Archeological researchers announced Wednesday that they have discovered a 2,100-year-old farmstead in Israel along with coins that may date back to the second century B.C.
Researchers at the site near Israel’s northern Sea of Galilee discovered the farmstead essentially “frozen in time” with many household items still intact, suggesting the homeowners may have left in a hurry when the site was abandoned, Live Science reported Friday. Most of the items remained where they were left by the former occupants, who possibly disappeared quickly due to a military invasion, the outlet continued. (RELATED: People Are Picking Carnivorous Plants That Look Like Penises. Apparently, It’s A Problem)
“We were very lucky to discover a time-capsule, frozen in time, in which the finds remained where they were left by the occupants of the site,” archaeologist Amani Abu-Hamid said in a statement referenced by the outlet. “It seems that they left in haste in face of an impending danger, possibly the threat of a military attack.”
Artifacts discovered at a 2,100 year-old farm in northern Israel suggest the inhabitants fled, leaving their home and farming gear unusually intact. https://t.co/1qqLmZHVtf#Archaeology #Israel #Galilee #Artifacts pic.twitter.com/eXMbYthUqo
— The Archaeological Conservancy (@tac_org) May 27, 2022
One theory on the former occupants is that they were members of the Seleucid Empire that fled their home in an effort to escape forces coming from the independent Hasmonean Kingdom based in Jerusalem, according to Live Science.
“We know from the historical sources, that in this period, the Judean Hasmonean kingdom expanded into the Galilee, and it is possible that the farmstead was abandoned in the wake of these events,” Abu-Hamid reportedly continued.
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This is believed to be the first-ever discovery of remnants from that time period in Galilee, according to Times of Israel. Dozens of loom weights and many unbroken pottery jars were also found at the site along with valuable iron farming equipment, all of which led the researchers to the assumption that the occupants left in a hurry, according to Haaretz.