Recent Archaeological Finds

[Soldier4Christ]

Eilat Mazar: Uncovering King David's Palace

Eilat Mazar is not at her dig just south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, where she has been exhuming the massive stone walls of what she believes to be the 10th-century remains of King David’s palace. Instead the 49-year-old widowed mother of four is at her office at the Shalem Center, a conservative social policy think tank in Jerusalem’s German Colony. Her short blonde hair bobs up and down as talks about the palace, possibly the most stunning archaeological discovery in Israel in decades. “It’s a huge structure built on the most important place that controls everything around it,” she says with excitement. “It must have been an important structure. We need to reveal more of it.”

Her office is filled with the kinds of items you might expect: 3000-year-old pots from her excavations of the ancient Phoenician settlements of Achziv on the northern coast of Israel and treasures from the Mazar family’s archaeological “dynasty.” Books by her late grandfather, the highly respected archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, are displayed prominently, as is a five-volume work that her father published highlighting the connections between archaeological finds and biblical verses.

Alongside her laptop on a paper-strewn desk sits the most telling object: a heavily marked Bible. Like her grandfather and father before her, Mazar is a believer in the Bible’s historical reliability. “One of the many things I learned from my grandfather was how to relate to the biblical text,” she says. “Pore over it again and again, for it contains within it descriptions of genuine historical reality.” She adds, “I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other. That’s what biblical archaeologists do. The Bible is the most important historical source and therefore deserves special attention.”

This approach led Mazar to the site she now believes is the northern edge of King David’s palace in an area known as the City of David. When she set out on her quest in search of the palace in 1997, she turned to her Bible. She found what she was looking for in chapter five, verse 17 of the Second Book of Samuel. “When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible says David went down from his palace to the fortress,” Mazar says. “I wondered down from where? It’s very reasonable to assume that when the Bible describes David going down he came from a higher place. The only higher place is from the north.”

It was a crucial observation. Mazar reasoned the only direction where the topography is higher would be just north of the City of David, outside the walls of the Old City. She began excavating in February of 2005. The finds came quickly. Surprisingly intact, just two yards beneath ground level, were Byzantine-era artifacts, including a fully-preserved room with mosaic floors dating to the 4th to 6th centuries C.E. When Mazar peeled back the room, she uncovered water cisterns, pools and a mikvah from the Second Temple period. But it was what was under these that would prove to be the most startling. The Second Temple remains were directly on top of thick foundation walls that protruded in all directions—and even beyond—the length and width of her 30-by-10 meter excavation site.

“We saw that this was clearly something monumental, and was obviously not any private construction,” Mazar says.

The pottery found under the building—that is, from before the building’s construction—dated back to the 12th to 11th centuries B.C.E.—just before David conquered Jerusalem. But inside one of the rooms, Mazar’s team found pottery from the 10th to 9th century B.C.E., indicating that the building was in use during the period of David’s reign in Jerusalem. In addition, Mazar found a seal impression, called a bulla, of a late 7th-century royal official named Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, son of Shevi, who is mentioned twice in the Book of Jeremiah (37:3 and 38:1). “The bulla find—it’s an amazing find,” she says, adding that it proves “that the site was an important center in the ancient Israelite monarchy for four centuries.”

cont'd on page two

[Soldier4Christ]

Page two

Mazar’s excavation, funded by the Shalem Center and its chairman, American financier Roger Hertog, has powerful political implications. When news of the find broke, Zionists, both Jewish and Christian, were ecstatic. If confirmed, the palace would counteract recent claims by the Palestinians, who dismiss King David’s reign as useful political fiction.

“For years, there have been those who contended that there was no evidence of public construction in 10th century B.C.E. Jerusalem,” Mazar, an ardent Zionist, says. “Based on this, they claim that David and Solomon were not important rulers as described in the Bible. Now there is evidence of such construction, and those who minimize the importance of David and Solomon have to deal with the facts. Because in an out-of-the-way and remote settlement you would not have a structure like this. To build such a major structure, you needed strong central rule in Jerusalem at that time. It’s nothing like what is described by the minimalists.”
The discovery has drawn Mazar into the center of a heated archaeological debate. Gabriel Barkai, professor at Bar-Ilan University, was emphatic, calling Mazar’s findings unprecedented. “She has for the first time after more than 150 years of archaeology in Jerusalem discovered a massive public building dating back to the 10th century B.C.E.,” Barkai said. But other archaeologists are dubious. “I am not at all certain that this is what has been found,” said University of Haifa archaeologist Professor Ronny Reich. He noted that in order to determine that the site was indeed David’s palace, the pottery and the walls had to be found “in the same context” and “living together.” “Whether this is the case here is still an open question,” he said.
Even more critical is Israel Finkelstein, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University and the leading proponent of, “low chronology,” which claims that many of the grand buildings dated to the 10th century B.C.E. and attributed to King Solomon are actually a century younger. Finkelstein characterizes the hoopla over Mazar’s discovery as “Messianic eruptions in biblical archaeology.”

In fact, Finkelstein challenges Mazar’s entire approach of linking the Bible with archaeological research. “That David took two steps down and four steps up and saw Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop does not prove that you have found King David’s palace,” Finkelstein told The Jerusalem Post. “Biblical archaeology is the only discipline I know in which time stopped four centuries ago and no progress has been made since then.”
Palestinian archaeologists have also weighed in. Hani Nure el-Din, an archaeologist at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem told The New York Times that he and his colleagues consider the kind of biblical archaeology practiced by Mazar and others to be an effort by Israelis “to fit historical evidence into a biblical context. “They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button, and they want to make a suit out of it.”

One of Mazar’s earliest memories is of her grandfather driving off in a jeep with the Israeli archaeologist Yigal Shiloh. In those days, archaeology was closely intertwined with the larger project of building the Jewish state and there was a never-ending hum of excitement about archaeological discoveries. “It was into such a world that I grew up,” Mazar recalls. Her whole family participated in one way or another, including her mother, who, even after divorcing Mazar’s father, remained close with Benjamin Mazar. At the age of 11, Eilat took part in her first dig, helping out at her grandfather’s excavation south of the Temple Mount just a few dozen yards from where she is excavating now.

Despite these early experiences, Mazar didn’t decide to become an archaeologist until after her army service, when she enrolled in courses at Hebrew University. She calls her years in university an “immense delight,” a time when she and her fellow students would run to any place in the country where an excavation, no matter how modest, was underway. Later, she served as a field supervisor for the City of David excavations, directed by Shiloh, the longtime friend and associate of her grandfather. The excavations were conducted on the ridge just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—again very near to where Mazar is excavating.

Balancing a career in archaeology with family has not been easy. She married right out of the army, had a child, and then divorced. Later she found new love with Israeli archaeologist Yair Shoham and the couple had three children. Tragically, Shoham died suddenly of a heart attack in 1997 at the age of 44, two years after Mazar lost her grandfather.

This winter, in the midst of the excitement stirred by her finds, Mazar took time out to plan her son’s bar mitzvah. “Family life is very important to me,” she explains. “My family life gives me the strength to do what I do. Work is part of my life—I love my work. I see it as a complete life.”

The ambitious Mazar is no stranger to controversy. In 2000, she was one of the most vocal critics of the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust that administers the Temple Mount, for carting thousands of tons of earth off the Mount without archaeological supervision in an effort to expand an underground mosque. Indeed, she was just as critical of the Israel Antiquities Authority, which by law is responsible for any archaeological activity on the Mount: The Authority didn’t pursue the matter, largely because the second intifada broke out and it had little stomach for enflaming Muslim sensitivities.

Despite the controversy whirling around her, Mazar remains focused on her goal: establishing the authenticity of her find. Back at her office at the Shalem Center, she and her team are processing the finds, dating, recording and properly storing the shards and other artifacts. Once finished, she’ll head back to the dig to uncover more of the palace.

Mazar doesn’t seem at all surprised that she has found King David’s palace. In her view, it’s always been there, awaiting an archaeologist who could decipher the clues in the Bible. She’s pleased that she’s the Fortunate one. “It’s nice to touch your history,” she says.

[nChrist]

Pastor Roger Said:

Mazar doesn’t seem at all surprised that she has found King David’s palace. In her view, it’s always been there, awaiting an archaeologist who could decipher the clues in the Bible. She’s pleased that she’s the Fortunate one. “It’s nice to touch your history,” she says.

Brother, all I can say is WOW! and WOW! again. More and more discoveries are PROOF that the Holy Bible is and always was nothing but the TRUTH! I hope and pray that hosts of the lost start picking up the BIBLE and treating it in the manner that it deserves, the HOLY WORD OF GOD!

[Soldier4Christ]

Italians find ancient Ur tablets

 Writings could lead to buried library  (ANSA) - Rome, March 28 - Italian archeologists working in Iraq have found a trove of ancient stone tablets from the fabled civilisation of Ur .

The tablets bear around 500 engravings of a literary and historical nature, according to team leader Silvia Chiodi .

"This is an an exceptional find," she said, noting that the area in question had previously only yielded prehistoric artefacts .

She said the tablets, made of clay and bitumen, were discovered by chance at an archaeological site not far from the location of the ancient city .

"I was looking for a wall structure spotted by an airborne photo when I spotted a small inscription on bitumen and then realised it wasn't the only one" .

An expert on Sumerian civilisation, Giovanni Pettinato, said the finds probably dated back to one of Ur's most prosperous periods .

"The most surprising thing is the time span the tablets cover, ranging from 2,700 BCE, the First Dynasty of Ur, to 2,100 BCE, the Third Dynasty," Pettinato said .

"The place where the tablets were found, not far from the surface, leads one to suppose they contain information from a library," he said .

"There could be thousands of them down there" .

Chiodi said the tablets would probably occupy a prominent place in a new Virtual Museum of Iraq which Italy is building to show people what Baghdad's celebrated museum of antiquities looked like before it was looted in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq .

About a half of 40 star attractions of the museum have yet to be retrieved .

Of the 15,000 items taken from storeooms, 8,000 have not been returned despite an amnesty .

Ur, near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, is cited in the Bible as the birthplace of the prophet Abraham .

It was the religious hub of Sumerian civilisation at the start of a series of dynasties that ruled Mesopotamia from around 4000 BCE .

Long before the Egyptians, the Sumerians invented the wheel and developed the first mathematical system .

The most famous classic of ancient literature, Gilgamesh, was written at Ur .

The most prominent monument at the site is the best preserved ziggurat, or stepped pyramid, in the Arab world .

It was built by the Sumerians around 4000 BCE and restored by Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BCE .

[Shammu]

Palace of Homer's hero rises out of the myths
From John Carr in Athens
   
   
ARCHAEOLOGISTS claim to have unearthed the remains of the 3,500-year-old palace of Ajax, the warrior-king who according to Homer’s Iliad was one of the most revered fighters in the Trojan War.

Classicists hailed the discovery, made on a small Greek island, as evidence that the myths recounted by Homer in his epic poem were based on historical fact.

The ruins include a large palace, measuring about 750sq m (8,000sq ft), and believed to have been at least four storeys high with more than thirty rooms.

Yannos Lolos, the Greek archaeologist who made the discovery, said he was certain that he had come across the home of the Aiacid dynasty, a legendary line of kings mentioned in the Iliad and the Classical Greek tragedies. One of the kings, Ajax (or Aias), was described by Homer as a formidable fighter who, at one point in the Trojan campaign, held off the Trojans almost singlehandedly while his fellow Greek Achilles sulked in his tent because his slave-girl had been taken away from him.

The city of Troy is believed to have fallen about 1180BC — at about the same time, according to Mr Lolos, that the palace he has discovered was abandoned and left to crumble. Ajax, therefore, would have been the last king to have lived there before setting off on the ten-year Trojan expedition.

“This is one of the few cases in which a Mycenaean-era palace can be almost certainly attributed to a Homeric hero,” Mr Lolos said.

Fellow archaeologists said that they believed that the ruins were indeed those of a Mycenaean palace. Curtis Runnels, Professor of Archaeology at Boston University, said: “Mr Lolos has really delivered the goods.”

The Mycenaean ruins appear to be at the site where Homer records a fleet of ships setting out to take part in the war on Troy. The Iliad is believed to portray conditions at the close of the dominance of Mycenae, the prime Greek power of the second millennium BC.

The ruins have been excavated over the past five years at a site near the village of Kanakia on the island of Salamis, a few miles off the coast of Athens.

The palace was built in the style of those of the period, including the vast acropolis at Mycenae.

“The complex was found beneath a virgin tract of pine woods on two heights by the coast,” Mr Lolos said. “All the finds so far corroborate what we see in the Homeric epics.”

Homer compares Ajax to a wall and describes him carrying a shield made of seven layers of thick oxhide. Unlike other heroes, he fights without the aid of deities or the supernatural. According to Sophocles, who wrote 800 years after the Trojan War, Ajax committed suicide after the fall of Troy without seeing his homeland again.

Several relics of oriental and Cypriot origin were found at the site at Kanakia, such as bronze armour strips stamped with the emblem of Pharaoh Rameses II of Egypt, indicating trade or possible war in the 13th century BC.

Salamis became famous as the site of a sea battle in 480BC in which the Greek navies destroyed the invasion fleet of the Persian king Xerxes and put paid to the Persian threat.

The other main site where archaeologists claim to have discovered relics of places recounted in the Iliad is at the castle of Pylos in southeastern Greece, believed to be the home of King Nestor.

Palace of Homer's hero rises out of the myths

[Soldier4Christ]

Road to Temple Mount uncovered


The main road that ran from Jerusalem's City of David to the Temple Mount during the time of the Second Temple has been uncovered by Israeli archeologists, those involved in the dig said Thursday. The road connected the Shiloah pool in the City of David to the Temple Mount compound.

The 2,000-year-old road was discovered adjacent to the Shiloah pool during ongoing excavations at the site, said Israeli Antiquities Authority archeologist Eli Shukrun. He is directing the dig together with University of Haifa archeologist Prof. Ronny Reich.

The road was used by the tens of thousands of people who came to Jerusalem for the Jewish pilgrimage holidays during the Second Temple Period, who immersed themselves in the Shiloah pool before entering the Temple Mount, Shukrun said. He said the road showed the centrality of both the Temple and the pool for life in the city at the time.

Archeologists had previously discovered the other end of the 600-meter road near the Temple Mount, he said.

The archeologists have not learned when the road was built, but they have determined that it was in use between the first half of the first century BCE and the destruction of the second Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.

"This was the main road of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period," Shukrun said.

The archeologists also found large stones and boulders from the destruction of the Second Temple, burnt ashes, and an assortment of coins from the failed Jewish rebellion against the Romans.

The excavations at the site are being sponsored by the right-wing Ir David Foundation, which supports the reestablishment of Jewish communities in east Jerusalem.

The latest finds in the City of David, located just outside the walls of the Old City, came two years after Israeli archeologists stumbled upon the 2,000-year-old pool while the city was carrying out infrastructure work for a new sewage line.

The waters of the Shiloah pool, which come from the nearby Gihon spring, were used in Jewish purification rituals carried out, among other times, before visits to the Temple.

[nChrist]

Road to Temple Mount uncovered


The main road that ran from Jerusalem's City of David to the Temple Mount during the time of the Second Temple has been uncovered by Israeli archeologists, those involved in the dig said Thursday. The road connected the Shiloah pool in the City of David to the Temple Mount compound.

Pastor Roger,

Brother, these earth-shaking finds are happening with greater frequency now. I'm really beginning to wonder if these finds represent a message from GOD to mankind. If not, they should still serve to show mankind the absolute truth and accuracy of the Holy Bible. I'm hoping and praying that hosts of people start picking up the Holy Bible and KNOW that it isn't just a book, rather it is the WORD OF GOD! Christians already know this, but one would think that those always hollering for proof should start paying attention.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 1:21-22 NASB  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

[Soldier4Christ]

Brother, I hate to sound negative but unfortunately most of those that yell about wanting proof will not accept the proof given them even if it were laid right in front of them. I have already heard many of these sceptics claiming that there is no defiitive proof that the palace found was in fact David's palace. It was said about the coins that were found with the name of Jesus Christ on them that there is no proof it is the same Jesus Christ of the Bible. It is the true meaning of "because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand".

[nChrist]

Hello Pastor Roger,

It's sad, but I know that you're right. After all, there were hosts of CHRIST'S own who saw HIM, talked to HIM, and watched the signs and wonders. However, I do know that there will be some who will investigate the Holy Bible again and might be led to the LORD. It can also serve as additional strength for those who are already in CHRIST.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 11:6 NASB  And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

New discoveries point to 'cave of John the Baptist' as important site in the time of Isaiah

New Discoveries Point to "Cave of John the Baptist" as Important Site in the Time of Isaiah Recently completed digging at Israel's Suba Cave, an archaeological site that is possibly connected with John the Baptist, or Jewish groups of his time has revealed features that deepen the mystery of the site's ancient origins, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte archaeologist James D. Tabor, associate director of the excavation.

The site was brought to international attention in 2004 with the publication of The Cave of John the Baptist, a controversial book by Israeli archaeologist Shimon Gibson, the site's director. The initial connection with John the Baptist was based on some of the earliest Christian drawings related to John on the cave walls as well as the location of the cave near Ein Kerem, John's birthplace. In particular, the most recent excavations point to the possible existence of a second, still unexcavated cave at the site, suggesting that the location may have been a major complex of uncertain function during the Iron Age

In the 2004 book, Gibson discussed discoveries from the cave and underground reservoir at Suba, 15 miles west of Jerusalem, focusing on the finding that it had seen particularly heavy use during the early Roman period, around the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. In particular, the discovery in 1st. Century AD stratigraphic levels of thousands of small pottery vessels, all apparently ritually broken, led Gibson to theorize that the cave had been a site for baptismal rituals, possibly performed by John the Baptist or Jesus, or other Jewish groups of a similar nature who practices ritual water purification rites. Towards the end of the cave excavation, Gibson also found evidence that the cave's large (24 meters long, 4 meters wide and 5 meters high) plastered reservoir had originally been constructed in the 7th Century BC, near the time of Isaiah. Because the massive cave had been professionally cut from solid rock, Gibson concluded that it must have been a project of the Kingdom of Judah. Because it was not conveniently located in an urban area (the nearest town was Suba, which was more than a kilometer away) and because it contained features that were inconsistent with a storage reservoir or cistern (its unusual shape and broad stairs descending to the water), Gibson theorized that part of its original function might have included ritual rites of water purification.

In the most recent excavations in March, 2006, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student team, supervised by Gibson and Tabor, uncovered an outside corridor leading to what appears to be another cave. The corridor was filled with deposits that date to the Iron Age (within 100 years of the site's original construction) and leads directly into the steep hillside.

"Just last summer we found new pools outside up above the cave and a corridor, which our most recent dig shows is leading into what we now think is another chamber," said Tabor. "We're almost afraid to continue because it now looks like this is some huge complex, but now that we are into it, we can't stop."

"We're following the corridor on back and taken it up to a wall of fill – it is leading to something – maybe another cave. The corridor narrows as it approaches the cliff face and up above you can see bedrock, maybe a roof, but in front you can just see fill. It could just be a little enclave, but it just keeps going… it's going somewhere."

Tabor notes that if the corridor is leading to a cave, the site was even more extensive during the time of Isaiah than it was during the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. "The entrance, if that's what it is, is blocked with Iron Age fill, so this went out of use quickly after it was built, which is another mystery," Tabor noted. "Why do you build this huge thing and then it goes out of use within a hundred years? You have to wonder."

In the recent excavations, the team also uncovered seven rough stone pillars in the middle of the corridor.

"We have no idea what purpose these pillars served," said Tabor. "They could be quarry stones, but they left them standing in the corridor for some reason."

Tabor sees the new discoveries as further evidence for the past significance and historical importance of the Suba Cave site. If the cave was used for baptismal rituals at the time of John the Baptist, as Gibson has argued, it is a possibility that the site was used because it had ancient significance to John and his followers. Gibson and Tabor have also explored more practical theories, namely that the complex was quarried for some kind of industrial use--perhaps as a clay production facility.

In his 2004 book, Gibson argues that "evidence showed that the cave at Suba was already more than 700 years old at the time of John the Baptist. It was a place, I believe, that must have possessed a hoary Israelite tradition of ritualistic bathing going back into the mists of time." As more evidence has been uncovered Gibson has broadened his theorizing and currently is uncertain of the original function of the facility. There are no precise parallels to this kind of complex from the Iron Age, however, a roughly similar reservoir, but without the external pools and corridor, exists at nearby Bet Shemesh.

[nChrist]

New discoveries point to 'cave of John the Baptist' as important site in the time of Isaiah

New Discoveries Point to "Cave of John the Baptist" as Important Site in the Time of Isaiah Recently completed digging at Israel's Suba Cave, an archaeological site that is possibly connected with John the Baptist, or Jewish groups of his time has revealed features that deepen the mystery of the site's ancient origins, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte archaeologist James D. Tabor, associate director of the excavation.

Brother Roger,

This would be like a great mystery novel that you just couldn't put down, except this would be the truth of ages past. I would hope that they get whatever resources are needed and the work continues quickly but carefully. Massive amounts of time, money, and other resources have been spent on Egyptian history. I am now wondering if there will be similar interest in Judeo-Christian history. I'm afraid that the answer will be "No".

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 139:4 NASB  Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

[Soldier4Christ]

I doubt that we will see the documentaries on the History Channel ( at least truthful ones) about Judeo-Christian history to the extent that we see on Egyptian history. I am attempting to do my part though in promoting it. I have one teen here that can't seem to get enough.

[nChrist]

Pastor Roger,

I'm slightly past my teen years. 

However, please count me among those who are absolutely fascinated by Judeo-Christian history. The Old Testament of the Holy Bible is wonderful, but I've always wanted to learn more. I do have some ancient writings, but most of them are difficult to read.

I have seen several shows on the History Channel, but it seems that they lean more toward stuff like DaVinci and other twisted material that doesn't come close to the truth. I did watch a few shows related to archeology sites that were excellent, but they were small things in comparison to the news that has been posted here.

I want to thank you again for sharing with us.

Love in Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

[Soldier4Christ]

Excavations in Ephesus see their 111th year

Excavation and restoration efforts in the ancient city of Ephesus are entering their 111th year.

  Conducted by the Austrian Archaeology Institute for the past 110 years, work on the site will continue this year as well, carried out by the same organization.

  Austrian excavation leader Professor Fritz Krinzinger said, �We are pleased to have been able excavate for 100 years in such a place, one of Turkey's richest archaeological sites,� and thanked the Culture and Tourism Ministry for giving them this opportunity. 

  He said they had spent approximately YTL 1.5 million on work in 2005, with the bulk of expenses met by the Austrian ministry responsible for culture as well as Austrian sponsors.

  Noting that they had already begun work for 2006 on the site's 24,000-seat theater, Krinzinger said, �Our work this year will also include the street leading to the port, the Traian fountain and the Belevi mausoleum.� 

  He said in addition to work in the ancient city of Ephesus, excavation would proceed in the Turkish baths in Selçuk and its environs, work that has been under way for the past 10 years. 

  �We will continue to publish our findings and plan to release seven or eight publications by the end of the year,�

  �Work at Ephesus in 2006 will be conducted by 243 archeologists and 80 laborers, with plans to finish up in November for the year,� he said. 

[Soldier4Christ]

These unbelieveing scientists just won't give up and admit they don't have all the answers and what few they think they have are wrong.

________________________________


Jesus walked on ice, says study led by FSU scientist
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The New Testament story describes Jesus walking on water in the Sea of Galilee but according to a study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof, it's more likely that he walked on an isolated patch of floating ice.

The study points to a rare combination of optimal water and atmospheric conditions for development of a unique, localized freezing phenomenon that Nof and his co-authors call "springs ice."

In what is now northern Israel, such ice could have formed on the cold freshwater surface of the Sea of Galilee –– known as Lake Kinneret by modern-day Israelis –– when already chilly temperatures briefly plummeted during one of the two protracted cold periods between 2,500 and 1,500 years ago.

A frozen patch floating on the surface of the small lake would have been difficult to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. The unfrozen water was comprised of the plumes resulting from salty springs situated along the lake's western shore in Tabgha –– an area where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been documented.

"As natural scientists, we simply explain that unique freezing processes probably happened in that region only a handful of times during the last 12,000 years," Nof said. "We leave to others the question of whether or not our research explains the biblical account."

It isn't the first time the FSU researcher has offered scientific explanations of watery miracles. As a recognized expert in the field of oceanography and limnology –– the study of freshwater, saline and brackish environments –– Nof made waves worldwide in 1992 with his oceanographic perspective on the parting of the Red Sea.

His latest research appears in the April 2006 Journal of Paleolimnology, a scientific publication that addresses the reconstruction of lake history.

Using paleoceanographic records of the Mediterranean Sea's surface temperatures along with analytical ice and statistical models, Nof and his colleagues focused on the dynamics of a small section of Lake Kinneret comprising about 10,000 square feet near the salty springs that empty into it. Their analysis supports the likelihood that a brief blast of frigid air descended over the lake and dropped to 25 F (-4 C) for at least two days, coinciding with the chill that had already settled in for a century or more and quite possibly encompassed the decades in which Jesus lived.

If these atmospheric conditions existed simultaneously over a lake such as Kinneret, a floating ice patch could develop above the plumes generated by the salty springs.

Such a perfect combination of conditions on the low-latitude Kinneret might well seem miraculous. In the last 120 centuries, Nof calculates the odds as roughly once in 1,000 years. However, during the life of Jesus the prevailing climate may have favored the more frequent formation of springs ice –– about once in 30 to 160 years.

Floating springs ice partially or entirely surrounded by unfrozen water could be virtually impossible for distant observers to discern, particularly if subsequent rains had smoothed its surface; and 2,000 years ago, even those with a better view might not have recognized a natural phenomenon so rare in their corner of the world.

"In today's climate, the chance of springs ice forming in northern Israel is effectively zero, or about on ce in more than 10,000 years," Nof added.

Among numerous honors throughout his career, Nof won the prestigious Nansen Medal from the European Geosciences Union in 2005. He is FSU's Distinguished Fridtjof Nansen Professor of Physical Oceanography and a member of its Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute.