Voice of America
26 Jan 2023, 04:06 GMT+10
Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday that they are trying to uncover the meaning of a recently discovered hand imprint carved into the stone wall of an ancient moat outside Jerusalem's Old City.
The imprint, which may been made as a 'prank', was found in a thousand-year-old moat exposed during works to expand a road in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem near Herod's Gate, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.
The massive moat was hewn into the stone around all of the Old City, stretching 10 meters (33 feet) across and between two to seven meters deep and, unlike typical European ones, not filled with water.
According to the IAA, Crusaders in 1099 needed five weeks to cross it and breach the city's walls and defenses
While the moat's function was clear, the hand's meaning was elusive.
'It's a mystery, we tried to solve it,' IAA's excavation director Zubair Adawi said in a statement.
IAA archaeologists remained uncertain who carved the hand into the rock or its significance.
The moat and hand have meanwhile been covered to enable the continued infrastructure works just below the walls that currently surround the city, built in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent.
Get a daily dose of Greek Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Greek Herald.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: A report released this week detailed how, in January, layoffs in the US reached a more than two-year ...
LONDON, England: Energy giant Shell Oil has announced a record profit of nearly $40 billion in 2022, capping an eventful ...
SANTA CLARA, California: One week after Intel forecasted lower-than-expected sales caused by a loss of market share to rivals and ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As part of a wider policy drive to increase competition in consumer markets, President Joe Biden has announced ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Biden administration has stopped issuing export licenses to US companies seeking to ship most items to China's ...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Data released this week showed that the German economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter of 2022, indicating ...
ABU DHABI, 6th February, 2023 (WAM) -- President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has directed the establishment ...
Ankara [Turkey], February 6 (ANI): Three earthquakes rocked Turkey on Monday as the country is still assessing the number of ...
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake early Monday killed more than 1,700 people in Turkey and Syria and set off a search ...
The quake was felt in Greenland and triggered a tsunami warning in Italy, while causing shaking in Egypt, Israel and ...
Ankara [Turkey], February 6 (ANI): Second powerful earthquake hit Turkey on Monday with a magnitude of 7.5 after 912 people ...
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake early Monday killed more than 1,500 people in Turkey and Syria and set off a search ...