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“A rare coin from the time of the Bar Kochba revolt, bearing the name ‘Eleazer the Priest,’ has been discovered at the foot of a cliff in the Judean Desert by Israeli archaeologists.” The IAA is also welcoming the public to join them in the hunt for antiquities in the Judean wilderness.

The bust of a huge statue of Ramses II was discovered in the el-Ashmunein area in Minya Governorate in Egypt.

Archaeologists have uncovered a painting in the House of Leda at Pompeii that “depicts Phrixus and Helle, two twins from Greek mythology, as they travel across the sea on a magical ram while fleeing from their evil stepmother.”

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has inaugurated its Biblical Studies and Archaeology Center.

The NY Times has a story on the purple dye factory at Tel Shiqmona.

With the opening of the entrance pavilion to the Tower of David Museum, The Jerusalem Post has a story about the design and construction process.

Amy Erickson explores the question of why the story of Jonah was so frequently depicted in the catacombs of Rome.

The plant remains discovered in the Philistine temples at Gath are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains why the Babylonian king Nabonidus may be considered the world’s first archaeologist.

Zoom lecture on Mar 12, 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time: “The cities of the Zagros and their scenes on the Assyrian wall reliefs,” by Dlshad Aziz Marf (Zoom link)

Dewayne Bryant is a guest on Digging for Truth to talk about the historicity of King David.

Now online: The full episode of National Geographic’s “Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah” (45 min)

The latest Jerusalem in Brief looks at “a tower named after a Philistine giant, some new books, and a dinner party in the middle of World War I.”

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Gordon Dickson, Keith Keyser

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A new dataset of radiocarbon dates from Gezer “provides an independent source of absolute dates that will allow researchers to better understand the events at Gezer and to place them in a regional perspective.” Of particular interest is that the Solomon gate dates to the time of Solomon, contrary to the Low Chronology promoted by Finkelstein who calls the study “meaningless.” The underlying journal article is here.

When the war began in Israel on October 7, Israel’s museums acted quickly to protect their most precious artifacts.

Avshalom Halutz writes a “short history of Gaza,” reviewing the last 5,000 years of the coastal city’s conflicts (Haaretz premium

Ariel David reports on the recent study that argues that Jerusalem’s Millo was “defensive complex that protected the ancient water spring of Jerusalem for centuries.”

Online lecture in the BAS Scholars Series on Dec 6: “The Life of Jesus Written in Stone: The Earliest Commemorative Churches in Roman Palestine,” by Jordan Ryan, Wheaton College ($10)

Online “gala event” on Dec 10: “New Discoveries in the Temple Mount Sifting Project Research,” with Zachi Dvira, Gabriel Barkay, Haim Shaham, Anat Mendel-Geberovich, and Mordechai Kedar

New release: From Nomadism to Monarchy? Revisiting the Early Iron Age Southern Levant, edited by Ido Koch, Oded Lipschits and Omer Sergi (Eisenbrauns, $100)

Jerusalem Seminary is offering a 6-week audit-only version of “Israel Matters: A Theology of People and Land,” with Gerald McDermott, for only $79. A full description is here.

Now online: A Biblical Archaeology Conference held last Saturday, hosted by the Institute for Creation Research, with presentations by Randall Price and Tom Meyer

Bible Mapper Atlas has added a number of new maps in the last few months:

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken

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Aren Maeir writes about the situation in Israel and how you can help.

A pair of scholars argue that “Azekah is the new name of Moresheth-Gath given to the city by Judahite rulers after taking control of the western Shephelah, not before the end of the ninth century BCE.”

“For the first time, ancient DNA has been recovered from the bodies of ancient Israelites living in the First Temple period.”

In his first Q&A, Chandler Collins answers questions about Jerusalem’s monasteries, the “palace of David,” and a proposed bema seat of Pilate.

In part 4 of the Flora and Faith series, Brad Nelson explains why Paul used the olive tree to explain the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church.

An article I wrote on Solomon’s coronation and coregency has been published in the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal. I argue that there were three stages in his coronation and that there is no foundation for a two-year coregency.

Andy Naselli has collected some of the better videos of reconstructions of the tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, and Herod’s temple.

The Arch of Titus, built to celebrate the destruction of Jerusalem, was lit up this week in blue and white in solidarity with Israel.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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“A woman walking along the Palmahim Beach discovered an over 3,000-year-old figurine of the Egyptian goddess Hathor floating in the water.”

A group of first-graders discovered an Egyptian scarab on a field trip to Azekah.

The first-ever excavations of the Hasmonean fortress at Hyrcania recently began.

Abigail Leavitt is reporting on her experiences in the excavations of Tel Shiloh, most recently with Week 3. Tim Lopez gives his perspective in Spanish.

“Thousands who were illegally holding antiquities in their homes returned the items during a two-week campaign this month, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Ministry of Heritage reported.” One of the more impressive artifacts returned is a small anchor from the Roman period.

Writing for Christianity Today, Gordon Govier explains how archaeological discoveries have strengthened the case for the historicity of David.

Chandler Collins reflects on Nadav Na’aman’s recent proposal to place the earliest city of Jerusalem on what is today’s Temple Mount.

The “Road of the Patriarchs” is the subject of a new TBN documentary.

Bryan Windle is on Digging for Truth discussing Hoshea, the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Zoom lecture on June 29: “The Jewish Character of Jerusalem in the Early Roman (Second Temple) Period as Attested by Archaeological Records,” by Ronny Reich.

Chandler Collins is inviting participation in his online “Biblical Jerusalem and Its Exploration” course this fall as well as his Jerusalem study tour offered in March by the Biblical Archaeological Society in collaboration with Jerusalem University College.

Other JUC courses offered online this fall include:

  • Archaeology of Religions in the Bible, by Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer
  • Cultural Backgrounds of the Bible, by Oliver Hersey
  • The Life and Times of Paul, by Chris Vlachos

James Riley Strange reflects on the life of Dennis E. Groh, who died in April.

HT: Agade, Explorator, BibleX

A view of Hyrcania taken a few weeks ago, from the east

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“Researchers found traces of dysentery-causing parasites in material excavated from the cesspits below the two stone toilets that would have belonged to elite households” in Jerusalem. The underlying journal article is here.

A recreational swimmer discovered a shipwreck that included a cargo of 44 tons of marble blocks headed to the Roman port of Ashkelon or Gaza for an elite building project.

A 1st-century receipt was discovered in a 19th century excavation tunnel in Jerusalem.

“Tiny bones from prehistoric birds found at a birdwatching site in northern Israel have been identified as 12,000-year-old flutes.”

The “curse tablet” from Mt. Ebal has been published, but early reactions to the claims are not positive. The journal article is here.

Andy Cook has returned to the Pool of Siloam to give an update on why they haven’t discovered any more remains of the pool.

Carl Rasmussen writes about a new area in Caesarea being billed as the prison of Paul. Carl notes his misgivings with the identification.

In a recent article, Nadav Na’aman argues that the original center of Jerusalem was on the Temple Mount, not in the City of David. Haaretz provides a summary of the Tel Aviv journal article which is available to subscribers. (In my experience, Na’aman is quite good at being provocative but less good at being persuasive.)

Robert Mullins considers the implications of discovering the name of “Benyaw” inscribed on a storejar found at Abel Beth Maacah.

Chandler Collins raises questions about the hypothesis that Jerusalem’s population exploded because a mass of Israelite refugees arrived in the late 8th century BC.

Haaretz premium: “In Israel, everyone wants to excavate – from foreign volunteers to youth groups. But many archaeology experts, warning of damaged sites, now believe it’s time to slow down and focus on what’s already been unearthed.”

The summer issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes stories on David and Solomon’s “invisible kingdom,” the lost treasures of the First Temple, and the Amorites.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Stephanie Durruty, Wayne Stiles, Alexander Schick, Gordon Franz, Explorator

The bulldozers working in the Pool of Siloam left this section for the archaeologists to carefully excavate. So far, no additional remains of the pool’s architecture have been discovered in this year’s work.

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Today we released a music video for Psalm 23, featuring the beautiful “Adonai Ro’i” song by Miqedem and illustrated with photos from our collection. The song is in Hebrew, the very words composed by David in ancient Judah 3,000 years ago, and played by a band of believers in Israel. I think it’s one of the best videos of Psalm 23 ever created.

You can watch the video here, and if you like it, it would be a great help if you could share, like, and comment. Thank you.

Title-slide-for-Psalm-23-video_r3th

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