Discoveries Archives - Page 97 of 153

Weekend Roundup

Bryant Wood made the case that Khirbet el-Maqatir is biblical Ai in a lecture he gave at the recent symposium held at Houston Baptist University.

Biblical Archaeology Review has posted online the documentation for this month’s cover story,

“Archaeology Confirms 50 Real People in the Bible.” This is a valuable resource, and more easily accessible than the author’s monograph.

An alabaster statue of a New Kingdom princess has been discovered in excavations near Luxor. The 6-foot statue was once part of a 56-foot-tall statue that guarded the entrance to a temple.

“Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar province is ‘a global museum of antiquities,’ dotted with hundreds of unexcavated ancient cities whose archeological treasures could rival those of the great Sumerian capital of Ur, experts say.”

BibleX points to an article on the time and cost of Paul’s missionary journeys.

Israel experienced a very bad dust storm earlier this week, resulting in the closure of a number of the country’s airports.

Mark Hoffman explains how to make a custom Bible map using Accordance as well as other options.

The ASOR Archaeology Weekly Roundup links to stories about Pompeii, the Apostle Philip, and more.

I’m on this week’s edition of The Book and the Spade with Gordon Govier, discussing the upcoming summer excavations in Israel. (Here’s a direct link.)

Luke Chandler invites you to join him on a tour of Israel. At $3,300, it is one of the most affordable trips I know of.

Wayne Stiles flew out to Israel yesterday and will be blogging about his trip daily. He also will be posting new pictures on his Instagram feed. I’m heading over as well, but I don’t expect to have much time to write on this blog while I am away.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Mesopotamia, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The Rogueclassicist finds plenty to be suspicious of in the discovery of the “Apollo of Gaza” – Part I, Ia, and Ib.

Can the Jordan River Be Saved? National Geographic asks the question in light of the increased demands caused by the Syrian civil war.

Oded Golan has another ossuary that André Lemaire considers more significant than the James Ossuary.

Japanese archaeologists have discovered a tomb in Luxor dating to 1200 BC.

The Jerusalem Post runs a travel article on Tiberias and some of the new attractions in the area.

G. M. Grena reports on a recent conference where Gabriel Barkay gave four lectures on the history and archaeology of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s geography can relieve your doubts – if you understand it.

Registration is now open for this year’s season at Tel Burna.

The city of Jerusalem plans to make life easier for tourists by giving English lessons to taxi drivers.

I’m on The Book and the Spade this week talking with Gordon Govier about the Iron Age water tunnel discovered near Jerusalem and some wooden temple beams that may go back to Solomon’s temple. (Direct link to mp3 here.)

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Weekend Roundup

New Scrolls from the Dead Sea Area

In a presentation last week at the conference on “The History of the Caves of Qumran,” Yonatan Adler reported the discovery of a group of phylacteries (tefillin) containing nine small manuscripts.

These were discovered in Caves 4 and 5 in 1952 but only recently did Adler determine that they contained texts.

The discovery was reported in the Italian press (with a photo) and Joseph Lauer has provided a translation of the article:

***

LUGANO – The discovery of new Qumran manuscripts was announced during the International Research Seminar on “The History of the Caves of Qumran,” organized by the Institute of Culture and Archaeology of the Biblical Lands of the Faculty of Theology of Lugano (chaired by prof. Dr. George Paximadi).

Working on materials from the archaeological excavations of the ‘50s, archaeologist Yonatan Adler found some intact phylacteries (the boxes – used by religious Jews – which contain small manuscript rolls with a biblical text).

It was possible to detect the manuscripts in them thanks to special photographs (multispectral imaging) carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The phylacteries are from Qumran caves 4 and 5, excavated in 1952 by the archaeologist Roland de Vaux.

Among the material processed by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s laboratory for the conservation of the scrolls, were three packs containing nine small scrolls manuscripts.

“It does not happen every day to discover new manuscripts. It was really a great feeling,” said Yonatan Adler, Ariel University.

“I am very proud that in our laboratory, using the most advanced technologies, we can reconstruct the history of two thousand years ago,” said Pnina Shor, director of the laboratory for the conservation of the scrolls of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The seminar curated by Prof. Marcello Fidanzio, direttore del settore ambiente biblico dell’ISCAB, Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano, brought together 65 of the most important scholars of Qumran world, including Emanuel Tov (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Jodi Magness (University of North
Carolina), E. Puech (École Biblique et Archéologique Franҫaise, Jerusalem), Sidnie White Crawford (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), J. Taylor (King’s College London), Jurgen Zangenberg (Leiden University).

***

Lauer has located some related resources:
Drew Longacre’s notice of this and another discovery reported at the seminar.

Adler’s previous lecture on “The Tefillin of Qumran–Archaeology and Halacha.”

A photograph of a previously discovered phylactery.

Qumran Caves 4 and 5
Screenshot from Qumran Caves presentation in volume 4 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries

Weekend Roundup

A jug containing silver earrings and ingots has been unearthed at Abel Beth Maacah. The find dates to about 1200 BC.

Some missing pieces of the Colossi of Memnon have been discovered.

A new discovery in Crete confirms the practice of human sacrifice in the Mycenean culture circa 1300 BC.

Israeli police have arrested two Muslim workers for illegal excavations on the Temple Mount.

The Vatican is allegedly pressuring Jerusalem officials into turning over control of the Mount Zion complex that houses the traditional Upper Room and the tomb of David.

Titus Kennedy discusses the domestication of camels on this week’s interview on The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

Gordon Franz explains how the Via Egnatia was part of the means that God enabled the spread of the gospel “in the fullness of time.”

The site of Beit Guvrin and Maresha is a candidate for the World Heritage List. The impressive bell caves and ruins of a Roman-period city are among the attractions at this site in the southern Shephelah of Judah.

A couple who spent three days hiking near the Dead Sea share their experiences in a Jerusalem Post travel article.

Aren Maeir links to the full-length version of the Orson Welles movie of David and Goliath.

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

The bell caves of Beit Guvrin
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Galilee, Greece, Jerusalem, Mediterranean Islands, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Apollo Statue Discovered in Gaza

A fisherman claims that he found the 1100 lb. statue of the Greek god Apollo off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Experts doubt his story, though it is impossible to investigate since Hamas has seized the bronze statue. From The Independent:

Lost for centuries, a rare bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo has mysteriously appeared in the Gaza Strip, only to be seized by police and vanish almost immediately from view.
A local fisherman says he scooped the 500kg, life-sized bronze from the sea bed last August, and carried it home on a donkey cart, unaware of the significance of his catch.
Others soon guessed at its importance, and the statue briefly appeared on eBay with a $500,000 (£300,000) price tag – well below its true value. Police from the Islamist group Hamas say they are investigating.
To their great frustration, archaeologists have not been able to get their hands on the Apollo, and instead must pore over a few blurred photographs of the intact deity, who is laid out incongruously on a blanket emblazoned with Smurfs.
From what they can tell it was cast sometime between the 5th and the 1st century BC, making it at least 2,000 years old.

The full story includes a video and discussion over the provenance of the object. The story is also reported by the Jerusalem Post. Joseph Lauer notes that the Ebay listing for the statue is still online.

A bronze statue of the Greek God Apollo is pictured in Gaza. Lost for centuries, the rare bronze statue of the Greek God Apollo has mysteriously resurfaced in the Gaza Strip

Apollo statue found near Gaza
Photo by Reuters

Tagged Discoveries, Israel's Coast

Weekend Roundup

With the cooperation of local landowners, a new national park may be established at Tal al-Umayri (el-Umeiri) in Jordan.

Archaeologists have discovered what may be the oldest Roman temple at the foot of Capitoline Hill in Rome.

“The remains of a bustling port and barracks for sailors or military troops have been discovered near the Giza Pyramids.”

Archaeologists working at Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley believe they have evidence that some of the Sea Peoples settled there ca. 1100 BC.

A new computer system in use by the Israel Antiquities Authority will enable archaeologists to create “a national database of sherds, a kind of sherd Google.” (Haaretz; registration required)

Some of Syria’s historic sites are being destroyed for political reasons.

A Study Guide of Israel: Historical & Geographical, by Arnold Fruchtenbaum is on now on sale at ~~Logos~~ ~~for $18. ($52 used at~~ ~~Amazon~~.)

The HCSB Study Bible is on sale for the Kindle for $3.

This diagram shows Paul’s missionary journeys in the form of a London subway map.

Leona Glidden Running, co-author of a biography of W. F. Albright, has died.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson, Mark Hoffman

Port and barracks excavated near Giza pyramids.
Photo by AERA.

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jordan, Resources, Syria, Technology, Weekend Roundup