Antiquities Trade Archives - Page 30 of 31

Weekend Roundup

Leen Ritmeyer explains with word and image the Treasury of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The IAA stopped two would-be tomb robbers as they were about to penetrate a Roman period burial chamber.

Fifty years ago this week Yigael Yadin announced the discovery of the Bar Kochba letters. (An aside: if you’re looking for summer reading, I enjoyed this biography on Yadin.)

Covenant Journey is a new Taglit- (Birthright-) type program designed for Christian students to visit Israel for only $500. It is being funded in part by the Museum of the Bible.

The NIV is celebrating its “50th” anniversary with the free NIV 50th Anniversary Bible App, a 365-day reading plan, a video “The NIV: Made to Study.” And I really appreciated the academic-level review of the translation philosophy of the NIV by Doug Moo, available both in video form and free eBook.

The ruins of Palmyra are at risk in fighting between the Islamic State and Syrian forces.

Students at Johns Hopkins are learning how to re-create ancient Greek pottery.

Leon Mauldin shares a group of photos of biblical Troas.

In the category of bad Hebrew tattoos, this one ranks high.

HT: Agade, Steven Anderson, Joseph Lauer

The ruins of Palmyra
from Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Greece, Jerusalem, Syria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Emek Shaveh has submitted a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court asking that Elad not be allowed to operate the City of David Archaeological Park.

The Museum of Biblical Art in NYC will permanently close on June 14. The American Bible Society could not find a new location for its rare Bible collection when it sold its building recently.

May 5 in NYC: By the Rivers of Babylon – A Symposium Exploring New Evidence from Ancient Texts about the Jewish Exiles

Here is a silent film segment of the Good Samaritan, re-enacted in Palestine in the 1920s.

The Independent has a lengthy profile of the antiquities trade long going on in Syria.

No one is visiting the pyramids of Sudan at Meroe.

Aren Maeir recommends The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans as a worthy introductory textbook to the subject.

If you liked the drone video of Herodium, you can see more from Amir Aloni here.

HT: Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Agade

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Syria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Israeli authorities have arrested 7 Bedouin for illegally excavating at Tel Ma’aravim.

Take a tour of all the discoveries in Ashkelon with Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am’s well-illustrated article in The Times of Israel.

If you haven’t already purchased Wayne Stiles’s Going Places with God, it’s now only $1.99 on Kindle (for a limited time).

The most detailed article on the Dome of the Rock carpet replacement job is at Israel HaYom.

Exploring Bible Lands shares photos with unique perspectives of the basilica in Nazareth and the spring of Harod.

Gary Manning discusses recent claims of the Talpiot Tomb on the Book and the Spade.

Learn why Jeff Blakely carries a roll of brand new US pennies in his dig bag.

I’ve never had a better perspective of Herodium than from this drone video (2.5 min).

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Galilee, Herod's Tomb, Israel's Coast, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Resources, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have uncovered a monumental entrance to the Herodium that was apparently buried by King Herod. The short video is more informative than the article.

Russian archaeologists have discovered portions of the walls of Memphis, capital of ancient Egypt.

The US has returned 123 artifacts smuggled out of Egypt.

Mathematicians at Tel Aviv University are developing algorithms to recognize ancient Hebrew letters inscribed on potsherds (or here).

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has a brief report about and many photos from the carpet job in the Dome of the Rock.

The Shrine of the Book opened 50 years ago this week.

The Plains of Moab remind us to remember what God has done in our lives.

Besides a Beretta, what else is in Aren Maeir’s dig bag?

Menahem Haran died recently at the age of 91.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade

The Plains of Moab from Mount Nebo

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Judah, Museums, Sad News, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists found Egyptian artifacts from the Late Kingdom period in a cave in southern Israel near Kibbutz Lahav.

Arad would like to become a tourist destination in southern Israel.

A researcher believes that the famous “Meidum Geese” painting from ancient Egypt is actually a modern fake.

Now is a good time to visit Egypt.

The 2,000-year-old date palm known as Methuselah has turned out to be male, but there is hope that another seed may produce a female plant. The scientist would like to produce an orchard of ancient date palm trees.

A large Iron Age fortification has been discovered at Ashdod-Yam, the port of the ancient Philistine city of Ashdod.

Eisenbrauns is having a big sale on excavation reports, including works on Ashkelon, Tel Malhata, Megiddo, Tell el-Borg, Timnah, and Dothan.

Tel Burna – The Late Bronze and Iron Age Remains after Five Seasons, by Chris McKinny, Deborah Cassuto, and Itzhaq Shai.

New from Zondervan: The Most Significant People, Places, and Events in the Bible: A Quickview Guide, by Christopher Hudson.

Larry G. Herr favorably reviews Biblical Lachish, by David Ussishkin.

A £2 million statue looted from Cyrenaica, Libya, was confiscated upon entry to the UK.

A new video shows ISIS destroying Iraq’s UNESCO World Heritage city of Hatra.

The British Museum has proposed lending the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

They’re using drones in Jordan to track the looting of ancient tombs.

Test your knowledge of Bible numbers with the BAR Anniversary Bible Quiz.

HT: Charles Savelle, Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Jordan, Museums, Negev, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Iraq’s government reports that ISIS has bulldozed ancient Calah (modern Nimrud).

In light of ISIS’s recent destruction of Mosul, Iraq is vowing to protect ancient Babylon.

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago has issued a statement.

Citizens of Iraq and Syria are working to protect their historic treasures from destruction by ISIS.

A project has begun to “use crowd-sourced imagery to digitally reconstruct the heritage that has been destroyed.”

Daniel Pipes argues that “the ISIS record fits into an old and common pattern of destruction of historical artifacts by Muslims.”

The U.S. government has returned more than 60 artifacts illegally smuggled out of Iraq, including the head of an Assyrian lamassu from the palace of Sargon II.

Egypt will no longer grant visas to individual tourists upon arrival. You will need to apply in advance from an Egyptian embassy. Or travel instead to Israel, Jordan, Turkey, or Greece.

The Associates for Biblical Research has just released a new video, Digging Up the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

How was Trajan’s Column in Rome constructed? National Geographic features a stop-motion video that suggests an method. It is quite an extraordinary accomplishment.

We’ll have more links tomorrow.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, Movies, Museums, Tourism, Weekend Roundup