working to remove the cave’s ceiling and the thick layer of dust inside, and to excavate it completely and fill it in anew. Only then can the new road be constructed above it. “If we only fill in the exposed part without digging the cave out in its entirety, the street will collapse from the weight of cars and trucks,” Cohen said.
(...)
According to Peter Gendelman, the senior archeologist at the site, it appears the area of the cave extends underneath the high school.
(...)
The Tel Aviv-Yaffo municipality stated that “the site is being examined by the city’s department for hazardous buildings, and they took out a special warrant to fill in the cave according to the advice and directions of land consultants and the antiquities authority. Likewise, the state fenced in the northeastern part of the school.”
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Read the rest here.

[IndianaGreen]

1. Is there a tomb with an inscription saying "RIP Jesus of Nazareth"?

I can't hardly wait...

[alfredo]

4. No, but they did find inscriptions that read:

"For a good time call Jezebel at Zion 2324."

Below that was another that said "Saul blows lepers."

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I hope Saul does that

veeerrryyy carefully.

[alfredo]

10. Careful or not,

they always leave a tip.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Yeowch!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. ...and several 2,000 year old cigarette butts

The cave was formerly the Boys Room.

[alfredo]

12. Finding urinal cookies would confirm that.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. Unleavened

nt

[Wednesdays]

13. Wow, 2100 years? That was some majorly looooong detention

Seriously, I'm a big history buff and I would hope everyone checks for stuff of historic value underneath wherever they're about to build upon before they start...especially in an area such as Israel.

[alfredo]

14. If a developer has enough money or influence he can

prevent any inquiry into historical value, environmental impact, or zoning laws. In Israel, just about anywhere you drop a spade you could uncover something of historic value.

[The Sushi Bandit]

2. I read about this last week on BBC

The story must be making the 2nd tier news services

[madrchsod]

3. jesus headlines the sermon this sabbath!

billed as the show of the year, the man who raised Lazarus from the dead will headline, what some say will top the sermon on the mount show!

[MidwestTransplant]

5. There was a writing of Jesus found there that said "I was joking

when I said take care of the lease among you." The Republicans had already known about it for a long while though.

[Peace Patriot]

7. They found a 2,100 year old burial cave and they're going to FILL IT IN?

For the convenience of a road and cars and trucks?!

Sounds to me like money has changed hands--and/or political pressure brought to bear.

[Igel]

16. It's a cave.

Artificial, but a cave, a hole in soft rock. There are many.

No bodies are left in the cave for very long; after a year or so the niche holding a body would have the remains removed. If it was a traditional burial cave, there was a sub-cave that the bones would be chucked into. If it was less traditional, the bones would be put into an ossuary and buried elsewhere. Most caves around 1 CE were less traditional. Burial caves were usually reserved for a given extended family or clain.

"And X was gathered to his fathers", a common phrase in the Tanach, wasn't a euphemism for "X died" in many cases. X would be put into a cave until everything that could decompose was decomposed, and what was left was literally chucked in with the non-decomposable remains of his father, mother, uncles, and grand-relatives.

[gauguin57]

9. And inside was a stone tabloid with the headline "Madgelene's baby bump!"

"News flash: 'Jesulene' breaking up over stress of his crucifixion, reincarnation"

[goforit]

15. Hmmm.... more deadsea scrolls to uncover and then hide from the public

Dan Brown is prooving himself right every day with the phoney organized
ficticious religions that exist today.

These discoveries will be covered up permanently.