Excavations Archives - Page 48 of 97

Weekend Roundup

The Western Wall prayer plaza will have a smaller version of a museum and office building after the planning committee listened to opponents.

A Muslim crowd on the Temple Mount attacked police when they opened the site to visitors yesterday afternoon.

A Jewish journalist describes his visit to the Temple Mount with Rabbi Chaim Richman.

The first week of excavations at Tel Burna has concluded.

Luke Chandler explains how a discovery from Khirbet Qeiyafa may help us to understand some details of Solomon’s temple described in 1 Kings 6. He includes a link to the Israel Exploration Journal article by Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu.

Shmuel Browns’ photo of the week is of Nahal Zavitan in the Golan Heights.

Where did Jesus change the water into wine? And what was the purpose of this miracle? Wayne Stiles explains and illustrates.

Scott Stripling is on The Book and the Spade this week, talking about last month’s excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?). Direct link here.

Tourism to Israel is at record levels, with 1.5 million visits from January to May this year.

The Sacred Bridge is on sale for Father’s Day at the Biblical Archaeology Society store. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it lower than $79.95. (Amazon has it for $118 used or $125 new.) This is the standard reference for historical geography. These photos give a sense for how detailed the work is.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has a new free eBook: Masada: The Dead Sea’s Desert Fortress.

And BAR is now available for the iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire.

The ASOR Blog has more from the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from the west
Photo by Barry Beitzel, from the Pictorial Library, volume 3

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Golan, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Leon Mauldin has photos of a restored pagan temple at Laodicea.

Luke Chandler: Canaan was not a big desert. (Someone tell the media!)

Where is the ark of the covenant? This article surveys some of the most popular views in history.

And now Ferrell Jenkins has seen Jerusalem in IMAX. Read his review here.

Leen Ritmeyer has a brief note on his recent work at Khirbet el-Maqatir, concluding that the first-century village was actually a walled city.

The Associates for Biblical Research have just released a new booklet entitled Khirbet el-Maqatir: History of a Biblical Site.

BibleX reports that all of SBL’s Ancient Near Eastern Monographs are now available as free pdfs.

A museum for the History of Medicine in the Holy Land has opened in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Hershel Shanks ponders a remaining mystery about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

We’ll have more stories in part 3 of the roundup tomorrow.

The “desert of Canaan”
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

SourceFlix has just released a great new film short on “The Potter.” The 3-minute video features a craftsman in Hebron.

Recent excavations in Hebron are briefly described in the Jewish Press.

Might el-Araj be the real Bethsaida? A five-day “shovel survey” this week suggests that it might be.

An intact burial chamber was discovered in Aswan, Egypt, with nine mummies. Luxor Times has photos.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is looking to boost budget tourism by providing grants for the construction of hostels in Jerusalem and around the country.

The note that Pope Francis placed in a crack of the Western Wall had the text of the Lord’s Prayer written in Spanish.

“The Western Wall Heritage Foundation unveiled on Sunday a fully excavated grand hall from the 14th century in the Western Wall Tunnels that took 10 years to restore.” (JPost) An older video shows the hall under renovation. (HT: Joseph Lauer)

Jerusalem has been chosen as the “Islamic Tourism Capital” for 2016.

Is a mosque being constructed in the Golden Gate? The Israel Antiquities Authority says no.

Exploring Bible Lands is leading a tour of Israel and just finished a visit to Northern Galilee.

What language did Jesus speak? The dispute between the pope and the prime minister has scholars weighing in.

I’m on the Book and the Spade this week, talking with Gordon Govier about Magdala and a Jerusalem inscription (direct link here). I missed noting last week’s broadcast on the latest developments in the City of David. Details on The Book & The Spade 2015 Archaeological Adventure Study Tour are now available.

The Golden Gate of the Temple Mount
Photo from Jerusalem

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Temple Mount, Tourism

Week One at Khirbet el-Maqatir

The first half of the season is finished at a site that may be Ai of the Bible. This year’s team is the largest ever, and most of the work is focused on remains from the first century. Gary Byers reports on some of the discoveries:

From one of these squares a second scarab at KeM was found. Last year’s scarab was considered to be the top find of Biblical archaeology in 2013 by Christianity Today Magazine (off-site link). This year’s scarab, from soil 15 feet from the first, has already been taken to an expert at Hebrew University for cleaning, restoration and analysis. Last season at KeM, we found a record total of 205 coins (See the report from 2013). This week, we found 112 coins – from every square but mine! Our numbers are impressive to archaeologists because they’re being found individually all over the site and not together in hordes. Squares led by Dr. Gene Merrill, dig Administrative Director Henry Smith, Abigail Leavitt and Dr. Brian Peterson all have cisterns (plastered and holding water) or silos (not plastered and holding storage jars). Many of our coins come from soil in these subterranean structures.

A full report with photos is here.

Tagged Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Samaria

Weekend Roundup

Aren Maeir reports on the highlights of the 2013 excavation season at Gath (Tell es-Safi).

A statue of a Phoenician priest dating to the 6th century BC has been discovered in Sidon.

The Pope has arrived in Jordan and heads to Israel soon.

Some religious Jews are afraid that if Catholic mass is permitted in the Upper Room that they will be unable to pray at the Tomb of David downstairs.

A new study suggests that some of Petra’s structures were intended to align with the solstices and equinoxes.

Archaeological work in Jerusalem indicates that it was the Roman construction of Aelia Capitolina that triggered the Bar Kochba Revolt (and not the other way around).

Have you ever wondered how Jonathan defeated the Philistines by climbing the cliff of Michmash?

Wayne Stiles explains it all with maps and photos.

Ferrell Jenkins and Leon Mauldin are traveling in eastern Turkey. They have recently visited Haran
and the Zeugma Mosaic Museum.

Muslims in eastern Syria have apparently destroyed a statue from the Neo-Assyrian period looted from Tell Ajaja.

The 2014 excavation season has begun at Tel Jezreel.

The PACE (Project on Ancient Cultural Engagement) online database has moved.

Judith McKenzie’s black and white photographs taken in 1982-1986 for The Architecture of Petra
(1990) are now all available online at the Petra Digital Archive. Other collections are also online, in high-resolution and free for use in educational and academic publications and research.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson