Excavations Begin at Strategic Biblical Town in Northern Israel

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—The Jerusalem Post reports that archaeologists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, and Cornell University are conducting the first excavations at Tell Avil al-Qamh, strategically located in northern Israel near the borders of Canaanite, Aramean and Phoenician lands and the road to Damascus. So far, Iron Age structures dating to the twelfth and eleventh centuries B.C. have been uncovered with the help of volunteers, including a feature that may have been a tower overlooking the Huleh Valley to the south. Among the recovered artifacts are a Phoenician ring flask, typically used for holding precious oils or drugs; and a small jug containing pieces of hacksilver, which may have been used as a means of exchange.