There are many Biblical archaeology programs scheduled for the Washington DC area.

Haaretz provides a review of the significance of Magdala and the recent excavations.

Paleojudaica links to the latest “bad-news articles on the Middle East for the last couple of weeks.”

St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai has closed due to the security situation in Egypt.

Shmuel Browns provides the latest Israel Roundup.

Aren Maeir announces that a new exhibit is opening at Bar-Ilan University entitled “The Rise and Fall of Philistine Gath (Tel Zafit).

Some Palestinians are claiming that the golden treasure recently announced by Eilat Mazar is a fake.

Wayne Stiles provides a very good overview of the Garden of Gethsemane.

St Catherine's Monastery, mat02025

St. Catherine’s Monastery, circa 1915 
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Leen Thobias has some impressive 360-degree images of Israel and Jordan here.

It must be a bit discouraging when you find in your sealed excavation locus a beer bottle cap. (Photos here.)

Theories about the identity of Khirbet Qeiyafa are discussed in this Haaretz article. The most helpful section is what everyone agrees on.

A Tel Aviv professor wants to know if a mound of stones in the Sea of Galilee marks the place where Jesus walked on water.

If you’ve been waiting to see the new Samson mosaic found last summer at the Huqoq synagogue, you should check out Jodi Magness’s new article in Biblical Archaeology Review, currently online for free.

The anarchy in Egypt has not been good for archaeological sites and museums.

Archaeologists have found evidence that cinnamon was produced on the northern coast of Israel in ancient times.

Fifteen foreign archaeological teams are preparing to begin fifteen projects in Saudi Arabia.

Foundation Stone shares a 7-minute video showing some results from this summer’s excavations at Azekah.

Leen Ritmeyer has created some new reconstruction drawings of Jerusalem throughout its history.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

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An enormous refuse pit from the Byzantine period was recently excavated near Apollonia-Arsuf.

A large Crusader hospital in the Muristan of Jerusalem’s Old City has recently been revealed to the public following recent excavations and renovations. The project is covered by other new sources including the Jerusalem Post.

Grave robbers are taking advantage of Egypt’s political mayhem to loot the tombs of Saqqara, Dashur, Luxor, and Aswan.

Sean Freyne passed away on Monday.

The Kindle version of the Holman Bible Atlas is on sale for $4.74.

HT: Jack Sasson

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A group of Samaritan oil lamps found near Apollonia-Arsuf. Photograph by Pavel Shargo, courtesy of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University.
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The eleventh season at Khirbet el-Maqatir has concluded with word of a spectacular find that cannot yet be revealed. The team excavated several Roman-period silos, a first-century ritual bath, and an Iron Age house.

The season at Tel Burna is coming along nicely. The First Week Wrap-up provides an overview of the known stratigraphic sequence of the site. The report for days 6-7 include a photo of a large monolith and a beautiful Iron IIB pavement.

John Black shows how archaeological work in Jerusalem has undermined historical criticism of the Gospel of John.

A Picasso drawing is being raffled to raise money to preserve the archaeological remains of Tyre.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo was recently closed to tourists by striking employees.

Leon Mauldin illustrates Jeremiah’s message of the cursed man who will be like a “shrub in the desert.” He follows that up with a photo of a “land of salt.”

Barry Britnell shows with photos why the Cilician Gates are important for Paul’s journeys.

Douglas Petrovich provides a summary of his recent article that serves as a “John the Baptist” role for his forthcoming book, Evidence of Israelites in Egypt from Joseph’s Time until the Exodus.

Pools of Bethesda southern pool from west, tb011612879 Southern pool of Bethesda
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

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If you want to see more of the Herod exhibit than the Israel Museum put online, you can watch a 13-minute video tour. The audio is in German, but everyone can get a feel for the displays.

A blogger on Forbes gives some of the tax history of the first four Dead Sea Scrolls.

If you have missed Chris McKinny’s recent series Secret Places, he will be back. He has been teaching an intensive course in Israel and is now supervising excavations at Tel Burna. You can follow the results there as he and others post on the day’s finds, beginning with Day 1 and Day 2.

It’s never occurred to me that the Hinnom Valley has been redeemed, but Wayne Stiles makes a case.

Luke Chandler’s blog hosts the world premiere of a new short film titled “Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Fortified City in the Kingdom of Judah.”

Some tourists are starting to return to Greece as the rioting subsides and the prices go down.

In fact, you can now book a tour of Greece with the Associates for Biblical Research. The 12-day trip in March 2014 will be led by Gordon Franz. The cost is $3199.

A Chinese tourist who left his mark on an Egyptian temple got in trouble.

Israel Today has a 2-minute video tour of Jaffa (biblical Joppa).

HT: BibleX, Alexander Schick

Corinth plain and excavations from Acrocorinth, tb050803135
Plain of Corinth from Acrocorinth
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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Barry Britnell has the scoop on the forthcoming update to Google Maps and he shares some impressive examples.

Following the discovery of the mosaic near Bet Qama, Miriam Feinberg Vamosh provides a “flying [mosaic] carpet”-themed itinerary through Israel.

Matti Friedman follows up on an article in Biblical Archaeology Review to find out whether wooden beams on the Temple Mount might date back to the time of Solomon’s or Herod’s temples.


Smithsonian magazine reports on the Rise and Fall and Rise of Zahi Hawass.

Two months of excavations annually for the last 56 years is not enough, so a Turkish team will join the Italians and excavate the ruins of Hierapolis year-round.

Phase 2 of Eilat Mazar’s Ophel Excavation is now underway.

The University of Liverpool’s second annual conference on Archaeology and the Bible focused this year on “Egypt and the Bible” with lectures by James Hoffmeier and others.

HT: Daniel Wright, Jack Sasson

Hierapolis view from east, tb041305832
The ruins of Hierapolis
Photo from the Pictorial Library, Western Turkey
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