“Four rare bronze discs shaped like lion heads have been uncovered in a 1,900-year-old grave in central Israel.” The underlying journal article is here.
A nearly two-mile-long tunnel in the aqueduct system feeding Solomon’s Pools is longer than any other known in the Roman empire. The underlying journal article by David Deming provides much more information about the aqueducts and water supply of ancient Jerusalem.
Archaeologists working at Tel Dan have discovered evidence for ritual bathing in a temple reconstructed after the Seleucid conquest.
The Jerusalem Post has a story about Shiloh’s excavation team being evacuated when the war began. The Appalachian News-Express has a similar story about one of the participants.
Gordon Govier interviews Scott Stripling about the Shiloh excavations and the beginning of the war.
“Iranian cyber activists hacked the X/Twitter account of the Israel Antiquities Authority early on Sunday morning.”
Writing for The Times of Israel, archaeologist Aren Maeir considers the history of military confrontations between Persia and the West and suggests that “history has always been and will always be deceptive and fickle, and it is wise to exercise extreme caution before pretending to explain to the public what was and what will be.”
The Jerusalem Post runs a piece on the Cyrus Cylinder and its significance for Persian-Jewish relations.
Online lecture on July 17: “Reminiscences of the Masada Dig, 1963-5: Yigael Yadin and the British Connection,” by Tessa Rajak
New release: Bring Them into the Land: Studies in Honor of R. Steven Notley, edited by Jeffrey P. Arroyo Garcia, Daniel Machiela, Chad Pierce and Benjamin Wold (Wipf & Stock, 550 pages, $68; Kindle: $10)
One of the most potentially valuable tools I’ve used in AI recently is NotebookLM, and the NY Times explores how it can be used by historians.
There will be no roundups in the month of July.
HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator