Alexander in Tel Aviv
An archeological find shows how important the area was
TEL DOR, JUST 30 MILES SOUTH OF TEL AVIV, may not be able to compete today with the clubs and bars further north, yet this was one of the coolest coastal hubs of the ancient world.
“In the Bronze and Iron Ages, Tel Dor was a very important harbour town,” says Dr Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University, co-director of the area’s excavations. “It’s mentioned in the Bible and it was a major port in Solomon’s kingdom.”
The settlement remained important throughout the Hellenistic Age, yet fell into ruin in the third century AD, leaving its artefacts within easy reach of the archaeologist’s trowel, as Dr Gilboa’s team discovered when they uncovered a gemstone carving of Alexander the Great (pictured) earlier this year.
Though just under a centimetre in diameter, its significance is weighty. Not only is it one of the finest royal portraits from the period, its discovery also speaks well of the region.
“The appearance of a gem of such quality at Tel Dor indicates the presence of an elite population, which had both the money and education to appreciate such fine works of art,” says Professor Jessica L Nitschke of Georgetown University, who identified the find; a bit like finding a Cartier tiara in a Tel Aviv student’s studio might change scholars’ views a few thousand years from now.
Yet if all this history is making you pine for the sun loungers, then you’ll be please to learn that visitors will be able to see the gem and skip off to the shoreline soon, when it goes on show at the enviably located Kibbutz Nahsholim.
“It’s home not just to the Tel Dor local museum,” says Nitschke helpfully, “but also to one of Israel’s nicer beaches.” Alex Rayner
