Discoveries Archives - Page 9 of 156

July Roundup, Part 4 (Turkey)

After decades of hopes and dreams, excavations began at Colossae last month. The team’s X feed includes a couple of photos.

“Archaeologists working in an ancient Urartian necropolis in eastern Türkiye’s Van province are uncovering remarkable evidence of Urartian burial traditions, including signs that women may have held high status in the Iron Age kingdom.”

“A newly discovered 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Adrasan in southern Turkey is offering a rare glimpse into ancient sea trade, with remarkably well-preserved ceramics still in their original arrangement.”

Archaeology in Turkey is struggling with understaffing, underfunding, unrealistic deadlines, unqualified archaeologists, hasty reconstruction efforts, and illegal treasure hunting.

“The ancient city of Termessos in the southern province of Antalya has launched its first systematic archaeological excavations this year.”

Austria is celebrating 130 years of excavation at the site of Ephesus.

“In a landmark study published in Science, researchers analyzing ancient DNA from nearly 400 skeletons at Çatalhöyük, a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey, revealed powerful clues that this early civilization operated under a matriarchal system.”

Istanbul is not prepared for its next earthquake. This Washington Post story (subscription) looks at the potential damage to residents and the city’s 40,000 historical sites.

Jason Borges explains the strategic importance of the Cilician Gates, and he identifies and illustrates five main gates accessing the Cilician Plain.

Turkish Archaeological News rounds up the top stories for the month of June and the month of July. Some highlights:

With the installation of lighting system, Ephesus is now open to visits until midnight.
Visitors to Aphrodisias can now enjoy “night-time museum visits, a redesigned welcome center and enhanced landscaping.”
A second season of excavations is now underway at Lystra.
“Significant progress has been made in the Hidirlik Tower Archaeological Excavation and Viewing Terrace Project.”
Archaeologists have uncovered Roman-era shops and a stoa at Patara.
The goal of this season’s excavations at Troy is to uncover physical evidence related to the Trojan War.
Why 37 museums are closed in Turkey

HT: Agade, A.D. Riddle, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

July Roundup, Part 3 (Egypt and Mesopotamia)

“After centuries beneath the waves, 22 massive stone blocks from the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria have been recovered from the seafloor, marking a major step in efforts to digitally reconstruct one of the Seven Wonders of the World.”

“Excavations in Egypt’s Nile Delta have revealed ancient Egyptian multistory ‘tower’ houses, a ceremonial building dedicated to the goddess Wadjet, a granary and several stunning artifacts.”

A researcher believes he has discovered two ancient inscriptions reading “this is from Moses” carved into the rock walls of Serabit el-Khadim, a mining site in the Sinai Peninsula. The underlying article is here.

“The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has strongly reaffirmed a strict ban on the export of archaeological objects.”

In the aftermath of the recent struggle with the Egyptian government over the status of St. Catherine’s Monastery, a group of monks have reportedly voted to remove the 90-year-old archbishop.

The National Museums Scotland website has a profile of Alexander Henry Rhind, the first experienced archaeologist to excavate in Egypt.

Max Miller recreated mersu from a 4,000-year-old receipt (24 min).

Bryan Windle is beginning a new series on “Letters from the Biblical World,” beginning with a primer on the Amarna Letters and how they relate to the Bible.

Zoom lecture on Aug 5: “Egypt and the Bible: The Outstretched Arm of the LORD,” by Oliver Hersey. (Registration required)

New release: The Animal Mummies of the Museo Egizio, Turin, by Salima Ikram, Sara Aicardi, and Federica Facchetti (open access)

New release: Visualizing Egypt: European Travel, Book Publishing, and the Commercialization of the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century, by Paulina Banas (AUC Press, $70; Amazon)

Now online: Ancient Egyptian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, by Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico

Several years after its secretive restoration, the traditional tomb of the prophet Nahum in northern Iraq is attracting Jewish pilgrimage.

New release: Assyria and the West: A Fresh Look at the Unshakeable Pillars of Late Bronze and Iron Age Chronology in the Eastern Mediterranean World, edited by Pieter van der Veen and Ronald Wallenfels (Archaeopress, £90; open access)

New release: Assur 2024: Continuing the excavations in the New Town and other research across the site = Exploring Assur — Volume 2, edited by Karen Radner and Andrea Squitieri (PeWe-Verlag, €59, open-access)

Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology at The British Academy on Nov 4-6: “Assyria in the 7th Century BC,” by Karen Radner

HT: Agade, Explorator, Alexander Schick

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A contractor digging into the earth where the rubble of a destroyed house had been cleared away in northern Syria stumbled across a surprise: the remains of an underground Byzantine tomb complex.”

“A wooden-structured burial chamber believed to belong to the Phrygian royal family has been uncovered in the ancient city of Gordion in Türkiye’s capital, Ankara.” The individual is possibly related to Gordios or Midas.

“A recent study suggests that high-altitude wind patterns played a crucial role in the collapse of the Minoan civilization by spreading volcanic ash and aerosols from the eruption of the Thera volcano.”

“The Greek Culture Ministry has unveiled a series of enhancements to the Acropolis archaeological site, offering visitors access to newly restored areas and improved facilities for the first time in decades.” The Old Acropolis Museum has not yet been reopened.

Athens is working to help tourists deal with the summer heat, including planting thousands of trees, removing concrete, and closing the Acropolis.

Alison Wilkinson writes about women’s rights in marriage in ancient Egypt. The full issue of The Ancient Near East Today is online here.

The Grand Egyptian Museum will hold its official inauguration on July 3, and the museum will be open to the public beginning on July 6.

HT: Agade, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Museums, Syria, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A stunning marble sarcophagus carved with a raucous drinking contest between Dionysus and Heracles has been unearthed in Caesarea.”

In his latest video for Expedition Bible, Joel Kramer claims to have solved the problem of Ai with the discovery of Late Bronze pottery at et-Tell in a 2019 excavation. I’ll be interested to see the published report.

Susan Schmidt filmed pieces for several years to create a beautiful 11-minute video on the complete Nabatean Incense Route, from Petra to Gaza.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains a new theory about the location of the Valley of Rephaim.

Joe Zias: “Archaeological and epigraphic evidence indicates that the ‘Tomb of Absalom’ constitutes the earliest Judeo-Christian pilgrimage site in the Holy Land.”

The latest issue of Near Eastern Archaeology is focused on Megiddo in the Bronze Age. Access requires a subscription. The next issue is dedicated to Megiddo in the Iron Age.

In the latest Jerusalem in Brief, Chandler Collins reports on a lecture on Macalister and Duncan’s excavations and wonders why popular media is not reporting on the new interpretation of the Pool of Siloam/Birket al-Hamra.

Several long-time readers have written to say that they are really enjoying Doron Spielman’s new book, When the Stones Speak: The Remarkable Discovery of the City of David and What Israel’s Enemies Don’t Want You To Know.

Jerusalem University College has announced its lineup of fall online courses, including (not yet online):

Biblical Archaeology I, taught by Kyle Keimer
Biblical Jerusalem and Its Explorations, taught by Chandler Collins
The Life and Times of Paul, taught by Chris Vlachos
Ancient Egypt and the Bible, taught by Paul Wright
Palestinian Society and Politics, taught by Bernard Sabella

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Luke Chandler

Tagged Discoveries, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Lectures, Resources, Samaria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Excavation work continues at Khirbat Balu’a, a Moabite site with a monumental Iron Age structure.

The digging of a well in western Syria resulted in the discovery of a Roman mosaic depicting Tyche.

Archaeologists in Rome have found evidence of a bath complex that was transformed into an early church.

Glenn J. Corbett writes about the threats to the heritage of ancient Cush.

Aaron Koller explains how and why post-exilic Judeans adopted the Aramaic script for writing in Hebrew.

In a new pdf resource, John DeLancey explains how Jesus used remez in the Gospels.

“YodAlpha is a search engine exclusively dedicated to Religious, Theological, and Biblical Studies. Its index is built from crawling the websites of various academic institutions that support open access scholarship.”

New release: Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ, by T. C. Schmidt (Oxford University Press, $130; Amazon; free download).

Should have taken an Uber: “A German tourist has been arrested in Rome on Wednesday after being caught riding down the street on a rented electric scooter with the marble base of a Roman column on the footplate.”

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Mark V. Hoffman, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Italy, Jordan, Resources, Syria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Haaretz reports on the discovery of a stone mug found in the Mount Zion excavations that has a very unusual inscription.

An ostracon discovered in the Babylonian destruction layer of Lachish has been published.

Adi Erlich and Ron Lavi report that in their three-year excavation of the famous cave of Caesarea Philippi, they found no evidence of Herod’s temple in front of that cave.

An impressive Byzantine mosaic with 55 richly detailed medallions has been restored and is now on display in the Negev near where it was discovered.

A journal article published in Antiquity studies the cargoes from three Iron Age shipwrecks discovered near the port of Dor.

Ynetnews runs a lengthy story about the Weizmann Institute of Science’s particle accelerator, how it is used for dating Carbon-14 samples, and its impact in dating antiquities in Jerusalem.

Zoom lecture on June 5: “Tel Azekah after Twelve Seasons of Excavation,” by Oded Lipschits

This week’s Jerusalem Tracker highlights new books, book reviews, blogposts, podcasts, videos, as well as the latest developments in Jerusalem.

Steven Smith at OpenBible used AI to create 180 maps of the Holy Land. He discusses his methodology and the weaknesses of the results.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Mark V. Hoffman, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Negev, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup