Egypt Archives - Page 69 of 92

Egypt Roundup

The Suez National Museum opened in Egypt last week with more than 2,500 antiquities on display.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities announced that a restoration project for Meidum will begin immediately in order to improve the site for tourists.

The smallest of the three Giza pyramids will open next month to tourists after a two-year renovation
project.

The Hanging Church is again open after 16 years of renovation.

The Sesostris Canal that linked the Nile River to the Red Sea never existed.

A giant sphinx has been discovered in the sand dunes of California. This plaster figure was built for Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 movie “The Ten Commandments.”

And a recent study shows that Hollywood does not portray archaeologists fairly.

HT: Explorator, Agade

Pyramid of Meidum
Photo from Egypt volume of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Egypt, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The BIBLE+ORIENT Museum at the University of Fribourg reopens on Monday in a new location.

Jodi Magness is lecturing on Tuesday at Queens College on “Samson in Stone: New Discoveries in the Ancient Village and Synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee.”

Wayne Stiles’s publisher has selected a cover for his new book.

Accordance Bible Software has a big sale this week on Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds
Commentaries of the Old and New Testaments. Only $199 for all 9 volumes until Monday.

Biblical Archaeology Society has 21 free ebooks now available.

“Egypt’s Sunken Secrets” will be on display in Paris, Berlin, and London in the coming year.

Now online: the ETS Annual Meeting Program, the ASOR Academic Schedule, and the SBL Annual Meeting Preliminary Program Book. I’ll be in the exhibit hall (booth #411) at SBL if you’d like to say hi.

HT: G. M. Grena, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Agade

Tagged Egypt, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World is hosting a new exhibit, “When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra.” The official website is here and the NYTimes covers it here.

Reuters has more about the Museum of the Bible planned for Washington, DC.

Hershel Shanks is no longer sure that the ivory pomegranate inscription is authentic.

A newly restored glass plate found in Spain and dating to the 4th century provides an unusual portrait of Jesus.

The remains of Burgin are now open to the public. This site in the Shephelah was inhabited by Jewish exiles returning from Babylon.

Marc Turnage provides a window into the Bible through four artifacts from the New Testament world in this 3-minute video.

Wayne Stiles: “This wilderness area of southern Israel lets you see far—in more ways than one.”

The 46th anniversary of the transfer of the Abu Simbel temples was celebrated last week.

The Times of Israel: “Matching indigenous grapes with archaeological finds, Elyashiv Drori hopes to
recreate the drinks enjoyed by King David.”

The National Library of Israel has opened up some of its prized holdings for the first time ever.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted a preliminary list of 2015 excavations. If you prefer to avoid the summer, there is one in February.

Now online: The lecture schedule for the 17th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest in San Diego next month.

The BAR Archive DVD 1975-2012 is on sale for 35% off for a limited time.

HT: Ted Weis, Mike Harney, Agade

Horvat Burgin view southwest from Achzib, Khirbet Beida, tb030407730

Horvat Burgin from Achzib
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Egypt, Lectures, Museums, Negev, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Saqqara Step Pyramid Restoration Controversy

From the International Business Times:

Activists are angry with Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh Eldamaty, for choosing to re-hire a company to restore one of Egypt’s oldest pyramids after the firm caused damage and major deterioration to the structure while trying to repair it.
According to the Non-Stop Robberies movement, the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser, located in the Saqqara necropolis, sustained serious damage while being restored by a company called Shurbagy. This led to major deterioration and the collapse of a section of the pyramid.
“Technically, the company and officials of the Supreme Council of Antiquities committed a full-fledged crime,” Amir Gamal, a representative of Non-Stop Robberies, told the Egypt Independent.
“New walls were built outside the pyramid as if the pyramid were a modern construction, which is opposite to international standards of restoration, which prevents adding more than 5% of construction to antiquities if necessary.

The story continues here.

HT: Agade

Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
Photo from Egypt

Tagged Egypt

Weekend Roundup

Here’s a photo of the Temple Mount ramp that is being dismantled.

Mike Rogoff’s article in Haaretz describes the various baptismal sites on the Jordan River and gives guidance on which one is best.

Matt Glassman writes about his time excavating this summer at Khirbet el-Maqatir.

This article on “gender studies” at Tel Abel Beth Maacah is really just a piece about someone’s experience on the dig.

A conference this week in the City of David focused on gold treasures discovered in Jerusalem. The article ends with an insightful comment by Gabriel Barkay.

The re-discovery of a fragment of a lead coffin from Tyre prompted a lengthy article about the subject in Haaretz. Paleojudaica suggests its relevance for the forged lead codices.

The land of 10,000 caves is profiled in this piece on Beit Guvrin’s bell-shaped quarry caves.

Ferrell Jenkins has collected his articles related to the route of the Exodus and the location of Mount
Sinai.

Aviva Bar-Am details the history and significance of Ashkelon, the first national park in Israel.

Wayne Stiles has all the visual aids you need for thinking about Jericho: photos, videos, and a map.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tell Ashkelon from the northwest
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Lebanon, Philistines, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Anna Moseley Gissing writes about three lessons she learned from archaeology about the spiritual life.

Haaretz reports that the appointment of Israel’s new antiquities chief is embroiled in politics.

Should the Vatican return the menorah from the Jerusalem Temple? Steven Fine assigned his class the task of refuting the notion that the Vatican has it.

Greek archaeologists excavating a fourth-century BC tomb at Amphipolis have made an “extremely important find.”

~~Camels~~ Mummification existed in Egypt 1,500 years earlier than scientists have long believed.

The Egyptian government has asked the Ashmolean museum to lend it the personal collection of Howard Carter.

Brian Daniels discusses Preserving Culture in War on this week’s broadcast of The Book and the Spade.

What is the relationship between the archaeology of Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon? SourceFlix has produced a new video that answers this question.

Wayne Stiles describes two oases along the shore of the Dead Sea. (Can you guess which ones they are? Neither one ends with “Gedi.”) He includes photos, a video, and a map.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Triumphal procession depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 15

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Weekend Roundup