Last night, on a whim, I jotted down some thoughts on the new Photo Companion to the Bible and sent them out in the BiblePlaces Newsletter. The response has been terrific. If you didn’t see it already, you can read it here. Introductory discount ends today.
A first-century AD tomb in Irbid, Jordan, will open to the public next month. The unique tomb contains oil paintings, transcriptions, and drawings.
A Hellenistic temple and network of water tunnels has been uncovered at Gadara.
An analysis of a water pipe from Pompeii suggest that the Romans probably experienced daily problems with vomiting and diarrhea, as well as liver and kidney damage. The problem wasn’t lead, but the acutely toxic antimony. Cf. 1 Timothy 5:23.
The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review has a number of articles of interest, including the capital city of Samaria, Hebrew on Herod’s time, and NT figures known outside the Bible.
The William Kelly Simpson Memorial Colloquium will be held at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History on October 7.
The Israel Exploration Society is having a clearance sale for all final reports of the Masada excavations. Each of the 8 volumes is reduced to $30 plus shipping.
Among the resources for Accordance on sale now is the three-volume Archaeology of the Land of the Bible series (by Mazar, Stern, Meyers, and Chancey).
GTI Study Tours is a unique travel agency that I’ve heard rave reviews about. They are offering a highly-discounted “Pastors and Christian Educators” Study Tour of Turkey in February with Mark Strauss.
HT: Agade, Chris McKinny, Joseph Lauer
Three major salvage excavations in Israel may be excavated by private companies and directed by archaeologists with little experience. (Haaretz premium)
They’re already recruiting for next summer’s excavations in Israel, and you can get all the information for digging at Shiloh here.
Aren Maeir visited the new excavations of Kiriath Jearim and was very impressed with what he saw, suggesting that the site “will become one of the most important excavations in Israel.”
Carl Rasmussen explains how a solar eclipse in 763 BC helps us to establish an absolute chronology for OT events.
Steven Weitzman answers the question, “Can Genetics Solve the Mystery of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel?”
Israel’s Good Name reports on his Bar Ilan U tour of the City of David.
Ferrell Jenkins explains the Megiddo water system with a drawing he made and several photos (including a labeled aerial photo).
Wayne Stiles shows how Banias Falls is a picture of despair.
We were very encouraged by some positive words about the new Photo Companion to the Bible by Ferrell Jenkins, Andy Naselli, Leen Ritmeyer, Charles Savelle, and Luke Chandler. Luke writes,
There is nothing like this resource available for teachers today. I cannot recommend the Gospels Photo Companion to the Bible strongly enough.
The introductory special continues through Monday, August 21.
- Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Photo Resources, Samaria, Weather, Weekend Roundup
If you don’t subscribe to the BiblePlaces Newsletter, or if some helpful filter put it into a folder you never check, you can read it here. Or go straight to the big news of our new photo collection here.
My biased opinion: it’s our best collection ever.
It’s on sale this week. If you ever think you’ll need photos of the Gospels, grab this collection now because the price is low and you’ll receive free updates for life.
- Tagged Photo Resources
The suggestion that el-Araj could be New Testament Bethsaida received lots of media attention, not all accurate. I’d recommend this report by Jeffrey Garcia and Steven Notley at the CSAJCO website.
An on-site interview with archaeologist Mordechai Aviam is posted at CBN’s Facebook page. The Today show sent a correspondent to the site. National Geographic sets some of the record straight. The Times of Israel looks at the two sites laying claim to the name of Bethsaida.
Jonathan Adler guides a video tour of a 2,000-year-old stone quarry that he excavated in Galilee. The Jerusalem Post provides a written report on the excavations.
The Abel Beth Maacah team shares a photo album from the 2017 season.
Nadav Na’aman argues that Khirbet Qeiyafa was not a Judahite city in a recent article in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
Authorities are planning to stop the flow of sewage down the Kidron Valley.
The Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d) traces the path in which ISIS looted artifacts make their way out of the Middle East.
“Researchers have unearthed a 1,800-year-old writing tool, or stylus, at the Assos archeological site in northwestern Turkey.”
Excavations at Carchemish have uncovered 250 Hittite bullae this year.
Excavators at Tell Tayinat found fragments of a large female statue at the citadel gate complex.
Now online: Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities’ Newsletter for July 2017.
Wayne Stiles considers the strategic value of the International Highway (aka Via Maris).
Ferrell Jenkins shares a couple of beautiful photos of ibex at En Gedi and Ein Avdat.
Leon Mauldin explains the location and importance of Akeldama, the Field of Blood.
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is on the Book and the Spade discussing “Canaanite DNA” and her excavation work at Tel Halif.
We will be making a big announcement in the BiblePlaces Newsletter on Monday. You can sign up for a free subscription here.
HT: A.D. Riddle, Lois Tverberg, Chris McKinny, Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer
- Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Lebanon, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup
For years, some scholars have doubted the claim of excavators working at et-Tell that they had discovered Bethsaida (see my explanation here). But as the years went by, and archaeologists continued to come up empty (of significant remains from the right time period), they doubled down and their voices became more shrill in their defense. Succeeding excavation reports were titled Bethsaida I, Bethsaida II, Bethsaida III, Bethsaida IV, etc.
The site of et-Tell, proposed by excavators to be Bethsaida, with el-Araj and the Sea of Galilee in the distance
But they had this in their favor: there was not a better alternative. That may be changing, as another archaeological team has begun work at a site closer to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Early word out from the el-Araj team this summer was that they had discovered Roman-period remains. That’s a big step forward. Today’s Haaretz carries a report of the latest finds. Here are a couple of important sections:
Archaeologists think they may have found the lost Roman city of Julias, the home of three apostles of Jesus: Peter, Andrew and Philip (John 1:44; 12:21). A multi-layered site discovered on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the Bethsaida Valley Nature Reserve, is the spot, the team believes.
The key discovery is of an advanced Roman-style bathhouse. That in and of itself indicates that there had been a city there, not just a fishing village, Dr. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College told Haaretz.
[…]
What the archaeologists found at el-Araj is an older layer dating from the late Roman period, the 1st to 3rd centuries C.E., two meters below the Byzantine level. That Roman layer contained pottery sherds from the 1st to the 3rd centuries B.C.E. [sic; should be C.E.], a mosaic, and the remains of the bathhouse. Two coins were found, a bronze coin from the late 2nd century and a silver denarius featuring the Emperor Nero from the year 65-66 C.E.
And has a major missing church been found too? The excavators found walls with gilded glass tesserae for a mosaic, an indication of a wealthy and important church. Willibald, the bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, visited the Holy Land in 725 C.E., and in his itinerary, he describes his visit to a church at Bethsaida that was built over the house of Peter and Andrew. It may well be that the current excavations have unearthed evidence for that church, say the archaeologists.
The article continues to discuss significant evidence that indicates the level of the Sea of Galilee was 6 feet (2 m) lower than previously believed.
The site of el-Araj, located in the area of the trees near the shore of the Sea of Galilee
Personally I think it’s best to continue to be cautious. There’s no sense (for those not writing headlines or raising funds) in making the same mistake again in the identification of Bethsaida. But it’s certainly fair to say that the geographical and archaeological stars seem to be in alignment.
UPDATE: The story is also reported in the Jerusalem Post and Ynet (Hebrew).
HT: Jared Clark, David Bivin
- Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee