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A bronze sword with cartouches of Rameses II was discovered in a city near Alexandria.

A tree grown from an ancient seed discovered in a cave in the Judean wilderness has produced resin that may be related to the “balm of Gilead.” The underlying journal article is here.

Maamoun Abdulkarim and Jacques Seigne explain the challenges involved with the Temple of Bel at Palmyra following ISIS’s near total destruction of it.

Without intervention, the historic reliefs at Persepolis could be destroyed by lichen.

Tourists to Turkey can now visit seven historical sites after dark. Turkey is aiming to create a new record this year with 60 million foreign tourists.

If you have been waiting for your chance to excavate in the agora of Athens, applications are now open.

The Megiddo mosaic is now on display at The Museum of the Bible.

Aren Maeir has posted about a new book on Iron Age II cuneiform texts from Hama, Gershon Galil’s new book on the Mount Ebal Inscription, and his visit to the Tel Qana excavations.

New release: Chicago on the Nile: A Century of Work by the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago, by Emily Teeter ($40; free download)

Walking The Text’s recommended resource this month is Bridging the Testaments, by George Athas.

Virtual tour on October 1: The Pantheon of Rome and its surroundings. With registration you receive a free recording.

Zoom lecture on October 2: “Twenty Seasons of Excavations at Jericho: Across the History of One of the Oldest Capitals in the Levant,” by Lorenzo Nigro ($20-$25)

Zoom lecture on October 9: “Rural Palestine Between Written and Oral Sources,” by Roy Marom

Bible Mapper Atlas has produced some new, free maps:

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Chris McKinny, Ted Weis

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A large storage jar manufactured in Israel around 500 BC has a paleo-Aramaic inscription carved around its shoulder.

Dieter Vieweger writes about discoveries made during the 2015 and 2023 excavations on Mount Zion. Of note is the lack of any Iron Age wall found on Mount Zion.

Three bronze shields and a bronze helmet dating to the 7th century BC were discovered at one of the most intact Urartian temples in Turkey.

Marek Dospěl has written a brief overview of the four surviving works of Josephus.

Brad Gray explains the centrality of the bathhouse in Roman society and how Paul often drew on that imagery in his epistles.

Zoom lecture on Oct 10: “King Solomon’s Mines Revisited – 10 Years of Excavations in the Timna Valley,” by Erez Ben-Yosef

Webinar on Nov 17: Joseph Lam, Jocelyn Burney, Hugo Mendez, John Miller, and Yaakov Ariel will discuss Jodi Magness’s book, Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades.

The oldest Hebrew book, dating to AD 700, will go on display at The Museum of the Bible later this month.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz

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A new study claims that the Romans built the siege wall and ramp at Masada in 11-16 days and the siege as a whole took not more than a few weeks. The Romans’ motivation was not ideological but economic: the holdouts were a threat to balsam production in En Gedi. The underlying journal article is available here.

Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered the oldest astronomical observatory ever found.

“On the Italian island of Pantelleria, located between southwestern Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, a team of archaeologists . . . has discovered a ‘tesoretto’ of 27 Roman silver coins.”

An article by Kathleen Abraham explores how to recognize Hebrew names “in cuneiform garb, what they might reveal about their bearers, and some of the challenges involved in this process.”

Italy’s Via Appia (Appian Way) has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Tel Dan Inscription will be on display in Oklahoma from September 22 to November 25.

Sotheby’s is auctioning a Hebrew Bible from AD 1312, and they have created a beautiful video about it (4 min).

The W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research has opened applications for 2025-2026 fellowships and awards.

New release: The Neo-Assyrian Empire. A Handbook, by Simonetta Ponchia and Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi (De Gruyter, $182)

New release: Luxor Illustrated, Revised and Updated, with Aswan, Abu Simbel, and the Nile, by Michael Haag and Aidan Dodson (AUC Press, $25)

Mark Wilson has just finished a second updated edition of Biblical Turkey. Purchasers of previous editions can find the new material in a pdf on Mark’s academia page.

The latest episode of Biblical World podcast addresses a recent proposal about locating Sennacherib’s war camps in Judah.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz, Alexander Schick, Joseph Lauer

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Gesher Media has just created a beautiful new map illustrating the “Land of the Messiah.” The 18” x 24” full-color map features a primary panel showing the land of Israel and Transjordan during the time of Jesus, with locations marked and events depicted. Two smaller inset maps provide greater detail for the two primary places of Jesus’s ministry: the Sea of Galilee and the city of Jerusalem.

Purchase of the map (now on sale for $30) includes access to five videos in which Chris McKinny explains how the map works and what it depicts. This is a unique resource that combines aesthetic appeal with biblical accuracy.

While I’m writing, I want to also recommend to you other materials produced by Gesher Media. This is a relatively new organization, and they have already created a number of valuable resources:

  • Why Jerusalem Matters (episode 1) – free on YouTube
  • The Single Gospel of Christ – a Gospel harmony arranged in a novel-like typesetting
  • Quest for the Throne of God – a documentary series under development
  • Gesher Gallery – “an expanding collection of images from a wide variety of museums and locations,” all indexed and available for individual purchase or by subscription
  • Store – they stock a number of books you can otherwise find for sale only in Israel

Keep an eye on Gesher for more resources that help to bridge our world with the Bible.

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A Roman battering ram found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea was used during an epic battle that unfolded more than 2,200 years ago.”

“Ancient Babylonians attributed prescient meaning to celestial events, a study published this month argues, shedding fresh light on the Mesopotamian people of the second millennium BC.”

Marilyn Perkins asked experts to explain why so many Roman statues are headless.

Konstantine Panegyres explains why modern facial reconstructions are not necessarily accurate.

For part 3 of Walking The Text’s “Life in the Roman Empire,” Randall Smith talks about gladiators and beast hunts and Paul’s use of this imagery in his writing.

New release: Crossing Borders between the Domestic and the Wild: Space, Fauna, and Flora, edited by Mark J. Boda and Dalit Rom-Shiloni (Bloomsbury, $76-$84)

Available for pre-order on Logos: T&T Clark Handbook of Food in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, edited by Janling Fu; Cynthia Shafer-Elliott; Carol Meyers ($157 but now 83% off: $26). The table of contents looks quite interesting.

Friends of ASOR webinar on Sept 18: “How to plan your funeral in ancient Assyria,” by Petra Creamer

“A stone quarry in Jerusalem, a rare Roman prison in Corinth, and a stunning First Temple-era seal were the top three reports in biblical archaeology from August 2024.”

HT: Agade, Wayne Stiles, Gordon Dickson, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

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A seal discovered south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount depicts a winged figure in Assyrian style and is inscribed “for Yeho’ezer son of Hosh’ayahu.”

“Last week, a five-year-old child accidentally broke a rare Bronze Age clay vessel on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, but ended up being invited back, along with his family, for a special tour of the museum.”

Wall paintings discovered in 1,700-year-old vaulted tombs situated in the vicinity of Ashkelon’s marina are currently being made accessible to the public.”

Aaron Goel-Angot writes about the historic importance of Tel Jezreel.

Uzi Leibner does a “show and tell” presentation on-site of a Herodian cornice discovered near the Temple Mount.

Orit Peleg-Barkat and Uzi Leibner review last year’s Ophel excavations and preview this year’s (25 min).

Bible History Daily introduces Christopher Rollston’s recent article on three sensational inscriptions that are not what they were claimed to bel.

Chandler Collins’s Jerusalem Tracker has links to the latest academic articles, books, popular media, podcasts, videos, 3D models, new developments, and upcoming events related to Jerusalem.

HT: Agade, Wayne Stiles, Gordon Dickson, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

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