In follow-ups to yesterday’s story, Nadav Shragai writes that the Mughrabi Bridge must be built. The city engineer is threatening to destroy the temporary bridge. The Muslim Waqf says that they are sovereign over all.
A preliminary report from excavations at Gezer from 2006-2009 is now online. Elsewhere excavator Sam Wolff writes that they are a season or two away from floor levels associated with the (Solomonic) six-chambered gate.
Jerusalem plans to develop an extensive archaeological site 30 feet (10 m) below the plaza at Jaffa Gate in order to share with the public a 220-foot (70-m) aqueduct, a Byzantine bathhouse, and other remains.
Haaretz’s Week’s End has an interesting article on the Cairo Geniza and ambitious plans to digitize all 350,000 fragments.
A couple of Tel Aviv archaeologists would like to move some of historic Jerusalem from the City of
David to the Rephaim Valley. Lipschits and Na’aman have proposed that the King’s Garden was located not where the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys meet but on one end of Emek Refaim Street in west Jerusalem.
The Oriental Institute in Chicago will run an exhibit entitled “Picturing the Past: Imaging and Imagining the Ancient Middle East” from February 6 to September 2, 2012.
A Biblical Chronology from Abraham to Paul is a new book by Andrew E. Steinmann. Justin Taylor has links to his OT and NT Chronologies as well as a 48-page excerpt from his book. It seems to agree with standard conservative views except that Jesus was born in 1 BC. [Note: be prepared for sticker shock. Perhaps you can ask your library to purchase a copy.]
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun a list of Archaeological Excavations in 2012.
A photograph of McDonalds at Masada has prompted the site archaeologist to write an article in Haaretz. The photogapher [sic] has rejected the charges.
Thousands of people pass by the place where the ark of the covenant rested every day. Wayne Stiles explains the significance of Kiriath Jearim (and, unlike most, he gets the chronology right!).
The Big Picture celebrates Sukkot.
Israel’s prime minister and education minister are urging everyone to vote for the Dead Sea as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The Dead Sea is one of 28 finalists. Voting ends on November 11.
HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson
