Archaeologists have discovered a large Neolithic village in Motza not far from Jerusalem.

Researchers working in northeastern Jordan have found early evidence of breadmaking.

The sealed black sarcophagus from Alexandria has been opened to reveal three decomposed bodies.

A pottery-making workshop from the 4th Dynasty has been discovered in Aswan.

Excavations at Sardis have uncovered military equipment believed to have been used in the war with the Persians.

A mysterious papyrus housed at the University of Basel since the 16th century is now believed to be a medical document written by the physician Galen.

The seasons have wrapped up at Gath and Tel Burna.

Scott Stripling speaks about this year’s excavations at Shiloh on The Book and the Spade.

Israel’s Good Name’s tour of Lower Galilee took him to Tel Shimron, Tel Hanaton, Horvat Rosh Zayit, and Tel Keisan.

Mary Shepperson writes an interesting piece about the history of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq.

John DeLancey shares a drone video he created of the Philistine site of Gath. [Link updated]

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo of a replica of the Shema servant of Jeroboam seal that he purchased in the late 1960s.

Leon Mauldin shares several photos of the cities of the Decapolis.

Wayne Stiles looks at lessons to learn on temptation from the pinnacle of temple.

Lawrence H. Schiffman reflects on the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls in light of the 70th anniversary of their discovery.

I have learned that the new book, A Walk to Caesarea, by Joseph Patrich, will soon be available in the Biblical Archaeology Society store. I’ll include a note in a future roundup when it is.

You can get 30% off all Eisenbrauns titles with code RAI18.

If you’ve benefited from the ministry of Bryant Wood, you can learn how to support his work here.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis

Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of a mummification workshop, a gilded silver mask, and much more at the Saqqara necropolis of Memphis.

A sealed Ptolemaic-era sarcophagus has been discovered in Alexandria.

A museum in Alexandra, Egypt found a hidden space with pots and urns dating to the Greek, Roman, Coptic, and Islamic eras.

Two Old-Kingdom-period homes have been discovered near the Giza pyramids.

The June issue of the Newsletter of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities reports on archaeological discoveries, repatriated antiquities, and various other items.

13 verses of Homer’s Odyssey, possibly the earliest known copy, was found near Olympia in southern Greece.

A 3-D composition bust of Julius Caesar was unveiled by researchers at The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.

A marble replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace will be erected on the island this summer.

25,000 Greek and Roman illegally trafficked artifacts, worth $46 million, were recently seized in a raid across four nations.


Current Archaeology posts a response to the recent challenge to Carbon-14 dating in Iron Age Israel.

The latest issue of Atiqot is now online. Past issues are available here.

The J. Paul Getty Museum has acquired an illuminated medieval Hebrew manuscript known as the Rothschild Pentateuch.

Mark Hoffman has created a video from his explorations of the Via Egnatia between Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, and Apollonia.

Carl Rasmussen’s ride in the back of the plane resulted in the opportunity to take some nice aerial photos of Istanbul.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, ANE-2, Explorator

Following reports of damage to archaeological debris on the Temple Mount, the Israeli police have closed a new observation post.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project gives an update on the damage. The Times of Israel reports on the situation.

Aren Maeir shares some of the objectives for this year’s excavations of Gath, including more work on the possible city gate.

The May newsletter of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities is now online.

A conference entitled “Archaeology for Peace” is being held today in Leiden.

Somehow Carl Rasmussen got into the never-yet-open-to-the-public theater at Perga, and he shares his photos here. [UPDATE: I’ve learned that the theater renovation is complete and the theater is now open to visitors.]

Carl also has posted a couple of rare photos showing flood waters in the Brook of Elah.

Charles Savelle found the four-horned altar near Shiloh. (I do wish he had moved his bike before he took the picture!)

Ferrell Jenkins shares photos of his drive through Wadi Shu’ayb in Jordan.

Wayne Stiles looks at the spiritual significance of the mountains that surround Jerusalem.

Ticia Verveer gives an illustrated tour of Gamla.

Israel’s Good Name saw quite a bit of wildlife on his trip to the Beth Shean Valley and Agamon Hefer.

HT: Joseph Lauer

A candidate for prime minister of the UK promises to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece if he is elected. The British Museum has responded.

“An Italian court has ruled that this Greek bronze, known as ‘Statue of a Victorious Youth,’ rescued from the ocean decades ago and long on display at the Getty Villa, should be returned to Italy.”

Nine artifacts smuggled from Egypt have been returned by French authorities.

Russians archaeologists have applied to continue excavations of Palmyra.

A report from Week 2 of excavations in the Venus Pompeiana Project has been posted.

Bleda S. Düring explains the origins of maps in the Near East. Many nice images are included.

“Digital humanities scholars [at Penn Libraries] are orchestrating an epic crowdsourcing effort to sort and transcribe handwriting on thousands of documents discarded hundreds of years ago, known as the Cairo Geniza.”

Mark Hoffman: BibleWorks is closing; what should you do?

Leon Mauldin explains why Michelangelo’s Moses has horns.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a copy of Kitchener’s Photographs of Biblical Sites for sale, until now ($830).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

“Newly deciphered Egyptian symbols on a 3,400-year-old limestone ostracon from Luxor’s Tomb of Senneferi appears to be the first written evidence of the ABC letter order of the early Semitic alphabet.” The BASOR article on which this story is based is available here to subscribers.

A well-preserved Egyptian tomb at Saqqara belongs to a general who served Rameses II.

“Egyptian archeologists say they have discovered parts of a huge red brick building dating back to the Greco-Roman period north of Cairo.”

Live Science reports on how Egyptian archaeologists rescued two massive carvings from looters.

“After almost three months of study, a new geophysics survey has provided conclusive evidence that no hidden chambers exist adjacent to or inside Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.”

Cyprus returned 14 items to Egypt that were stolen in the 1980s.

Over 3,600 items illegally smuggled into the US were returned to Iraq in an official ceremony.  

The April 2018 newsletter of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has been published.

With the discovery of 92 cuneiform tablets, archaeologists working at an ancient Assyrian site now
know that they are excavating the lost city of Mardaman.

An Assyriologist studying cuneiform tablets taken from Hobby Lobby by the federal government discovered evidence for a lost Sumerian city.

The National Museum of Iran has contributed 1,110 inscribed objects to the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.

Saudi Arabia has begun a new program to study archaeological sites in the region of al-Ula, including the Nabatean city of Madain Saleh.

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

A bust of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was found in the Temple of Kom Ombo, in Aswan, Egypt.

The subway project in Thessaloniki has yielded over 300,000 artifacts and provided additional information about the city’s 2,300-year-old history.

New evidence shows that Mycenae was destroyed by violence, not by an earthquake (Haaretz premium).

“An eagle-eyed scholar has identified the shadowy outlines of passages from the Bible behind an eighth-century manuscript of the Qur’an – the only recorded palimpsest in which a Christian text has been effaced to make way for the Islamic holy text.”

Pierre Tallet will be lecturing on “The Discovery of the Oldest Papyri of Egypt in Khufu’s Harbor in Wadi el-Jarf (Red Sea)” at the Museo Egizio in Turin on April 30.

Students at Brown University reenacted the Battle of Kadesh between the Egyptians and the Hittites.

CyArk and Google Arts and Culture are partnering to create 3D models of ancient Corinth and other archaeological sites.

On sale for $0.99 for Kindle: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus, by Wayne Stiles

The Agade list is archived by SBL, and you can find subscription information here.

The new ESV Archaeology Study Bible is a tremendous resource. I hope to post on it here shortly, but in the meantime, you can listen to an interview on The Book and the Spade with John Currid, watch a short video of Currid explaining why archaeology can’t prove the Bible (and doesn’t need to), or watch the publisher’s video introduction. You’ll find the best price for a couple more days at Westminster Bookstore (their genuine leather copy is about the same price as Amazon’s hardcopy; I have a leather copy and it’s beautiful).

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer, Mike Harney, BibleX