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
Norma Franklin asks, Why was Jezreel so important to the kingdom of Israel? Her claim that “there is no mention in the biblical narrative” of an Israelite palace is incorrect (1 Kings 21:1).
Another story on the excavations of Carchemish reports that the Japanese offered a million dollars for the opportunity to dig there.
The pigs in ancient Israel allegedly came from Europe.
Five historical monuments have been destroyed in Syria’s civil war. The photos show the damage.
How did ancient Greek music sound? The BBC reports on the research of Armand D’Angour.
How do you avoid losing what you learned on your trip to the Holy Land? Wayne Stiles suggests seven ways. My favorite is #4: Share with people what you have learned and experienced.
Leon Mauldin is doing a series on the cities of refuge. So far, he’s visited Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron.
All of the entries from Skyview’s 2013 Creative Shot Contest are online.
The Batchelder Conference of Biblical Archeology at the University of Nebraska is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday.
Haaretz profiles the Mormon campus on the Mount of Olives, with details about the campus architecture and the “Non-Proselyting Agreement.”
HT: Jack Sasson
Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am tell the fascinating story of Moses Shapira and his alleged discovery of an ancient scroll of Deuteronomy. The Times of Israel article includes quite a bit of interesting information about Christ Church, even though it is not really relevant to the story. The question that has never been resolved is whether Shapira held the first discovered Dead Sea Scroll.
Christ Church was the first Protestant church in the entire Middle East, and the only evangelical church in the region. Outwardly resembling a grand European synagogue more than a Christian house of worship, it was erected in 1849 by the London Society for the Promotion of Jews to Christianity for the express purpose of drawing Jews into the Christian fold.
Before that time, simple proselytizing — and the promise of financial gain — had resulted in very few Jewish conversions; the Protestant Bishopric in Jerusalem hoped that an attractive, accessible church might facilitate the cause.
Church fathers wanted Jews to feel comfortable in the sanctuary, which is why the interior is replete with Jewish symbols.
Jewish students at the workshop manufactured the stunning olive wood communion table, decorated with both a Star of David and the Christian Alpha and Omega.
There were no crosses in the church; the cross on the table appeared in 1948, when Jordanians captured the Old City and Anglicans feared their sanctuary would be mistaken for a synagogue.
Moses Wilhelm Shapira, born Jewish in 1830, was 25 when he left his Russian homeland for the land of Israel.
Somewhere along the way, he converted to Christianity.
The full story is here. Shapira’s story is told in greater length in Neil Asher Silberman’s Digging for God and Country: Exploration, Archaeology, and the Secret Struggle for the Holy Land.
UPDATE: See the Jim Davila’s comments here.
Baker has recently published a book worthy of mention here: The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald.
You can use the “Look Inside” feature at Amazon to read the Table of Contents. Here are some of the chapters I would read first:
Chapter 5: The Herodian Dynasty, by Everett Ferguson
Chapter 13: Slaves and Slavery in the Roman World, by S. Scott Bartchy
Chapter 15: Education in the Greco-Roman World, by Ben Witherington III
Chapter 16: Temple and Priesthood, by David Instone-Brewer
Chapter 26: Jewish Education, by Kent L. Yinger
Chapter 28: Reading, Writing, and Manuscripts, by E. Randolph Richards
Part 5: The Geographical Context of the New Testament includes chapters on Egypt, “Palestine” (eek!), Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and much more.
Though this work draws from a broad range of authors, some more conservative than others, overall this seems like a terrific resource. At $35 for a 640-page hardcover, this is a good value.
The collapse of the great civilizations of the Late Bronze Age was the result of climate change, says a new study published in Tel Aviv. A preliminary list of 2014 excavations in Israel is now available. The Carmel Caves have been named the newest UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem has opened “The Book of Books” exhibition based on the collection of Hobby Lobby owner Steve Green. Archaeologists are mapping the ancient aqueducts of Rome with the help of lasers and robots. A new BAR Archive DVD is available, providing all issues of the magazine from 1975 to 2012. Wayne Stiles is offering both of his excellent books at a great discount. And this weekend will be the last chance to get them autographed. They make a great Christmas gift for you or someone else… The Virtual Bible Project is profiled in the Baptist Press. After many years of slow progress, Dan Warner has now teamed with Logos Bible Software to add to the four reconstructions already completed. J. B. Hennessy died this week. HT: Bill Soper, Jack Sasson, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer 
Caves on Mount Carmel
Photo from Samaria and the Center
From World Bulletin:
What could be the largest discovered inscribed tablet (stele), dating to the reign of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II between 605-562 BC, has been discovered in the Turkish city of Karkamis on the military zone along the Turkey-Syria border. […] Excavations this year also unearthed a cuneiform tablet at the palace of Carchemish king Katuwa dating to 800 BC, as well as over 300 sculptures, a Luwian hieroglyphic inscription and a mosaic.
The rest of the article includes more information on the excavations but unfortunately nothing about the major discovery. For previous posts on the excavations at Carchemish, see here, here, and here.