Monday, July 25, 2011

The Bible comes to life in Israel




Rare Gold Bell Discovered in Excavations in Jerusalem

A rare gold bell with a small loop at its end was discovered during an archaeological excavation in [a]drainage channel [near] the City of David [in] Jerusalem. According archaeologists Eli Shukron and Professor Ronny Reich of Haifa University, "It seems the bell was sewn on the garment worn by a high official in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period."

The high priests who served in the Temple used to hang a gold bell from the fringes of their robe. In the Book of Exodus, there is a description of the high priest Aaron's robe: "Upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about."
(Israel Antiquities Authority)
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