Ancient rock art in northern Israel

The culture responsible for building the dolmens -- enormous stone graves -- scattered throughout Israel remains largely unknown, but the discovery of rock art may give archaeologists new understanding of the people who lived here 4,000 years ago. 

Cave carvings discovered unexpectedly at the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve on the Golan Heights are the subject of new research from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Tel Hai Academic College.

The carvings were identified on ancient graves constructed from boulders, known as dolmens, that date back some 4,200 years, and appear to point to the existence of a mysterious civilization of builders that existed in northern Israel over four millennia ago.

The article discusses carvings found on walls of four different dolmens in the Galilee and Golan regions. The rock art sheds like on the culture that built them. Rangers from the Nature and Parks Authority at Yehudiya noted carvings depicting horned animals such as ibexes, antelopes, and wild cattle.

At another dolmen, the top stone was designed to resemble a human face, and a third dolmen features carvings of geometric shapes.

Most researchers believe that the enormous stone structures were built in the Middle Bronze Age, 4,000-5,000 years ago. Hundreds have been studied throughout the Golan and Galilee areas, but thus far the civilization responsible for them has not been the subject of much attention. In the past few years, the archaeological community has shown renewed interest in the dolmens of the Middle East, and research is yielding new and exciting findings.

Professor Agone Sharon, head of the MA program in Galilee Studies at Tel Hai Academic College, who published the article along with archaeologist Uri Berger of the Upper Galilee Department at the IAA, explained that "A few years ago, a panel bearing wall drawings was discovered in a huge dolmen in a field near Kibbutz Shamir. That was the first time rock art had been documented in the context of dolmens in the Middle East. Following that discovery, we started a research project to locate and document art on dolmens throughout the Land of Israel. We have covered dozens of dolmens throughout the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights in an attempt to reveal the world of the members of this mystery culture, which existed here over 4,000 years ago and left only dolmens as proof of their rich culture."

Berger added, "Thus far, many dolmens have been found in Israel and neighboring countries, but we knew virtually nothing about this civilization of super-builders, other than the remains of the enormous structures they left behind as testimony of their existence. The cave carvings offer us the first glimpse of the culture behind the construction of the dolmens."