Egypt Archives - BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists working in the temple of Dendera discovered a Sphinx-like statue that may depict Emperor Claudius.

“Egyptian officials have released photos of an ancient scroll, the 52-foot-long (16 meters) Book of the Dead papyrus recently discovered in Saqqara. The 10 images show ancient illustrations of gods and scenes from the afterlife, as well as text on the document, which is more than 2,000 years old.” The released photos were first posted on the government’s Facebook page.

The British Museum’s Curator’s Corner provides a lesson in how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (27 min).

New release: Ancient Egypt, New Technology: The Present and Future of Computer Visualization, Virtual Reality and Other Digital Humanities in Egyptology, edited by Rita Lucarelli, Joshua A. Roberson, and Steve Vinson. (Brill, $174; free download)

The first-ever detailed study of the theater at Pergamum reveals that it is larger than the theaters at Smyrna, Ephesus, Miletus, or Aspendos. An aerial photo shows the locations of the theater, stadium, and amphitheater in relation to the acropolis.

Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of major stories for the month of February. They also provide a damage assessment of cultural properties one month after the earthquake.

“The revamped archaeological museum of Argos in the Peloponnese and its upgraded display collection will soon reopen to the public.”

Archaeologists have discovered for the first time wooden stakes described by Julius Caesar and used as a kind of ancient barbed wire.

New research suggests that humans may have first begun riding horses around 3000 BC.

New exhibition at the San Antonio Museum of Art: “Roman Landscapes: Visions of Nature and Myth from Rome and Pompeii”

The Global Smyrna Meeting on the Seven Churches of Revelation will be held June 4 to 10, featuring many scholars in the field including Mark Wilson, Mark Fairchild, James Hoffmeier, David deSilva, and Ben Witherington.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman, Explorator

Pool of Siloam excavations in late February. Photo courtesy of John DeLancey.

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A scan of the north side of the Great Pyramid of Giza detected a corridor measuring 30 feet by 6 feet.

“The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Friday the discovery of a group of tombs from the Persian, Roman and Coptic eras in the Al-Bhansa [Oxyrhychus] region.”

“Archaeologists excavating at the ruins of Old Dongola in Sudan have discovered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics inscribed on sandstone blocks.”

Iran and China are collaborating to conduct underwater archaeological surveys in the Persian Gulf.

A curator at Manchester Museum describes the significance of the touring exhibition, “Golden Mummies of Egypt.”

The Art Newspaper reports on the full scale of earthquake damage to heritage sites in Turkey and Syria.

Hybrid lecture on March 9: “Iron in the Sky: Meteorites in Ancient Egypt,” by Victoria Almansa-Villatoro. Register here.

“Daniel—The Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries” is the latest episode on Digging for Truth.

Expedition Bible’s latest video is on the “Search for the Tower of Babel.”

New release: Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, by Josette Elayi

Bryan Windle highlights the top three reports in biblical archaeology in the month of February.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, New Exhibits, Persia, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Scholars have long wondered if an Amorite language existed, until the discovery of two tablets written at least partially in the language.

“An archeological site at Girsu, in modern-day south-central Iraq, a major city in the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, has been unearthed revealing a palace and a temple that date back over 4000 years.”

Egyptian police discovered a fake tomb created to defraud antiquities traffickers.

Kim Phillips addresses questions of what’s real and what’s hype in the sale of Codex Sassoon.

Eric Cline explains how the recently discovered evidence of a drought in 1198-1196 adds to our knowledge of the collapse of the Hittite Empire and other societies.

France 24 shows drone footage of the earthquake damage to Turkey’s Gaziantep castle.

“It’s still an open question among scholars whether Mycenaeans participated in long-distance metallurgical trade in the Bronze Age. The mythological narratives found in Greek literary tradition suggest they did.”

“The UK is working on a new arrangement with Greece through which the Parthenon Sculptures could be seen both in London and in Athens.”

Greece has announced a four-year renovation project of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Online lecture on Feb 28, 10am: “Excavations at Nineveh and Nimrud in 2022.” Join by Zoom here, or watch the recording a few days later here.

New York tells the story of Michael Steinhardt and the investigation of his antiquities collection.

New release: The Most Extraordinary Life: Discovering the Real Jesus, by Bob Rognlien. Also on Kindle.

My colleague William Varner has just published his latest work, The Preacher and the Song: A Fresh Look at Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A bronze shield thought to belong to a king of Urartu has an inscription mentioning a previously unknown nation.

Archaeologists discovered a tavern dating to 2700 BC in the ancient city of Lagash.

“Two ancient clay tablets discovered in Iraq and covered from top to bottom in cuneiform writing contain details of a ‘lost’ Canaanite language that has remarkable similarities with ancient Hebrew.”

“The ancient Egyptians employed a host of exotic ingredients – some apparently imported from as far away as Southeast Asia – to mummify their dead.”

“A battleground fought over by ancient Egyptians and the Ptolemaic Kingdom and mentioned on the Rosetta Stone has been discovered.”

Papyrus conservator Helen Sharp explains how ancient Egyptian papyri have survived for so long.

Julien Cooper writes about the travels of Khety in the Sinai Peninsula during the 11th Dynasty.

On the Tikvah Podcast, Israeli rabbi and biblical scholar Joshua Berman talks about leading tours to Egypt. (“Things that you see from there you don’t see from here.”)

“Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, on view at the Michael C. Carlos Museum from February 4 to August 6, 2023, is an exhibition about the power of ancient Egyptian objects to engage and inspire.”

Jason Colavito argues against displaying mummies in museums.

Webinar on Feb 8: “Secrets of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom Capital: el-Lisht,” by Sarah Parcak

“The 20th edition of the Annual Symposium on the Iranian Archaeology will take place in the National Museum of Iran,” with presentations of the latest archaeological research.

Zoom lecture on Feb 8: “Mercenary Soldiers in the Achaemenid World,” by John W. I. Lee

New release from RevelationMedia: Polycarp. Free to view if you enter your email address. (I don’t see another viewing option.)

“Nominations are invited for the 2023 Biblical Archaeology Society Publication Awards, for books published in 2021 and 2022.”

ASOR is offering 40+ scholarships of $2,000 each for participation on ASOR-affiliated projects during the summer of 2023. The deadline to apply is February 15.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Persia, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists working in Egypt found the body of a child buried together with 142 dogs, most of them puppies who apparently died in a flood.

A copy of the Book of the Dead was recently discovered in Egypt.

“Archaeologists have uncovered a 4,300-year-old mummy wrapped entirely in gold near the Step Pyramids – and it could be the oldest ever found.”

“A 2,300-year-old mummy that was originally found in 1916 but left unexamined, recently underwent CT scans whereby scientists found him wearing 49 ritually-significant amulets and sandals.”

“Egyptian archaeologists announced Wednesday the discovery of the first burial site in the city of Luxor that dates back to the ancient Egyptian 13th Dynasty.” They also discovered a Roman city located near the Luxor Temple.

“Egypt has completed the restoration of 37 columns as part of the Karnak Temples’ Great Hypostyle Hall restoration project.”

Egyptian archaeologists are now engaged in 50 archaeological excavations around the country. This is a shift from previous reliance on foreign expeditions.

Egyptian archaeologist and filmmaker Ramy Romany discusses his fascinating life in an interview with Jordan Harbinger.

The Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen is showing a special exhibition entitled “Amarna – City of the Sun God” from January 26 to June 18.

An 11-minute video explains why Tyrian purple dye is so hard to make and so expensive.

Valerie Abrahamsen looks at how the worship of the Egyptian god Isis influenced the veneration of Mary in the early Christian eras.

Catherine E. Pratt considers the centrality of oil and wine to the people of Greece through the ages.

Efforts to uncover the so-called “first mile” of the Appian Way in Rome have been thwarted by a powerful flow of groundwater. The entire length of the Appian Way is a candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“A sword in Chicago’s Field Museum that was previously thought to be a replica has been revealed to be an actual Bronze Age sword from between 1080 and 900 B.C.”

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Museums, New Exhibits, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

A new study confirms that the name of David is indeed written on the Mesha Stele.

Smithsonian Magazine profiles Michael Langlois, an unusual scholar who identified many “Dead Sea Scroll” forgeries in various private collections around the world. More recently he has confirmed the reading of “David” on the Mesha Stele.

A BAS Dig Scholarship recipient describes his experience excavating at Khirbat al-Balu’a, a Moabite site in Jordan.

Flashfloods in Petra caused the evacuation of 1,700 tourists and locals.

Egyptian archaeologists believe they have uncovered the tomb of a queen from the 18th dynasty in Luxor.

Ten mummified crocodiles were found in an Egyptian tomb.

Three men were arrested in Aswan for trying to steal a 10-ton statue of Ramses II.

“An ancient wooden sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences was returned to Egypt.”

“There’s a good chance you were told ancient Egyptians pulled chunks of brains out through the nose. Experiments suggest there was a much easier way to do this: scrambling the brains.”

Middle East Eye posts several dozen interesting and annotated satellite images of Egypt.

In recent episodes on the GTI Tours Podcast, Jerrell Jobe discusses Egypt’s significance in Scripture, and Matt Bach identifies some “hidden gems” in Israel.

“As of March 2023, ‘Atiqot will become a thematic journal, publishing volumes dedicated to specific topics related to the archaeology of Israel from the protohistoric to Ottoman periods. The journal will be published in English only, both online (Open Access) and in print.” Themes of future issues include:

`Atiqot 112: Ancient Hoards, Caches, and Deposits
`Atiqot 113: The Archaeology of Purity and Impurity
`Atiqot 114 (March 2024): Wine and Drinking Habits in Antiquity
`Atiqot 115 (June 2024): Rural Life in the Southern Levant
`Atiqot 116 (September 2024): Cult and Religion
`Atiqot 117 (December 2024): Burials and Burial Practices

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Wayne Stiles, Mondo Gonzales, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Egypt, Jordan, Tourism, Weather, Weekend Roundup