BiblePlaces Blog - Page 219 of 571

Frescoes Restored at Masada

Haaretz reports on the restoration of frescoes in the Commandant’s Residence of Masada.

For 20 years, the frescoes that decorated the “Commandant’s Residence” (Beit Hamefaked) on top of Masada were stored away in a warehouse at the national park. This week, after a month’s work, a team headed by Italian expert renovator Prof. Maurizio Tagliapietra of the University of Verona and including employees of the Israel Parks and Nature Authority completed the restoration of another room on the top of the historic mountain.
The frescoes, which were discovered during the extensive archaeological digs conducted by Yigal Yadin in the 1960s, were glued to new backings and put back in their original locations on the walls at the time. But as time passed the effects of the weather, the high salt content of the air and vandalism by visitors eventually led to the decision to remove them and put them into storage. The frescoes were in a structure on Masada without a roof, and it was decided that only after a proper roof was built would they be returned.

The article includes a number of photos that show the restoration work. The Facebook page that the article references may be found here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Masada commandant's residence, tb022904750

House of the Commandant at Masada
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Jordan Rift, Tourism

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A Bone to Pick: Why Did We Hear Only One Side of the Camel Argument?

In advance of the pope’s blessing of the tabernacle from the boat altar, the New York Times profiles the excavation and resort of Magdala.

Ferrell Jenkins recently visited the new excavations at Derbe.

ArtDaily: “Egypt unveiled Thursday the 3,000 year-old tombs of two senior pharaonic military men in the famed Saqqara necropolis, one of them decorated with well-preserved reliefs depicting the afterlife.”

Aren Maeir’s recent lecture at the Oriental Institute on new directions in the study of the Philistines is now online.

The only museum of biblical archaeology in Latin America is in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Haaretz: Archaeologists are protesting construction at Tel Shiloh.

“Aerial images taken by Corona satellites in 1960s help archaeologists locate unexcavated towns and roads across Middle East, but few gems remain unsurveyed in Israel.”

On Logos pre-pub discount: Biblical Archaeologist / Near Eastern Archaeology (1992–2011) (20 vols.) (74 issues)

Yale University Press launches Roman architecture enhanced e-book. $9.99 at Amazon.

HT: Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Italy, Museums, Philistines, Resources, Samaria, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Recently discovered wall paintings in Jerusalem provide new information on Crusader military and monastic symbols.

Where will the Pope go when he visits Jerusalem next week? His full itinerary is online.

Will the Pope’s visit to Jerusalem prompt the state of Israel to give more control of the Upper Room to the Catholic church?

The significance of the Jordan River and the baptismal site is explored in a 5-minute video (with transcript) by PBS.

The Yarkon River flows through Tel Aviv. Wayne Stiles explains why it is important to biblical history.

And I missed this one last week: 3 Sites by Beersheba You Seldom See—Arad, Besor, and Aroer

Where is King David Really Buried? This is the best explanation of the issue I recall reading.

Video: The new Waldorf Astoria has opened in Jerusalem at the same location, and with the same façade, as the 1929 hotel.

Bible History Daily: The 10 Strangest Foods in the Bible

Aphek, source of Yarkon River with flock of sheep, mat02807

Source of the Yarkon River at Aphek
Photo from the American Colony Collection

Tagged Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Negev, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Jordan Plans Development for Arabah

The area between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea is slated for major development on the eastern side as Jordan has announced a master plan for constructing dams, lakes, and tourist venues.

From The Jordan Times:

The JVA will create a new specialised unit that will supervise the implementation of the development projects in Wadi Araba, a 165-kilometre long and 9-25-kilometre-wide area between Southern Ghor and the Gulf of Aqaba, an official at the ministry told The Jordan Times.
In the statement, Nasser underscored that the development ventures will be implemented once funding is secured, highlighting that the projects seek to attract people to live in Wadi Araba and businessmen to invest in the area.
[…]
Meanwhile, the planned Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project, which will pass through Wadi Araba, is expected to have a major impact on the area’s development by attracting investment, the minister noted.
“Lakes will be created to establish tourist projects, chalets and entertainment centres, in addition to artificial sea-water lakes for fish farming.”
[…]
Wadi Araba is situated along Rift Valley-Red Sea route, which is the world’s second most-used flyway, with 37 types of migratory soaring birds that maintain flight by using rising air currents, travelling on the flyway annually, according to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature.

The article gives more information about the planned dams, the agricultural development, and the migratory pathways. Jordan’s ability to attract tourism has proven poor in the past (compare Aqaba with the neighboring Eilat), but the popularity of Petra could help to boost interest in the Arabah in the winter months.

HT: Jack Sasson

View from the Arabah road
Photo from the Jordan volume

Tagged Jordan, Jordan Rift, Tourism

Photos from the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology

The Times of Israel runs a story today on the early work and photographs of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology located on the Mount of Olives. While many of the photos published in the story are not new or exclusive, the article itself has some interesting information about the institute’s first director Gustaf Dalman. For instance, Ilan Ben Zion informs us that:

Though a renowned scholar of the land and its customs, Dalman only lived in Palestine for 12 years.
Though director of an archaeological institute, Dalman was forbidden by the board from conducting excavations.
Dalman blasted the British when he resigned from the Palestine Exploration Fund. “Deeply saddened by the British government intention, in alliance with barbarians and idolaters, to destroy German cultural work in the world…”
After World War I, the British forbade Dalman from returning to Palestine.

Some other notes about the photos:

The article includes two different slideshows, with a total of 29 images.
The images are from multiple collections and are not all from the German photographers, despite the copyright notice.
The image identified as “a well in Silwan” is actually a rare photo of Ein Rogel, the location of Adonijah’s attempted coup (1 Kgs 1:9).

The story also reports on two important current excavations of the German Protestant Institute, Tell Zira’a and Jerusalem’s Church of the Redeemer.

For some years we’ve been working on another set of German photographs published by Dalman and we hope to have that completed and available before the year is out.

HT: Antonio Lombatti, Mike Harney

Tagged Jerusalem, Photo Resources

Preparing for the Pope

Today’s Caspari Center Media Review has two notes related to the upcoming papal visit to Israel.

The first concerns closure of the Western Wall prayer plaza and the second anticipated attacks against Christians by Jewish extremists.

From HaMevaser, May 5, 2014: Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy places, is deeply disturbed by demands from the police and the Shabak [domestic intelligence organization] to close the Western Wall to prayer and to public transportation during the entirety of Pope Francis’ visit later this month, as well as to close the entire Old City to vehicles even before the visit. This closure will disrupt early prayer services as well as bar mitzvah services, usually held in the morning as well. Rabinovich, along with Rabbi Chaim Miller of the Movement for Jerusalem and Her Inhabitants, are opposing the demand also because of rumors regarding a possible handover of control over David’s Tomb on Mount Zion.

From Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot, May 9, 2014: The police and Shabak are making extensive preparations to prevent a possible wave of hate crimes against Christians and Christian holy sites, and also against Muslim sites, in connection with Pope Francis’ upcoming visit. Among other things, they are preparing to guard holy sites, making special arrangements for investigating nationalistic crimes and gathering related intelligence. A suspect has been detained. On April 7, graffiti was discovered on the walls of the Vatican offices in Jerusalem, saying, “Death to the Arabs, to the Christians and to all those who hate Israel.” The Franciscan order responsible for the holy sites has published a protest, calling officials “to deal urgently with those radical elements.” Some inhabitants of Wadi Ara are also preparing to guard their local mosques.

A previous Caspari Center Media Review provided an update on the possible handover of the Upper Room/David’s Tomb to the Vatican.

From Makor Rishon, April 18, 2014: In this three-page article, Yehuda Yifrach relates the bitter conflict in progress at the moment regarding David’s Tomb. The structure, near the Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion, was built around 1330, and has been a source of dispute between Jews, Christians, and Muslims almost ever since, as the second story of the building has also been identified by the Vatican as the site of the Last Supper. Now there are rumors of a possible treaty between the Israeli government and the Vatican. This treaty would crystallize the long-term standing of the Catholic Church in Israel, but in particular, would give control over the Last Supper Room into Catholic hands. Jewish organizations are bitterly opposing this move, saying that a flood of Christian pilgrims will stop any Jewish activity at the site, and give de facto ownership to the Vatican. These organizations are also concerned because of the mentality the Vatican has displayed in the past regarding the sovereignty of the state of Israel, and the Vatican’s attempts to present the Holocaust as a Catholic event. Neither the Israeli government nor the Israel Antiquities Authority could speak as to possible details of the treaty, except to deny that any sort of handover was contemplated, but a recent article in the formal Vatican newspaper appears to regard it as almost settled.

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism