Hasmonean rule reached the Negev, archeologists declare

[Adsos Letter]

Source: The jerusalem Post
By JACOB KANTER

With Hanukka beginning Friday night, knowledge about the Hasmonean dynasty will be more accurate this year than in years past.

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced Thursday that it had found physical proof that the Hasmoneans' rule, which lasted from the middle of the second century BCE to the middle of the first, extended deep into the Negev.

"We are talking about a revolutionary discovery that will redraw the maps of the region which describe that era," Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini, the scientific editor of the excavation, said in a statement.

"Despite the evidence of the historian Josephus, according to which , no clear archeological proof of this has been found in the field. And it was because of this lack of proof that historians were inclined to dismiss the possibility that the Hasmoneans did indeed control the Negev."

Link: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260447411204&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[aquart]

1. Not the first time historians have ignored a primary source.

[Adsos Letter]

2. True indeed.

[niyad]

3. k and r, and thank you.

not just for this post, but for all the very interesting pieces you post.