The Times of Israel gives an update on Israel’s decade-long systematic attempt to survey and excavate the caves of the Judean wilderness ahead of looters.
Ruth Schuster writes about a new theory that the Buqeia Valley east of Jerusalem was occupied around the time of King Josiah by quasi-military herders. The article includes some beautiful photos of the area.
Haaretz summarizes a new article that “examines the archaeological and historical evidence for the existence of Jewish gladiators in the first to fourth centuries.”
The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Jerusalem’s Millo, Baal, and Constantinople.
Leen Ritmeyer writes about archaeological evidence for Jews in exile in Babylon.
“An ancient Roman statue believed to depict the daughter of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and valued at $5 million, has been seized by New York officials.”
“A British auctioneer has pleaded guilty to numerous charges relating to the sale of rare ancient coins, including a hoard discovered by Palestinian fishermen.”
The synagogue that housed the Cairo Geniza has been completely renovated.
Chandler Collins has posted part 2 of his historical study of the excavations of the Stepped Stone Structure in Jerusalem.
The Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society has posted some lectures on their new YouTube channel, including:
- Herodian Jerusalem in the Light of New Finds from the Western Wall Tunnels, by Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah
- One Site, Two Peoples: Phoenicians and Jews at Kedesh of the Upper Galilee, by Andrea M. Berlin
- New Light on Iron Age and Persian Period Jerusalem, by Yuval Gadot
- Forty Years of Archaeological Work on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, by Shimon Gibson
New release: Excavating the Land of Jesus, by James Riley Strange (Eerdmans, $30). Phillip J. Long has a review here.
HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Alexander Schick, Alexander Schick
