“I’m going to spend the next few years convincing my students that this is not archaeology,” jokes Prof. Daniel Master, an archaeologist at Wheaton who co-heads the dig. “You just don’t find huge, intact, vaulted passageways you can just walk through.”
“For once, I am speechless,” adds co-director Dr. Mario Martin of Tel Aviv. “It’s an extraordinary discovery in an extraordinary state of preservation.”
But the purpose of the arch and the massive building that houses it remains a mystery for now.
The archway supports the ceiling as the corridor transforms into a stairway seemingly leading deeper underground, beneath the building’s wall and away from it. The archaeologists would love to clear the rocks and soil that jam the stairway ahead but at this point they are afraid the whole shebang would collapse on their heads.
“For once, I am speechless,” adds co-director Dr. Mario Martin of Tel Aviv. “It’s an extraordinary discovery in an extraordinary state of preservation.”
But the purpose of the arch and the massive building that houses it remains a mystery for now.
The archway supports the ceiling as the corridor transforms into a stairway seemingly leading deeper underground, beneath the building’s wall and away from it. The archaeologists would love to clear the rocks and soil that jam the stairway ahead but at this point they are afraid the whole shebang would collapse on their heads.
I do not approve of Haaretz using the term "shebang" in this context: a "massive" temple would be no 'hut.' Whatever it may prove to be, who doesn't love a long, mysterious passageway ... from 2,000 BC?
Who was the god of this area, back then, some Baal?
Given the archaelogical evidence from nearby Megiddo etc., we should also recall Maciej Münnich's The Cult of Metal Serpents [2008], pp.44-5:
...[It} seems that Moses’ serpent should be perceived as a symbol of the divine Ruler of the Serpents, who heals—by his power—the consequences of the bite. It cannot be determined whether this is YHWH himself or some minor deity subordinate to God’s power. When we look for the answer to this question, however, we have to notice that throughout the entire Near East the snake was considered a symbol of health and even immortality. [..]In light of the reference to Moses, it is hard to perceive Nehushtan in any other way than as a symbol of god—the healer. It is problematic, however, whether we can trust the biblical text as evidence of a Hebrew origin for the cult of Nehushtan. Considering the finds mentioned in the introduction, we should be inclined to accept the thesis hat the cult of Nehushtan in the Jerusalem Temple has a pre-Israelite origin and may be connected with the Jebusites. Obviously, no cultic serpent has been found in the area of the Jerusalem Temple, where no excavations are allowed. This makes it impossible to verify the above thesis by means of archaeological data, but the Bible itself is here to help. [...]We have agreed that this is probably a deity that could heal, whose symbol was a serpent. Of course, the first association leads us towards Asklepios and makes us seek after the Semitic deity identified with this Greek divine doctor. Practically, the only correspondence of Asklepios in Syro-Canaan is Eshmun, the main deity of Sidon.34 [...]It is worth directing our attention to the identification of Phoenician-Punic Eshmun with Syro-Canaanite Horon, as postulated by some scholars. Advocates of this thesis suggest that Horon—a minor West Semitic deity known for a long time—was identified in the first millennium with Sidonian Eshmun, with small alterations.39 This is an important suggestion for us, since in the case of Horon, we possess significantly more extensive evidence of the cult from the 2nd millennium. Horon appears in the onomasticon already in the texts from Mari from the eighteenth century.40 He is also known in Egypt at least from the times of the XIIth dynasty; during the period of the New Kingdom, the cult of Horon began to enjoy greater and greater popularity along the Nile and was associated with the cult of Horus.41 Hence, Horon is sometimes depicted as a hawk with a snake in its claws— which is interesting.42 In the Harris Magical Papyrus, Horon is twice called upon in incantations for the protection of cattle from wild animals.43 Similarly, amulets with Horon’s name are supposed to protect against the evil powers of other people.44 The most important sources mentioning Horon, however, come from Syro-Canaan. He appears there as an ominous deity: he is called upon twice to shatter the skulls of enemies.45 If the reconstruction of textKTU1.82:13 is correct, disease-bringing demons are called “Horon’s creatures.”46
“Horon’s creatures” indeed; people have called Addicts 'diseased' or demonically-possessed. From Philo Judaeus we know of Judeo-Egyptian Therapeutae who were Sober Jews, soul-healers, and presumably Mosaic 'enchanters'/dream interpreters (=proto-psychologists) who healed the demon-possessed sick w/ alternative, psycho-spiritual treatment(s) before the First C. What's more, given accounts that their ancestors who settled the same area (viz., Lake Mareotis described by Philo Judaeus in De Vita Contemplativa) had also worshipped 'Horon' (i.e. the Ruler of Serpents), the later 'Agathodaimon' (i.e. Serpent Deity) worship in Roman Alexandria now seems ancient, oh-so-familiar, and not at all 'Greek' by origin.
A few other details come to mind, here. The Builder Theme. That the Semitic ancestors of the Therapeutae at Plinthine (a limestone quarry site) built a massive frontier Gate at Taposiris and other monumental Egyptian architecture before the New Kingdom. That Horon was their God (again, from Egyptian archaeological evidence): the Sphinx, etc. That their Canaanite god was (moreover) an Overseer and Administrator, not the Highest God nor even YHWH necessarily. So, by inference, might this season's discovery in N.Israel be yet another example: Horon's Arch, perhaps?
I would further note that Edelstein's Heidelberg professor, Karl Jaspers, had written books on the liminal situation: rites of passage. Rebirth in secret underground tunnels and so on was a thing back then, in fact.
After their world-famous colleague and friend at Johns Hopkins W.F. Albright (1936) proposed his Hauron thesis, we can see how our Asclepius scholars interpreted Albright's ancient deity (i.e. Horon = Re-Horakhty, etc.) as a later Philonic/Hermetic Builder-Savior God whose paradigm we must copy:
1938 Multilith: "This is the how and why of it. First of all, quit playing God yourself. It doesn't work. Next, decide that hereafter in this drama of life, God is going to by your Director. He is the Principal; you are to be His agent. He is the Father, and you are His child. Get that simple relationship straight. Most good ideas are simple and this concept is to be the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which you will pass to freedom.
When you sincerely take such a position, all sorts of remarkable things follow. You have a new Employer. Being all powerful, He must necessarily provide what you need, if you keep close to Him and perform His work well. Established on such a footing you become less and less interested in yourself, your little plans and designs. More and more you become interested in seeing what you can contribute to life. As you feel new power flow in, as you enjoy peace of mind, as you discover you can face life successfully, as you become conscious of His presence, you begin to lose your fear of today, tomorrow, or the hereafter. You will have been reborn. "
1938 Multilith: "Carefully read the first five proposals and ask if you have omitted anything, for you are building an arch through which you will walk a free man at last. Is your part of the work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have you skimped on the cement you have put into the foundation? Have you tried to make mortar without sand?"
When you sincerely take such a position, all sorts of remarkable things follow. You have a new Employer. Being all powerful, He must necessarily provide what you need, if you keep close to Him and perform His work well. Established on such a footing you become less and less interested in yourself, your little plans and designs. More and more you become interested in seeing what you can contribute to life. As you feel new power flow in, as you enjoy peace of mind, as you discover you can face life successfully, as you become conscious of His presence, you begin to lose your fear of today, tomorrow, or the hereafter. You will have been reborn. "
1938 Multilith: "Carefully read the first five proposals and ask if you have omitted anything, for you are building an arch through which you will walk a free man at last. Is your part of the work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have you skimped on the cement you have put into the foundation? Have you tried to make mortar without sand?"