Excavations Archives - Page 55 of 98

Hiding in Jerusalem: New Evidence for Roman Siege

Evidence of the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 has been found in excavations near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. From the Jerusalem Post:

The Antiquities Authority on Thursday unearthed for the first time a small 2,000-year-old cistern near the Western Wall that connects an archeological find with the famine that occurred during the Roman siege of Jerusalem during that era.
The cistern – found near Robinson’s Arch in a drainage channel from the Shiloah Pool in the City of David – contained three intact cooking pots and a small ceramic oil lamp.
According to Eli Shukron, the excavations director for the Antiquities Authority, the discovery is unprecedented.
“The complete cooking pots and ceramic oil lamp indicate that the people went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots, without anyone seeing them,” he said. “This is consistent with the account provided by Josephus.”

The Jerusalem Post story continues with Josephus’ description of the last desperate days of the Roman siege.

The story is also reported by Arutz-7, and the Israel Antiquities Authority press release includes high-res photos (direct link). A 3-minute video shows the discovery with audio in Hebrew.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Photographs by Vladimir Naykhin/Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Wednesday Roundup

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.

Southern pool of Bethesda
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Museums, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey

Wednesday Roundup

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

Tagged Dead Sea, Egypt, Excavations, Greece, Herod's Tomb, Jerusalem, Museums, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

Gary Byers summarizes the result of the first week of excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir. He thinks it may have been the best first week of finds at the site. Shimon Gibson will be resuming his excavations on Mount Zion from June 16 to July 11. Volunteers are welcome. A list of papers for the Noah’s Ark conference at Sirnak University in Turkey has been announced. Among the list is this one by Gordon Franz: “Did Sennacherib, King of Assyria, Worship Wood from Noah’s Ark?” Don Wimmer, director of excavations at Tall Safut in Jordan, died last week. Worsening conditions at the Cairo Museum are causing concern. The Green Scholars Initiative Series on Early Jewish Texts is a new book series to be published by Brill and led by Emanuel Tov. Scholars are using artificial intelligence programs to help reassemble more than 100,000 manuscript fragments from across the Mediterranean world. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written the latest Archaeology in Israel Update—April 2013. Luke Chandler is leading a tour of Italy this fall. The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.) is now marked down 78% to $90. Until Friday. HT: Jack Sasson, Bill Soper Preserved ruins of Pompeii
Photo from Pictorial Library, Italy and Malta

Tagged Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Technology, Turkey

Weekend Roundup

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

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

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Lectures, Temple Mount, Turkey

Beautiful Mosaic from Byzantine Period Discovered near Beersheba

A beautiful mosaic from the Byzantine period was discovered at a site north of Beersheba in a salvage excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. From the press release:

A spectacular colorful mosaic dating to the 4th–6th centuries CE was exposed in recent weeks in the fields of Kibbutz Bet Qama, in the B’nei Shimon regional council. The mosaic was discovered within the framework of an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out prior to the construction of an interchange between Ma’ahaz and Devira Junction, undertaken and funded by the Cross-Israel Highway Company.
Remains of a settlement that extends across more than six dunams were uncovered in the excavation being conducted on the kibbutz’s farmland and directed by Dr. Rina Avner of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The main building at the site was a large hall 12 meters long by 8.5 meters wide and its ceiling was apparently covered with roof tiles. The hall’s impressive opening and the breathtaking mosaic that adorns its floor suggest that the structure was a public building.
The well-preserved mosaic is decorated with geometric patterns and its corners are enhanced with amphorae (jars used to transport wine), a pair of peacocks, and a pair of doves pecking at grapes on a tendril. These are common designs that are known from this period; however, what makes this mosaic unique is the large number of motifs that were incorporated in one carpet.
Pools and a system of channels and pipes between them used to convey water were discovered in front of the building. Steps were exposed in one of the pools and its walls were treated with colored plaster (fresco).
Archaeologists in the Antiquities Authority are still trying to determine the purpose of the impressive public building and the pools whose construction required considerable economic resources.

More information, including details about tours for the public, are available on the IAA website.

High-resolution photos are available here.

Photos by Yael Yolovitch

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Judah