Israel Antiquities Authority

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Model of the IAA campus facility inaugurated in 2012

The Israel Antiquities Authority ( Hebrew רָשׁוּת הָעַתִּיקוֹת Raschūt ha-ʿAttīqōt , German “antiquities authority” ; Arabic دائرة الآثار, DMG Dā'irat al-'Āṯār ; English: Israel Antiquities Authority [IAA]) is an independent Israeli authority responsible for enforcing the law for the protection of Israeli antiquities and archaeological finds. The head office is in Jerusalem . The IAA was founded in 1948 as the Israel Department of Antiquities and renamed in 1990.

tasks

The IAA regulates and supervises excavations, ensures the preservation of the archaeological cultural heritage, promotes archaeological research and issues excavation permits.

Until 2012, the IAA was housed in various buildings of the Rockefeller Museum . The new IAA building Jay and Jerome Schottenstein National Campus for the Archeology of Israel (הַקִּרְיָה הַלְּאֻמִּית לָאַרְכֵיְאוֹלוֹגְיָה שֶל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל ha-Qirjah ha-L'ummīt la-Archej'ōlōgjah schel 'Erez Jisra'el ) was built from 2006 with the aim of concentrating all the central administrative offices of the IAA in one building complex. The campus is around 20,000 square meters between the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem . The IAA building was built by the architect Mosche Safdie . The inauguration took place in October 2012. At the beginning of 2014, the IAA's entire move to the new building was completed. The entire site and the buildings were financed by the Schottenstein family .

The Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority generally sets the guidelines and draft laws on nature conservation policy, nature conservation and monument protection in the ancient cities in order to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of the Land of Israel. The IAA has a significant impact on the development and maintenance of buildings in historic cities such as Safed , Shefar'am , Ramla , Tiberias , Beer Sheva and Jaffa .

organization

The chairwoman of the board is currently Yvonne Friedmann . The management of the IAA consists of the director, the deputy director for archeology, the IAA regional offices Northern Region, Central Region, Jerusalem Region, Region South and the Maritime Archeology Unit with special departments such as:

  • Excavation and Surveys Department
  • Treatment department for artefacts (archaeological, ethnographic and sculptural) with its own Conservation Department for the preservation of objects
  • Department of National Treasures
  • It department
  • Publications Department
  • Archives department with its own library
  • Financial management

Directors

Discoveries

  • The IAA announced in February 2015 that hobby divers accidentally found almost 2,000 coins from the time of the Fatimids (909 to 1171 AD) on the harbor floor of ancient Caesarea . It is the largest gold treasure ever found in Israel and weighs around nine kilos.
  • In March 2015, cave hikers found a hiding place with ancient coins and objects made of silver and bronze in a stalactite cave in northern Israel in a niche in the vault. Among the finds are two silver coins from the time of Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC). In addition to the coins, several rings, bracelets and earrings as well as other jewelry made of silver were discovered. The exact location was kept secret for security reasons.
  • Another floor mosaic was discovered during the construction of an exhibition hall for the world-famous Roman mosaic of Lod. As announced in November 2015, the 11 by 13 meter mosaic was located in the courtyard of a spacious villa that was built in the 3rd century and was inhabited during the Roman and Byzantine times. It contains depictions of hunting scenes, fish, flowers in baskets and birds. The splendidly designed mosaic floor in the central salon of this Roman villa was discovered and secured during road construction work in 1996. In 2009 the 180 square meter mosaic with roaring lions, fighting elephants, giraffes and dolphins was uncovered, restored and sent on a world tour.
  • In April and May 2016, divers lifted the cargo of a sunken merchant ship from the late Roman era near the ancient port of Caesarea. In addition to several 1600 year old bronze statues, many coins with the likeness of Emperor Constantine and his rival Licinius and ancient nautical instruments were found in the wreck.
  • In July 2019 a Byzantine church with a floor plan of around twenty by thirty meters with an attached monastery complex was excavated near today's Al-Araj on the Sea of ​​Galilee . The church, built in the fifth or sixth century AD, transversely overlapped the floor plan of a residential building from the 1st century below. It is very likely that it is the home of the apostle Peter and his brother Andrew .
  • In October 2019, the discovery of the remains of a 1,500-year-old basilica- style church in Bet Shemesh was announced. The church is decorated with mosaic floors decorated with leaves, fruits, birds and plants and Greek inscriptions. At the time of use, the walls were decorated with colorful frescoes and tall columns. The main phase of construction took place during the reign of Emperor Justinian I , who ruled from 527 to 565. Later, under Emperor Tiberios I (574-582), a side chapel was added, an inscription mentions his donation.
  • In January 2020 archaeologists found parts of an approx. 2000 year old market square in the city of David , the oldest populated part of Jerusalem. As announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority, a measuring table for liquids and several measuring weights have been excavated. From this, the researchers conclude that they found Jerusalem's central market square near today's pilgrimage route in ancient times. This was at an entrance to the Jewish temple.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Campus for the Archeology of Israel . Website archaeology.org.il. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  2. ^ Message from the Chairman of the Board
  3. ↑ Accidental discovery in Israel: Hobby divers discover huge gold treasures. In: Spiegel Online . February 17, 2015, accessed January 22, 2017 .
  4. ↑ So far the largest gold treasure found in Israel. Israelnetz.de , February 18, 2015, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  5. ^ Coins and jewelry: hikers find ancient treasure in Israel . In: Spiegel Online . March 9, 2015 ( spiegel.de [accessed January 1, 2020]).
  6. ↑ The cave contains treasure from the Hellenistic era. Israelnetz.de , March 9, 2015, accessed on January 1, 2020 .
  7. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Israel: Archaeologists find Roman mosaic floor - DER SPIEGEL - science. November 17, 2015, accessed February 16, 2020 .
  8. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Treasure in the Mediterranean: divers recover Roman treasure from Israel - DER SPIEGEL - science. May 16, 2016, accessed March 15, 2020 .
  9. ↑ The Treasures of Caesarea. Der Tagesspiegel, May 17, 2016, accessed on March 15, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Stefan Trinks: Excavations in Israel: A Church in Honor of the Prince of the Apostles . In: FAZ.NET . August 1, 2019, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 12, 2020]).
  11. ↑ Church of a "glorious martyr" discovered. In: Israelnetz .de. October 24, 2019, accessed October 25, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Found biblical marketplace in Jerusalem. Israelnetz.de , January 3, 2020, accessed on January 11, 2020 .

Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 27.5 "  N , 35 ° 12 ′ 7.9"  E