Israeli archaeologists unveil “earliest Hebrew mention of Jerusalem”October 27, 2016 - 11:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli archaeologists Wednesday, October 26 unveiled a 7th century BC text they said contains the earliest mention in Hebrew of Jerusalem outside the Bible, prompting officials to stress the Jewish connection to the city, AFP reports. "For Israeli archaeology, this is the first mention in Hebrew of the city of Jerusalem outside the New Testament," Amir Ganor of Israel's antiquities authority told AFP as the papyrus was presented in Jerusalem. The antiquities authority said the papyrus, found near the Dead Sea, was seized from traffickers after a lengthy investigation as it was about to go on sale on the black market. It proved that "Jews were in this city 2,700 years ago," said Ganor. He said the timing of the announcement, amid a row with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, was a coincidence as it had been held up by the trafficking investigation. A UNESCO resolution passed on October 18 criticised the Jewish state for restricting access to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem, angering Israel which said it denied Judaism's historical connection. Culture Minister Miri Regev pounced on the find as "proof that Jerusalem has been and will forever remain the eternal capital of the Jewish people". Israel is furious that the UNESCO resolution refers to the holy site in Jerusalem's Old City only by its Muslim name, Al-Aqsa or Al-Haram al-Sharif. Jews refer to the site as the Temple Mount and it is considered the holiest site in Judaism. Photo: AFP Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |