Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

The Best Maps of Israel

The best maps for detailed work in historical geography of Israel are the 1:50,000 series published by the Survey of Israel and the Survey of Western Palestine maps produced in the 1880s by the Palestine Exploration Fund. The first set comprises 20 maps and the second 16 (only going as far south as Beersheba), indicating the level of detail involved. Maps in the first set cost about $20 each and the second set costs in the thousands of dollars in the rare event that one comes on the market. In order to gain access to the Survey of Western Palestine, when one went on the market for sale in Germany some years ago, we purchased it and “shared the cost” by making an electronic version available.

An excellent new resource is available that combines the two maps in a single (free) website entitled amud anan (“pillar of cloud”). You can navigate on either map and then toggle to the other to see the land 130 years earlier (or later). The differences are dramatic. In addition, a “3D” option overlaps the maps on Google Earth topography so that the hills and valleys look like hills and valleys.

The 1:50,000 maps are in Hebrew. If you need to use detailed maps of Israel, and you don’t think you need to know Hebrew for anything else, these maps provide sufficient justification to learn the alphabet. (It really doesn’t take that long; there are only 22 letters and everything is phonetic.)

With a tablet and a good internet connection (or with purchase of the iPad app; Android coming), hiking in Israel may never be the same!

Northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Survey of Western Palestine sheet 6

Tagged Resources

Three Articles at The Bible and Interpretation

Excavations at Kh. el-Maqatir 1995–2000, 2009–2011: A Border Fortress in the Highlands of Canaan and a Proposed New Location for the Ai of Joshua 7–8. In this 11-page report, Bryant G. Wood surveys the major results of his excavations from the Late Bronze, Iron I, Late Hellenistic/Early Roman, and Byzantine periods. The well-illustrated article provides diagrams of the Late Bronze I fortress (Ai?) and the Byzantine monastery.

The Ossuary of James the Brother of Jesus: From Trial to Truth? Paul V. M. Flesher argues that “the trial produced no truth,” wonders whether Yuval Goren has changed his mind about the inscription’s authenticity, and concludes that unprovenienced objects must be ignored lest they distort the historical record.

Archaeology in Israel Update–February/March 2012. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg reports on some recent stories.

Cultivation of ancient citrons (etrogim) at Ramat Rahel, Jerusalem
Restoration of historic sites, the Montefiore Windmill in Jerusalem
Another controversial find by Simcha Jacobovici
Sale of ancient shekel in New York auction
Forgery trial verdict announced

Tagged Excavations, Forgery

A Summer at Tel Dan

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of more appealing places to excavate than the beach or Tel Dan. Summers can be hot in Israel and Jordan and instead of baking at Tel Rehov or Feinan, you can excavate at Ashkelon, with its cool ocean breezes, or at Tel Dan, a lush garden “which lacks nothing whatsoever” (Judg 18:7).

While the registration window is quickly closing for this season’s dig at Dan, there is still time to get in at the site where the famous Tel Dan Inscription was found and where the high place of Jeroboam still stands.

The official website lists the Goals of the 2012 season:

1. We will continue digging in Area B, into the early Iron Age levels (circa 1200-1000 BCE), to flesh out the architectural plans and to facilitate spatial analysis of houses and neighborhoods, to understand lifestyle, economy, social identity (ethnicity) and political organization. We are especially interested in retrieving carbonized grain from the Strata V and IVA destruction levels and to submit them for C14 dating (we have dates from wood, but the wood might already have been old when the town was destroyed).
2. We will continue digging in the new area in the center of the site, Area L, in the 8th cent. BCE levels destroyed in an earthquake. What does a town look, one minute before disaster strikes? How to people react to such a catastrophe? We will also be emphasizing “household archaeology” here. Is the earthquake mentioned in the book of Amos (Chapter 1)?
3. We will continue working in the area outside the city gate, Area A, in an attempt to date and understand the phantom gate of the Iron Age. Was it constructed in the 10th century BCE, the 9th century or even later? Will we find more pieces of the famous victory inscription of Tel Dan?

You can download an application here.

HT: Alexander Schick

Iron Age gate at Tel Dan

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Opportunities

Questions and Answers at Neot Kedumim

An article in Haaretz gives a little history and suggests a few reasons to put Neot Kedumim on your list of places to go.

Why for example, one might wonder, did that forefather of all forefathers Abraham camp under the “oak of Moreh” when he, Sarah and their nephew Lot first came to this land? Is there significance to the oak? A deeper story behind the simple tale?
Have you always wanted to know why the children of Israel used the hyssop plant to brush paint on their doorposts when leaving Egypt? Or maybe you are one of those ancient history buffs more interested in why the Roman soldiers used the very same hyssop – dipped in vinegar – to quench Jesus’ thirst when he was on the cross?
And where on earth could one look for the answers to such questions?
Look no further than magical Neot Kedumim, Israel’s biblical landscape reserve, where the physical setting of the bible has been recreated on 625 acres teeming with everything from the majestic cedar of Lebanon to the scrappy hyssop bush.
[…]
One can rest in the shade of a willow around “Solomon’s Pool,” traipse around “Jotham’s Garden”, draw water from an ancient cistern, and then stop for a biblical themed lunch (which needs to be organized in advance) at “Abraham’s Tent.” Don’t expect tomatoes in your salad here, or any eggplant dishes, or, for that matter, any food not around when Rachel and Rebecca were in the kitchen. Sorry kiwi enthusiasts. And no surprise here: the restaurant is kosher.
Depending on the season, other activities offered at Neot Kedumim might include harvesting grain on a threshing floor, plowing and sowing a field, and plucking olives or operating an authentic olive press. Some activities such as shepherding, learn to write like Torah scribe and parchment preparation, and tree planting involve extra charges.

The full article is here. We recommended a visit several months ago. If you would like answers to some of the questions in the article but can’t wait for a visit, the books produced by Neot Kedumim (listed here) are the place to start.

“Solomon’s Pool” at Neot Kedumim

Tagged Tourism

Greatest Archaeological Finds in Israel

An article published by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the most important sites excavated in the last 25 years, according to a couple of archaeologists. The article’s introduction, however, contains some information perhaps as valuable as the list itself. Quoting Jon Seligman, the head of excavations and surveys for the Israel Antiquities Authority, the article reports:

The IAA supervises about 300 annual excavations, accounting for about 95 percent of all the archeological digs in Israel. The digs usually take place at mounds composed of the remains of ancient settlements (tel in Hebrew). “We have 30 excavations every day,” says Seligman. Israel is so rich in archeology that even at this pace, he adds, “We can carry on for many more years.”
[…]
The digging, discovery and analyzing is part of a carefully considered process, Seligman stresses. “We have to look not only at what we excavate but also at what we don’t. We do the minimal amount necessary, since excavation is a destructive process and we have to think about what we must leave for future generations,” he explains.
“In general, we try to keep material at the site in its context, and only consider bringing things to a museum when there is no alternative. A mosaic, for example, is meant to be on a floor, not hanging on a wall.”
Not every excavation site is preserved for public viewing. “Maintenance is expensive, so we can’t afford to make each into a presentation site,” Seligman says. Those that aren’t developed into national parks are covered over after the archeologists have finished their investigations.

The list of “best finds” is more of a list of sites, and the 16 sites were selected by Seligman and Aren Maeir. They include: Hazor, Dan, Rehov, Mishmar David, Ramla, Herodium, Yiftach-El, Tel Kabri, Hilazon Cave, Te’omim Cave, Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tell es-Safi, Ramat Rahel, Omrit, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Jaffa.

The most glaring omission from the list is the City of David, with the discovery of the Middle Bronze fortifications, cuneiform tablet, fish bones, and Pool of Siloam. Other sites that I would judge as of greater significance in the last 25 years of excavation than some listed above are Bethsaida (et-Tell), Hippos, Sepphoris, Dor, Caesarea, Mount Gerizim, and Beth Shemesh.

Orpheus mosaic, Sepphoris

Tagged Analysis

Weekend Roundup

Joe Yudin’s weekly travel column suggests a way to get a taste of everything in a one-day hike in the Golan.

Looters searching for treasure mentioned in the Copper Scroll uncovered a mikveh near Modiin before they were arrested.

The “Million Dollar shekel” actually sold for 1.1 million at a New York auction. This sets a record for the sale of a Judean coin.

“The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) will open 22 of its nature reserves and national parks for free to the public for a couple weeks in honor of Nature and Heritage Conservation Week.”

Haaretz profiles a 20-year plan to publish every ancient inscription ever discovered in Israel. The photo that accompanies the story shows one of the most easily accessible inscriptions, at the base of the first lamppost in Jerusalem, just inside Jaffa Gate.

Norma Franklin, co-director of the Jezreel Expedition, is interviewed on the LandMinds radio show (part 1, part 2).

The IAA chairman is unhappy about the destruction of antiquities on the Temple Mount.

A U.S. archaeological team is back excavating in Iraq.

ASOR is making progress in its efforts to digitize its archives. Here is a direct link to hundreds of thumbnails from the collection of Nelson Glueck.

Significant discussion continues about Talpiot Tomb B. If you’ve fallen behind, the best place to catch up is with James McGrath’s recent roundup. The preliminary report has been updated a third time.

The Bible and Interpretation has a single entry point for their dozens of articles published over the years related to the James Ossuary and the Jehoash Inscription.

I doubt that there are many tours of Israel that do as well as Insight for Living in sharing their experiences with the world.

ASOR rounds up the news in the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Mesopotamia, Tourism, Weekend Roundup