fbpx

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Excavations have identified a 2nd-century BC military fortress at Ashdod-Yam.

“Researchers have discovered 50 rare cave pearls, some of which contain ancient Greek artifacts from the Hellenistic era, in an underground water system near Jerusalem.”

Some scholars are questioning whether the oldest copy of the Ten Commandments—scheduled to be sold next week at auction—is authentic.

In a short video, Eitan Klein shows how a band of antiquities thieves were caught in the act, robbing a cave in the Shephelah.

Expedition Bible’s latest video looks at the archaeological evidence for the location of Jesus’s crucifixion.

John DeLancey filmed on location at the Ketef Hinnom tombs in Jerusalem.

Appian Media has released a new short film entitled “Explore Petra” (12 min). I’m curious how they got the drone footage.

Christopher Rollston explains why the Megiddo Mosaic is important on The Book and the Spade.

“New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary held a 10th anniversary celebration for its Museum of the Bible and Archaeology” last week.

Eliezer Oren, longtime Professor of Bible, Archaeology, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, died this week.

Jerusalem University College has announced its online semester courses for the spring, including:

  • Archaeological Methods and Theory, taught by Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer
  • Introduction to the Modern Middle East, taught by Oded Yinon
  • Jewish Thought and Practice, taught by Rabbi Moshe Silberschein
  • The Book of Revelation and the Seven Cities of the Apocalypse, taught by Chris Vlachos

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Alexander Schick, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis

Share:
Leave a comment

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A 12-year-old girl found an Egyptian scarab while on a family hike near Hod HaSharon.

A 71-year-old Israeli researcher was killed when attempting to visit an archaeological site in southern Lebanon.

The stone inscription of the Ten Commandments that is up for auction must be put on public display, as a condition of its purchase. The current owner violated that requirement for the last eight years. Another website identifies the owner.

Aren Maeir’s new MOOC on ancient Jerusalem is now online, along with his previous MOOC on biblical archaeology. Both may be taken for free or for a small fee for certification. There’s also a one-minute “behind the scenes” video for the Jerusalem course.

The latest Jerusalem Tracker links to the newest books, book reviews, academic articles, news reports, podcasts, videos, and upcoming events related to Jerusalem.

On Digging for Truth, Scott Stripling reviews the 2024 excavation season at Shiloh. “Discoveries include a city gate, new technologies, sacrificial activity, and even gold.”

In the latest edition of “Discussions with the Diggers,” Bryan Windle interviews Abigail Van Huss (nee Leavitt), assistant dig director for the Shiloh excavations.

The new issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on monumental churches built to commemorate Jesus’s life, Egyptian statues from Hazor, and the ten lost tribes.

Cambridge University Press has inaugurated a new series entitled Elements in The Archaeology of Ancient Israel. The first volume is Edom in Judah: Trade, Migration, and Kinship in the Late Iron Age Southern Levant, by Andrew J. Danielson. It is available online until December 18.

A new 5-minute video by the Orthodox Union explains why Hebron and the Machpelah is important to the Jewish people. The video includes a few photos from a surreptitious exploration of the underground caves in 1981. Elsewhere Avi Abrams tells the story.

Correction: The Galilee boat on display in the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Reagan Library is only a replica. There is more information about the exhibit in this JNS article.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator

Share:
Leave a comment

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have found a hidden tomb underneath the Kazneh in Petra, and unlike other tombs, this one was filled with ancient artifacts and remains of 12 individuals.

A team excavating in Anemurium in southern Turkey uncovered a 2nd-century AD inscription honoring a wrestler.

Archaeologists have discovered one of the oldest church buildings in the world in Armenia.

“478 artifacts were uncovered during an excavation expedition in the historic province of Babylon.”

The planting of ancient seeds discovered in the Judean wilderness produced Commiphora, a plant not known to have existed in Israel. Despite hopes, it turns out not to be the legendary afarsimon, but it may be the biblical plant known as tsori. And perhaps it was used as stock for afarsimon.

Antiquities thieves were caught looting Kh. Umm a-Ros in the Shephelah.

The latest issue of Jerusalem in Brief looks at “the construction of Herod’s Temple Mount, maps and plans from Charles Warren, and a reflection on the Gennath Gate.”

Alan Rosenbaum recreates what a pilgrim’s journey to Jerusalem during Sukkot in the first century would have been like.

Norma Franklin writes about the “etrog, a royal Assyrian aromatic purifier.”

The Jerusalem Post has a story about Jordan D. Rosenblum’s new book, Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig.

On Digging for Truth, Scott Stripling considers connections between the Nuzi Tablets and the book of Genesis.

Zoom lecture on Nov 1: “Eye-paints in the Hebrew Bible: Looking for Meaning,” by Dr. Susannah Rees.

Just released: A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC, 4th ed, by Marc Van De Mieroop (Blackwell History of the Ancient World, $37-$46)

Manfried Dietrich, founder of “Alter Orient und Altes Testament” and “Ugarit-Forschungen,” and Ugarit-Verlag, died earlier this month.

Experience Israel Now has just released Andy Cook’s new book, The King of Bethlehem. The book is loaded with full-color photographs and important historical and cultural background.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman, Wayne Stiles

Share:
Leave a comment

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists excavating at Philippi discovered a rare head of Apollo dating to about AD 200.

One of the oldest known codices in existence will be auctioned off in June. The Crosby-Schoyen Codex includes what may be the earliest known texts of 1 Peter and Jonah.

Elizabeth Knott explains how the Yale Babylonian Collection Seal Digitization Project used the latest photographic methods to document more than 14,000 seals and seal impressions. The Yale website has more details.

“Since 2002, more than a hundred ‘new’ Dead Sea Scroll fragments have appeared on the antiquities market. Most of these fragments are tiny and deteriorated and have later been revealed as modern forgeries. Nonetheless, they have been big business. In this database, we have catalogued all of them, providing information about their content, owners, alleged provenance, their place in the biblical corpus, size, and publication history.”

Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani explores the question of how Cyrus the Great really died. The article includes several beautiful photographs.

“How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep in Antiquity” is the latest episode on This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Next Stop Italy is hosting a virtual walking tour of the hidden treasures of Roman Assisi.

Phillip J. Long reviews the Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch, edited by Barry Beitzel. The review includes a list of the 47 chapter titles and authors. He concludes that “these essays go beyond simple identifications of major locations, often dealing with the fine details of the text and larger biblical-theological questions. This volume will be a welcome addition to the library of any Old Testament student, whether professional or layperson.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz

Share:
Leave a comment

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Şanlıurfa Archeology and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum complex, the largest museum in Turkey, has reopened after last year’s flood disaster.

A new study claims that the King Prism of Sennacherib was sold illegally to the British Museum.

A 12-year-old student build a small-scale version of Archimedes’s “death ray,” and he concluded that it would have worked.

The Greek Reporter explores the connection of the Greek alphabet to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The “Digital Coin Cabinet of the University of Trier” includes 500 coins, mostly from the Roman era, available for free use in teaching and publications.

Oxford “is offering a free, online semi-intensive course in Phoenician, which will take place on 8-13 April 2024.”

The new electronic Babylonian Library is the topic of discussion in the latest episode of Thin End of the Wedge.

Sargon II is the subject of the latest archaeological biography by Bryan Windle.

New release: Was There a Cult of El in Ancient Canaan? Essays on Ugaritic Religion and Language, by David Toshio Tsumura (Mohr Siebeck, €129).

Now on Academia: Tom Lee’s PhD dissertation “Nabonidus: The King of Babylon (556-539),” completed in 1990 under W.G. Lambert

Open access: On the Way in Upper Mesopotamia. Travels, Routes and Environment as a Basis for the Reconstruction of Historical Geography, edited by Adelheid Otto and Nele Ziegler (Gladbeck, 2023)

Jan Assmann died this week.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken

Share:
Leave a comment

Weekend Roundup

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered some very rare Byzantine coin weights, suggesting that there was more activity on the Temple Mount in the Byzantine period than usually assumed. Perhaps there was even a church located there.

“Almost a century after the British archaeologist Alan Rowe excavated Gezer, Dr. Samuel Wolff published a final report on the site, including on three vessels whose use defies interpretation.”

“The Forma Urbis Museum recently unveiled an exhibition featuring an ancient marble map of Rome dating back to 203-211 AD.”

Nathan Steinmeyer provides a 6-minute video tour of Beth Shean in the latest episode in BAS’s OnSite series.

Bible History Daily has a piece introducing an article in BAR about the Deborah and Jael mosaics discovered in the Huqoq synagogue.

A new study suggests that Roman wine tasted spicy.

“After years of criticism over its collecting practices, Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum is repatriating to Greece three antiquities that are widely regarded to have been looted.” Reading the article requires a free account.

Hybrid lecture on Feb 22 at the Albright: “The Archaeology of Olive Oil: Excavating a Bronze Age Olive Oil ‘Factory’ in Jordan,” by Jamie Fraser

Biblical Israel Ministry and Tours has begun a new teaching series on the “Life of Christ in Context.” The first episode is an overview of the whole.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

Share:
Leave a comment
About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

Links
Notice

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. In any case, we will provide honest advice.