From the Caspari Center Media Review:

The Yardenit Baptism Site, situated on the Jordan River, is to undergo extensive development in the coming year. In order to improve the site, a fourth baptism station will be opened up, and “10 new ceramic wall hangings with the text from the Book of Mark 1:9-11, which speaks of John baptizing Jesus, [will be] added to the 70 plaques” that constitute the “Wall of New Life.” A representative from the site says that “the guiding principle underlining Yardenit … is the fact that it is totally non-denominational, and pilgrims are welcome to perform their baptism rituals in accordance with their particular beliefs and traditions.”

This must mean that business is good. In the meantime, it may be more difficult to get photos of the river without bulldozers and rebar.

The above article is not yet online. Copyright of the article remains with the Caspari Center.

Jordan River baptism at Yardenit baptismal site, tb011406482

Jordan River baptismal site at Yardenit
Photo from Galilee and the North

The German Protestant Institute of Archaeology announces the upcoming lectures:

Wednesday, February 6, 2013: Florian Lippke (Universität Bern, Schweiz) “Comparative remarks on Late Persian iconography: The case of Samaria.”

Monday, February 18, 2013: Dr. Shimon Gibson (University of the Holy Land) “The Bethesda Pool Excavations, 1863 – 1967: A Re-assessment.”

All lectures takes place in the institute (Auguste Victoria Compound, Mount of Olives) at 5 pm.

Source: The Agade list

One of the most head-shaking stories of early explorers in Jerusalem is that of Montague Parker’s expedition to discover the Ark of the Covenant. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg tells the story in the Jerusalem Post, and if you haven’t heard it before, it’s worth the read. Here’s an excerpt:

With the help of his two Turkish supervisors, Parker and his men claimed an area of ground near the entry to the Gihon water system, known at the time as the Virgin’s Spring, which was then fenced off and guarded by Turkish troops, who did not allow entry to any locals or other visitors. The Jerusalem Pasha Azmey Bey had been suitably bribed to turn a blind eye to the work.
Parker’s activity naturally aroused the intense concern of the local archeological community. The Germans, French and British all had their missions in Jerusalem, but Parker would give out no communication and allow no inspection. His men proceeded with the digging, but they were amateurs and it went slowly and with little result.
Back in London, the Finnish scholar Juvelius had hired an Irish medium, who studied the documents and sent directions to the team about suitable locations. He advised Parker to search the long water tunnel, so Parker sent to London to obtain the services of two mining engineers who had worked on the Metropolitan Railway, the first line of the London Underground. Then he made another excellent move.

The full account is here. If you like stories like this, I recommend Neil Asher Silberman’s Digging for God and Country. The book is  out of print, but still available in used bookstores.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Gihon Spring, tb031003202
The Gihon Spring of Jerusalem

Luke Chandler:

I’ve used Todd Bolen’s Pictorial Library of the Bible Lands collection for several months. I’ve tried it with Bible classes, history classes, sermons, etc. and my conclusion is…
Wow.
I posted on the new expanded set a few months ago before I had actually obtained it. It was clearly a useful product. Now that I’ve used it, I can’t imagine life without such a valuable, enriching tool.
The Pictorial Library set includes some 17,500 photos of nearly everything you could imagine in the Bible Lands. For me, the best part is the 400+ PowerPoint presentations included with the set. The PowerPoint files contain all of the photos ready-to-go. They are organized by location and contain great slide notes that inform and complete your presentation.

You can read all of Luke’s assessment at his blog.

You can learn more about the new Pictorial Library of Bible Lands here, download a free PowerPoint presentation of Caesarea here, and place an order here. Individual volumes cost $24-$39. The complete set of 18 volumes is now marked down to $389 (a 35% discount). Larger discounts are available for upgraders.

BiblePlacesProduct-PLBL

As you might have guessed, one afternoon is all the time they need to discuss the contributions of Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister. From the Agade list:


R.A.S. Macalister’s Contributions to the Archaeology of Palestine 100 Years Later: An Evaluation

Workshop to be held at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeology, 26 Salah ed-Din Street, Jerusalem on Thursday, December 13, 2012

1:15 Light refreshments

1:30 Welcome and Introduction, Sam Wolff, Israel Antiquities Authority and Albright Institute


Tel Gezer

1:40 Jonathan Tubb, Keeper, Middle East, The British Museum, R.A.S. Macalister: Villain or Visionary?

2:10 William H. Dever, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, A Response to Jonathan Tubb (to be read by S. Gitin)

2:25 Baruch Brandl, Israel Antiquities Authority, Are the Finds from Macalister’s Gezer I-III Still Relevant for Current Research a Century Later?

2:40 Tsvika Tsuk, National Parks Authority, Digging in Macalister’s Footsteps: The Gezer Water System

3:00 Eric Mitchell, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, The Gezer Survey: An Assessment of Macalister’s Work (to be read by S. Wolff)

3:15 Discussion

3:30 Break


Jerusalem and Judean Shephelah Sites

3:45 Shimon Gibson, University of the Holy Land R.A.S. Macalister: with Bliss at Tell el-Judeideh
and with Duncan at Jerusalem

4:15 Oded Lipschits and Yuval Gadot, Tel Aviv University “Kabdehu veChasdehu” (“Respect Him but Suspect Him”): Digging Azekah after 113 Years

4:30 Amos Kloner, Professor Emeritus, Bar-Ilan University Subterranean Complexes at Mareshah and Additional Notes on the Judean Shephelah Hiding Complexes

4:45 Aren Maeir, Bar-Ilan University and Rona Avissar, Albright Institute, Bliss and Macalister’s Work at Tell es-Safi: A Reappraisal in Light of Recent Excavations

5:00 David Ussishkin, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University and Ronny Reich, University of Haifa, concluding remarks, followed by discussion

The workshop is open to all interested scholars. Please RSVP your intention to attend to Sam Wolff (sam at israntique.org.il).

Gezer Calendar large replica, tb070506092
A replica of the Gezer Calendar, found in the Macalister’s excavation dump