Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Wednesday Roundup

Two Neolithic figurines were discovered at Moza (biblical Emmaus?) along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. High-res photos from the IAA are available. Two men were arrested for trying to steal bones from excavations in Beth Shemesh. The Israeli government has appealed the verdict in the case of the Jehoash Inscription, but the rationale for doing so is unclear. Shmuel Browns suggests a 10-day itinerary that will take you to many places you won’t see on a typical Christian tour. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg provides a review of the archaeological stories in July. Aaron’s tomb near Petra is a “quiet, austere holy site.” There is a lot to see in the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem. Accordance 10 has some nice new features for photographs and maps. Now shipping: Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, by Eric M. Meyers and Mark A. Chancey. HT: Charles Savelle Neolithic figurine from Moza. Photo by Yael Yolovitch, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Ritmeyer on the House of the High Priest in Jerusalem

In an interview posted this morning on Justin Taylor’s blog, Leen Ritmeyer describes the “Palatial Mansion” that overlooked the Temple Mount in the first-century. This impressive structure inside today’s Wohl Museum is frequently skipped by tourists to Jerusalem, if I can judge by the private visits my groups usually enjoy at the site. Many who have been to Jerusalem may thus “see” this ancient home through the Leen Ritmeyer’s eyes, as the supervisor of the reconstruction effort provides a helpful “walk-through.” The house also provides the opportunity to clarify a difficult portion of the New Testament. How could Peter be warming himself by a fire in the courtyard on the night he denied Jesus, and yet be able to “go outside” the house of the high priest (Luke 22:54-62)? Ritmeyer explains and illustrates the concept of an open courtyard inside the palace. While I appreciate the way that Ritmeyer makes these discoveries so accessible to the average Bible reader, I am less optimistic that this particular house is the very house where Jesus stood on trial and Peter denied the Lord. In favor of making this positive identification is the fact that this is the largest house known from this time period in Jerusalem. On the other hand, most of the land in the Old City has never been excavated. If there were 100 houses in Jerusalem in the first century, how likely is it that the only complete one excavated is the same one mentioned in the Bible? See the post for the full interview, some of Ritmeyer’s famous diagrams, and links to his excellent resources. A commenter to the post also shares 63 high-resolution photos he took on a visit. These are particularly valuable because photography is not allowed unless you pay a lot of money.

Tagged Jerusalem

Critiques of the Work of Robert Cornuke

I appreciate the careful work that Gordon Franz has done over the past several decades in exposing shoddy scholarship by those who make sensational claims in support of the Bible’s accuracy. Ron Wyatt was the long-time leader of fraudulent archaeology until his death in 1999. One of those who picked up the baton was Robert Cornuke, a one-time policeman who now alleges to have discovered the location of Mount Sinai, the ark of the covenant, Noah’s ark, and Paul’s shipwrecked vessel on Malta. Indeed, he discovers more on a two-week summer trip than any trained archaeologist discovers in a lifetime! What accounts for his popularity among evangelical Christians? Two things: he tells them what they want to hear in the way they want to hear it. Bible believers want to hear of great discoveries that support their faith, and if you package that in a charismatic presentation or a well-written paperback, you need not bother yourself with truth. Gordon Franz is serving the church by investigating Cornuke’s claims and writing critiques to help believers navigate these waters. Franz has recently created a convenient entry point for the articles he has written on Cornuke’s work over the years. Some of those articles include: Mount Sinai is NOT at Jebel al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia Part 1 Yahweh Inscription Discovered at Mount Sinai! Does “The Lost Shipwreck of Paul” Hold Water? Was the Ark of the Covenant Taken to Ethiopia? The full list is here. You may want to bookmark this link for future reference. For critiques of other dubious “archaeology,” see Franz’s “Cracked Pot Archaeology” section.

Tagged Analysis, Pseudo-Archaeology

Weekend Roundup

The Macherus article in the newest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is quite good, especially with its reconstruction diagrams. A particularly impressive photo is the panoramic shot from Macherus showing Masada, Herodium, and Jerusalem. I was surprised to see the entire article available online this morning. If you don’t subscribe to the print edition, you have a brief chance to read it before it goes behind the subscription wall. An annual digital subscription to BAR is now available for $20. A 21-m-long sediment sample near the Dead Sea is providing scientists with information about the area’s climate in history. According to Thomas Litt, the results “clearly show how surprisingly fast lush Mediterranean sclerophyll vegetation can morph into steppe or even desert vegetation within a few decades if it becomes drier.” The level of the Sea of Galilee dropped more than two feet this summer. Carl Rasmussen has just added photos to his site of a place in Galilee I have not seen: Domus Galilaeae is a Roman Catholic retreat center overlooking the northern side of the Sea of Galilee. And his latest travel tip suggests an alternative viewpoint now that Arbel is controlled by Park Rangers and closes way too early. Wednesday marked the 200th anniversary of John Lewis Burckhardt’s visit to Petra. He was 27 when he re-discovered the Nabatean city for the western world on August 22, 1812. Gus W. Van Beek died this week. He was Curator of Old World Archaeology in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and recent author of Glorious Mud! How in the world did the ancients ever move massive stones such as the trilithons in the Jupiter Temple of Baalbek that weigh more than 1,000 tons? Paleobabble answers that question with diagrams and translation from an older French article. Trilithon in Jupiter Temple, Baalbek (photo from the Lebanon volume of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Tagged Dead Sea, Galilee, Jordan, Lebanon, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

Free on Kindle today: The Apostle: The Life of Paul, by John Pollock. The ASOR Blog has posted the latest Archaeology Roundup. Three new volumes of the City of David final excavation reports have been published. If you have not had the chance to visit Hebron, you should take the illustrated tour today with Wayne Stiles. (Another version with smaller images is published at the Jerusalem Post.) Is skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee sacrilegious? The Washington Post gives my answer to the question. WiFi access is important enough to visitors in Israel that one biblical village has equipped their donkeys with WiFi routers. HT: Charles Savelle Windsurfer on Sea of Galilee (photo source)

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Resources, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Archaeological Park for Ultra-Orthodox

This article, from Jewish Ideas Daily, claims that an ancient agricultural village in Modiin Illit will be opened exclusively for the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim).

In the middle of Modiin Ilit, specifically in Kiryat Sefer, there has been an ancient archaeological site dating back to the Second Temple period. The site is an ancient agricultural village, with a wine press and a synagogue that are intact. While the site from an archaeological perspective is in usually good condition, the site has sat for many years, since it was discovered, and left in disrepair. It has recently been decided, by the Iryah in coordination with the government, to clean it up and turn it into an archaeological park. The mayor of Modiin Ilit announced that as per the agreement with the government, especially because of its location being in the middle of a haredi city, which is in writing and is final, the site will be managed by the haredi community and will tell the historical narrative as per the Torah rather than science and archaeology. R’ Yaakov Guterman said "the site will operate according to the narrative of our rabbonim, according to Jewish historical sources as brought in Tanakh and form the gemara and words of Chazal. The site will be open only to the haredi community, who will now have a worthy place to visit and to connect to our roots and history, without the distortions found elsewhere, where one risks hearing false opinions even to the point of apikorsus, God forbid. Also in the governmental decision it was written that the haredi community will establish the atmosphere of the site and all the details and historical mentions will be only according to sources from Chazal."

The article provides some commentary on the alleged agreement. One additional point: if restricting a rather ordinary archaeological site like this one to the ultra-Orthodox community were to improve relations between the religious and archaeological groups, it might be a worthwhile “sacrifice” for the public. Update: Paleojudaica links to the story in Haaretz, along with a response by the mayor of Modiin to close the city’s central park to ultra-Orthodox. HT: Daniel Wright

Tagged Excavations