California insurance companies already divesting Iran-related assets

SACRAMENTO (Press Release)–On the same day President Obama is expected to sign a tough new law expanding sanctions against the Iranian government, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that his relentless focus on reducing the exposure of California policyholders to risky Iran-related investments resulted in insurers selling nearly one fifth of the assets the industry holds in the 50 companies the California Department of Insurance (CDI) has identified to be doing business with Iran’s nuclear, energy and defense sectors in the first quarter of 2010.

“In the weeks before my order to disqualify risky Iran-related investments from their books took effect, insurance companies sold hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in companies that prop up the oppressive Iranian government,” said Commissioner Poizner. “This proves that insurance companies can do the right thing and make safe and profitable investments without having to resort to investing in companies that actively do business in rouge elements of the Iranian economy.”

As of March 31, 2010, CDI ordered statement disqualification for holdings in the 50 Iran-related companies. A detailed analysis indicates that at the end of 2009, insurers licensed to do business in California held $2 billion of investments in the 50 companies. As of March 31, 2010, those holdings had dramatically decreased to $1.6 billion. To put these numbers in context, in 2009 – prior to Commissioner Poizner’s initiative – insurers doubled their investment in Iran-related companies to $2 billion. In the first three months of 2010, insurers reversed course and sold 20 percent of these holdings.

In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian sanctions at the federal level had yielded only modest tangible results. At that time, existing U.S. sanctions had led to less than $43 million in Iranian money frozen – approximately a quarter of what Iran earns in oil revenue in a single day.

However, President Obama is expected to sign the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act today, a new law that punishes foreign financial and energy firms that invest in Iran. The United Nations and European Union have also both recently expanded their sanctions to increase pressure on the Iranian government.

Commissioner Poizner has taken the lead in protecting California consumers by encouraging insurers to reduce investment holdings in the 50 companies on the CDI investment list. In April, he announced that more than 1,000 insurers licensed in California had pledged to forgo future investments in the identified companies. At that time Commissioner Poizner also released a list of companies that would not agree to an investment moratorium. These insurance companies include MetLife, Safeco and Hartford. The complete list can be found by selecting this link.

Commissioner Poizner first announced his Terror Financing Probe in June 2009 to review compliance with a recently-enacted California law that prohibits insurers from investing in designated state sponsors of terror. As part of a data call issued by the Commissioner, insurance companies were required to identify direct investments in designated sectors of the Iranian economy and indirect investments in companies doing business in those sectors. In December 2009, the Department announced that insurers reported no direct investments in Iran and therefore were in full compliance with state law prohibiting those types of investments. A CDI review of insurer financial statements, however, uncovered billions of dollars of indirect investments in companies doing business with the Iranian oil and natural gas, nuclear and defense sectors.

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Preceding provided by California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner

 

S.D. Library to feature author who focuses on Christian roots of Holocaust

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – The San Diego Public Library announces an author talk featuring local writer Gabriel Wilensky and his book Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Anti-Semitism Paved the Road to the Holocaust on Wednesday, July 21 at 6:30 in the 3^rd floor Auditorium of the Central Library, located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego. 

Six Million Crucifixions covers the last two thousand years of history, examining the root causes of anti-Semitism in Christianity and how they prepared the soil for the secular anti-Semitism that culminated in the Holocaust.  It also treats the role of the Vatican in setting up escape routes for wanted war criminals after WWII.  The author concludes by making the point that “after the Holocaust the Allies should have set up an international trial and put any and all clergymen who may have had a role in the defamation of and incitement against the Jewish people, as well as those who helped wanted Nazis escape Justice and other charges, on the dock.”

Gabriel Wilensky is a local veteran of the computer software industry.  As a result of a life-long fascination and years of study into the question of why the Holocaust happened, he used his technical background to methodically research and write Six Million Crucifixions.

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Preceding provided by the San Diego City Library

Be your own critic, or what to do until the review comes out

By David Amos

David Amos

SAN DIEGO–Did you hear about the concertgoer who could hardly wait for the morning paper, to read the review, in order to decide if he enjoyed the concert he attended the previous night?

Being a critic, or being more critical, does not diminish one’s enjoyment of a live musical experience, but actually enhances it.

You can treat a concert experience as a nice place to go, dress up, visit and chat with nice friends, and listen to nice music coming from nice people on stage (if they are famous, the better it is); whatever is being played does not really matter as long as it is pleasant sounding and it doesn’t run too long. An influential member of our community told me decades ago that “the best kind of concert is when the music puts me to sleep”.

This kind of superficiality is OK, but if you would like to improve your depth of understanding, enjoy the music more, and make the entire experience more meaningful, here are a few modest suggestions as to what to listen for in concerts.

–Prepare as much as possible in advance. Read up on the music, the composer. Listen to recordings, read the record booklet’s information. It is usually very comprehensive and interesting.

–After a few listenings of a familiar (or new) work, you will begin to hear the music in a different light. The more you know, the more you will find to enjoy. The great classics have a way of offering you new and wondrous discoveries with each subsequent exposure, as we become more familiar with them. A lot of serious musical enjoyment is derived from knowing what is about to happen, anticipating it, and seeing it develop according to your expectations. In time, you will refine your preferences. The same goes for opera and chamber music.

This isn’t like a mystery novel or suspense movie, where the entertainment comes with spontaneity and a “shock ending.” Actually, the fewer surprises, the better. This is a more sophisticated form of enjoyment, where knowledge, subtleties, and familiarity supersede the cheaper thrill of a surprise. It doesn’t matter what the butler did!

–Once you have a set of expectations, you have a point of reference. Before you take your seat in the concert hall, look with anticipation to:
1. The tempo (speed) that the soloist, ensemble, or orchestra (via the conductor) takes it. Is it what you expected? Faster? Slower? Are you comfortable with what you hear?

2. If you know a piece of music fairly well, look into the elements beyond the basic melodies and rhythms, namely the inner voices, the melodies other than the principal ones (countermelodies), the texture of the ensemble, and the tonal colors in the instrumentation. Is it transparent, clear, all in place, or is it as thick as pea soup? Some very fine orchestras sound bright and brilliant, and some other very fine orchestras sound mellow, and even dull, playing the same music. Compare the sound of our own San Diego Symphony to that of visiting great orchestras. There is no clear right or wrong here, but there are certainly some huge differences.

A lot of this has to do with the conductor facing the orchestra, even if he or she is a guest conductor. I have seen it happen to others, even to myself, where the precision and sound of an orchestra can be radically modified after only ten minutes into the first rehearsal!

3. Is there “magic” taking place between stage and audience, or is it just a routine performance, with musicians punching in their time, the same as any assembly line worker? Is the conductor conveying inspiration, knowledge, love for the music, dullness personified, or an agitated busybody, struggling to save his own life? I have seen it all, at all levels of competency and prestige. Refer to my article of last week.

A wrong note here and there doesn’t matter. The overall message is what counts. Pianist Arthur Schnabel, possibly the greatest interpreter of Beethoven of all time, was famous for dropping a multitude of notes under the piano during recitals and concerts; but his sincerity and communication were so sincere and artistic, that the minor negatives became insignificant.

Remember, that just because an ensemble appears flashy, or the conductor looks like an Olympic gymnast on the podium, or the music ends loud and fast, is no indication that this was an outstanding performance. San Diego audiences which are so generous with standing ovations, take note. Some conductors are artistic sorcerers. Others, equally famous, are doing no more than directing traffic. Can you tell the difference? Some pianists are poets, with a soul that reaches us all; others are nothing more than a machine with fast fingers and fancy motions. Do not be fooled.

I have learned that big names by themselves will not impress me. What I see and hear coming from the stage, regardless of the prestige and good press of the performers, is what matters. And I crave to hear something special, artistic, with a clear musical message. Sometimes I am satisfied, and sometimes I am disappointed. And in rare times, the concert, recital, or opera turns out to be memorable.

Pay no attention to the other patrons around you who jump to their feet and yell “Bravo!” Sometimes, the emperor is not wearing any clothes, but the more you know, the more discriminating you can be. I have recently heard some deadly dull performances by polished, prestigious groups, and upon exiting the concert hall, some well meaning acquaintance will comment to me, “Wasn’t that simply fantastic?” I politely nod.

The more knowledge you have, the more demanding you will become. But the pleasures and rewards that come with it are exponentially greater.

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Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world.

Adventures In San Diego Jewish History, August 6, 1954, Part 1

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff

Beth Jacob Congregation Gets Help from Mens’ Club
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

(Photo Caption)—Larry Kane, president of the Beth Jacob Mens’ Club, hands Morrie Kraus, president of the congregation, a check for $1,000.00 raised by activities of the club  during the past year.

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Poppy Day Set by Jewish War Veterans
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

For the fifth consecutive year, Mr. George A. Scott will open the annual Poppy Day Sale sponsored by the San Diego No. 185 Ladies’ Auxiliary Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.  Mr. Scott purchased poppies for all the employees of Walker Scott Company.  The Poppy Day Sale will be held Friday August 13 and Auxiliary members will sell them downtown, North Park, Hillcrest and throughout the city.

This is the major fund raising event for the local Auxiliary and all funds are used to carry on their many worthy projects. At the California State Convention held at Hotel del Coronado in June, the following figures were recorded by San Diego Auxiliary for the period of June 1953-June 1954:

$2,412.49—U.S. Naval Hospital Tubercular Ward Parties
      764.00—USO, Oneg Shabbat at NTC, Veterans families in distress.
      163.10—Child Welfare parties at Sunshine School.

There were 5035 people taken care of at a cost of $3,339.59. All work done is on a non-sectarian basis.  In addition to the above quoted figures, the Auxiliary of 88 members also takes 25 hospital patients from U.S. Naval Hospital to the Padre “home” games every Thursday and the Football games in Aztec Bowl.  Also they presented a 21’ Television set to the U.S. Naval Hospital Building No 10-2.

Ruth Hecht and Binnie Brooks are co-chairmen. Everyone is urged to cooperate and buy a poppy on Poppy Day so that this fine work can continue.

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Labor Committee Holds Picnic and Bazaar
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

The Jewish Labor Committee invites the community to attend the Annual Picnic and Bazaar on Sunday, August 15, at Pepper Grove, Balboa Park. To tempt the palate, a variety of delicious home-cooked food will be served starting at 12 noon; and to tempt the purse, a large stock of new merchandise donated by San Diego merchants will be sold at bargain prices.  One especially lucky ticket holder will be awarded a savings bond.

A $1.00 ticket insures a pleasant relaxing day the whole family will enjoy.

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Business Men Sign to Help Refugees
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

Five San Diego business men have signed affidavits to bring Jewish refugees to San Diego under the Refugee Relief Act in 1954.

Acting jointly as sponsor with the United Jewish Fund were Abraham Sklar, 40 Locker Club; Morris Douglas, Douglas Tire Co.; William B. Schwartz, Golden State Fabrics; Maury B. Novak, Bohemian Baking Co.; and Harry Wax, San Diego Janitor Supply.

This is part of a national project of the United Service for New Americans to bring 15,000 Jewish refugees to America under the Refugee Relief Act. San Diego’s Jewish Community has agreed to take 15 families as its proportionate share.

The entire local program is under the direction of Dr. Walter Ornstein, Chairman of the Fund’s Émigré Committee.

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Children’s Hospital Will Be Dedicated
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

The Children’s Hospital of the San Diego Society for Crippled Children will be dedicated at 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug.  15, it is announced by Morley H. Golden, president.

The $1,500,000 institution, goal of the Society for many years, is adjacent to the Donald N. Sharp Community Memorial Hospital, located on Highway 395 just north of Linda Vista.  Construction was started in April last year.

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Census Group Urges Cooperation From All
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Pages 1,5

All Jewish families in San Diego were urged last week by their Rabbis, their organization presidents and other community leaders to cooperate and participate in the Jewish population census which will get under way next week.

Designating August 16 to 29 as “C.C.”—Community Census—week, the Jewish Community Census Committee headed by Victor Schulman and Milton Fredman announced that over 75 enumerators would begin contacting Jewish families to gather basis material.

With field testing of the questionnaire completed under the direction of Fredman, all enumerators will meet for instruction and assignment on Thursday, August 12 at Beth Israel Center.

The test run which was made on twenty families was carried out by Mesdames Marshall Naiman, Harold Lasher, George Starr, Eugene Tucker, David Schloss and Messrs. Mort Goldberg, Alex Pachman, Maury Gross, Joe Vure and Philip Abrams.

Leaders of the population census committee stress that the study is not being made for the purpose of securing contributions or for creating a list. All families being interviewed are already known to the Jewish community. They also stress the fact that all answers will be held in strict confidence and will be placed on tabulating cards.

Purposes of the census and study as outlined by the committee are to secure the basic facts to make it possible for the San Diego Federation of Jewish Agencies to better serve the basic social needs of the Jewish youth, the older folks and to better build our present and future communal life.  These basic facts include the number of people in different age groups, where they reside principally, their geographic distribution, their ages, their interests, their present and future needs.  Development of these facts will enable the Federation to assist the Synagogues and all other Jewish communal agencies I the furtherance of Jewish life in San Diego.

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B’nai B’rith 91^st Annual Convention in San Francisco
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Pages 1, 8

David A. Chertkow, attorney, Vancouver, B.C., was unanimously elected as the Grand President District Grand Lodge No. 4, B’nai B’rith at the order’s 91^st annual convention held in San Francisco, California.

Elected to serve with Mr. Chertkow for the ensuing year were the following: Moe Kudler, Los Angeles, 1^st vice president; Jacob Shemano, San Francisco, 2^nd vice president; Sam Tarshis, Seattle, Washington, 3^rd vice president; Edward A. Zeisler, San Francisco, Grand Secretary, and Jefferson E. Peyser, San Francisco, Grand Treasurer.

Elected to the District Executive Board were George Aftergood, Jack L. Bilkiss, Hyman O. Danoff, Averill Pasarow, Julius Samson and Jack Spitzer, all of Los Angeles, California, and Morrie Kraus of San Diego.

Over three hundred men delegates to the district convention of B’nai B’rith pledged themselves to redouble aid to youth, students, their communities and members of the armed services and veterans.

The delegates, representing 21,000 members of the Jewish service organization’s District Grand Lodge No. 4 (eight Western states and British Columbia) held their 91^st annual convention at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco.

They heard Eward A. Breitbard, of San Diego, chairman of the District Standing Committee on Service to the Armed Forces and Veteras, promise the “greatest service to the greatest number possible” of American servicemen “of all races, all creeds, all color.”

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Philadelphia Lawyer to Speak Here
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 1

Mr. David L. Ullman, noted Philadelphia attorney, will be the guest speaker for the Jewish Community Relations Council today, August 6, at noon in the Riviera Room of the Grant Hotel.

Recognized as an outstanding community leader, Mr. Ullman is also a leader in the field of community relations.  Honorary President of Philadelphia’s Jewish Community Relations Council, he now serves as vice president of the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission.

Mr. Ullman has served the United States in such important posts as a member of the American Commission to negotiate Peace, and as former counsel to the Comptroller of the Currency.

He is a former chairman of the Workmen’s Compensation Board of Pennsylvania; a past president of the Council of Reformed Congregations, and of University Lodge of B’nai B’rith. HE is also a charter member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

Mrs. Gertrude Ullman, who is accompanying her husband on this trip, is also a leader in communal and organizational life. She is immediate past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women; Secretary of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind; and a member of the Board of the Philadelphia Jewish Community Relations Council.

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To See or not To See
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 2

By Berenice Soule

Culture Sugar Coated – There’s no doubt that two Shakespeare plays read as required reading at the unenlightened age of 13 and one read in college freshman English does not equip one as a Shakespeare critic. So any resemblance between this and a qualified drama critic’s report is purely in the reader’s mind.  Judged as entertainment, the Shakespeare Festival presented at the Old Globe this summer is unexpectedly thrilling.  The gaily decorated Green with its colorful pennants, lighted torches, delightful old world sweetmeat booths and the pageantry of Queen Elizabeth and her court with the light hearted dancing on the Green makes an island of romance for the spectator.  There can’t possibly be another community theatre in the country with the natural beauty of the Globe surroundings.

One of the most gratifying reactions to viewing Shakespeare is often the feeling of personal discovery, a very private, intimate emotion that Shakespeare is writing just for YOU; you find truths in his words that never existed until you unlocked their meanings; and all the years you’ve been a little afraid you weren’t culturally equipped to understand him and thus chary of boredom, you’ve missed a lot of plain, good entertainment.

Shakespeare never meant to be taken as a “long-hair”; he wrote for popular consumption as do movie and television writers today. In his plays are the same ingredients—comedy and drama, love and romance, and even intrigue and sex. Modern playwrights write form inspiration or for money or most often because they have something they want to say. Shakespeare wrote for the same reasons. Admittedly, there is one conspicuous difference—Shakespeare says it BETTER!

As was natural, the production awaited with most interest and trepidation was “The Merchant of Venice.”  If I were sure everyone would see it I would say nothing so that the full force of the most pleasurable Globe experience of the year could come as a surprise. Most welcome is the interpretation given this oft-time objectionable play.  However, this would be grossly unfair to the director, Philip Hanson, who, faced with the problem of handling an ancient prejudice in a modern light, lost none of the drama of Shakespeare in seeing Shylock as a man of worth whose fate is of utmost concern to the audience.  He deserves printed praise.

University of Texas student Joe H. Hearne plays Shylock with a dignity and force  and a sympathetic understanding hardly believable in one so young. Particularly pleasurable has been the audience reaction to Hearne’s portrayal which has earned him innumerable “hands.” 

Suggestion Department: The award committee for the Atlas award ceremonies could well name Hanson and Hearne as Heroes of the 1954 Shakespeare Festival.

Hardly less impressive is “Othello” directed by Frank McMullen with an admirable cast headed by Gerald Charlebois in the title role (he also plays the title role in “Merchant”). Especially noteworthy are Donna Wegner as a beautiful, gentle Desdemona, Dorothy Chace as Emilia (she plays Portia in “Merchant”), and Jack Sowards as Iago.

It is not the fault of excellent director Patrick Wymark that the chore of directing the least interesting of the Shakespeare Festival trilogy, “Twelfth Night” was his lot.  I’ve never enjoyed it, think it’s silly, its characters are dull, it contains no memorable lines, and I’d like to pretend Shakespeare didn’t write it.  So follows Suggestion Dept. No. 2: Let’s just ignore this one, bring Wymark back next year and give him something better to do.

Many of the actors appear in all three plays,l and among those besides the above-mentioned who gave excellent portrayals are Eugene Price, Abe Polsky, Miller Bushway, Shirlee Johnson, Robert ONeal, Bob Halverson, Dennis Hopper, William Francis, and Ann Barlow.

3 Performances More 3 –“Sabrina Fair,” romantic comedy currently running at La Jolla Playhouse and starring Joseph Cotton can be seen through this Sunday. This “Cinderella among the rich” story is by Samuel Taylor.

In the cast besides Cotton are Arleen Whelan, Robert Warwick, Rose Hobart, Louise Lorimer, Maurice Marsac, George Chandler, Lamont Johnson, and Margaret Wells.  The delightful set by Robert Corrigan is almost the duplicate of the one used on Broadway.

“Modern” French Canadian—Drury Lane is having a ball with the set for their next show, “The Happy Time.”  Architect Russell Forrester, who designed the windows for La Jolla Playhouse production’s “The Winslow Boy” and “Sabrina Fair” is letting himself go on a “suggestive” stage setting. Hear tell the player piano will be orange.

Teen-Age Production – “Babes in Toyland” to be presented in Balboa Park Bowl on August 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. as a Cerebral Palsy Foundation benefit, stars the outstanding teenage talent in San Diego County and is produced by the City Park and Recreation Department under the supervision of Maria Fielding. Choral director is Carl Dewse, dramatics director, Chas. Jeffers, and musical director Walter Peterson. The production will feature a cast of 31 actors, the Junior Civic Ballet of 50 members, a Junior Civic Chorus of 70 and the 80-member San Diego Youth Symphony.

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Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 2

Liberace Returns to San Diego

Starting August 12 on KFMB-TV, Channel 8 at 8:00 p.m. and every Thursday thereafter, Liberace, handsome and versatile entertainer will be seen weekly as the star of a new television series.  Liberace was one of only two entertainers in the television world to receive dual awards in the 1952 Academy of Television Arts and Sciences “sweepstakes.”  Lucille Ball, star of the “I Love Lucy” series was the other to receive this signal honor.

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Clark Jordan Gets Post at New Theatre
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 2

Clark Jordan, veteran theatre manager, assumes new post at Burton Jones’ modern Capri Theatre, located at Park and University.  Mr. Jordan has operated theatres on the east coast for several large circuits over a 22-year span. He was recently connected with the Linda Theatre here in San Diego. MR. Jordan is married and resides in Pacific Beach.

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Summer Program Continues at Bowl
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 2

A triple piano concerto, with three of the nation’s top pianists at the keyboards, will highlight next Tuesday’s Summer Symphonies in Balboa Park Bowl.

Lyell Barbour of Escondido; John Wustman, New York, and Howard Wells, Pasadena, will present Bach’s Triple Piano Concerto in D Minor as one of four musical masterpieces which will be heard on the program, the fifth of the current series conducted by the incomparable Robert Shaw.

Barbour also will play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.  The program will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Sharing the spotlight with the pianists will be Howard Bruebeck, San Diego musician, who was commiss(ion)ed by the Symphony Association to compose the opening number, entitled “Overture to the Devil’s Disciple” which will raise the curtain at 8:30 p.m.

Final concert in the series of Chamber Music programs is scheduled for next Friday, August 13, at Hoover High School beginning at 8:30 p.m.  Bach’s “Passion According to St. John,” one of the composer’s most memorable works, will be presented with soloists from the Metropolitan Opera in starring roles.

The 1954 summer symphony season will wind up Augut 17 at Boalboa Park Bowl with the masterful “Creation” by Haydn, Shaw’s most ambitious undertaking during the series.

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‘Seven Year Itch’ Next at La Jolla
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 6, 1954, Page 2

“The Seven Year Itch,” the riotous comedy which has been playing on Broadway since November 1952, is scheduled next at La Jolla Playhouse with Don Taylor, Kathleen Hughes and Willard “The Great Gildersleeves” Waterman in the starring roles.  Under the direction of Norman Lloyd, “The Seven Year Itch” will begin its two week run Tuesday, August 10.

The presentation of “The Seven Year Itch” makes three current Broadway hits in a row to be produced at La Jolla Playhouse.

Don Taylor appeared twice at La Jolla Playhouse last summer. First, co-starring with Dorothy McGuire in “I Am a Camera” and second with Jean Parker in a new version of “The Postman Always Rings Twice.”  Since then he has completed two films, “Robin Hood” and “Johnny Dark” and had made several TV appearances.

Miss Hughes, who is under contract to Universal International Studios, will soon be seen in the motion picture, “Dawn at Socorro.”

Featured in the cast are Catherine McLeod and George Neise.

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“Adventures in Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history.  To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box.

Chariot linchpin clue to biblical Sisera’s home base in Israel

HAIFA (Press Release)–A 3,200-year-old round bronze tablet with a carved face of a woman, found at the El-ahwat excavation site near Katzir in central Israel, is part of a linchpin that held the wheel of a battle chariot in place. This was revealed by scientist Oren Cohen of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa.

“Such an identification reinforces the claim that a high-ranking Egyptian or local ruler was based at this location, and is likely to support the theory that the site is Harosheth Haggoyim, the home town of Sisera, as mentioned in Judges 4-5,” says Prof. Adam Zertal. 

The El-ahwat site, near Nahal ‘Iron, was exposed by a cooperative delegation excavating there during 1993-2000 from the Universities of Haifa and Cagliari (Sardinia), headed by Prof. Zertal. The excavated city has been dated back to the end of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age (13^th-12^th centuries B.C.E.). The city’s uniqueness – its fortifications, passageways in the walls, and rounded huts – made it foreign amidst the Canaanite landscape.

Prof. Zertal has proposed that based on these unusual features, the site may have been home to the Shardana tribe of the Sea-Peoples, who, according to some researchers, lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, Sisera’s capital city. The city is mentioned in the Bible’s narratives as Sisera’s capital, and it was from there that the army of chariots set out to fight the Israelites, who were being led by Deborah the prophetess and Barak, son of Avinoam.

The full excavation and its conclusions have been summarized in Prof. Zertal’s book “Sisera’s Secret, A Journey following the Sea-Peoples and the Song of Deborah” (Dvir, Tel Aviv, 2010 [Hebrew]).

One of the objects uncovered at the site remained masked in mystery. The round, bronze tablet, about 2 cm. in diameter and 5 mm. thick, was found in a structure identified as the “Governor’s House”. The object features a carved face of a woman wearing a cap and earrings shaped as chariot wheels. When uncovered in 1997, it was already clear that the tablet was the broken end of an elongated object, but Mr. Cohen, who included the tablet in the final report of the excavations, did not manage to find its parallel in any other archaeological discoveries.

Now, 13 years later, the mystery has been solved. When carrying out a scrutinizing study of ancient Egyptian reliefs depicting chariot battles, Mr. Cohen discerned a unique decoration: the bronze linchpins fastening the chariot wheels were decorated with people’s faces – of captives, foreigners and enemies of Egypt. He also noticed that these decorations characterized those chariots that were used by royalty and distinguished people.

“This identification enhances the historical and archaeological value of the site and proves that chariots belonging to high-ranking individuals were found there. It provides support for the possibility, which has not yet been definitively established, that this was Sisera’s city of residence and that it was from there that the chariots set out on their way to the battle against the Israelite tribes, located between the ancient sites of Taanach and Megiddo,” Prof. Zertal concludes.

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Preceding provided by University of Haifa