The 3,800-year-old tomb, which houses a young woman of nobility, is decorated with bronze jewelry and Egyptian scarab-shaped gemstones, revealing a century-long connection between Jericho and Egypt. Photo by COURTESY OF SAPIENZA UNIVERSITA DI ROMA
Written by: Philippe Bohström
Posted on December 19, 2017
The walls of jericho collapsed in an attack recorded in a famous passage of the Bible. Before that, it was rich and had superior social relations.
A joint Italian-Palestinian team has been conducting archaeological excavations on the Sudanese site. The Sudanese ruins discovered in 1997 are located in the West Bank, 21 kilometers northeast of modern Jerusalem. During their latest excavation season, the team made an extraordinary discovery in a home some 5,000 years ago, where five mother-of-pearl oysters, which could only have come from the Nile, were piled up in piles.
Two of the shells still contain residues of dark-colored substances that were identified by laboratory analysis as manganese oxide. Those powdery minerals are the main ingredient in the cosmetics we call eyeshadow, which in ancient times were used as eyeliner.
The researchers believe the powder may have come from the Sinai Peninsula, where the ancient Egyptians mined manganese ore.
Aerial view of the ruins of the Sultan of the West Bank (Gujeligo). People began settling here as early as 12,000 years ago. Photo by COURTESY OF SAPIENZA UNIVERSITA DI ROMA
"The discovery confirms the close trade connection between the ancient capital of Palestine and Egypt, which was established in the early third millennium BC," said Lorenzo Nigro, head of the archaeological team from the University of Rome. "It also shows the rise of the local nobility of Jericho."
An ancient oasis city connected to the outside world
The city of Jericho, in what is now the West Bank, develops around a rich spring. As early as 10500 BC, people began to gather in this oasis. Eventually they settled here, cultivating crops and domesticating livestock.
At the beginning of the third millennium, a fortified city arose, followed by a ruler's palace. The city's most precious resource is its fresh water supply, which makes Jericho more prosperous and able to trade luxuries from other places.
After the discovery of cosmetics, the latest excavation season also found evidence of a centuries-old relationship between Jericho and Egypt: a unique cemetery dating back to about 1800 BC, during egypt's Middle Kingdom era.
An Egyptian scarab-shaped gem found on a young woman's chest depicting a crouching lion and the rising sun from a hill. Photo by COURTESY OF SAPIENZA UNIVERSITA DI ROMA
Previous excavations have revealed a number of wealthy tombs, most likely royal tombs. In this area surrounded by palace walls, Italian-Palestinian archaeological teams found distinct graves beneath the palace, a special status symbol.
The burial chamber of this noble tomb houses the remains of two people, a 9- to 10-year-old girl decorated with jewels, and an adult woman who may have been a waiter. In addition, archaeologists have found two sacrificial animals – a skeleton of a gazelle and a goat – and 6 pottery vessels.
The most interesting vessel is a small black polished jar found next to the skull of the younger girl. The small jar contains a perfume or an ointment, probably placed in such a position that the deceased can smell the sweet aroma even after death.
The young nobleman's ornaments included two pairs of bronze earrings, a bronze bracelet, a bronze needle nailed to her left shoulder, probably to hold her robe, a red agate with a beaded necklace of white crystal, and a bronze stamp ring studded with local scarab-shaped gemstones engraved with the symbol of protection.
A second scarab-shaped gem was placed on the girl's chest and inscribed with hieroglyphs, indicating the cultural influence of Egypt on the nobility of Jericho.
Funerary items found in the tomb of the young aristocratic woman include bronze jewelry, a beaded necklace, and this polished jar on the left, which may have once contained perfume. Photo by COURTESY OF SAPIENZA UNIVERSITA DI ROMA
The two symbols on the scarab-shaped gem, dj and mr, represent the famous Egyptian official title "Canal Administrator". Dating back to the Old Kingdom period in Egypt (2575-2150 BC), the title may have been appropriated by the rulers of Jericho about three centuries later. The title is particularly apt for the city of Jericho, where people learned to harness agricultural water power, as ancient Egypt did, and profited greatly from it.
There are also two symbols on the scarab-shaped gemstone, a crouching lion and a rising sun on a hill, representing rw and ha, from the names Rwha or Ruha. Nigro said no one with such a name had ever been found among the Egyptians or the local Canaanites. But this is most likely the ancient name of Jericho. If this is the case, it is likely that the young member of the royal family was buried as the ruler of the city, wearing a scarab gem.
The era of Jericho's prosperity and cosmopolitanism ended around 1550 BC, when a fierce attack reduced the city of Jericho to a pile of smouldering ruins. The city was not rebuilt until centuries later. The attack was so fierce that it was deeply imprinted in the memories of the Canaanites, and in the biblical narrative of the book of Joshua, the destruction of the city was based on God's will.
(Translator: Chai Xin)