Egypt Archives - Page 55 of 93

Weekend Roundup

The suggestion that el-Araj could be New Testament Bethsaida received lots of media attention, not all accurate. I’d recommend this report by Jeffrey Garcia and Steven Notley at the CSAJCO website.

An on-site interview with archaeologist Mordechai Aviam is posted at CBN’s Facebook page. The Today show sent a correspondent to the site. National Geographic sets some of the record straight. The Times of Israel looks at the two sites laying claim to the name of Bethsaida.

Jonathan Adler guides a video tour of a 2,000-year-old stone quarry that he excavated in Galilee. The Jerusalem Post provides a written report on the excavations.

The Abel Beth Maacah team shares a photo album from the 2017 season.

Nadav Na’aman argues that Khirbet Qeiyafa was not a Judahite city in a recent article in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.

Authorities are planning to stop the flow of sewage down the Kidron Valley.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d) traces the path in which ISIS looted artifacts make their way out of the Middle East.

“Researchers have unearthed a 1,800-year-old writing tool, or stylus, at the Assos archeological site in northwestern Turkey.”

Excavations at Carchemish have uncovered 250 Hittite bullae this year.

Excavators at Tell Tayinat found fragments of a large female statue at the citadel gate complex.

Now online: Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities’ Newsletter for July 2017.

Wayne Stiles considers the strategic value of the International Highway (aka Via Maris).

Ferrell Jenkins shares a couple of beautiful photos of ibex at En Gedi and Ein Avdat.

Leon Mauldin explains the location and importance of Akeldama, the Field of Blood.

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is on the Book and the Spade discussing “Canaanite DNA” and her excavation work at Tel Halif.

We will be making a big announcement in the BiblePlaces Newsletter on Monday. You can sign up for a free subscription here.

HT: A.D. Riddle, Lois Tverberg, Chris McKinny, Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Lebanon, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working near biblical Aphek have discovered a large water reservoir dating to about the time of King Hezekiah. The press release includes a one-minute video.

They found Roman remains at el-Araj, a candidate for New Testament Bethsaida. Here’s a photo of some of the Roman mosaic floor.

The third week of the excavations of Gath has ended, and they found an inscription.

Chris McKinny summarizes the results of the third week at Tel Burna. And if you missed the second week review, you can find it here.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered a Doric capital dating to the 2nd century BC.

The Times of Israel profiles ABR’s new excavation project at Shiloh.

The Greek Orthodox Church has sold the amphitheater and hippodrome of Caesarea in a secretive manner that raises lots of questions.

Archaeologists have found 8 more ancient shipwrecks off the coast of Greece, bringing the total number now discovered there to 53.

“Egyptologists have discovered what they believe is the burial chamber of Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife.”

Here are five surprising inventions of ancient Rome, including luxury cruise ships.

Ferrell Jenkins shares his experience and photos with camel caravans in the Sinai.

John MacDermot will lecture on “Olga Tufnell – The Life of a Petrie Pup” at the British Academy in
London on September 20.

Recent Shroud of Turin Research is the top of this week’s edition of The Book and the Spade.

I thought the Kindle sale for Eric Cline’s Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology was for one day only, but the $1.99 deal was still good the last time I checked.

HT: Carl Rasmussen, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Agade, Mike Harney

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Greece, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Samaria, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

Archaeologists have recently identified the presence of child slaves in Amarna, Egypt, from shortly after the traditional date of the Israelite exodus.

A team from Yale and Royal Museums of Art and History has discovered the oldest known monumental hieroglyphics in Egypt.

“An Egyptian Slab Lost in Berlin During World War II Has Been Found—in Michigan.”

It’s not easy excavating and conserving a second solar boat of Khufu next to the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Researchers have published a study concluding that the DNA of ancient Egyptians was closer to the inhabitants Turkey and the Levant than to Africans.

Dahshur is now free of encroachments made in the aftermath of Egypt’s 2011 revolution.

Archaeologists have reported the discovery of a large ritual bath (mikveh) at Macherus. (See the photo we posted here last November, and see another posted by Ferrell Jenkins.)

A recent ACOR lecture by Glenn J. Corbett entitled “Archaeology in the Attic: Preserving Archival Treasures of Jordan” is now online. He discusses the recent donations of the photo collections of Jane Taylor and Rami Khouri.

A Roman villa on the coast of Libya has been unearthed with numerous treasures, statues, and mosaics.

Smithsonian has produced a breathless video revealing a tablet depicting the ziggurat of Babylon.

(The suggestion that Nebuchadnezzar built the tower of Babel is silly.)

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Steven Anderson

Tagged Egypt, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

A 3,700-year-old Egyptian burial chamber containing the remains of a ‘Pharaoh’s daughter’ was found south of Cairo at Dahshur’s royal necropolis.

Archaeologists have discovered “a cachette of non-royal mummies of men, women and children buried in catacombs eight metres below ground level in the desert neighbouring the bird and animal necropolis at the Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological site” in Egypt.

Two Egyptian men illegally digging for antiquities were killed when their house collapsed. And the
Egyptian government has increased the penalty for antiquities theft for a maximum of a life sentence.

An international team of experts met in Cairo to determine how best to transport King Tut’s artifacts to the new museum.

Egypt has begun to register its Jewish sites and antiquities.

An exhibit of recently discovered artifacts is now on display at the Luxor Museum.

Turkey is planning to restore and open the stadium of Perga.

Carl Rasmussen recently visited a new archaeology display in a station for the metro tunnel that connects Europe and Asia.

The city of Rome has begun restoration works on the Mausoleum of Augustus with the plan to open it to tourists by 2019.

John DeLancey shares a new video of a recent performance of “Jerusalem of Gold” by the Portney
Brothers and he explains the song’s significance.

The diet of Jerusalemites in the first century AD was primarily sheep and goats, followed at a distance by cows and chickens.

“Methuselah,” the date palm tree sprouted from a 2,000-year-old seed, is now 12 years old.

I’m traveling much of the month of June and will post as I am able. Roundups will probably resume in July.

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Museums, New Exhibits, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The big story of the week is the discoveries made in excavations at Caesarea, including the altar of Herod’s temple, an inscribed menorah, and a statue of Asclepius. You can read the press release here or download high-res photos here. Haaretz has the best illustrated story. The Times of Israel emphasizes the discovery of an inscribed menorah. The Jerusalem Post focuses on the $27 million project. Art Daily provides another brief summary.This 3-minute video includes English subtitles.

A colossus of Ramses II has been re-erected in front of Luxor Temple’s first pylon.

Ten nations have created an “Ancient Civilizations Forum” to work together to protect ancient heritage from Islamic extremism.

Israeli police arrested a man in Hawara and confiscated hundreds of antiquities they discovered in his house.

A petition is now circulating to save the Yale Babylonian Collection.

A first-century AD bust of Drusus Minor will be returned to Italy by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Should Egypt sell some of its artifacts to raise money?
BBC: “Madain Saleh isn’t as well-known as Petra, but the Nabateans’ second-largest city played a
crucial role in their mysterious empire.”

Simon Gathercole looks at the historical evidence for Jesus’s life and death.
BAS has published online a web-exclusive chart of 53 biblical people who have been confirmed in inscriptions.

Wayne Stiles’s recent post on Mount Carmel includes photos of its beauty and its burning.

Leon Mauldin visited Bethphage yesterday.

What happened to the cross that Jesus died on?

Mark Hoffman suggests that you may want to download Google Earth before it’s gone.

The Corinth Excavations Archaeological Manual has been published and a pdf has been made available for free. The post includes a link to previously published archaeology manuals.

The four-volume Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity is available on
Logos at a pre-pub price of $51. I recommend it.

I’ll be traveling much of May and June, so I probably will not be able to do many roundups.

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Greece, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“An Egyptian archaeological mission in Luxor has announced the discovery of a major tomb in the city’s west bank area dating back to the 18th Dynasty and containing priceless artefacts.”

Israeli archaeologists have begun to study an ancient Jewish pyramid near Khirbet Midras in the Shephelah.

Archaeologists have discovered an estate of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the mountains of southwestern Turkey.

Symbols found on the the Vulture Stone at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey has led researchers to propose the earth was struck by a devastating comet around 11,000 BC.

Shots were fired near St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, but there are different explanations of what happened.

The Qumran and Bible Exhibition is now online with an audioguide and with a video introduction.

The latest edition of The Holy Land Magazine is online and includes tourist articles on Nazareth Village, Yad VaShem, Neot Kedumim, and more.

Tom Powers considers David Bivin’s recent post on the deteriorating road to Emmaus and adds some observations of his own.

Elizabeth Sloane, writing in Haaretz, asks, “Did the Egyptian goddess Hathor originate with Semitic miners from Canaan?”

The Temple Mount Sifting Project must meet its fundraising goal or it will receive none of the pledged funds.

The Amarna Letters are the topic of the week on The Book and the Spade with guest Alice Mandell.

The Khirbet el-Maqatir exhibit in Pikeville, Kentucky is drawing visitors.

Eisenbrauns is offering the Victor Avigdor Hurowitz memorial volume at a savings of 40% for a few more days: Marbeh Ḥokmah: Studies in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (2 vols). List $139.50; sale: $83.70.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Judah, Museums, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup