Weekend Roundup, Part 2

You don’t have to watch too much of this video footage of a flash flood at the tabernacle model in Timna Park to be impressed. Repairs to the outer court posts are underway.

A leaky pipe at the Western Wall was mistaken for the Messiah.

There’s more talk about rebuilding the Colossus of Rhodes.

Archaeologists have discovered an unknown temple of Hatshepsut.

Now online in pdf format: The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, by A. H. Sayce.

Here are lots and lots of historic photos of Nazareth.

Independent Traveler suggests the 10 Best Israel Experiences.

I suspect that many of our readers would be interested in The First Days of Jesus, by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Alexander E. Stewart.

There are a couple of archaeology lectures this month in the DC area.

Just released: Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, Volume 2: The 
Archaeological Record from Cities, Towns, and Villages, edited by David A. Fiensy and James Riley
Strange. The table of contents, introduction, interviews with the contributors, and a sample chapter are online. Individual chapters focus on Nazareth, Magdala, Bethsaida, Tiberias, Kedesh, Khirbet Qana, and much more. This will quickly become the classic archaeological guide to Galilee.

HT: Charles Savelle, Mark Hoffman, Ted Weis, Agade, Bill Schlegel

There will be no roundup next weekend.

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A study of the temperature of the walls of Tut’s tomb is promising for those looking for a hidden chamber.

Ben Carson believes the pyramids of Egypt were built by Joseph to store grain.

Joseph’s tomb has been restored.

The Hebron archaeological site will not be leased to Jewish settlers.

The PEF has posted a brief video compilation of their recent conference on Jericho.

G. M. Grena reports on a new book dedicated to Robert Deutsch (that includes a chapter by Gabriel
Barkay), his visit to Passages exhibit and lecture, a forthcoming game, and a secret link.

If you don’t know about the Lanier Theological Library, you should read this.

This is your last chance to get in on Logos’s Classic Studies and Atlases on Biblical Geography (7 vols.) at the best pricing ($24-30).

Now free in pdf format: The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology: Characters and Collections, by Alice Stevenson.

Our most popular photo this week on Facebook and Twitter was this Psalm 23 image from the American Colony Collection.

Shepherd resting with flock at Ein Farah, mat05629
Shepherd tending his flock at a spring in the Judean wilderness
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Weekend Roundup

A new study claims that an Egyptian text is the oldest known abecedary.

Haaretz‘s report on Gabriel Barkay’s Temple Mount sifting project include several pictures of findings.

A UNESCO resolution that claimed the Western Wall prayer plaza as an Islamic shrine has made some people unhappy.

German experts are restoring the golden mask of King Tut after its beard was broken off and clumsily repaired.

The Journal of Near Eastern Archaeology reports that there are groups other than the Islamic State who are destroying and plundering antiquities in Syria.

The Getty Villa in Los Angeles is exhibiting 1800’s era watercolor paintings of Greece, many offering insight into how ancient sites looked in the early 19th century.

Emily Corrigan shares her experience of a summer on the Jezreel Expedition.

Egyptian authorities are investigating the embezzlement of $20 million from construction funds for the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Zahi Hawass throws cold water on the proposal that Nefertiti’s tomb has finally been located.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo he took of a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee as the sun was rising.

The newly renovated Waldorf-Astoria in Jerusalem has been ranked the top hotel in the Middle East in a survey by Condé Nast Traveler.

Test your knowledge about Petra with 10 questions at the ASOR Blog.

The newly released NIV Zondervan Study Bible, edited by D. A. Carson, is on sale now for Kindle for $7.99. (I wrote the notes for 2 Kings.)

Chris McKinny has made available on Academia his presentation on “Kiriath-Jearim (Deir el-‘Azhar): Archaeological Investigations of a Biblical Town in the Judean Hill Country.”

Conference at Hebrew U on Oct 29: “I Know What You Did Last Summer: A Glimpse at the Excavations and Surveys of the Institute of Archaeology, 2015 Season.”

Adam Zertal died on Sunday at the age of 79. He was best known for his survey of the hill country of Samaria and his identification of a structure on Mount Ebal as the altar of Joshua.

Thomas Schaub died on Monday at the age of 82. Schaub excavated Bab edh-Dhra.

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

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Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working on the Gezer water system have new evidence supporting its dating to the Middle Bronze period. Volunteers are invited for next season’s dig.

A court has ruled that Elad can continue to run the Jerusalem Archaeological Park in the City of David.

The Museum of the Bible has announced plans to excavate Tel Shimron in Galilee.

Palestinians have set fire to the traditional tomb of Joseph in Shechem.

Nearly 1,000 riders completed a three-day bike race in northern Israel. Dates have been announced for Epic Israel 2016.

Nehemia Gordon shares his experience in working on the Temple Mount Sifting Project. You can donate to the effort here.


The New York Times has issued a correction for their article on the Temple Mount. Jodi Magness’s letter to the editor is here.

ISIS’s destruction of the Roman Arch of Triumph in Palymra made some Russians unhappy.

Egypt is opening a small museum at the Cairo airport later this month.

Volume 3 of NGSBA (Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology) Archaeology has been released. The articles are primarily about the excavations at Yehud and Maresha. The entire issue can be downloaded for free. Previous volumes are available here.

The Oriental Institute has begun posting their photo archives online. Images are now available from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. As far as I can tell, the images are all low-res.

Jodi Magness reviews The Tomb of Jesus and His Family?, edited by James H. Charlesworth. She provides a summary of the articles, including the one by A. Kloner and S. Gibson, excavators of the Talpiot tomb. Ben Witherington provides an abbreviated version of her review.

Brent Seales is on the Book and the Spade to talk about the technology that enabled reading the oldest biblical text outside the Dead Sea Scrolls. Listen here.

Here’s a unique tour of Israel: the Life and Land of Jesus, with Wayne Stiles. This should be particularly attractive for those who want to return but don’t want to visit the same places as every time before.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Paleojudaica

Our most popular Facebook post and tweet of the week:

Mount of Beatitudes aerial from northeast, ws011415241
The Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha, Gennesaret, Arbel – so much of Jesus’s ministry right here!
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Weekend Roundup

A church mosaic floor dating to AD 500 and depicting a map of Egypt has been discovered in Kiryat Gat.

There’s a growing consensus among archaeologists that the tomb of King Tut has two previously undiscovered rooms, one of which could hold the remains of Nefertiti.

A site in Gush Etzion inhabited during the Bar-Kochba era has been destroyed by vandals.

Some Arab scholars are claiming that a Jewish mafia is behind the destruction of antiquities in Palmyra and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Wayne Stiles shares some footage from his helicopter ride over Israel.

Thomas L. Thompson claims that Israel Finkelstein and William Dever are more similar to William F. Albright than they think.

Excavations at Tel Tayinat in southern Turkey suggest that the site was an ancient Philistine capital.

Leon Mauldin takes a look at the high place of Dan.

The California Museum of Ancient Art is hosting a four-part lecture series on Ancient Shipwrecks and Harbors: Great Discoveries in Underwater Archaeology.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has posted a video clip of a lecture by Robert Deutsch entitled “To Publish or Not to Publish.” Aren Maeir’s segment looks at “Archaeology During Times of Trouble.”

The November/December issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Cana, Hippos, and manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible not quite as old as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Please consider participating in this Survey on Field Safety.

A student shares his experience in volunteering at the Palestine Exploration Fund this summer.

This week on The Land and the Book, Charlie Dyer covers “everything you want to know about the Temple Mount.”

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Agade, G. M. Grena, Jared Clark, Paleojudaica

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Mosaic in Kiryat Gat
Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
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Weekend Roundup

The excavation season at Magdala has concluded, and the wrap-up describes the major findings, including a fourth mikveh that was fed by spring water.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has just released a video about their work, its importance, and the need to keep it going.

Leen Ritmeyer offers his thoughts and diagrams on the recent discovery of the stepped podium in the City of David.

The cross-border environmental organization EcoPeace has opened two hiking tours, a bike route, and a walking path in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The two hiking tours each take eight days.

Arutz-7 reports briefly on the Studies of Ancient Jerusalem’s 16th Annual Conference in the City of David.

A study of 15 Roman-era Egyptian mummy portraits and panel paintings reveals that the artists used Egyptian blue, contrary to what has been long believed.

British conservation specialists have restored some Hellenistic-era paintings from Petra.
‘Atiqot 82 is now online.

Attempts by ISIS to blow up the Temple of Bel at Palmyra have apparently failed.

The Codex Sinaiticus will leave the walls of the British Library for only the second time since 1933, this time headed down the street for display in an Egyptian exhibit at the British Museum.

The Philistines introduced new plants to the coastal plain when they migrated from the Aegean.

HT: Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Agade

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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