Last year, Dr Zahi Hawass spoke to Heritage Key in a video interview about the restoration work being carried out at the Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides) synagogue in Cairo by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (see the video at the bottom of this page). With the project nearing completion, the SCA chief has today announced that a planned celebration to mark the reopening of the restored monument has been cancelled.
Dr Hawass explained that the decision comes in the aftermath of Israeli authorities prohibiting worshippers from praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque in the West Bank.
Rachel's tomb, located south of Jerusalem on the outskirts of Bethlehem in the West Bank, is widely considered the third holiest site in Judaism. Considered the burial spot of Biblical "eternal mother" Rachel, it's marked by a building shaped like a cube topped with a dome. The shrine is a popular pilgramage destination for Jews, particularly women unable to give birth, although access is severly restricted.
Because of security tensions, the shrine is surrounded by a fortified compound, and seperated from the rest of Bethlehem by an extension of the West Bank separation barrier. Only bullet-proof buses are allowed direct access. Palestinians refer to the tomb as Bilal ibn Rabah, and claim it has Muslim origins. They consider the placement of the wall as a land grab, and reject Israeli claims that it's a defensive structure intended to keep attackers out.
In 2010, the shrine was controversially added to Israel's list of national heritage sites by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Known by Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, and venerated by Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, this site is a network of subterranean caves in the city of Hebron in the West Bank, located beneath a large mosque/synagogue compound. Fiercely disputed by these two faiths, the shrine has seen much controversy and violence over the centuries.
The tension remains today. Hebron is a major flashpoint because it’s the only location in the West Bank where Jews, some of them extremists, live among Palestinians. Muslims control about 81% of the compound, and Jews the other 21%. They're kept apart in specially designated areas. The waqf - a traditional "trust" holding land for Islamic religious purposes - controls the site. Tourists are allowed to enter, but security - controlled by the Israeli Defence Force - is very tight.
In 2010, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provoked controvery by adding the Cave of the Patriarchs to Israel's list of national heritage sites.
A researcher has uncovered evidence of a widespread scam in Israel that results in tourists buying recently looted artefacts without their knowledge. Buying antiquities in Israel is legal if they were found before 1978, the year a major antiquities law was passed. There are numerous dealers in Israel, who are required to register with the Israel Antiquities Authority and keep an inventory of the artefacts they have for sale. Dr. Morag Kersel, of Brown University in the United States, has been studying the illegal antiquities trade in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories.
Post-Doctoral Fellow - Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University
Dr. Morag Kersel is a post-doctoral fellow at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University, in Rhode Island USA. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a masters degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia.
Dr. Kersel has done extensive work on studying the illegal antiquity trade in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories. She found evidence that licensed antiquity dealers, in Israel, were selling recently looted artefacts by means of a registry numbers exchange scheme. Her work has also shed light on the motivation of looters to loot. While these include money, other reasons are recreational and, in the West Bank, resistance to Israeli occupation.
She has also done extensive fieldwork, excavating in Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Israel and Turkey. This includes the Cyclades, where her team unearthed nearly 500 fragments of figurines. The fact that they were uncovered in an archaeological excavation means that archaeologists will be able to gain a new understanding into what this figures mean. Beforehand most of the figures from these islands were found in private collections and lack archaeological provenance.
Ontario’s Minister of Culture, Aileen Carroll, was tossed out of cabinet today as part of a larger shuffle. She will now become a backbench member of the legislature.
The decision caught members of the media off-guard. The National Post said that, “Ms. Carroll's demotion is perhaps the most surprising. A former federal minister, the Barrie MPP was considered a high profile candidate in 2007.”
The Toronto Star writes that she may have made a decision not to run in the next general election. In Canadian politics it is not unusual for retiring ministers to get dumped from cabinet before they actually retire. Her replacement is going to be Michael Chan, who is moving from the Citizenship and Immigration post.
The Book of Exodus is one of best known pieces of scripture in the world. It tells the story of how the Jewish people, with some divine assistance, escape from Egypt and make their way to the land of Israel.
Whether this migration really happened is deeply controversial and is something that I’m not going to get into in this article.
Instead what I’m going to talk about is some intriguing research, done by Professor James Hoffmeier of Trinity International University, which suggests that the events may be set in New Kingdom times – specifically the era of the Ramesside kings. His work also adds some insight into the exact route the Israelites took in the story.
Highlighted Quote:
“We should be open to the possibility that the memory preserved in the exodus tradition has one that goes back to a much earlier date than perhaps some people have thought.”
The Globe and Mail’s Patrick Martin (the paper’s former Middle East Correspondent), is reporting that Jordan is asking the Canadian government to seize the Dead Sea Scrolls on display in Toronto Canada.
“Summoning the Canadian chargé d'affaires in Amman two weeks ago, Jordan cited the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both Jordan and Canada are signatories, in asking Canada to take custody of the scrolls,” said Martin.
A researcher has uncovered evidence of a widespread scam in Israel that results in tourists buying recently 
Ontario’s Minister of Culture, Aileen Carroll, was tossed out of cabinet today as part of a 
The Book of Exodus is one of best known pieces of scripture in the world. It tells the story of how the Jewish people, with some divine assistance, escape from Egypt and make their way to the land of Israel.
The Globe and Mail’s 
