Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Ancient Fire-Making Stone Discovered in Israel as Lag B’Omer Bonfires Flare
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
A 9,000-year-old stone slab, recently discovered in Israel, that was used to ignite fires. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority.
JNS.org – Coinciding with Sunday’s Lag B’Omer holiday and its celebrations marked with bonfires across Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed the recent discovery of an ancient stone slab used to ignite fires.
The stone was discovered about a week before the Lag B’Omer festivities in an archaeological dig 25 miles from Jerusalem, near Ramat Beit Shemesh. The dig was funded by Israel’s National Transport Infrastructure Company, and was part of preparations for infrastructure work on one of Israel’s main roads.
The rare 9,000-year-old stone is an “extraordinary find,” said excavation manager Anna Eirich-Rose.
“The ancient people of the New Stone Age prepared these thick slabs of limestone with two indentations. Some thought that we might have discovered a primitive board game, but according to researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the slabs were used to ignite fire,” Eirich-Rose said, adding, “The mechanism enabled the user to rotate a tree branch in the indentations at a very high speed, which combined with a flammable material inside the indentation, would lead to ignition.”
Ten similar stones used for making fires, from the same era, are housed at the IAA’s National Treasures Department.
Other items discovered during the dig included flint tools, animal bones and a fragment from a bracelet.
