For photos of Jerusalem in the snow, check out the Jerusalem Post and Shmuel Browns’ post. Aren Maeir has some night photos of the city in the snow. SourceFlix has a 30-second time-lapse from the Mount of Olives. The Sea of Galilee rose 30 inches last week, with 20 more expected as rivers drain into the lake.

Biblical Archaeology Society posts its Top 20 Biblical Archaeology Events and Discoveries of 2012.

Archaeologists in Egypt have found ancient tombs underneath the mortuary temple of Amenhotep II.

Excavations are revealing ancient Myra, a city famous for St. Nicholas, but also visited by the apostle Paul (Acts 27:5). If The New York Times had looked the verse up, they might have avoided an error.
Haaretz has two “Tourist Tip” stories that are not restricted to subscribers. One is about Muhraqa on Mount Carmel and the other the City of David.

If you’ve never heard of Lake Jerusalem, you might check out Arutz-7’s story and find out why it was a bust. (It’s in the news this week because the storm filled it up.)

For stories in the broader world of archaeology, check out the roundup at the ASOR Blog.

Faithlife Tours is giving away a free tour of Israel.

HT: Jack Sasson

Myra, Santa Claus statue, tb062406394
Town square in Myra, the home of St. Nicholas. Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
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Jaffa, Yehuda Ha-Yamit Street: Stratum III dates to the 1st-2nd centuries (the time of Simon the Tanner) and includes remains of a large building, glass vessels, and a coin minted in Jerusalem from the time of Emperor Tiberius (AD 17-25). Finds from the modern period include a bullet from a German Mauser rifle, a British uniform button, and an Austrian, blue-coated iron bowl. The lengthy report includes 30 figures.

Jaffa, Shimon Ben Shetah Street: This excavation on the northeast side of town revealed 13 tombs, including “one sarcophagus, two built tombs, four uncovered cist tombs and six covered cist tombs.”

Restrictions by the Ministry of Religious Affairs prevented excavation of all the tombs.

Acco, Ha-Haroshet Street: Excavations between the tell and the Old City uncovered four strata from the Hellenistic to the Byzantine periods. The Hellenistic finds were “very rich,” and included amphorae from Rhodes, Cos, and Cnidus. Unfortunately they have published only one tiny photo of a glass vessel.

Acco, the Post Office: Expansion of the city post office prompted this salvage excavation which identified a Hellenistic strata (III), four phases of the Roman period strata (II), and Crusader and Ottoman remains (I). Among the small finds were a loom weight, a lead weight, a bone disk, 12 coins, 72 glass fragments, and 6 stamped amphora handles.

Metallic finds from the Acco post office excavation, including (1) a lead weight (?) from the Early Roman period; (2) a copper weight in the shape of a cube; (3-5) pyramidal arrowheads probably from the Crusader period; (6) a nail; (7-8) and tacks. Photo by IAA.
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The rain in Israel has turned to snow. Jerusalem is all but closed. A meter of snow fell on Mount Hermon overnight. The Sea of Galilee is up 6 inches. Haaretz is calling this the biggest storm in a decade with Israel’s main highway closed for 9 hours. Wind gusts in Haifa reached up to 75 miles per hour.

BBC reports that Gaza’s archaeological treasures are at risk from war and neglect.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the significance of Gaza.

Artifax and The Book & The Spade Radio program have posted their Top Ten 2012 Discoveries.

They are similar to our (unnumbered) list. Leen Ritmeyer picks his top two.

The conclusion from the 2012 excavations south of the Temple Mount (aka “Ophel”) is posted in an 11-minute video, concluding with a tour by archaeologist Eilat Mazar.

Thirty Days in the Land with Jesus: A Holy Land Devotional, by Charles H. Dyer, is for sale on Kindle for $1.99 this week. The 248-page book was released in 2012.

HT: Charles Savelle

Ophel Walls Iron Age tower, tb010112136

Iron Age tower in Ophel Excavations
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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From the Daily Herald (Provo, UT):

Calvary Chapel of Salt Lake will be hosting a weeklong presentation by Biblical archaeologist Bryant G. Wood next [this] week. Wood will present a “college level” overview of Biblical archaeology at three different workshops; Wood’s “Biblical Archaeology Seminar” is free and open to the public.

The first session will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a session from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.

The concluding session will be held Jan. 12 from 8 a.m. to noon, and will be preceded by a complimentary breakfast.

Wood, a specialist in Canaanite pottery, has pursued Biblical archaeology since 1973. He received international media attention in the 1990s for his study of the ancient city of Jericho. Wood disputed earlier findings that suggested the city was not inhabited at the time of the Old Testament account of its destruction and capture by the ancient Israelites.

See the article for contact information. Bryant Wood is director of Associates for Biblical Research and excavator of Khirbet el-Maqatir, a possible location of biblical Ai.

Jericho fallen mudbrick with Bryant Wood, tbs94229709
Bryant Wood examining ancient walls of Jericho
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Arutz-7 is reporting today on the excavation of biblical Shiloh.

A new archeological find at ancient Shilo fits in with the Biblical narrative regarding the war at Even Ha’ezer [Ebenezer], and could confirm scholars’ conjectures as to how Shilo was destroyed.
The First Book of Samuel does not say when and how Shilo, which served as the Israelite capital for 369 years, was destroyed. The latest archeological find at the Shilo site – a broken vase and remains of ashes from a fire – indicate large scale destruction. The remains are from the same period in which the War of Even Ha’ezer [Ebenezer] against the Philistines was waged.
Israel suffered a crushing defeat in that war, which is believed to have been waged near present-day Afek. The two sons of Eli the High Priest were killed, and Eli himself died upon hearing the news. Worst of all, the Holy Ark, which the Israelites had brought to the battleground, was taken by the Philistines.
Archeologists and scholars now have more evidence to back the assumption that after defeating the Israelites at Even Ha’ezer [Ebenezer], the Philistines advanced upon Shilo and sacked it.
Other Biblical passages, in Psalms and Jeremiah, confirm that Shilo was destroyed by Phlistines [sic].

Shiloh aerial from east, bb00120068-labeled
Shiloh from east. Screenshot from the new Pictorial Library of Bible Lands. Photo by Barry Beitzel.

A few comments:

1. The minimalistic reporting makes it impossible to evaluate the claim. The discovery of a broken vase and remains of ashes could indicate nothing more than the presence of a family hearth. Perhaps the archaeologists did find a destruction layer, but you have to believe that the journalist has evidence he was unwilling to share.

2. A destruction layer from the time of Samuel was already identified in Israel Finkelstein’s excavations in the 1980s. “This complex of buildings [in Area C] was destroyed by a violent conflagration whose traces were visible everywhere: charred floors and heaps of fallen bricks, sometimes more than one meter deep….As suggested by Albright following the Danish expedition’s excavations, this may be attributable to the Philistine destruction of the site (mid-eleventh century BCE)” (NEAEH 4: 1368).

3. The theory that the Philistines destroyed Shiloh in the aftermath of their capture of the ark at Aphek seems to be supported by the absence of Shiloh in the biblical narrative in the years of Samuel, Saul, and David. Its destruction by Philistines is suggested by its mention in two passages.

Psalm 78:60 — “He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men.”
Jeremiah 7:12–14 — “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers.”

The Arutz-7 story, with a photo of a jar, is here.

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