JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—According to a report in The Times of Israel, a small Canaanite tomb at the end of a burial shaft has been discovered in Jerusalem. The grave contained the bones of one person, who had been placed in the tomb in the fetal position with the head on a headrest. “The interesting thing is how did they get the body in?” asked Shua Kisilevitz of the Israel Antiquities Authority. In addition, an intact set of jars, one of which contained the remains of nine decapitated toads, was recovered. Taking off the toads’ heads may have facilitated the removal of their toxic skin before consumption. Pollen from date palms and myrtle bushes was also found on the pottery, but those plants are not native to the region. The archaeologists think the plants may have been cultivated as part of a burial custom. The tomb is one of 67 shaft tombs in the Middle Bronze Age cemetery in the Nahal Repha’im basin, where two settlements and two temples have also been found. For more, go to “Egypt’s Final Redoubt in Canaan.”
