Discovery: Skeleton with gold pendant discovered in excavations in Susita

September 29, 2014   

An amazing 1,600-year-old archaeological find has been uncovered in the north: During excavations by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa in the Susita National Park east of the Sea of ​​Galilee, a female skeleton was discovered with a gold pendant in the shape of a dove on it - silent testimony to the great earthquake of 363 AD. The excavations also uncovered a large muscular man's leg made of marble, resting on a tree trunk in exquisite sculpture, and artillery ammunition from 2,000 years ago. These are testimonies from the great earthquake of the year 363, which was So strong that it completely destroyed the city of Susita, founded in the second century BC, and it took about 20 years to rebuild. Another earthquake that struck the city in 749 destroyed the entire city, without it ever being rebuilt again. Evidence of the extensive destruction of the 363 earthquake had already been found in previous excavation seasons, but none of them was as moving as the one uncovered this year: To the north of the basilica, the largest building in the city that served as the city's commercial, economic, and judicial area, excavation site director Haim Shkolnik and his team discovered the remains of several skeletons, crushed under the weight of the roof that collapsed on them, with a gold pendant in the shape of a dove resting among the bones of one of the women. החוקרים סבורים כי בעיר היה גם רחוב עמודים מפואר, בדומה לערי המזרח הרומי. "סוף סוף הנתונים מתחילים להתחבר לכדי תמונה היסטורית-ארכיאולוגית ברורה", אמר ד"ר מיכאל איזנברג, ראש המשלחת הבינלאומית של החפירות.