Digging Biblical History At 'The End Of The World'

Tel Aviv University archaeologists are studying Tel Megiddo, the New Testament location of "Armageddon," and unearthing truths about King Solomon.

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Some come to dig the archeological site at Tel Megiddo because they are enchanted by ancient stories of King Solomon. Others come because they believe in a New Testament prophecy that the mound of dirt will be the location of a future Judgment Day apocalyptic battle. Hence the second, rather more chilling name for the site: "Armageddon."
Tel Megiddo has been the subject of a number of decisive battles in ancient times (among the Egyptian, Hebrew and Assyrian peoples) and today it holds a venerated place in archaeology, explains site co-director and archeologist Prof. Israel Finkelstein.
Says Prof. Finkelstein, from the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University, "Megiddo is one of the most interesting sites in the world for the excavation of biblical remains. Now volunteers and students from around the world can participate in the dig which lets them uncover 3,000 years worth of history -- from the late 4th millennium B.C.E. to the middle of the first millennium C.E."
Prof. Finkelstein, who belongs to the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, has been co-directing the site with Prof. David Ussishkin, also of Tel Aviv University, since 1994.
Likened to a "lightning rod" by the journal Science (2007), Prof. Finkelstein is famous for his unconventional way of interpreting biblical history: he puts emphasis on the days of the biblical authors in the 7th century B.C.E. and theorizes that ancient rulers such as David and Solomon, who lived centuries earlier, were "tribal chieftains ruling from a small hill town, with a modest palace and royal shrine."
Yet, "new archaeological discoveries should not erode one's sense of tradition and identity," he states.
Prof. Ze'ev Herzog, who heads the archaeology institute at Tel Aviv University, says, "There has been an important revolution in biblical history in the last decades. We are now uncovering the difference between myth and history, and between reality and ideology of the ancient authors. This is the role of our generation of archaeologists -- to unearth the real historical reality to find out why and how the biblical records were written."
The archeologists aren't the only ones looking for answers. More than one hundred volunteers come from all corners of the world to dig Megiddo alongside Prof. Finkelstein every year. They are teachers, journalists, actors, construction workers, professors and housewives, as well as archaeology, history and divinity students who dig for credit.


At the Megiddo Dig: The Assyrian palace of Stratum III (Credit: AFTAU)

Innovative iPhone App Developed to Carry out Psychological and Social Research

Royal Holloway, University of London has joined an international team of researchers to develop a new way of conducting psychological and social research.

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Instead of bringing people into laboratories the team has launched an iPhone/iPad app that people can download for free in English, French and Dutch.
The app, called the "Science XL: Test your word power," adapts a classic behavioural psychology experiment for iPhone or iPad use. The user can test his or her word power by deciding whether each word presented is a real word or a non-word. The application measures accuracy and importantly the time taken to make such decisions, i.e reaction time.
The world-wide results obtained will help researchers to advance their understanding of how the brain recognises words and could ultimately help in understanding disorders such as dyslexia. They are aiming to get data from 50,000 individuals for each of the three languages they are studying.
Professor Rastle, from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, is the UK member of the research team. She says: "Using the iPhone or iPad to conduct scientific research is a revolutionary new concept. It could change the way that human social and psychological research is conducted because it allows us to access vast numbers of individuals from a range of demographics relatively inexpensively."
The app is free to download from iTunes AppStore (search for "Science XL") and is non-profit making.
For information on how to get involved visit: http://www.sciencexl.org/