Ferrell Jenkins remembers the events of this weekend with photos related to the crucifixion and resurrection.

Michael Heiser offers some links in response to the perrennial “miracles-are-impossible” stories that surface this time each year.

The battle continues over the size of the Kedem Center in the City of David.

Shmuel Browns’ photo of the week is a beautiful shot of the Judean wilderness.

A number of interesting finds have been made in an excavation of a Byzantine church in Gush Etzion.

If you are an American undergrad looking to excavate in Israel this summer, you should apply for a scholarship to join the Tel Burna team.

Wayne Stiles gives three reasons why you should travel to Israel.

The Tel Al-Amarna Visitors Centre has been inaugurated in Minya. Work on the Aten Museum and
Malawi National Museum is on-going, despite rumors to the contrary.

Archaeologists are learning more about ancient watercraft from an Old Kingdom boat excavated in Abusir.

Reproductions of the 50-foot arch that formed the entrance to Palmyra’s Temple of Baal will be erected in New York City and London next month.

The Syrian army is close to re-capturing Palmyra.

John Brown University has received an anonymous gift of $1 million for their Abila Archaeological Project.

The Torlonia collection, with more than 600 statues and sculptures, will be on display in Rome for the first time in decades. An overseas tour will follow.

Described as one of most important recoveries in decades, 45 crates of archaeological material, dating between the 7th century BC to 2nd century AD, has been returned to Italy after being stolen from sites in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Analysis of Herculaneum papyrus scroll fragments reveals the use of metallic ink in Greco-Roman literary inscription centuries earlier than previously thought.”

Bruce and Ken Zuckerman will be lecturing on “Archaeological Photography” on March 28 at the South Bay Camera Club.

Now online: “The Lenkin Family Collection of Photography at the Penn Libraries, as it is now known, comprises over 5,000 original photographs, primarily of Jerusalem and Palestine taken from 1850 to 1937.”

For a limited time, access to the latest issue of Near Eastern Archaeology is available for free without a login required.

Bible Software Review is looking for a new owner-editor.

Going Places with God, by Wayne Stiles, is on sale for Kindle right now for $0.99. It’s at the same price on Vyrso/Logos. The sale won’t last. I recommend it!

Happy 13th Anniversary to Paleojudaica! And Aren Maeir recently celebrated his birthday.

For photos recalling the momentous events of this week nearly 2,000 years ago, check out our posts this week on Facebook and Twitter.

HT: Jared Clark, G. M. Grena, Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle

Six statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet have been discovered at the Temple of Amenhotep near Luxor.

Monumental piers have been discovered in the ongoing excavations of Corinth’s harbor of Lechaion.

The Museum of Lost Objects traces the stories of 10 antiquities or ancient sites that have been destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria.”

Bradley Schaefer provides an astronomical perspective on Good Friday and Easter on The Book and the Spade radio program.

National Geographic reports on new American and Iraqi excavations of Abraham’s hometown of Ur.

This story about the recently discovered mosaic featuring 16 animals and an inscription from Isaiah 65 includes photos.

New book: The Onomasticon of Iudaea, Palaestina, and Arabia in Greek and Latin Sources Volume I: Introduction, Sources and Major Texts, by Leah Di Segni and Yoram Tsafrir, with Judith Green with 20% the $65 price this month with the promotional code 630-16.

Another new book: The Economy of the Roman World, by Jean Andreau, Corina Kesler, Ellen
Bauerle, and David Potter. Use the code above for 20% off $50 through March 31.

HT: Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis

From The Times of Israel:

Radar scans of the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun in the ancient necropolis of Luxor showed a “90 percent” chance of two hidden chambers, possibly containing organic material, Egypt’s antiquities minister said Thursday.
Experts had scanned the tomb to find what a British archaeologist believes could be the resting place of Queen Nefertiti, the legendary beauty and wife of Tutankhamun’s father, whose mummy has never been found.
Preliminary scans of Tutankhamun’s tomb reveal “two hidden rooms behind the burial chamber” of the boy king, Antiquities Minister Mamduh al-Damati told reporters.
“Yes, we have some empty space, but not totally empty, including some organic and metal material,” Damati said in English.
When asked how certain he was, he said there was a “90 percent” chance.
A study by renowned British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves has said that Nefertiti’s tomb could be in a secret chamber adjoining Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of Kings in Luxor in southern Egypt.

The next radar test is scheduled for March 31. The full story has more details.

Some scholars have weighed in on the seal of the woman discovered in Jerusalem. Christopher Rollston has a lengthy analysis, concluding in part that the seal dates to approximately 700 BC.

Robert Deutsch writes that the archaeologists made several mistakes, including misreading the name on one of the seals. The Daily Mail has a number of photographs. For some political irony, see The Blaze.

The first phase of the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem (at the Monastery of the Flagellation) opens on March 17.

The latest issue of Near Eastern Archaeology features articles on Jericho, Adam (Tell Damiyah), Gustaf Dalman, and more.

A schedule of forthcoming lectures for the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society are online here.

New Excavation Report: Beer-Sheba III: The Early Iron IIA Enclosed Settlement and the Late Iron IIA-Iron IIB Cities, by Ze’ev Herzog and Lily Singer-Avitz. Sold as a 3-volume set by Eisenbrauns.

The latest exhibit at the Israel Museum, “Pharaoh in Canaan: The Untold Story,” looks at Egyptian presence in Israel during the Middle and Late Bronze periods. A one-minute video provides a preview.

“Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt” opens at the Cleveland Museum of Art on March 13, featuring many pieces from the British Museum.

Many documents from the 18th and 19th centuries have been discovered in a storeroom in Egypt, including letters from Flinders Petrie and Howard Carter.

Luxor is sending 778 artifacts to be displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

National Geographic runs a well-illustrated story on King Tut’s grandparents, Yuya and Tuyu.

The Karnak Temple did not catch on fire.

A New York Times reporter describes some of the challenges of being a tourist in Saudi Arabia.

The BBC reports on the impact of the Syrian civil war on the archaeology of Tell Qarqur (Qarqar).

Clyde Billington is on The Book and the Spade this week discussing the harbor of Corinth and the fortress of Macherus.

Now on pre-pub pricing for Logos: Archaeology in Action: Biblical Archaeology in the Field ($50).

Many of the early volumes of the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement are now online.

Recommended book, on sale for Kindle: Israel: Ancient Kingdom or Late Invention?, edited by Daniel I. Block ($2.99)

Zecharia Kallai, professor emeritus of Historical Geography of Palestine at Hebrew University, died last month.

HT: Charles Savelle, Agade, Pat McCarthy, Joseph Lauer

Jaffa, rough sea, mat00699
Our most liked photo this week on Facebook was this one of the harbor at Jaffa (biblical Joppa), from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.

IAA excavations in the Schneller Compound in Jerusalem have revealed a Roman bathhouse and a Roman- or Byzantine-era winerpress. High-res photos and a video may be downloaded here.

Archaeologists have unearthed a cemetery in use from the Middle Bronze to the Iron Ages south of Bethlehem. Two journal articles on which the report was based can be read here and here.

A hidden camera reveals for the first time the condition of Palmyra after ISIS terrorists destroyed temples, arches, and tower tombs.

A missing letter in an inscription brings into question whether the Amphipolis tomb really belonged to Hephaestion, Alexander the Great’s beloved friend and general, and may instead belong to Alexander’s mother, Olympias.

The Bethsaida Excavation Project has posted their 2015 season report (73 pages with lots of photos).

Three looted Mesopotamian sculptures were found in a Slovenian refugee camp.

Haaretz runs a story on the mysterious 90-mile long wall in Jordan.

Two UCSD professors are working with the Israel Antiquities Authority to update the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land.

An online Neo-Assyrian Bibliography compiled by Heather D. Baker and Melanie Groß is available.

Egypt is seeking to add four archaeological sites in Alexandria and Sinai to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Jacob sheep being raised in Canada will be brought back to Israel.

The death of the Dead Sea has probably never been better illustrated than in this multi-media rich “article” at Haaretz. It includes the prediction that within 20 years there may be no access to the shoreline of the Dead Sea.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the latest discoveries on this week’s edition of The Book and the Spade.

Shmuel Browns visits the site of Lifta (biblical Nephtoah) on the edge of Jerusalem.

Minna Silver takes readers on a visit to biblical Haran, once home to the patriarch Abraham.

Eisenbrauns’s Deal of the Weekend: The Horsemen of Israel
Horses and Chariotry in Monarchic Israel, by Deborah Cantrell ($20).

Barry Britnell introduces a new video project entitled “Following the Messiah” and encourages everyone to support the project through their Kickstarter Campaign.

HT: Ted Weis, Gale, Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ferrell Jenkins

A seven-year-old boy found a 3,400-year-old figurine at Tel Rehov.

Archaeologists working at Timna in southern Israel found some remarkably well-preserved fabrics from the time of David. You may recall that for a long time scholars denied there was any activity at the site during the time of the United Monarchy.

A €1.6 million Israeli-German project will use digital tools to put the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls back together again.

A major renovation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is underway.

Two artists covertly scanned the bust of Nefertiti and have now released a 3-D dataset.

Two guards at Dayr al-Barsha in Middle Egypt were killed by looters.

Adam Prins recently presented a seminar at the Albright Institute on “3D Models in Archaeological Excavation Recording: The JVRP Method.”

An exhibition of two recent treasure hoard discoveries provides insight into Roman life in England.

A series of lectures will be given at Tel Aviv University for the annual celebration of “Aharoni Day” this coming Thursday.

Project Mosul is a new website that “solicits photographs of antiquities and uses 3-D modeling software to create a virtual record of what was lost in the attack.”

Now online: Bryant Wood’s critique of Steven Collins’ northern location of Sodom.

Wayne Stiles explains five ways the Lord taught his people to walk by faith in the land of Israel.

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Old Testament e-book volumes are on sale for $4.99, ending today.

HT: Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Agade