For the year that just ended, we posted about 325 times. According to Blogger statistics, our readers come from many countries, the top 5 of which are:

#1: United States

#2: United Kingdom

#3: Israel

#4: China

#5: Canada

Yesterday we listed the top stories related to discoveries and technology. Today we conclude with three additional categories. Yesterday’s disclaimers apply here as well.

Significant Stories in 2012:

Reconstruction of Herod’s Tomb Criticized (and Defended)

Jesus Discovery: Early Christian Burial in Jerusalem, with lots of follow-up

Temple Mount Model at Christ Church, Jerusalem

New Visitor Center Approved for City of David

Not Guilty: James Ossuary Trial Ends

Turkey Halts Loan of Museum Artifacts

$100 Million for Biblical Tourism in Jerusalem

Construction Begins on Israel National Archaeology Library

Greek Economic Crisis Threatens Antiquities

Seven Wonders of Israel

Somebody Once Believed Jesus Had a Wife (and lots of links)

Cyrus Cylinder Coming to the U.S.

Ancient Cedar Beams on Temple Mount
 
Noteworthy Posts:

The Promised Land Includes Transjordan (No, It Doesn’t)

Speculating on the Mysterious Marks in City of David, by A.D. Riddle

Biblical Problems with Locating Sodom at Tall el-Hammam, by Bill Schlegel

The Best Maps of Israel

Jonah, Jesus and the Talpiot Ossuary, by Chris McKinny

My Recent Trip to Israel

Picture of the Week: Mount Hermon and Caesarea Philippi, by Seth Rodriquez

Critiques of the Work of Robert Cornuke

Notes on the Water in Antiquity Conference, by Chris McKinny

Favorite Resources in 2012:

In the Footsteps of Paul

Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? 

Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus

Books from Eretz Magazine

The Walls of the Temple Mount

Free Volumes in the Loeb Classical Library

Alexander to Constantine

The Archaeology of the Holy Land

ARTIFAX Magazine 

Israel Topographical Relief Map

The Land and the Book

Our favorite, naturally, is the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, Revised and Expanded (recommended by Jenkins, Gundersen, Chandler, and Savelle).

As 2013 begins, we wish our readers all the best in the coming year.


The 2012 release of the new Pictorial Library of Bible Lands marked the culmination of 9 years of travel, research, and writing.
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Looking back over the year is a profitable exercise for me personally because I forget so much and so quickly. Perhaps it is the volume of information coming from all corners of the globe that trains the mind to retain very little. A review of the posts here over the past year reminds us of recent history but it also allows us to judge what was more important and what was less.

I have compiled several lists of “top stories.” Today we will review major discoveries, top technology-related stories, and losses. Tomorrow we will survey significant stories, noteworthy posts, and favorite resources of the year.

These lists are subjective, and since they are based on what the authors of this blog decided to post (and not to ignore), they are doubly subjective. The primary criteria for inclusion here was that the story was posted on this blog and then it caught my eye when I reviewed the year’s stories. The lists follow a roughly chronological order.


Top 10 Discoveries of 2012:
Vessel of Jewelry Discovered at Megiddo (with update)

Egyptian Scarab Discovered in City of David

Cultic Objects Discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa (and more)

New Gezer Boundary Inscription (and another re-discovered)

Seal Impression from Bethlehem Discovered in Jerusalem

New Sculpture from Tell Tayinat (and the treaty tablet) (and update)

Samson Mosaic Discovered in Galilee Synagogue

Massive Reservoir Discovered near Temple Mount

Desecrated Temple Discovered at Beth Shemesh

Judean Temple Discovered Near Jerusalem


More Discoveries of 2012:
Iron Age Fortress Excavated in Ashdod

Cave for Demeter Worship Identified in Judean Hills

Seal of Mattaniah Discovered in Jerusalem

Cave Discovered in Gezer Water System

Gold and Silver Treasure Hoard Discovered from Bar Kochba Revolt

Alleged Samson Seal Discovered at Beth Shemesh

Gold Coin Cache Discovered in Apollonia

Neolithic Jewelry Discovered near Sepphoris

Hasmonean Village Found in Jerusalem Neighborhood



Top Technology-Related Stories of 2012:
Microarchaeology in Gath Excavations

Egyptian Pyramids Discovered with Google Earth

Dead Sea Scrolls Now Online

Wikipedia wins: Photography is now allowed in the archaeology wing of the Israel Museum


Losses:
Manfred Goerg

Itamar Singer

James Mellaart

Itzhak Beit-Arieh

Frank Moore Cross

Gus W. Van Beek

Jean Perrot

Tomorrow I will share my choices for most significant stories, noteworthy posts, and favorite
resources.

Sunset over Jerusalem, tb123109454

Sunset over Jerusalem, December 31, 2009
Source: Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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SourceFlix’s latest video shows a shepherd seeking out a lost sheep.

Matthew Kalman has a summary of the recent dust-up between Amos Kloner and Simcha Jacobovici.

The Israel Museum will be hosting an exhibition on King Herod next year.

Shmuel Browns posts some of the earliest photos taken in the Holy Land.

A court ruling will preserve antiquities near the Roman aqueduct in Caesarea.

We now have a better understanding of the gruesome details of the murder of Ramses III.

A five-minute clip of General Allenby in Jerusalem is online. For a longer version without the
Hebrew annotations, see here.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Allenby entry 1917, troops entering Jaffa Gate, mat02225
Entrance of General Allenby through Jaffa Gate
Photo from The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection
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The Times of Israel is reporting that Muslim authorities moved tons of illegally excavated earth from the Temple Mount into a city dump.

Aren Maeir posts an astounding video of a flood in the Harod Valley this week.

Frankincense has returned to Israel after 1,500 years.

More tourists visited Israel in 2012 than in any year before.

An Israeli committee will review modern prohibitions against mixed prayer at the Western Wall.

Jean Perrot died this week. Among other things, Perrot excavated several Chalcolithic sites near
Beersheba.

Marked down to $1.99 for Kindle: The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the 
Pursuit of an Ancient Bible, by Matti Friedman. These sales are brief.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Western Wall prayer area from south, amd042108530
Segregated prayer areas at Western Wall.
Photo by Austen Dutton (source).
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Miriam Feinberg Vamosh writes about the biblical site of Aphek in Haaretz (free subscription required).

The lumbering fortress that crowns the ancient mound at Yarkon Sources-Tel Afek National Park is just one of many must-see sights and a good place to start an approximately two-hour visit that effortlessly combines nature and heritage. 
From the northwestern tower of this 16th-century compound you’ll get a breathtaking view of the coastal plain. From the southeastern corner of the fortress you can peer down at remains of the Roman road, built by Herod the Great who named it Antipatris after his father. The road recalls the New Testament story of Paul the Apostle, who spent the night here with his Roman guards as they marched him from Jerusalem to Caesarea (Acts 23:31). But the road is a virtual historical toddler compared to the other antiquities you’ll see.
The city of Afek, straddling a strategic pass on the ancient highway from Egypt to Mesopotamia (the Via Maris) was founded in the fifth millennium BCE and is first mentioned in Egyptian writings some 4,000 thousand years ago. Among the finds unearthed in excavations of the Egyptian governor’s palace are documents written in hieroglyphics, Hittite, Akkadian, and Sumerian.

The story also notes the biblical connection as well as some modern history. The four-minute video does not include narration.

For more photos and history of the site, see the BiblePlaces page on Aphek and Antipatris.

Aphek Turkish fort with lake, tb052905334
Lake and Turkish fortress at biblical Aphek.
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
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From UChicago News:

The mystery began Dec. 12, when a package addressed to “Henry Walton Jones, Jr.” arrived at the University of Chicago Admissions Office.
A student worker realized that the package was meant for Dr. Indiana Jones, the famous archaeologist of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame. Inside the package was a journal of Abner Ravenwood, the fictional UChicago professor who trained Indiana Jones.
Six days after its arrival, the mystery was solved. The package, a collection of replica props from the Indiana Jones films, had been purchased online and shipped by its maker from Guam to Italy.
The original packaging was lost in transit in Honolulu, Hawaii, leaving only the parcel addressed to Henry Walton Jones Jr. of the University of Chicago, which the postal service then forwarded. Paul Charfauros, who created the journal, donated it to the University of Chicago.
Some suggest that two real-life pioneering scholars of the Oriental Institute—James Henry Breasted and Robert John Braidwood—inspired the fictional characters of Abner Ravenwood and Indiana Jones. Unlike some Hollywood depictions of archaeologists, Breasted and Braidwood were not treasure hunters.

The package and its contents will be on display in the lobby of the Oriental Institute Museum through March 2013.

HT: Jack Sasson

Jones2
Photo by Robert Kozloff
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