Archaeologists carrying out excavations prior to road-widening near Hamovil junction in northern Israel discovered a weapons cache including submachine guns and ammunition on Monday.
Four submachine guns, made in Egypt and stamped in Arabic “Port Said” and the number “17,” were found inside a tire, wrapped in oiled cloth. With them were 50 submachine gun 9-millimeter bullets and a khaki shirt.
At first the archaeologists thought the guns had been used by Arab soldiers in the battles of 1948. About a year ago outposts were found in digs in the area, …

Buried in Iraq’s clay and dirt is the history of Western civilization. Great empires once thrived here, cultures that produced the world’s first wheel, first cities, first agriculture, first code of law, first base-sixty number system, and very possibly the first writing. A brutal plundering of this rich cultural heritage has been taking place in broad daylight ever since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. These days Ancient Mesopotamia looks more like a scene from the movie Holes.
“I still find it hard to believe this is happening,” Clemens Reichel told the …