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Ancient Israelite Altar to be Protected

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An ancient Israelite altar discovered 16 years ago is now to receive official protection, World Israel News reports. Located in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria, the 3,000-year-old edifice was at risk of destruction from building works nearby.

The altar was discovered by Prof. Yoel Elitzur of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and attorney Doron Nir-Tzvi. Both men are self-described “settlers” living in what is known internationally as the West Bank. The structure was discovered close to Nir-Tzvi’s home on the Givat Harel settlement. The location is about a mile from Shiloh, the Israelite administrative and religious center in the Biblical time of Judges. Notably, the structure is set at the bottom of a slope, not up on a hill like ancient pagan altars were.

Describing the structure on the Center for Online Judaic Studies website, Elitzur wrote that it has four horns and is made out of living rock. He added: “The altar’s orientation is surprising. Its corners, not sides, point to the cardinal points of the compass—north, south, east, and west.” In terms of its dimensions, Elitzur wrote: “The size of the altar generally matches the altar of the desert Tabernacle described in Exodus 27-1–2: “You shall make the altar … five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar is to be square—and three cubits high. Make its horns on the four corners, the horns to be of one piece with it.” A cubit is 18 to 20 inches long (measures were not uniform in the ancient Near East).”

For the last year, Elitzur has been seeking state protection for the altar because recent construction work has damaged it. Aside from trash being thrown around it, World News Israel reports that a metal cable had been attached to one of the horns on the altar and that a large rock also fell on it.
Now, however, Binyamin Regional Council has decided to protect the altar and develop the site as a tourist attraction. Speaking to Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon, Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz said: “The discovery of the altar is a profound expression of our meaningful connection to the land.”