Archaeologists
from the Israel Antiquities Authority working at Bet Ha-‘Emeq have discovered a
shard from an early Bronze Age storage vessel depicting scenes from what seems
to be a ‘sacred marriage’ ritual. The images are on a 5,000 year old seal which
may be one of the world’s oldest depictions of musicians. All the figures are
female. One of them is playing a musical instrument similar to a harp which may
be a lyre. The instrument, the name of which is Greek (λύρα, lýra), is
known primarily from its use in classical Greece. It is similar to a harp but a
lot smaller. It has seven strings and the earliest known image of one is that
which appears in the sarcophagus of Hagia Triada, a Minoan settlement in
Crete. See pictures and read article at -- http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/5000-year-old-musical-scene-found-pottery-israel-020416
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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