Shimon Gibson and James Tabor have posted a week-by-week summary of their 2009 season of excavations on Mount Zion at The Bible and Interpretation. In the six weeks of work, they made numerous small finds from the 1st century A.D. to the modern period. The description is accompanied by several beautiful photographs.
In 1967 the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania filmed a 27-minute movie about archaeological work in Jordan and the West Bank. “The Book and the Spade” gives a general introduction to the value and discipline of archaeology, which includes footage of important biblical sites that are not usually on the itinerary of visitors today, including Hebron, Shechem, and Samaria.
The film naturally focuses more on the excavations sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, Gibeon and Tell es-Saidiyeh. The latter site is the subject of the second half, and the one who is patient is rewarded with shots of the on-going excavations and an interview with the archaeologist James B. Pritchard. Pritchard is probably best known today for his three editions of Ancient Near Eastern Texts, but he made significant contributions in his excavations of Gibeon (1956-62) and Tell es-Saidiyeh (1964-67). The film also documents the construction of a mudbrick house. Though the movie was slow-moving by today’s standards, I enjoyed seeing many sites the way they were 40 years ago. You can see the contrast of the excavations in the film with a recent photo below.
Excavation area of Tell es-Saidiyeh, 2003
Other University of Pennsylvania films that may be of interest to readers of this blog include:
Athens (1939)
Ancient Earth: Making History Everlasting (1940)
Iran (1963)
Windows on the Past (1967)
Turkey (1967)
Jordan (1969)
Cyprus (1969)
And more…
HT: Ferrell Jenkins and Gordon Govier
- Tagged Excavations, Resources
Excavations are set to resume at Khirbet el-Maqatir, a small site about half a mile (1 km) west of et-Tell, the scholarly choice for biblical Ai. Bryant Wood led excavations at Maqatir from 1995 to 2000, when the second Intifada interrupted the work. Wood has published in Israel Exploration Journal his view that Maqatir is the best candidate for the Late Bronze city of Ai. More information about the excavation, including a solicitation for volunteers, is online at the website of the Associates for Biblical Research.
I wrote an article about ten years ago (Bible and Spade 12/3 [1999], p. 91ff) in which I showed that local tradition located Ai at Maqatir, not et-Tell. Unfortunately Calloway (and every other scholar
I’ve read) ignored this rather important piece of data reported by Edward Robinson (1841). No kidding.
- Tagged Excavations
For $30, tourists can excavate the ancient ruins of Maresha/Beit Guvrin for three hours. The area is full of caves rich with ancient artifacts, and it is not uncommon for excavators to find many “treasures” in the exposure. Usually these discoveries include Hasmonean oil lamps or pottery vessels, for recently volunteers uncovered a nearly intact inscription from the 2nd century B.C.
Three fragments of a Greek inscription, believed to be part of the “Heliodoros stele” were recently found at an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation at the National Park of Beit Guvrin.
The Heliodoros stele, dating back to 178 B.C.E. and consisting of 23 lines inscribed in limestone, is considered one of the most important ancient inscriptions found in Israel.
Dr. Dov Gera, who studied the inscriptions, determined that the fragments were actually the lower portion of “The Heliodoros stele”. This discovery confirmed the assumption that the stele originally stood in one of the temples located where Maresha-Beit Guvrin National Park stands today.
The new fragments were discovered in a subterranean complex by participants in the Archaeological Seminars Institute’s “Dig for a Day” program.
As published by Professors Cotton and Wörrle in 2007, this royal stone stele bears a proclamation by the Seleucid king, Seleucus IV (father of Antiochus IV). The contents of the stele shed light on the Seleucid government’s involvement in local temples, mentioning an individual named Olympiodoros, the appointed “overseer” of the temples in Coele Syria – Phoenicia, including Judea.
The order of the king was sent to Heliodorus, who was probably the same person mentioned in the book of II Maccabees. According to the story in Maccabees, Heliodorus, as the representative of King Seleucus IV, tried to steal money from the Temple in Jerusalem but instead was severely beaten as a result of divine intervention.
The rest of the story is here. The Israel Antiquities Authority has a press release and two high-resolution photos.
HT: Joe Lauer
Maresha from west- Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Shephelah
Archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel discusses his discovery of the Khirbet Qeiyafa ostraca in a 2.5 minute video posted on youtube. There is a transcript in the right sidebar.
The website of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project has been thoroughly revised and updated. You can read about what has been discovered in previous seasons, as well as learn more about how to volunteer for the coming season. The website also includes a photo gallery and a virtual tour of the tell. Many of the images link to high-resolution versions.
HT: Paleojudaica and Aren Maeir
- Tagged Excavations, Shephelah
Gary Byers of the Associates for Biblical Research has written a new article on the excavations of Tall el-Hammam, a site that has been identified as Sodom by its excavator, Steven Collins. The essay is a sensible review of the site’s history based on archaeological work and biblical data. I don’t find the Sodom identification compelling based on the present state of the evidence, but this does not detract from the value of the article. There is no doubt that Tall el-Hammam was an important site in the ancient world, and continued excavations there will no doubt be useful in revealing more of the region’s history. The article concludes:
In review, our site was a major city from earliest times. It may be one of the
oldest cities mentioned in the Bible, in the Table of Nations (Gn 10).
Maybe it was Sodom from those earliest days up to the time of Abraham, well over 2,500 years. Then, after its destruction in the Middle Bronze Age, and with no evidence of occupation for over 500 years, it may have been known as Abel Shittim (“meadow of the acacia trees”) at the time of Moses. During the Iron Age, a city was built on the upper tall, and it is a reasonable candidate to be the capital of Solomon’s twelfth administrative district, in sight of the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem, Solomon’s capital. In New Testament times, a new city arose around the base of the talls and may have been Abila or even Livias (Julias), the capital of Perea. Finally, our site may be one of the unnamed sites on the Madaba Map.
Whatever our excavations and research may eventually tell us, there is no question that Tall el-Hammam was an important site throughout the Biblical period. During each period of history, it stood as a quiet witness to some of the Bible’s greatest people and events.
- Tagged Excavations