Discoveries Archives - BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A new DNA study of King Tut’s mummy reveals that his premature death was caused in part by malaria.

Archaeologists working at the Ramesseum have made various discoveries recently, including “several tombs dating back to the Third Intermediate Period, storage areas, weaving and stonework workshops, kitchens, and bakeries.”

Restoration will begin next week on the “First Command of Darius the Great” inscription at Persepolis. For photos of the inscription, see this article.

Turkish Archaeological News rounds up the top stories for the month of March. Stories include:

Restoration work is now complete on Laodicea’s Hellenistic theater
Water will again flow through the city gate of ancient Patara
A landscaping project has begun at Didyma’s Temple of Apollo
A planned expansion of parking at Cnidus/Knidos is controversial

A new study indicates that nearly everyone in ancient Troy drank wine.

On April 24 at Bar Ilan U: “Workshop on Prof. Eric Cline’s Books: 1177 BC and After 1177 BC.” The event will be broadcast on Zoom.

A 30-mile pilgrimage trail in Jordan follows the route of Egeria from Mount Nebo to Bethany beyond the Jordan.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted a photo of the port of Cenchrea mentioned in Acts 18 and Romans 16.

Leon Mauldin shares a photo of Elephantine Island that he took from a boat on the Nile River.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A new study of a Bronze Age tomb in Turkey reveals that female teenagers were the victims of human sacrifice.

“Two almost lifesize sculptures of a man and woman, who was believed to have been a priestess, have been found during the excavations of a huge tomb in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.”

Scientists are arguing over the claims that technology has identified chambers far below the Giza pyramids.

Zoom lecture on April 7: “Jesus’s Parables as Jewish Stories,” by Amy-Jill Levine

Hybrid lecture at Harvard on April 23: “The Daily Lives of Ancient Egyptian Artists,” by Hana Navratilova (Zoom registration)

New release: The Amarna Letters: The Syro-Levantine Correspondence, by Jacob Lauinger and Tyler R. Yoder (Lockwood, $100-$125)

Farmers in Sicily are cultivating a resin that some identify as biblical manna.

Bryan Windle summarizes the top three reports in biblical archaeology in the month of March.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A three-year-old Israeli girl has found a scarab-shaped Canaanite amulet dating back some 3,800 years at the site of Tel Azeka near Bet Shemesh.”

The Times of Israel runs an illustrated story about the exhibition “Rescued Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History” that opened this week in Paris.

Western Wall authorities have carried out their semi-annual removal of prayer notes, and they have announced that due to high demand, the priestly blessing will be held twice during Passover this year.

New release: Reconfiguring the Land of Israel: A Rabbinic Project (Brill, 2024; $175; free download)

New release: The Victorians and the Holy Land: Adventurers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in the Lands of the Bible, by Allan Chapman (Eerdmans, $35)

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on May 14: “Rethinking the Early Christian Book in the Eastern Mediterranean,” by Timothy B. Sailors

The Local Reporter runs a short profile of Jodi Magness.

Ferrell Jenkins explains how we know that Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70.

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

Tagged Discoveries, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Recent excavations of a pyramid-like structure south of Masada suggest that it was a Hellenistic fortress that was later reused as a monumental tomb.

Excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem have uncovered the presence of a garden in approximately the first century.

A monastery and farmhouse have been discovered and excavated at a site north of Beersheba. The underlying journal articles are published in ‘Atiqot.

“A 1,200-year-old clay jug painted in bright colors and ringed with camels and a mystery beast was unearthed by archaeologists at the Horvat Anim site in the Yatir Forest.” There are more photos here.

Aren Maeir visited Tel Ashdod to see the new excavations which will lead to a restoration of the six-chambered gate.

Scott Stripling explains what they have found in the favissa at Shiloh on Digging for Truth.

The IAA is not giving into the Western Wall Rabbi’s demand to return the 5-ton stone to its original location.

Zoom lecture on April 2: “Political Landscapes in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age,” by Andrea Titolo and Alessio Palmisano (Zoom link; recording will be available a few days later on YouTube)

Recently declassified CIA documents reveal that an experiment was conducted in 1988 to locate the ark of the covenant.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Negev, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Underwater archaeologists have discovered infrastructure of an ancient port at Asini in Greece.

Archaeologists have excavated a “grand ancient Greek tomb site” near Corinth.

“A recent study offers new insights into the pigments used by ancient Roman artists in Pompeii, revealing how they mixed raw materials to achieve a wide range of color tones.”

Persepolis’s ancient underground channels prevented flooding and destruction during a severe rainstorm.

Restoration work on Jerash’s northern theater continues.

Artnet highlights three interesting artifacts discovered in the tomb of Thutmose II.

Turkiye Today describes seven must-see cuneiform tablets in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.

The ASOR Punic Project Digital Initiative “will provide digital files of individual stelae that can be viewed on screen or 3D printed at any scale.”

New release: Against Moab: Interrogating the Archaeology of Iron Age Jordan, by Benjamin W. Porter. (Cambridge University Press, open access)

Hybrid lecture at Penn State on March 27, 5 pm (EDT): “In the Steps of a Babylonian King: A Scholar’s Adventures in Jordan and Lebanon,” by Rocío Da Riva (Zoom registration)

“After 1,700 years the first ancient Greek temple opened in Arcadia, Peloponnese over the weekend.” The Greek Church is not happy. The site manager defends the project: “There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and do not have a place to worship.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Museums, Persia, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists excavating Azekah found a new type of female figurine that comes expected forms with new elements.

Radiocarbon dates for the Huqoq synagogue place its construction in the late 4th or early 5th centuries AD, lending support to those who advocate a late date for Galilean-type synagogues.

Ruth Schuster has written a lengthy article for Haaretz (subscription) about various interpretations of the iconography on the Magdala Stone, including the proposal that it depicts God’s chariot in the temple.

Bible Mapper Atlas has published a new poster map of the tribal territory of Zebulun, and the accompanying article explains why the map extends Zebulun’s border to the sea.

The Torah.com has posted an eight-part series on the Amarna Letters, written by Alice Mandell.

David Jacobson and Nikos Kokkinos’s 2022 paper on Agrippa II’s royal triclinium in Jerusalem further strengthens the case against those who want to move the temple to the City of David. I’m told that a book is forthcoming with the conference papers, but this article is already available on Academia.

The Biblical Archaeology Society is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Publication Awards.

New release: Megiddo VII, the Shmunis Excavations of a Monumental Middle Bronze Tomb and its Environs, edited by M.J. Adams, M.D. Cradic and I. Finkelstein (Eisenbrauns, $125)

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on April 16: “‘Trowel Blazers’ in the Archaeology of the Levant & Near East during the Early 20th Century,” by Kathleen Nicoll

The recently announced discoveries in the City of David of the big grooves and standing stone are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Jerusalem Seminary is running a 10-day study tour in May entitled “Discovering Jesus in His Jewish Context.”

Bryan Windle summarizes the top ten archaeological discoveries related to Jeremiah in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup