Ancient Canaanite coffin found...

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

A 3,300 year old Egyptian coffin, an important ancient artifact, was found in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel during a natural gas pipeline excavation, according to a statement published by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Wednesday.

During the natural gas salvage excavation, a burial site from the Late Bronze Age (13th century BCE) was discovered at the foot of Tel Shadud, in the Jezreel Valley.

The unusual coffin found at the site is thought to have belonged to a wealthy Canaanite.

 

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

The Valley of Jezreel - In ancient times, this area had great strategic value as well, since the Jezreel/Esdraelon plain was the only east-west access between the coast and the Jordan Valley. The main north and south trade routes between Egypt to the South and Mesopotamia to the North lay through this area.

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

This undated photo released by Israel's Antiquities Authority shows a sarcophagus found at Tel Shadud, an archaeological mound in the Jezreel Valley. Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a rare sarcophagus featuring a slender face and a scarab ring inscribed with the name of an Egyptian pharaoh, Israel's Antiquities Authority said Wednesday April 9, 2014. courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

“During the excavation we discovered a unique and rare find: a cylindrical clay coffin with an anthropoidal lid (a cover fashioned in the image of a person) surrounded by a variety of pottery consisting mainly of storage vessels for food, tableware, cultic vessels and animal bones," stated IAA excavation directors Dr. Edwin van den Brink, Dan Kirzner and Dr. Ron Be’eri.

 

 

 

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

The gold scarab seal Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

"Inside the clay coffin an adult skeleton was found, and beside it was buried pottery, a bronze dagger, a bronze bowl and hammered pieces of bronze," reports IsraelNationalNews.

“Since the vessels interred with the individual were produced locally”, the researchers say, “we assume the deceased was an official of Canaanite origin who was engaged in the service of the Egyptian government.”   Another possibility is that the coffin belonged to a wealthy local who imitated Egyptian customs. "Researchers stress that only several anthropoidal coffins have been found in Israel, the last being unearthed at Deir el-Balah roughly fifty years ago. The new discovery demonstrates Egyptian control of the region during the time period.