Israeli police aided by local constables conducted a peaceful house-to-house search In the Gaza strip township of Dir el Nalah yesterday. Its objective was a collection of 2,700-year-old jars which some of the townspeople dug up in a mound near the seashore. Under Israeli law, as under the Egyptian and British Mandate ordinances that preceded it in Gaza, all antiquities must be turned over to the Government.
The police so far have come up with 42 of the Jars which archaeologists say date back to the iron age, about 800 BC. Many of the Jars contained human bones which led the Israel Government Department of Antiquities to the conclusion that they were used for burial purposes. The site of the find is believed to mark a chain of ancient settlements. A guard has been posted pending further archaeological excavations.
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