Archaeologists uncover cultic stone at ancient Israelite site

A large standing stone was uncovered at an ancient mansion site in southern Israel during excavations in 2014 and 2015. The stone, roughly 1.4 metres tall and weighing about 750 kilograms, was initially mistaken for part of a collapsed wall.

Researchers later identified the artefact as a massebah, a type of cultic standing stone common in the ancient Near East. Excavators at Tel 'Eton, located about 20 miles southeast of Ashkelon in the Judean lowlands, had considered breaking the stone for removal before recognising its significance.

"We did not immediately understand what we had found," a researcher said. " "Most scholars consider and debate two main reforms that led to religious changes during the Iron Age, King Hezekiah's and King Josiah's," a researcher told interviewers. " The discovery comes amid ongoing debates about whether biblical descriptions of the reforms reflect actual events or later additions to the text.

Previous evidence has been limited to a few public religious sites at places such as Lachish, Arad, and Beersheva. "The debate has focused on public buildings devoted to cultic activity, but we have very few such buildings from Judah," a researcher said.

" The Tel 'Eton stone suggests household-level cultic practices were broader than some prior models assumed, potentially broadening the base of material evidence used to test the reforms' historicity.