Dr. Ofer Sion, director of the archaeological works at the site, stated that the newly-uncovered section is part of a waterway that was once some 13 kilometers long, leading from Solomon’s Pools. At the end of the 19th century, the Land of Israel archaeologist and architect Dr. Conrad Schick (designer of the Meah She’arim neighborhood) described the location of part of the waterway. “His work gave some clues that led to this discovery.” During the course of the excavation the wall of the waterway was exposed when some of the large stones were removed revealing a perfectly-designed waterway, with a flat stone roof on top. People can walk inside it, bent-over, for a length of 40 meters.”

Originally, water was supplied to Jerusalem chiefly from the Gichon Spring. Just over 2,000 years ago, however, with the population of the city growing, a new source was sought. King Herod began work on large projects bringing water from the Hevron Mountains, using the power of gravity, to Solomon’s Pools just south of the city. From there, two waterways channelled water to the city: The upper channel brought water to the King’s palace, Hezekiah’s Pool and other areas in the higher levels of the city, while water on the lower waterway went to the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount and the lower areas. The now-revealed section is part of the upper channel. The excavations are being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority as part of a “rescue” operation, customary in Israel before major construction work, prior to the replacement of underground infrastructures there.

In addition to the major Biblical earthquakes, two major earthquakes occurred in Israel during the last two centuries. The first earthquake, in January 1837, killed some 5,000 people, destroyed the city of Tzfat and damaged nearby Arab villages, while the second one, in July 1927, killed over 500 people, and caused heavy damage in Jericho, Shechem (Nablus), Jerusalem and Hevron. An earthquake centered in Lebanon was felt in Israel and Syria.

IAA conservators working on the mosaic (Israel news photo: Niki Davidov / IAA)

As the conservation experts worked on the plaster bedding to be done before detaching the mosaic, they were surprised to notice there were ancient foot and sandal prints beneath it. Clearly, the builders that had worked on the floor sometimes wore their sandals, and sometimes worked in their bare feet.

A sandal print shows that sometimes the builders wore their shoes (Israel news photo: Niki Davidov / IAA)

“It’s exciting. This is the first time I have ever encountered personal evidence such as this under a mosaic,” said Jacques Neguer, head of the IAA Art Conservation Branch, who referred to it as “a real archaeological gem that is extraordinarily well-preserved.” When removing a section of mosaic, it is customary to clean its bedding, and that way study the material from which it is made, and the construction stages, Neguer explained. “We look for drawings and sketches that the artists made in the plaster and marked where each of the tesserae will be placed.”

Neguer said this is also what happened with the Lod mosaic. “Beneath a piece on which vine leaves are depicted, we discovered that the mosaic’s builders incised lines that indicate where the tesserae should be set, and afterwards, while cleaning the layer, we found the imprints of the feet and sandals, sizes 34, 37, 42 and 44.” At least one imprint of a sole resembled a modern sandal, he added. Based on the concentration of foot and sandal prints, “it seems that the group of builders tamped the mortar in place with their feet.”

Bare foot prints were also found beneath the Lod mosaic (Israel news photo: Niki Davidov / IAA)

The mosaic is one of the largest and most magnificent ever seen in Israel, but although it was discovered in 1996, it was covered over again when no resources could be found for its conservation. Thirteen years later, the IAA received a contribution from the Leon Levy Foundation specifically earmarked for the preservation and development of the Lod site. The mosaic was re-excavated, exhibited to the public, and then conservators began the delicate process of removing it from the area for treatment in the IAA conservation laboratories in Jerusalem.

Measuring approximately 180 square meters, the mosaic is composed of colorful carpets that depict in exquisite detail mammals, birds, fish, floral species and sailing and merchant vessels that were in use at the time. It is believed that the mosaic floor was part of a villa that belonged to a wealthy man who lived during the Roman period.

The Lod mosaic is one of the largest and most magnificent ever discovered in Israel (Israel news photo: Niki Davidov / IAA)

The site, which is located in the eastern section of Lod, next to the entrance at Ginnaton Junction, is intended to become a springboard for tourism to the city. It is situated between HeHalutz and Struma Streets, which lead to the open air market and to the city’s center.

“It is fascinating to discover a 1,700 year old personal mark of people who are actually like us, who worked right here on the same mosaic,” Neguer remarked. “We feel the continuity of generations here.”

Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which is a general instrument, Kepler is a specialized telescope just for planet-hunting. Its sole instrument is a light meter that measures the brightness of more than 100,000 stars simultaneously, watching for anything that causes a star to dim. That dimming is often a planet passing in front of the star. Any planet that could support life would need to be rocky rather than gaseous. And it would need to be in just the right location. Planets that are too close to their star will be too hot, and those too far away are too cold.

Planets are being found on almost a daily basis, thanks to the Kepler telescope. The number of discovered exoplanets is now well past 400. But none of those has the right components for life. Most of the early exoplanet candidates found by Kepler are turning out to be something other than a planet, such as another star crossing the telescope’s point of view, when double-and triple-checked. Kepler is concentrating on about one-four hundredth of the nighttime sky, scanning more than 100,000 stars, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand light years away. A light year is about 5.9 trillion miles. So such planets are too far to travel to, and they cannot be viewed directly like the planets in our solar system.

If there were an Earth-like body in the area Kepler is searching, the telescope would find it, but it can take three years to confirm a planet’s orbital path. What Kepler has confirmed so far keeps pointing to the idea that there are many other Earths. Before Kepler, those bodies were too small to be seen. But all those planets were too large and in the wrong place to be like Earth. When Kepler looked at 43,000 stars that are about the same size as our sun, it found that about two-thirds of them appeared to be as life-friendly and nonviolent as our nearest star.

Excited astronomers say they could find Earth-like planets in just a few years and state they are on the verge of finding NASA officials and other leading scientists state that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year if preliminary hints from a new space telescope pan out. Planets like Earth orbiting other stars, a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe. A massive space telescope to scan Earth-like planets for oxygen, water, carbon dioxide - and even faint signs of industrial emissions from civilization - would cost about $5 billion. Once an Earth-like planet is found in the right place, determining if there are the ingredients for life there will pose another hurdle.

Even the Roman Catholic Church has held scientific conferences about the prospect of extraterrestrial life, including a meeting last November. The director of the Vatican Observatory, the Rev. Jose Funes stated these are big questions that reflect upon the meaning of the human race in the universe.

Further inforamtion can be found on the web: NASA’s Kepler Telescope: http://kepler.nasa.gov/ ; NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program: http://exep.jpl.nasa.gov/ ; The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia: http://www.exoplanet.eu/ ; and American Astronomical Society: http://aas.org/

Diamond, nature’s hardest material, typically stands up well to chemically erosive conditions, according to the Israeli Diamond Industry. The experiment is part of study being conducted under the direction of Professor Alon Hoffman and Dr. Joan Adler of the Technion, with Dr. Irina Couzman of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center. The team’s diamonds were transferred to NASA by Professor Tim Minton from Montana State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and were added to a group of “wandering” items, including material swatches for future space suits. In a year, all the items will be collected by the International Space Station and returned to their respective labs.

Gaucher’s disease, an inherited condition, occurs in approximately one out of every 20,000 live births. People with Gaucher’s disease do not have enough of an enzyme called glucocerebrosidase, which breaks down a certain type of fat molecule. As a result, lipid-engorged cells, called Gaucher cells, amass in different parts of the body, primarily the spleen, liver and bone marrow. Accumulation of Gaucher cells may cause the spleen and liver to swell, as well as cause anemia, excessive bleeding and bruising, bone disease and a number of other symptoms.
The Israeli-produced medication is an enzyme-replacement therapy that is derived from plants, as opposed to Cerezyme, which costs each patient an estimated $200,000 per year and is produced using hamster cells. Dr. David Aviezer, president and CEO of Protalix affirmsTaglucerase alfa is less expensive, simply because the manufacturing process does not require the large intial set-up investments involved in mammalian cell-based protein production, nor does it need the extensive ongoing costs associated with growth media and monitoring. In addition, the half-life of the medication appears to be significantly longer than that of Cerezyme, as indicated by publicly-available data. Aviezer holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science and an MBA from Bar Ilan University’s School of Business.

The company also signed a lucrative deal with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) on December 1, 2009 to develop and commercialize the new medication, giving Pfizer exclusive worldwide licensing rights. Protalix retains commercialization rights in Israel, however. With this submission, Protalix and Pfizer take a significant step forward in making a cost-effective treatment alternative available for Gaucher’s disease patients. Pfizer added in a statement, that upon the receipt of regulatory approvals, we are poised to quickly make taliglucerase alfa available to patients suffering with Gaucher’s disease who are in need of new treatment options.

In the meantime, taliglucerase alfa has been given an orphan product designation and was granted fast track development status by the FDA, and is currently being provided to Gaucher’s patients in the U.S. under an expanded access protocol. It is also being provided to patients in the European Union under a compassionate use protocol. The company has also filed its proposed pediatric investigation plan with the pediatric committtee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for a clinical study in patients ages 2 to 18.

With the aid of this fortress, Yannai thus blocked all Nabataean activity along the Incense Road, and in effect forced them out of the Negev. Erickson-Gini, who serves as scientific editor of the excavation stated this revolutionary discovery will redraw the maps of the region which describe that era and greatly increase the territory governed by the Hasmoneans. “Despite the evidence of the historial Josephus, according to which King Alexander Jannaeus conquered the southern coast of the Land of Israel and the harbor in Gaza, which was of paramount importance to the Nabataeans; and even further south, no clear archaeological proof had been found in the field because historians were inclined to dismiss the possibility that the Hasmoneans did indeed control the Negev.

IAA researchers are currently processing finds from archaeological excavations at sites located along the Incense Road that were previously exacavated by the late Dr. Rudolph Cohen of the Department of Antiquities. One such site is Horvat Ma’agurah, located on a ridge 3.4 kilometers west of Sde Boker. The site is situated at a strategic point overlooking Nahal Besor, where the Incense Road was located, connecting Petra with Gaza.

It is now clear that the Hasmoneans kept hold of the fortress located on the Incense Road, the principal trade route of their Nabataean enemies until the year 66 BCE, thus blocking any enemy movement along the road between Halutza and the Northern Sinai. This cut off trade between Petra and the ports, dealing a death blow to trade throughout the Negev for decades.

The discovery also validates the claim that another Nabataean site — Nessana, where a multitude of coins of Alexander Jannaeus were discovered — was actually ruled by the Hasmonean king. “Another interesting fact is that the army that Alexander Jannaeus engaged was for the most part a mercenary force composed of non-Jewish soldiers, which was confirmed based on the imported vessels that were found alongside the Jewish vessels there, and from the wine that was brought there from abroad.

The seal, which is made of bone, was found broken and is missing a piece from its upper right side. Two parallel lines divide the surface of the seal into two registers in which Hebrew letters are engraved. A period followed by a floral image or a tiny fruit appear at the end of the bottom name. The name of the seal’s owner was completely preserved and it is written in the shortened form of the name, Shaul, which is known from both the Bible (Genesis 36:37; 1 Samuel 9:2; 1 Chronicles 4:24 and 6:9) and from other Hebrew seals. Another Hebrew seal and three Hebrew bullae (pieces of clay stamped with seal impressions) were previously discovered nearby.

A bone seal engraved with the name “Shaul” (Photo: Vladimir Naykhin)

The second artifact, an ancient jar handle bearing the Hebrew name “Menachem” was uncovered in the neighborhood of Ras el ‘Amud during an excavation prior to construction of a girls’ school by the Jerusalem municipality.

The jar handle, inscribed with the name “Menachem” carved in Hebrew, was found among settlement remains dating to different phases of the Middle Canaanite period (2200 – 1900 BCE), and the last years of the First Temple period (8-7 BCE) that were recently uncovered during the excavation. This is the first time that a handle with the name “Menachem” has been found in Jerusalem.

The jar handle, inscribed with the name "Menachem" carved in Hebrew (Photo: Mariana Salzberger/IAA)

The name Menachem Ben Gadi is noted in the Bible as that of a king of Israel who reigned for 10 years, as one of the last kings of the Kingdom of Israel. According to Kings II, Menachem Ben Gadi ascended the throne in the 39th year of Uzziah, King of Judah (Judea). The names Menachem and Yinachem both are expressions of condolence, whereby they might be related to the death of family members. Dr. Ron Be’eri, the archaeologist added that such names already appeared earlier in the Canaanite period, on Egyptian pottery sherds and a document about an Egyptian governor on the Lebanese coast.

Aureus Tacitus (photo: Courtesy of IAA)

The collection includes unique coins that were minted in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. Among the artifacts to be displayed is a rare collection of 2,000-year-old coins that were burnt during the Great Revolt by the Jews against the Roman occupation, in which the Second Holy Temple was destroyed. The Western Wall, which was outside the Temple and not a part of it, is the only remaining part of the immediate area that remained standing following the destruction. One extraordinary find to be presented to the public is an extremely rare shekel that was minted by the Jewish rebels during the last months of the revolt, in the year 70 CE.

Lilly King Yehonatan (photo: Courtesy of IAA)

Also on display will be coins that were discovered at various excavations in the region which have a wide geographic origin, from Persia, via North Africa and as far away as France. These coins attest to the centrality of Jerusalem for all of the people who visited the city thousands of years ago, while leaving behind a “souvenir” in the area. Contrary to pagan coins, the ruler was not usually depicted on coins of Jewish origin, due to the Jewish prohibition against making a “graven image” or idol. According to an IAA statement, it is for this reason that a variety of symbols of inanimate objects, such as a wreath or scepter and helmet, appear on many Jewish coins.

Davidson Center at Jerusalem Archaeological Garden (photo: Courtesy of IAA)

Another artifact to be displayed will be a fragment of a large sarcophagus lid, discovered during excavations conducted along the separation barrier north of Jerusalem with funding provided by the Defense Ministry. The lid of the sarcophagus, which is meticulously fashioned, is engraved with an inscription in square script that is characteristic of the Second Temple period. It reads: “… Ben HaKohen HaGadol…” (son of the High Priest). Numerous high priests served in the Holy Temple during the latter part of the Second Temple period. According to the IAA, the sarcophagus inscription refers to one of the priests who officiated at the Temple between the years 30 CE and 70 CE.

YaHia Habbani of blessed memory, close family to the Aluf Abir’s father, Ya`aqov Mosha (Awad bin Brihim). According to the Aluf Abir, YaHia Habbani was the spitting image of his grandfather, the mighty Brihim bin Hassan of blessed memory.

Ancient Egyptian bas relief from the period of the Hebrew enslavement (at the Necropolis bani Ghassan near Karnak). We identify these as Hebrew warriors practicing the origins of Abir. They can be identified by their Semitic skin coloring; their beards (Egyptians could not grow natural beards); their wearing the ‘ephod-bad’ a traditional dress maintained by Hebrew warriors in Hadramaut. The center warriors appear to be performing the ‘dum-tak’, an ancient war dance in Abir to this day.

Khaliph (King) Abdulla Ibn Hussein of Transjordan sits with his personal Jewish bodyguards, Habani Yemenite brothers (left to right): Sayeed, Salaah, and Saadia Sofer/Ma`atuf DoH, uncles of Abir Aluf, Grandmaster Yehoshua Sofer and brothers to his father. (1922, Photo courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)

Photograph taken in Heidan, the mountainous region northeast of San’a, 5720 (1960): Mori Gamliel Sabari from Najran (standing center-right), served as personal guard to the last chief Imam of Yemen, Mohammad Billah Mansoor Al-Badr (back, second from the left, with large turban was an example of Jewish warriorship among other Yemenite communities; such as Najran, Khuban, Heidan, Shar`ab and others. (courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)

HaRav haGaon Mori Salem YiS’Haq Ma`atuf DoH of blessed memory.

Aluf Abir Mori Yehoshua Avner Sofer/Ma`atuf DoH. (courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)

Ancient Egyptian bas relief from the period of the Hebrew enslavement (at the Necropolis bani Ghassan near Karnak). We identify these as Hebrew warriors practicing the origins of Abir. They can be identified by their Semitic skin coloring; their beards (Egyptians could not grow natural beards); their wearing the ‘ephod-bad’ a traditional dress maintained by Hebrew warriors in Hadramaut. The center warriors appear to be performing the ‘dum-tak’, an ancient war dance in Abir to this day.

Abir Ro'im, the father of the Abir Aluf, is blind and 100 years old. Nevertheless, he still exercises daily and, eyesight or not, wields a swift sword.

Abir has been incorporated into areas of IDF officer training. Abir has formal recognition of the Wingate College of Sport Sciences (the most prestigious certifying body and official representative of the Israel Sport Authority). Abir/Qesheth® is not only an officially internationally recognized martial art, but has 15 Abir instructors-in-training towards their certification specifically as Abir/Qesheth® instructors.