Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Forgery Trial, 3 Years Going (and Going)

Haaretz gives an update of the forgery trial against Oded Golan and Robert Deutsch. Most of what is “new” here seems to be taken from the courageously honest 60 Minutes report. I’m always reluctant to analyze a news article written by a journalist because I know how skewed facts can get between the interview and the printed page. But I’ll make a few comments on the assumption that the record is generally accurate.

1. The prosecution has been presenting its case for three years. Israel doesn’t have constitutional protections like the United States, but some judge should intervene to tell them that there’s something humane about a speedy trial, and if the prosecution can’t present its case in short order, it’s over.

2. The “silver bullet” in the case is an Egyptian artist. The article says that he “confessed to manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription.” I need more evidence than the reporter’s word (or the prosecution’s statement). Note that 60 Minutes, who interviewed him on TV, did not have a statement from him that he forged it. Maybe he did, or maybe the prosecution wants to make you think he did. That’s why there’s such a thing called cross-examination. (For those of you new to the case, it’s simply incredible that a guy with a shop in an Egyptian market has the necessary skills to make an object of this nature that has fooled many experts into thinking it is authentic. Scholars have told me that there’s not a single person alive with all of the knowledge necessary to make the Jehoash Inscription. Maybe five scholars collaborated, each contributing their own specialized knowledge. But one artist in Egypt?)

3. The article says:

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution in court: photos and exhibits taken from the labs in Golan’s home, where, according to the indictment, the forgeries were made; various sketches and other materials that were used in the preparation of the forgeries.

Now this sounds convincing to the reader at home. Open-and-shut case. If so, then why all of the delay? Why do they need to bring the Egyptian artist to testify? Again, this is why this case cannot be decided in the media alone.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll note it again: I don’t know if any of these items are authentic or not. And I don’t care. It doesn’t change my view of the Bible or archaeology if the James Ossuary or the Jehoash Inscription are forgeries. But there are very significant problems with the way that these matters have been handled by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the prosecution, and some scholars. There are other agendas.

Tagged Forgery

Philistine Temple (Found) and Gate (Rebuilt)

A couple of developments in the land of the Philistines are worth noting:

A Philistine temple is being excavated at a site south of the five major Philistine cities. The temple dates to late Iron I (circa 1000 B.C.) and is a few miles south of biblical Gerar (Tel Haror) and northwest of Beersheba. Aren Maier has a brief report of his visit and some of the finds.

The Canaanite gate at Ashkelon has now been completely restored. They claim that it is the “oldest arched gate in the world,” but pushing the date of the Ashkelon gate a little earlier and the date of the Dan gate a little later. Even archaeologists are competitive! The JPost has a picture of the gate with a modern arch which looks like it was designed for schoolkids. Below is a photo before they added the arch.

Ashkelon Middle Bronze Gate (circa 1800 B.C.)

Tagged Discoveries, New Exhibits

Making My Own Map

I recently worked on a project that required me to create some maps and I thought I might share a few tips for those who might be interested in making their own.

First, I’m using Bible Mapper. This program has lots of functions which makes it easy to add and remove cities, put labels, etc. The program used to cost $35, but it is now free. It does requires a free registration key from the author to unlock all of the features. (No technical support is available.)

Next, let’s say I want to make a map of Turkey. I only want to include certain places. This requires that I remove some of the ones listed. That’s easy. Adding sites that aren’t already defined is a bit more work. But this too is not hard with several free resources.

Let’s say I want to put Catal Huyuk on the map. This is an important Neolithic site, but it’s not already in the map program (I had to pick a lesser-known site like this one, because all of the biblical sites are already listed; if you’re just teaching about the biblical sites, you may never have to do this).

To get the location coordinates for it, I go to the Wikipedia article. I can then copy the coordinates to Google Earth, if I want to get a close-up look at the site with a satellite view (or to verify the coordinates). Alternately, I can click on the coordinates in Wikipedia which brings me to a list of maps that I can locate the site on, including Google Earth. It also gives the coordinates in decimal form which I can copy over to Bible Mapper.

Here’s the map I made of Turkey. It took me about 30 minutes to create, but it would take less time for those who don’t have as many specific needs as I do. There is a learning curve in using the Bible Mapper program, which means that it’ll take you a little longer when you start. Undoubtedly more savvy individuals can make a much nicer map with all of the options available.

One day I hope to add maps like these to BiblePlaces.com so that one can click a site on the map and immediately go to the relevant page of photos.

Which reminds me – and this is a great feature of Bible Mapper – you can use the maps you create for anything! (From the license: “No copyright restrictions are placed on any maps created with Bible Mapper.”) Most maps and map programs have restrictions on them, which can make your maps of limited usefulness. Among its many other features, this makes Bible Mapper a terrific tool.

Tagged Resources

5th Volume of NEAEH

It has been noted on the ANE-2 list that the 5th (Supplement) volume to the New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEH) is off the press. The book is co-published by the Israel Exploration Society and the Biblical Archaeology Society, which should make it easy to buy in either the US or Israel. Neither site yet has it listed for sale. When it becomes available, I’ll note it here. I commented on the original set previously here.

Update (4/8): The Israel Exploration Society has a 4-page pdf file describing the new volume. On this side of the ocean, Eisenbrauns has it listed for sale (but not yet shipping). The volume is 600 pages and costs $150 (which is the same as the price for the entire 4-volume set).

Update (4/9): The Biblical Archaeology Society is selling it now for $120 plus $10 shipping. The first 25 orders get a free copy of The City of David, Revisiting Early Excavations (reg. $150). There doesn’t seem to be a way to indicate if you are in the first 25 or not, so I would assume that once 25 orders have been taken, they will remove the red print of the special offer so as to not mislead customers into thinking that they might qualify.

Update (4/16): BAS has extended the special offer to the first 115 orders. For those more advanced in their interest of archaeology in Israel and Jerusalem, this is a great deal.

Tagged Resources

New Blog: Tel Dan Excavations

The first excavation in Israel to have a running blog is the The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog. But it’s been several years and no one else seems to have caught on. Until now. The Tel Dan Excavations has started a new blog. At this point, the blog looks more like a website, with static pages but not daily updates. Presumably, with the start of the season this summer, they’ll keep us regularly informed of the progress.

Permit me one comment on the recruiting banner, as they encourage volunteers to sign up. The slogan says, on top of the graphic: “The 2008 season begins June 22! Will you find the missing pieces of the David inscription? Mail your volunteer application soon.” That’s certainly a tantalizing suggestion. Even though it’s been 14-15 years since the three fragments were found, there certainly could be more. And if more are discovered, you can bet that many of the scholarly theories about the Tel Dan Inscription (TDI) will be cast aside. In fact, here’s something that I had not picked up on until research last week. Perhaps you know that the TDI was probably written by the Aramean king Hazael and it mentions his killing of King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah. This appears to contradict 2 Kings 9 which says that Jehu, not Hazael, killed these two kings. But here’s what I didn’t realize: the contradiction entirely hangs on two hypothesized words and letters in the TDI (they are reconstructed because the fragment breaks off at these points). In other words, we only know that it says “I killed Jehoram” because scholars hypothesized the words “I killed.” Of Ahaziah, it says “killed Ahaziah,” but the “I” is reconstructed. Whether this is a reasonable or unreasonable guess, it is only a guess. I sure hope they find more fragments. Maybe it’ll be you.

Iron Age gate and plaza at Dan

Tagged Opportunities, Resources

Weekend Roundup

There are a number of stories I’ve noted over the past week or so that may be of interest.

The Philistine city of Gath has been “civilized” with the creation of a new national park. I think they should have called it the Gath National Park, instead of the Tel Zafit National Park, as no one seriously questions the identification any more. The site is now off-limits to 4-wheel drive vehicles (that makes it a climb to the top!) and signs are posted around. See the Official/Unofficial Gath Blog for details.

A special exhibit this summer will feature a long portion of the Isaiah Scroll. The first 28 chapters (8 feet; 2.3 meters) will be displayed at the Shrine of the Book from May 13 to August 15, 2008. The Isaiah Scroll was once on display in the center of the exhibit, but because of stress on the manuscript, it was replaced by a replica many years ago.

You don’t have to go anywhere to see these 12 stunning photos of Egypt from National Geographic

(HT: Dr. Claude Mariottini).

The biographer of Kathleen Kenyon recently gave a lecture on the archaeologist at Baylor University. This link is to a (flawed) news report and not the lecture itself. I mentioned the biography itself before here.

Here’s a good little article on the excavations in the City of David around the possible palace of David. If you’ve kept up on the story, you won’t find anything new here, but it is an informed presentation. CBN has another, less helpful, tourist visit to the City of David.

(HT: Joe Lauer)

Tagged Jerusalem, New Exhibits