ISTANBUL, TURKEY—Archaeologists working at Israel’s site of Tel Burna described their discovery of a 3,300-year-old cult complex at the annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Istanbul. Artifacts from the complex include three connected cups, thought to have been imported from Cyprus; a cylinder-shaped seal; a scarab bearing Egyptian hieroglyphs; fragments of two masks that may have been used in processions; and massive pithoi that may have held goods paid in tithes or stored food for ritual feasts. “From the finds within the building, we can reconstruct the occurrence of feasts, indicated by several goblets and a large amount of animal bones. Some of these animal bones are burnt, probably indicating their use in some sacrificial activity,” Itzhaq Shai of Ariel University told Live Science. The analysis of residues from the cups and the pithoi could offer more information on their use. Shai thinks the complex may have been devoted to the worship of Baal, the Canaanite storm god, or perhaps the war goddess Anat. To read about a 5,000-year-old sanctuary in Syria, see ARCHAEOLOGY's "Temple of the Storm God."
