Antiquities Trade Archives - Page 3 of 29

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

One of the earliest water channels in history was discovered in the Izmir province in Turkey.

Ben Witherington is impressed with the new Izmir Museum (parts 2, 3, 4, 5). He also recently traveled to Patmos (part 2) and the tombs of Philip of Macedon and family (parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Mark Hoffman explains how you can walk in Paul’s steps from Corinth to Cenchrea. His guide includes maps, photos, and detailed instructions for two routes, each about 7 miles one-way.

A 30-minute documentary follows archaeologist Stephan Lehmann in his work in detecting forged antiquities.

A forensic archaeologist says that the British Museum theft is the “worst in modern history.” The BBC story says that only 1% of the museum’s artifacts are on display, and not all of the rest is “properly catalogued and registered.”

More than 20,000 Achaemenid tablets from Persepolis will be returned to Iran from the Oriental Institute by the end of the year, according to an Iranian official.

NY Times: “The Egyptian government has demolished historic tombs, cultural centers, artisan workshops and gardens in pursuit of large-scale urban renewal.”

“Scientists have decoded an ancient aroma by identifying the ingredients used in Egyptian mummification balms — and resurrected the scent.”

Silvia Zago reviews Egyptian views of the otherworld.

Megan Sauter explains how to see some of the earliest Christian art in the entire world—located in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome.

Barbara Sofer visited Ostia to learn about the ancient synagogue and Jewish population of Rome’s port city.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Museums, Persia, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Excavations at Metropolis in western Turkey have uncovered a Greek inscription honoring Gaius Fabius, the governor in 57/56 BC.

Officials have recovered 550 high-quality ancient artifacts from the earthquake rubble in ancient Antioch on the Orontes (modern Antakya).

“Archaeologists have excavated subterranean rooms and a tunnel under an early church in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.”

Archaeologists working in Pompeii have found a servant’s quarters in the house of a rich person.

“A 30-day exhibition on agriculture – with fruits grown and tools used in cultivation – in ancient Egypt is on at the Luxor Museum to celebrate Inundation Day.” The article includes several photos.

“For the first time, a group of researchers have successfully extracted ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick.”

“A team of Swiss and Greek archaeologists recently successfully completed the third season of a research program (2021-2025) on the famous wreck of Antikythera, which dates back to the first half of the 1st century BC.”

“Rare photographs of the excavations at the Greek Island of Delos from the 19th Century have come to light in a book by French archaeologists.”

Seth Sanders explores the question of who invented the alphabet.

“The electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) Project brings together ancient Near Eastern specialists and data scientists to revolutionize the way in which the literature of Iraq in the first millennium BCE is reconstructed and analyzed.”

An employee was fired and police are investigating after British Museum officials discovered that some of their artifacts were being sold on eBay. And now the director of the museum has resigned.

Zahi Hawass is imploring Arabs with British nationality to sign his petition to give the Rosetta Stone to Egypt.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Jason Borges, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Excavations, Italy, Museums, New Exhibits, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The Times of Israel has the best summation of the Huqoq synagogue excavations that I’ve read.

Melanie Lidman writes a story about the University of Haifa’s School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, the only underwater archaeology certification program in Israel.

The Israeli government has a plan to protect Jewish archaeological sites in Area C of the West Bank. Of 3,000 antiquity sites in the West Bank, about 80% are in Area C.

The Times of Israel writes about the opportunity for the public to join conservation work at Gezer on Thursdays in the month of July.

Archaeologists are using chemical imaging technology in ancient Egyptian tombs to analyze the process in which the walls were painted.

So many tourists are visiting the Acropolis of Athens this summer that they will be implementing crowd control measures for the first time ever, including time-slot system for groups and electronic ticketing. There is also talk of enlarging the Propylaia.

The BBC shares the latest discoveries at Pompeii, including serpents, frescoes, and yes, more skeletons.

Charging for admission to Rome’s Pantheon may make the site like the Colosseum—impossible to visit without joining a tour at many times the ticket price.

The NY Times has a lengthy story of Shelby White’s antiquities collection, pieces she has returned, and artifacts recently seized.

BiblePics is a new AI tool that allows users to chat with biblical characters.

New release: Hesi after 50 Years and 130 Years: Beginning a New Generation of Research, edited by John R. Spencer, James W. Hardin, and Jeffrey Blakely (Eisenbrauns, $70 with code NR23)

New release: West Semitic Inscriptions & the Hebrew Bible (AOAT 410), by Bob Becking (Ugarit-Verlag, €123; Amazon)

I have not seen the new “Borderland: Israel in the Time of Jesus” exhibit at The Creation Museum in Kentucky, but the exhibit book contains hundreds of the best reconstruction artwork I’ve ever seen—everything from Herod’s temple at Caesarea to a Jewish funeral and much more. This link gives a video preview of the book, and the book may be purchased here ($30-45).

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Ted Weis

It’s always better when artifacts stay at the site and are not transported to some distant museum. The new visitors’ center at Caesarea provides archaeological displays and visual presentations that enhance the site experience.

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, Italy, Judah, Resources, Samaria, Technology, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Recent excavations in front of the edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher revealed the 4th century arrangement of the rotunda.

Chris McKinny gives an overview of the results from Week 2 of excavations at Tel Burna.

Aren Maeir notes that excavations are also currently underway at Tell el-Hesi and Khirbet Summeily.

Archaeologists have invited the local community to help conserve the Middle Bronze gate at Gezer after last year’s fire.

William Hild, a participant in this summer’s excavation at Hyrcania, is guest on The Book and the Spade discussing the project.

Ruth Schuster writes about the treasures that were returned when the Israel Antiquities Authority announced an amnesty campaign. Enjoy the many photos, for you’ll never see these objects again as the IAA protects them in a vast storage center.

Ariel David reports on Garfinkel’s latest claim of Judah’s importance in the 10th century, including criticism from other archaeologists. Melanie Lidman has a similar story.

Tim Chaffey explains how Ernest Martin and Robert Cornuke “avoid key passages of Scripture, distort Josephus’ words, and ignore the findings of archaeologists” in their relocation of Solomon’s temple.

New release: Ancient Synagogues Revealed 1981-2022, edited by Lee I. Levine, Zeev Weiss, and Uzi Leibner (Israel Exploration Society, 300 NIS). You can see all the volumes in the long-running series on the IES website.

Hybrid conference on July 10-13 in Jerusalem: “Jerusalem: From Umbilicus Mundi to the Four Corners of the Earth and Back.” The conference brochure is here. The live broadcast will be here.

Zoom lecture on July 25: “Jesus in Galilee: An Archaeological Perspective,” by Eric Meyers

BBC Reel has released “Armageddon: The ancient city behind the biblical story.”

Chandler Collins considers what may be learned from 19th century travelers’ writings about their first views of Jerusalem.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

The latest big hole in the ground opened to visitors is the Gezer water system. The descent gives you a new appreciation for the value of a secure source of water.

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Lectures, Resources, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Scholars at UNI Graz claim that a 3rd century BC papyrus has evidence of a binding, making it the oldest book in the world discovered. The press release is in German, but the video of the press conference is partly in English. Brent Nongbri offers some thoughts.

A network of stone walls along the Nile River provide evidence of ancient hydraulic engineering.

“A team of computer scientists and archaeologists from the University of Bologna in Italy has developed a new tool for identifying archaeological sites using artificial intelligence … [which] reached a predictive accuracy of over 80 percent.”

“A team of archaeologists and computer scientists from Israel has created an AI-powered translation program for ancient Akkadian cuneiform, allowing tens of thousands of already digitized tablets to be translated into English instantaneously.”

The square in Rome where Julius Caesar was assassinated has been opened to the public.

Renovations of the Carthage Museum will begin in 2025 and expand the exhibition space to three times the current size.

The book of Esther’s independence from classical sources makes it “more important as a historical source for Achaemenian history than has traditionally been assumed.”

“An ancient Hebrew Bible and more than 100 Roman coins were recovered by Turkish military police.” The photo with the article is not the seized manuscript.

New release: A Jew in the Roman Bathhouse: Cultural Interaction in the Ancient Mediterranean, by Yaron Z. Eliav (Princeton University Press, $45; save 30% with code P321).

New release: Wounded Tigris: A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilization, by Leon McCarron (Simon & Schuster, $29)

New release: Famine and Feast in Ancient Egypt, by Ellen Morris (75 pages, Cambridge University Press, $22; free download until July 3).

In the latest episode of Thin End of the Wedge, Agnès Garcia-Ventura discusses the historiography of Assyriology.

Mark Janzen is guest on The Book and the Spade discussing the historicity of Moses.

Now that the Plutonium at Hierapolis (aka the gate to Hades) is open, Carl Rasmussen shares photos and explains what you are looking at and how the ancient rites were carried out.

HT: Agade, Alexander Schick

The worst experience in Jerusalem is walking through the drainage channel under the Siloam street. Unless you’re under 5 feet tall.

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Technology, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem reopened on June 1 after a $50 million renovation. The Times of Israel explains what’s new.

The Israeli government has approved spending more than $100 million in the next five years on various projects in Jerusalem, including on excavations in the Western Wall Tunnels and the City of David National Park.

To judge from this recent promo video, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is seeking a different kind of tourist. This video also seems to embody the adage that advertising is another form of lying.

The IAA discovered three ossuaries in a Roman-period burial cave near Kafr Kanna (Cana) that had recently been looted.

A traffic stop near Ramallah led to the discovery of dozens of 10th Roman Legion floor tiles that had recently been illegally excavated.

Israeli police arrested a suspect in possession of dozens of coins illegally excavated in Jerusalem, including a rare coin from the reign of Antigonus Mattathias II.

A three-week operation led to the capture of thieves illegally excavating a Roman-Byzantine site near Nazareth.

The latest volume of the Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society includes articles on 1 Samuel 5, the Gezer Calendar, the altar at Tel Dothan, and the story of Dinah. Articles are open-access.

Preprints for a festschrift for Tallay Ornan are available on Academia.

New release: Pushing Sacred Boundaries in Early Judaism and the Ancient Mediterranean: Essays in Honor of Jodi Magness (Brill, $211)

New release: History of Ancient Israel, by Christian Frevel (SBL, $75)

On pre-order sale at Logos: “A Virtual Walk Through the Land of the Bible,” by Charlie Trimm

Logos has just released The New Encyclopedia Of Archaeological Excavations In The Holy Land.

Logos has a sale on The New Moody Atlas of the Bible this month ($10).

Rafael Frankel, retired archaeologist from the University of Haifa, died last week. Some of his publications can be seen here.

Weston Fields, longtime managing director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation, died on May 25. A list of his publications can be seen here.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Explorator

The viewing area for the Broad Wall in Jerusalem will be transformed once they complete construction of these new walkways. Amazing that it took 50 years to get around to this.

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Galilee, Jerusalem, Resources, Sad News, Samaria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup