Egypt Archives - Page 88 of 92

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

There is so much going on that I’m going to start the “Weekend Roundup” today and continue it tomorrow.

Shmuel Browns has posted many photographs of the “Church of Zechariah” at Khirbet Midras that was announced a few days ago. These photos (here and here) reveal just how well-preserved the mosaic floor is.

In his interview on the LandMinds show, Leen Ritmeyer explains how he determined the location of the original Temple Mount.

On his blog, Leen Ritmeyer addresses “Tunnel-vision politics in Jerusalem” with some helpful photos and a diagram.

Zahi Hawass has an update on the state of Egyptian antiquities. He is a very important man, as he himself observes, “I am the only source of continuing truth concerning antiquities….I am the guardian of these monuments that belong to the whole world….I want everyone to relax, and know that I am here.”

“An ancient church mentioned in the Bible has been discovered in western Turkey.” This claim from the excavators of Laodicea is false. The Bible describes a group of people who met for worship in
Laodicea in the first century (Rev 3:14-22). The archaeologists found a building where Christians met in the fourth century.

This article in Jewish Ideas Daily points out some of the irony of Ahmadinejad welcoming “home” the Cyrus Cylinder. I wonder what the chances are that it will ever be returned to the British Museum.

I encourage you to pray for Anson Rainey who is very ill and hospitalized now in Petah Tikva.

Visiting information was posted on the Agade list (or you may contact me).

HT: Joe Lauer, Daniel Wright, Agade

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Hawass: Update on Egyptian Antiquities

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has posted an update of the looters in the Cairo Museum and elsewhere in Egypt. He writes:

What is really beautiful is that not all Egyptians were involved in the looting of the museum. A very small number of people tried to break, steal and rob. Sadly, one criminal voice is louder than one hundred voices of peace. The Egyptian people are calling for freedom, not destruction. When I left the museum on Saturday, I was met outside by many Egyptians, who asked if the museum was safe and what they could do to help. The people were happy to see an Egyptian official leave his home and come to Tahrir Square without fear; they loved that I came to the museum. The curfew started again on Saturday afternoon at 4.00pm, and I was receiving messages all night from my inspectors at Saqqara, Dahsur, and Mit Rahina. The magazines and stores of Abusir were opened, and I could not find anyone to protect the antiquities at the site. At this time I still do not know what has happened at Saqqara, but I expect to hear from the inspectors there soon. East of Qantara in the Sinai, we have a large store containing antiquities from the Port Said Museum. Sadly, a large group, armed with guns and a truck, entered the store, opened the boxes in the magazine and took the precious objects. Other groups attempted to enter the Coptic Museum, Royal Jewellery Museum, National Museum of Alexandria, and El Manial Museum. Luckily, the foresighted employees of the Royal Jewellery Museum moved all of the objects into the basement, and sealed it before leaving.

His full update, sent by fax to Europe since the Egypt’s internet services have been shut down, is posted here. More frequent updates can be found at the twitter account of Margaret Maitland.

Tagged Egypt, Museums

Threats to Cairo Museum

The deteriorating situation in Egypt has affected the archaeological museum in Cairo. While some locals attempted to take advantage of widespread riots by looting the museum, other Egyptians formed a barricade to prevent access. Two mummies lost their heads before the army arrived. From the Associated Press:

Early Saturday morning, Egyptian army commandoes secured the museum and its grounds, located near some of the most intense of the mass anti-government protests sweeping across the capital.
Before the army arrived, young Egyptians — some armed with truncheons grabbed off the police — created a human chain at the museum’s front gate to prevent looters from making off with any of its priceless artifacts.
“They managed to stop them,” Hawass said. He added that the would-be looters only managed to vandalize two mummies, ripping their heads off. They also cleared out the museum gift shop.

The story reports that the museum is still threatened by the potential collapse of a neighboring building. Tanks are protecting the museum in Luxor.

The Cairo Museum entrance in calmer days

Tagged Egypt, Museums

Weekend Roundup

Alexander Schick passes on word that the excavated tunnel is now open that allows you to walk on the 1st-century street from the Pool of Siloam up the City of David to the area of the visitor’s center.

(A previous report about these excavations is here.)

Leen Ritmeyer is in Jordan and has photos of the newly opened baptismal site at “Bethabara.”

Ferrell Jenkins reports that Egyptian authorities are now prohibiting cameras from entering the Valley of the Kings.

The Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem was looted and vandalized during the Jordanian occupation (1948-67), but its renovation has restored some of its former beauty, as you can see in Shmuel Brown’s recent photos.

With the verdict about to be announced in the forgery trial in Jerusalem, Hershel Shanks has written an e-book entitled, James, Brother of Jesus: Forged Antiquities and the Trial of Oded Golan and Robert Deutsch. Shanks believes the James Ossuary inscription was not forged and he plans to release the e-book when the judge issues the verdict. See the sign-up details here.

The eastern Mediterranean is overdue for a big earthquake, says the Jerusalem Post. The area has not had a seven or eight magnitude quake in nearly a millennium. The 1927 tremor was a mere 6.2 on the Richter scale.

The newly re-opened Israel Museum has served half of a million visitors in the last half year.

The LandMinds radio show has interviewed the recently retired Amihai Mazar, reflecting back on the excavations he directed at Tel Qasile, Giloh, Beth Shean, and Tel Rehov.

A Swiss architect is hard at work restoring and protecting the beautiful mosaics of Hisham’s Palace in Jericho. A new excavation began at the site last week and new Russian museum is now open.

The season’s excavations at Tall el-Hammam are wrapping up and the team has posted a couple of videos. The first shows what they have identified as a Middle Bronze temple (with a 10-foot thick wall!) and the second summarizes the finds in the Roman area. They suggest that this was the city of Livias in the Roman-Byzantine period.

HT: Ferrell Jenkins, Roi Brit

Tagged Egypt, Forgery, Jerusalem, Jordan, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

An Iron Age fortress next to the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv shows evidence of trade with the island of Lesbos in the 8th-7th centuries. Archaeological work done at Tel Qudadi seventy years ago have only now been published. For a large version of the image published in the article, see Leon Mauldin’s blog.

The recent storm revealed an underwater cache of weapons from the British Mandate period at Caesarea. Divers were surprised by the changes they found. “We knew things would be different after the storm, but the site was changed so much that we could hardly recognize it.”

Israel had a record-breaking number of tourists in 2010. Christians comprised 69% of all visitors.

“The most visited sites included the Western Wall (77%), the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem (73%), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (61%), the Via Dolorosa (60%) and the Mount of Olives (55%).”

“Archaeologist” Vendyl Jones passed away recently.

Eight Americans were killed in Egypt when their bus crashed into a parked truck. The tourists were traveling from Aswan to see the temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel.

This editorial at the New York Times suggests one way that museums can avoid buying off the black market: excavate the archaeological sites themselves.

Geza Vermes tries to rewrite history in a lengthy article on Herod the Great, arguing in part that Herod was the victim of nasty old St. Matthew who “transformed him into a monster.” I thought it was interesting how the author preferred the passive voice when describing the deaths of the people that Herod murdered. For instance, “Augustus with a heavy heart allowed Herod to try his two sons, who were found guilty and executed by strangulation in Sebaste/Samaria.” Josephus provides the only surviving account of the episode. He writes of Herod, “He also sent his sons to Sebaste, a city not far from Cesarea, and ordered them to be there strangled” (Wars 1.551; 1.27.6).

Scholars will present papers tomorrow (Dec 30) in honor of the retirement of Prof. Amihai Mazar. Aren Maeir has posted a schedule of the meeting (Hebrew).

The annual symposium in memory of Prof. Yohanan Aharoni is planned for February 17 at Tel Aviv University. A list of the papers is given here. Part II is entitled, “Debating the Future of Biblical Archaeology: Do Science and Technology Show the Way?”

If you need your football fix while in Israel, the full-contact amateur Israel Football League may beat staying up until dawn.

If you ever drive to the nature reserve at En Gedi, you may want to avoid parking under the trees next time.

HT: Joe Lauer, Keith Keyser, Gordon Govier

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Lectures, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

New Discoveries on Avenue of the Sphinxes

From Adnkronos Culture and Media:

Archaeologists in the southern temple city of Luxor have unearthed twelve new sphinx statues and a road from the reign of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nectanebo I (380-362 BC), Egypt’s culture minister Farouk Hosny announced on Monday.
The sphinx statues are inscribed with Nectanebo I’s name and were found in the last sector of the Avenue of the Sphinxes, one of the most important archaeological and religious paths in Luxor, the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.
The mythological creatures with human faces and reclining feline bodies were typically used to decorate the tombs of ancient Egyptian rulers.
The Avenue of the Sphinxes, built by Nectanebo I, runs from Luxor to nearby Karnak, where it connects to the temple of the goddess Mut. Karnak and contains a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, monumental gateways to temples, and other buildings.
The archaeologists discovered the new sphinxes at the end of the newly unearthed road of Nectanebo I, said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The story continues here. A better photo is posted in this article.

HT: ANE-2

Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt