Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup

The recent discovery of a large wine cellar at Tel Kabri is described in the New York Times.

Ran Shapira at Haaretz reports on the latest finds at Gezer.

Guy Steibel is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Yigael Yadin’s excavations of Masada with a tour for journalists. He reveals that the one big thing they haven’t found yet is a latrine.

The Jewish Press has more about the stone altar discovered at Shiloh, including a better photo.

Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has a feature article in Haaretz on women and their work in the ancient world.

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are rarely celebrated at the same time. This article on the Chabad website explains when it last happened and when it may occur next (in 2070).

Oxford University Press has published The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction by Amanda Podany. At 168 pages (and $9), this will be more appealing to some than the longer (and more costly) introductions.

The official trailer for Noah is out. I’m told by those who have seen more than the trailer that the movie is not faithful to the biblical story.

HT: Charles Savelle, Mark Hoffman, Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Two women grinding in courtyard in front of home, mat04156

Two women grinding, 1930s
Photo from Traditional Life and Customs

Tagged Discoveries, Holidays, Israel's Coast, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah

Proposal for Huge Jesus Statue in Nazareth

From the Jerusalem Post:

Bishara Shlayan, a Christian Arab from Nazareth, is hoping to build a huge statue of Jesus on Mount Precipice, near his home city.
Shlayan told The Jerusalem Post in an interview that he has already begun fund-raising for the project and that he is getting positive feedback from the Israeli Arab Christian community as well as some Jews.
He sees the statue as being similar to but larger than the huge Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
[…]
Mount Precipice, also known as Mount Kedumim, is believed by some to be the place where the people of Nazareth attempted to push Jesus off the mountain after rejecting him as the messiah. In the end he was able to jump off and disappeared, according to Christian tradition.

The full story describes Shlayan’s political ambitions. The statue in Rio is 100 feet tall. The traditional hill is not the place where Jesus was nearly killed, for ancient Nazareth was not built on this hill.

They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff (Luke 4:29).

Traditional Mount of Precipitation in Nazareth
Photo from Galilee and the North

Tagged Galilee, Tourism

Stone Altar Discovered at Shiloh

Arutz-7 reports on the recent discovery of a stone altar at Shiloh that they are dating to the Iron Age.

An ongoing archaeological dig in the ancient Jewish village of Shilo in Samaria (Shomron) has turned up a stone altar dating back thousands of years.
The altar is believed to date back to the period from roughly 1,200 BCE to 600 CE known as the Iron Age.
More specifically, archaeologists dating it to what some Israeli researchers call the “Israelite era” – the period of time after the nation of Israel entered the land of Israel, and before the destruction of the First Temple.
The altar is 60 centimeters by 60 centimeters, with a height of 40 centimeters, and was found on the southern edge of the site of ancient Shilo.
It had been used in the construction of a Byzantine-era structure, however, markings on the stone indicated its use in religious ceremonies prior to its use as building material.

The dates above are incorrect; the Iron Age dates to 1200-600 BC/BCE. It appears that there is little evidence to date the altar. The broad range given suggests that this is a typological date, based on a comparison of this altar with other ancient altars.

The full story is here. The Hebrew version includes a photo. Another altar from the same time period was discovered one mile west of Shiloh, as described in an abstract of an article in PEQ.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Samaria

Egyptian Museum To Be Renovated

From the Associated Press:

Egypt unveiled Friday a multimillion dollar renovation project for Cairo’s famed Egyptian Museum, including plans to demolish a scorched building that stands between it and the Nile, in a bid to draw tourists back and restore a sense of normalcy after more than two years of unrest. Organizers said they want to return the dusty 111-year-old museum to its former glory by painting the walls and covering the floors in their original colors and patterns. The lighting and security systems also will be upgraded to meet international standards, Minister of Antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim said, announcing the plan during a news conference in the museum’s leafy courtyard. The displays also will be rearranged, although he did not give details about how. One of the museum’s most famous exhibits, King Tutankhamun’s treasures, will be moved to a new Grand Egyptian museum that is being built near the Giza pyramids. It is scheduled to be completed in 2015. Along with the overall tourist industry, the museum has suffered in large part due to its location near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protests and frequent clashes since the start of the 2011 revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Violence spiked again after the July 3 military coup that ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. But the interim government that has assumed power is struggling to regain control of the streets and bring back the visitors who long made Egypt a top tourist spot. Ibrahim said the ministry’s revenues, including the entrance fees from tourist sites, fell from 111 million Egyptian pounds in October 2010 to 7 million Egyptian pounds ($1.14 million) in October 2013. “From Tahrir, on a Friday, we are sending a positive message to the entire world: Egypt is doing well,” Ibrahim said on the anniversary of the museum’s inauguration in 1902.

The full story describes the anticipated cost and the involvement of an international team. HT: Jack Sasson Cairo Museum, early 1900s
Photo from The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection

Tagged American Colony Photos, Egypt, Museums

Weekend Roundup

The James Ossuary has been released by the Israel Antiquities Authority to the owner Oded Golan. Matthew Kalman explains how police contamination of the James Ossuary was a factor in the the verdict of “not guilty.” Ninety antiquities on sale in a Jerusalem auction were returned to Egypt last week. Nir Hasson reports on antiquities dealers in Israel who are fighting governmental efforts to force them to use a computer database. Haaretz: How a Canaanite goddess conquered ancient Egypt The Biblical Archaeological Society is providing open access to its seven articles on Lachish in honor of the opening of the fourth expedition. The Catholic Herald runs a recent interview with Jerome Murphy-O’Connor. Leen Ritmeyer shares some of his own reflections. The Book and the Spade re-runs an interview from 2008. Ritmeyer shares a screenshot of a digital picture of ancient Jerusalem from the forthcoming iMax 3D movie. HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt, Forgery, Jerusalem, Shephelah

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, 1935-2013

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor passed away today in Jerusalem. A Dominican priest and author of many books, Murphy-O’Connor is best known to many visitors of Israel for The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. This excellent guide has been published in five editions beginning in 1980 with the most recent update in 2008.

HT: Paleojudaica

Second edition, 1986

Third edition, 1992

Fourth edition, 1998

Fifth edition, 2008

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism