Afterlife Snack? What Was Found Inside This 4,000-year-old Canaanite Tomb Dig

Amanda Borschel-Dan : Sep 25, 2017
Times of Israel

"We understand that this was part of the food consumed while still alive." -Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Shua Kisilevitz

[Times of Israel] A 4,000-year-old Canaanite "burial kit" has been found in Jerusalem and includes an afterlife snack pack of nine decapitated frogs. Discovered in a salvage excavation near Jerusalem's Biblical zoo, a set of intact jars and their contents shed new light on funerary rites of the Middle Bronze period—and give a window into an ancient recipe for toad. (Photo: David Tanami, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist, works his way into the narrow tomb opening to bring out a jar at a Canaanite burial site near Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo/credit: Shua Kisilevitz, Israel Antiquities Authority/via Times of Israel)

The dig's co-director, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Shua Kisilevitz, told The Times of Israel on Monday that while food offerings in burials are typical of the Bronze Age, "finding toads is pretty unusual," she said. "To the best of my knowledge, the only other place in Israel with toad find was in Wadi Ara, and dates to the Late Bronze Age."

Generally, she said, excavators discover entire vessels filled with food which...

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