April 2013: Nautical archaeologists have reported the discovery of a “monumental” conical stone pile built of large, natural, unhewn basalt cobbles and boulders, on the floor of the [Kinneret] Sea of Galilee. The structure is definitely man-made, and measures about 70 meters in diameter at a depth of about 219 meters, reported archaeologists Yitzhak Paz, Moshe Reshef, Zvi Ben-Avraham, Shmuel Marco, Gideon Tibor and Dani Nadel, in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

Researcher Yitzhak Paz, of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Ben-Gurion University, informed LiveScience.com the structure could date back more than 4,000 years. The “effort invested in such an enterprise is indicative of a complex, well-organized society, with planning skills and economic ability,” the researchers wrote in their journal paper.

Close inspection by scuba diving revealed that the structure is made of basalt boulders up to 1 meter long with no apparent construction pattern and no signs of cutting or chiseling. A possible interpretation for the structure is related to the fact that it attracts fish and thus may be interpreted as a part of a marine-based economy. If this is the case, the structure must have been built as an underwater structure, the archaeologists wrote. Such structures built of stone are thought to be ancient fish nurseries that are well known in the Sea of Galilee and are found near the shores at regular intervals. However, they are significantly smaller than the structure revealed recently, with diameters of up to 4 meters.

An alternative scenario is that the structure was built onshore, when the water level was lower than today. A report on LiveScience.com stated the structure appears to be a giant cairn, with rocks piled on top of each other. Structures like this are known from elsewhere in the world and are sometimes used to mark burials, according to the report. Researchers do not know if the newly discovered structure was used for this purpose.

The Roman-appointed king, who ruled Judaea from 37 to 4 BC, is known as much for his brutal tyranny as for his magnificent building projects.  Herod, who was born into a family from local regional tribes had converted to Judaism.

According to the Christian belief, Herod slaughtered infants in Bethlehem on hearing of the birth of Jesus. He was also believed to have killed three of his own sons and one of his wives, as well as many political foes. He was, in the words of first century historian Flavius Josephus, “equally cruel to everyone, a slave to his temper who distorted justice.” This ego, however, combined with rare organizational and political talents, was what pushed him to demonstrate his grandeur to both his Jewish subjects in Jerusalem and fellow rulers across the Roman empire, by building monumental palaces and renovating the Jewish Second Temple.

An new exhibition at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum sheds new light on the life and death of “Herod the Great”, the ancient king by focusing on his stunning archaeological legacy and whose empire sought to straddle imperial Rome and a flourishing Jewish culture. The exhibition is described by Israel Museum’s director James Snyder as the museum’s “most ambitious” archaeological undertaking and the first ever to focus on Herod.

It takes visitors on a journey that starts at the winter palace in Jericho and ends at Herodium, a hollowed-out hill near Bethlehem where he built a palace and fortress. The meticulous reconstruction showcases the height of Roman fashion and craft work from a stone bath and patterned floors to a set of jugs for holding the finest delicacies imported from Europe.

Among the 250 artifacts on display is a decorated cornice from Herod’s most grandiose undertaking: the expansion of the Second Temple. Three-dimensional video exhibits use aerial photography to show how Herod’s massive structures would have appeared today. In the Herodium, away from the religious centre of Jerusalem, one could feel free to enjoy exquisite wall paintings and frescos at his palace. These were replete with images of animals and people, which Judaism views as idolatrous. Behind a row of giant columns stands the centerpiece of the exhibition: a reconstruction of the king’s burial chamber at Herodium.

Herod’s greatness came from him retaining the delicate balance between the western and eastern cultures he represented, Snyder stated. “At the same time that Herod managed to have strong diplomatic ties to the home base (Rome), he enabled the flourishing here of a local culture which was Second Temple period Judaism.” “That delicate balance is really a remarkable thing to see in history, and Herod accomplished that.”

Roi Porat, a Hebrew University archaeologist who worked on the excavation of Herodium, stated Herod had tried to resolve the internal conflict of belonging to two opposing camps. “On the one hand, he wanted to be a Jewish king, and on the other, he wanted to be the King of Judaea for the Romans.” “He tried to win the sympathy of both sides by building a holy site of worship for the Jews and by building the largest temple for the Romans.” Everything about Herod was extreme, he stated: his diplomatic skills, his financial abilities and his ambitious construction projects, which included six desert palaces, the Temple and the port of Caesarea.

Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer spent four decades searching for Herod’s burial site on the mount, announcing he found the first evidence of its location in 2007. However, three years later, he fell to his death during an initial tour of the site. The museum has dedicated the exhibition entitled “Herod the Great – The King’s Final Journey” to Netzer’s memory.

March 2013: The “Shrine and Synagogue of Prophet Eliahou Hanabi since 720 B.C. – an ancient synagogue near Damascus has reportedly gone up in flames after being robbed and vandalized. there are additional reports of the destruction of the sacred Eliahou Hanabi (Eliyahu HaHavi) shrine and synagogue.

The 2,000-year-old house of worship was perched upon the cave according to ancient tradition that was used by the Biblical prophet Elijah to conceal himself from those who would arrest and prosecute him. The synagogue, allegedly built by the Biblical prophet Elisha, and subsequently repaired during the first century CE by the Torah sage, Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, is one of Syria’s oldest. It stands at the site where Elijah anointed Elisha as a prophet, to follow him.

There had been almost no structural changes whatsoever to the synagogue since it was built, making it especially unique architecturally as well as historically. That is until the savage civil wars prompted by the region wide “Arab Spring’ launched in March 2011 arrived in Syria. It is clear nevertheless that the preservation of the holy site has been a rare miracle at best.

A video posted online by the Syrian opposition showed the same synagogue,  one of Judaism’s holiest sites severely damaged in shelling by Syrian government forces in the Damascus district of Jobar earlier this month. The video, which appeared on the pan-Arabic Al Arabiya news website, showed a clear photo of the marble plaque indicating the “Shrine and Synagogue of Prophet Eliahou Hanabi since 720 B.C.

Writer Jack Koury added a “Note” to his March 2 post about the incident on the “War in Iraq” blog, showing that the synagogue’s destruction and related attacks on Jews are being encouraged by outside forces as well as those within Syria. “Dear Al-Assad, please destroy any sign of Jewish existence in your country, this maybe the only chance you have right now. After rebellion is dead you will not able to do that. Do not waste the crisis “as jews say” And Rebels are only tools in Jewish hands! May God Bless you”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces are each blaming the other over the destruction, according to a report in a Hebrew-language daily newspaper.