City Notes: Archaeologists announce discovery of 5,000-year-old moon-shaped monument

The monument dates back to sometime between 3050 BCE and 2650 BCE, making it older than the pyramids of Egypt.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Moon (photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
Moon
(photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
NORTH
Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old lunar-crescent-shaped stone monument in the Galilee.
The science news website Live Science reported last week that archeologists had found the massive structure some eight miles northwest of Lake Kinneret.
According to the report, pottery excavated at the site signals that the monument dates back to sometime between 3050 BCE and 2650 BCE, making it older than the pyramids of Egypt.
Prior to these recent findings, archeologists had believed that the structure was part of a city wall.
Recent work carried out by Ido Wachtel, a doctoral student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, now points to the belief that there was no city beside the structure, but that it was a standing monument.
Wachtel wrote to Live Science that the lunar shape may have been symbolic, as the crescent is a symbol of an ancient Mesopotamian moon god named Sin.
He noted that the ancient town of Bet Yerah (House of the Moon) is only a day’s walk away from the monument. The structure was found to be some 150 meters long and 20 m. wide at its base, and is preserved to a height of 7 m.
Five arrested in Nazareth Illit brawl
A fight broke out in Nazareth Illit last weekend between five locals and two youths from a neighboring village, resulting in the arrest of the former. Those arrested were four minors, aged 17, and one 19 year old.
They were set to be brought for a remand extension hearing at the Nazareth District Court. Police said they were checking the cause of the incident.
No injuries were reported.
Karmiel parents blame toddler’s illness on city’s negligence
The parents of a two-year-old child are suing the Karmiel Municipality and the Health Ministry, claiming that the two institutions were negligent and allowed rock hyraxes to settle near their home.
Ma’ariv Hashavua reported on Sunday that the parents were claiming their baby had consequently been infected with the skin disease leishmaniasis.
Dubbed “Rose of Jericho,” the disease is caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania, and is transmitted by female sand flies that bite infected mammals called rock hyraxes.
According to Ma’ariv Hashavua, the family lives at the edge of Karmiel, near an uninhabited area.
The parents claim that in this area, rock hyraxes dwell near people’s homes. In May 2012, they say, a sand fly stung the toddler, and she subsequently tested positive for Leishmania, which caused lesions on her limbs and face. She was hospitalized several times and has had to receive treatment under general anesthetic. In addition to the physical pain, the parents said, the lesions have not gone and will probably leave her with ugly scars on her face.
The parents blamed the Health Ministry and municipality for negligence in testing the rock hyraxes, in monitoring the sandflies and in removing the hyraxes from residential areas in Karmiel.
The Health Ministry stated that it had not yet received the lawsuit, according the report, while the Karmiel Municipality said the case would be handled in accordance with normal procedures as soon as possible.
CENTER
Motorcyclist dies in Hod Hasharon road accident
A motorcyclist was killed last weekend in a road accident in Hod Hasharon, when a vehicle hit him near the Neveh Yarak intersection. Magen David Adom paramedics were called to the scene and found the young man trapped underneath the vehicle, unconscious and with a serious head injury.
The team tried to resuscitate him, but eventually pronounced him dead at the scene.
Thousands demonstrate for animal rights in Tel Aviv
Some 4,000 people took part in a demonstration to promote animal rights in central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. A broad coalition of animal rights groups organized the demonstration, which took place under the banner “Stopping the suffering, choosing compassion.”
Event organizers stated that some 100,000 healthy dogs were put down in Israel every year and that there were some two million homeless cats in the country. They also said that the Agriculture Ministry’s budget for cat sterilization, which stands at NIS 4.5 million a year, is enough to sterilize only half a percent of them.
Moreover, according to the activists, over 220 million chickens are killed every year in the meat industry, more than eight million chickens are kept in battery cages in the egg industry, and every day around 15,000 male chicks which are not of the particular breed that is best for meat are killed.
The people behind the weekend event vowed to make the march an annual tradition, saying, “The walls of concealment are starting to crack. The Israeli public is waking up.”
MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) was among those who attended the demonstration.
Babylonian Jewry Museum opens contemporary art wing
Or Yehuda’s Babylonian Jewry Museum opened a new wing last week dedicated to contemporary art. The wing launched with a new exhibition titled “Footprints,” by artist Nessim Zayet. Zayet was born in Baghdad and was active in the Zionist underground. During his time in Iraq he focused on realistic paintings and portraits. He immigrated to Israel in 1951 with Operation Ezra and Nehemia after being sentenced to death, and studied at the Avni Collegeof Art in Tel Aviv.
Zayet belongs to the senior generation of Israeli abstract art.
“Footprints” includes paintings from his time in both Iraq and Israel.
Museum of Israeli Art launches new exhibition The Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan launched a new exhibition last week, displaying 24 artworks by Pessi Marguelis.
The Israeli artist lives and works in New York. The exhibition, called “Homecoming/Other,” reflects the artist’s feelings of living between “here” and “there,” between a virtual world and reality. This is her first exhibition in Israel.
The museum was established in 1987 and exhibits Israeli art in disciplines including painting, sculpting, photography, and two- and three-dimension design. Five exhibitions are on display at a time, each in a different exhibition hall.
SOUTH
New Nahal Oz children’s library to memorialize shelling victim
The Book Publishers’ Association of Israel will establish a children’s library in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, in memory of Daniel Tragerman, the four-year-old boy killed by a mortar shell from Gaza that hit his house during the last days of Operation Protective Edge.
According to the Local website, Moshe Triuaks of the Meter publishing house is leading the initiative, and the Publishers’ Association, along with a significant number of its member publishing houses, has enthusiastically joined the effort.
Many publishers have already donated hundreds of children’s books, and the collection is still growing. The association is also replacing the old bookshelves in the kibbutz’s current library with new ones.
“I see the establishment of a new children’s library at Kibbutz Nahal Oz as our modest contribution to the members of the kibbutz, and particularly to their children, who have been through tough times in recent years and especially during Operation Protective Edge, culminating in the killing of their friend, the late Daniel Tragerman,” Local quoted the association’s CEO, Amnon Ben-Shmuel, as saying. “This is our way of immortalizing his memory.”
The library is expected to open next month.
Two hurt in water-skiing accident in Eilat
Two youths were lightly injured in a water-skiing accident in Eilat last weekend, when their boat collided with a ship. The two were evacuated to the hospital. Police said the driver of the ski boat had been brought in for questioning.