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Luke Chandler reports on the discovery of three cultic rooms at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The evidence revealed thus far is limited, and I’ve posted a few questions that I’d like to see answered in a comment on Luke’s post.

The first-ever Crusader inscription in Arabic has been discovered in Jaffa. The inscription mentions the name of the Emperor Frederick II and the date “1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.”

A new Bible museum will be built in Israel. Though the Haaretz article reports that the cabinet decided on a location in Jerusalem, it also identifies possible locations as the Adullam Nature Reserve, Neot Kedumim, and a place in Jerusalem near the Israel Museum.

The Boğazköy Sphinx has been transported from the Berlin Pergamon Museum to Turkey where it will go on display with its counterpart on November 26 in Boğazkale. (For background, see here.)

Ferrell Jenkins names some photos that are worth 1000 words each. In addition to our Pictorial
Library, he recommends the free resources at Holy Land Photos and David Padfield’s website.

The largest Paleo-Hebrew inscription in the history of the world is now on a rooftop in southern California.

Israeli government officials have figured out a positive way to spin their defeat in the campaign to have the Dead Sea named as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

HT: Jack Sasson

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This one won’t wait for tomorrow’s roundup because it’s a “Deal of the Day” at Eisenbrauns. I’ve mentioned before (many times) the incomparable value of The Sacred Bridge, by Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Notley (2005). This work sells for $135, but if you do not need the original languages printed in the text (Hebrew, Greek, Egyptian, Akkadian), you can save half by purchasing the Carta’s New Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible for $70.

If you don’t mind bent corners and you make up your mind before noon today (and before they sell out), you can save more than half again and get the book for $25. I wonder if there is a book published in the last 10 years in the field of biblical studies that has more packed into 280 pages than this one.

Eisenbrauns also has a non-bent-corner edition for less than Amazon at $50.

You can see the publisher’s information sheet, including the table of contents, in this pdf file. My previous assessment of “The Sacred Abridgement” can be found here.

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In April 2010, NAMI announced that they had discovered Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat. They supported this claim by declaring that the date of the wood had been scientifically tested as originating in 2800 BC.

NAMI has never followed up its sensational announcement with data that can be analyzed by scholars. In particular, they have withheld results from Carbon 14 tests done on four samples of wood. Andrew A. Snelling, Director of Research for Answers in Genesis, was provided the test results in order to gain his support ahead of the 2010 announcement. He explained to them why the data did not support their identification of the alleged object as Noah’s Ark, but they ignored his analysis and presented their claim as factual.

Since NAMI continues to attempt to deceive the world, Snelling is now revealing the confidential data they provided. In his report posted online last week, he presents the four test results from the wood. Samples A, B, and C are all less than 700 years old. Sample D was dated by an anonymous lab to approximately 2800 BC and is the basis for NAMI’s claim that the wood comes from Noah’s Ark.

Snelling’s report is lengthy and detailed, but he points to several problems with the date of Sample D:

(1) This sample was tested at only one laboratory, and a different one than the other samples. This
does not squelch rumors that a laboratory fabricated results for a price.
(2) The date of the death of the tree from which the wood came is between 9858-294 BC. That range is too broad to be useful, particularly with a single sample tested at a single laboratory.
(3) The tests of dendrochronology on this sample are not reliable.
(4) Comparison with samples of fossilized wood from trees killed in the Flood indicate that the date of Ark wood should be closer to 20,000 years BP.

In short, the burden of proof is on those who claim that they have discovered Noah’s Ark. Their unwillingness to report their data so that it can be analyzed by scholars suggests that they are perpetuating a fraud.

Previous posts on this blog about the NAMI discovery include:

Noah’s Ark Discovery Exposed (April 27, 2010)

Responses to the Latest Noah’s Ark Claim (April 29, 2010)

Questions about Noah’s Ark Discovery (May 20, 2010)

Noah’s Ark Confession (January 8, 2011)

Noah’s Ark Confession Repudiated (January 21, 2011)

Weekend Roundup – Link to Dufrene article (May 8, 2011)

“We Sell Hope” – written for another false claim, but relevant here also (August 8, 2006)

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I cannot find this posted online, so instead of including a link in the Weekend Roundup, I am posting it here in full. A portion of a previous interview by Dr. Tsedeka is online here.


Samaritans, Samaritanism and the Samaritan Pentateuch: Reflections on Samaritan Manuscripts in YU Special Collections

Lecture by Benyamim Tsedeka, Director, A-B Center for Samaritan Studies, Holon, and a leader of the Samaritan Israelite Community in Israel

Thurs, November 17, 2011, Furst Hall 311, Wilf Campus, Washington Heights (184th and Amsterdam Avenue)

Celebrating the completion of his catalog of the YU collection of Samaritan manuscripts, which will be published early next year, Benyamim Tsedeka, Director, A-B Center for Samaritan Studies in Holon, Israel and a leader of the Samaritan Israelite Community will speak on the significance of the YU manuscripts for the modern history of the Samaritans and for the history of the Bible on Thursday, November 17 at 6:45 in Furst Hall 311 on our historic Washington Heights campus (184th and Amsterdam Avenue).

This project is sponsored by the YU Center for Israel Studies.

HT: Jack Sasson

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Gordon Govier has an excellent article on Eilat Mazar and her work in Jerusalem over the last 20 years. Though sympathetic to this secular defender of the Bible, Govier cites some of her detractors and describes the latest twist.

According to provisional results, the Dead Sea did not receive enough votes to be named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Donald Brake is writing a series of articles on the life of Jesus in the Holy Land. This week’s article in the Washington Times explains how one can evaluate the accuracy of tradition, specifically in connection with the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Joe Yudin has a good column this week on Mount Gilboa, though I cannot agree that the witch knew the future.

This week’s radio program LandMinds with Barnea and David features interviews with the president of ASOR Tim Harrison, Yisrael “Winky” Medad, and Israel Finkelstein.

Forward reviews the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit currently in New York City.

Dan Bahat explains the political nature of archaeology in an interview with the Canadian Jewish News.

The Hagia Sophia may become a mosque again.

Every day 35,000 tons of raw sewage flow down the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem, according to a video report in the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli scientists are growing trees in the Arabah in order to improve the environment.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has announced its 2011 Publication Awards Winners for Best Scholarly Book on Archaeology, Best Popular Book on Archaeology, Best Book Relating to the Hebrew Bible, and Best Book Relating to the New Testament.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

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The conference began yesterday and runs through tomorrow. From the Omaha World-Herald:

The University of Nebraska at Omaha is hosting the 13th annual Batchelder Conference for Biblical Archaeology on Thursday through Saturday at the Thompson Alumni Center.
James Charlesworth, professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, will deliver the key address Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Charlesworth will describe how researchers continue to uncover mysteries in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Since 1990, UNO has led a group of institutions in uncovering and studying artifacts at the ancient city of Bethsaida on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is one of the most frequently mentioned towns in the New Testament. At least three apostles were born there, and it is purported to be the site where Jesus performed several miracles.
Rami Arav, the archaeologist who discovered the site and directs the excavation each summer at the 20-acre site, will speak Friday night at 7:30. Arav teaches in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Department of History at UNO.
The addresses by Charlesworth and Arav, as well as 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. sessions Friday and Saturday, are open to the public. A $5 donation is suggested at the door.

Did Arav discover the site of et-Tell, or should this read that Arav is the most vocal proponent of its identification with Bethsaida? The NEAEH article, written by Arav, says that “Bethsaida was first identified with et-Tell…by…U. J. Seetzen…and again in 1838 by E. Robinson” (5:1611). The imprecise wording must originate with the newspaper and not the University.

The full schedule of the conference is available as a Word document.

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