3,200-year-old Chariot Wheel Linchpin

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, according to Oren Cohen of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. Since such linchpins were rare and associated with high-ranking Egyptian or local rulers, this new understanding of this carving may support the theory that the El-ahwat site is actually Harosheth Haggoyim, the home town of Sisera, as mentioned in Judges 4-5.

Credit: Moshe Einav, University of Haifa Courtesy of the University of Haifa