Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists uncovered a 1,000-foot section of the Lower Aqueduct between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. This aqueduct was in use from 100 BC until about 100 years ago.

A seal impression discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project and possibly connected to an adviser to King Josiah will be published by the end of the year.

“A bronze signet ring depicting the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, has been discovered beneath the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Egyptian city.”

A new study of a Byzantine-era church mosaic discovered at Hadrianoupolis suggests that its depiction of the four rivers flowing from the Garden of Eden may have been intended to instruct worshippers in spiritual virtues.

Zev Stub reviews an exhibition at the Israel Museum, “Tiny Footprints: Childhood in the Ancient Land of Israel.”

“Israel on Tuesday returned a collection of 22 artifacts illegally removed from Greece, in the first repatriation of its kind between the two countries.”

Lauren K. McCormick considers what has been learned from the contents of ancient toilets in a preview of an article in Biblical Archaeology Review.

Lauren K. McCormick writes an explainer about the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on Oct 28: “A Taste of the Holy Land? Exploring Travel & Hospitality in Early 19th-Century Ottoman Palestine,” by Federica A. Broilo

On the Biblical World podcast, Steve Notley joins Chris McKinny in an on-location interview at el-Araj, the New Testament site of Bethsaida.

HT: Agade

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Weekend Roundup

A new study based on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 will allow scholars to more accurately date other ancient volcanic eruptions.

“The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan (U-M) has opened its first new permanent gallery in nearly two decades:  The Byzantine and Islamic Worlds: 400–1800.”

CBN News has produced a 25-minute special on the first-century street from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.

CBN News has created a 10-minute video on the special exhibit of the Great Isaiah Scroll at the Israel Museum.

The Colosseum in Rome was closed for two days after a worker fell to his death.

Elon Gilad surveys the major views on the origins of the Samaritans.

Indiana Jones is the best and worst thing to happen to archaeology.

James Hoffmeier talks about the historical and archaeological context of the exodus on The Week in Bible Prophecy.

Steven Notley is on The Book and the Spade to discuss finding Bethsaida.

Free hybrid lecture at Harvard on Oct 21: “The Many Lives of Theban Tomb 16,” by Suzanne Onstine

The program is online for last week’s conference, “The Medes: 25 Years Afterwards.” The recordings are posted on YouTube.

New release: Bible Mapper Atlas, Volume 1 (Old Testament) – includes nearly all the online maps along with 90 photographs and a timeline. A second volume will include all of the New Testament maps.

Jason Borges has posted an updated version of his “Public Inscriptions at the Seven Churches of Revelation: A Historical Introduction for Guides, With Translations and Explanations.”

Bible Odyssey has published some new short articles:

If you are planning to be at the Annual Meetings in Denver, I’ll be giving a couple of papers and would be happy to see you:

HT: Agade, Alexander Schick, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup

A burial cave from the Second Temple period was discovered underneath a building in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem.

All Israel News summarizes the case that el-Araj is biblical Bethsaida, including news from this summer’s excavation.

After sixteen years of uninterrupted excavations—even during COVID and wars—i24 News visited Azekah. The excavator “said his dream is for visitors within about four years to walk through the citadel’s high walls and inner structures and along the street surrounding the fortress.”

A study of a tomb chamber in the Theban necropolis was carried out “to reconstruct how this burial space was used and reused between its construction during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (754–656 BCE) and the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BCE).”

“A new archaeological discovery at Tell Abu Saifi in Qantara East, Ismailia, is shedding new light on the ancient Horus Military Road and strengthening the hypothesis that the site may be linked to the lost ancient Egyptian city of ‘Mesen.’”

“The pillar of St. Simeon the Stylite was returned to its original location at the Monastery of St. Simeon on Mount Simeon, northwest of Holeb (Aleppo), Syria, on Tuesday, 16 centuries after it was erected.”

New release: David Stronach and British Archaeology in the Middle East, by Sabrina Maras (Bloomsbury, $84)

New release: Inspired by Assyria: Ancient Iraq & Victorian Britain, by Michael Seymour and Constance McPhee (The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin; free download)

On Digging for Truth, Nate Loper discusses his latest research after visiting the cities of Tanis and Bubastis.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of the newly reconstructed bridge at Laodicea that crosses the Asopos River.

Bible Passages has created two new videos on YouTube:

John W. Moore has also written an article on Barclay’s Gate and related matters. His wife took a camera into the synagogue inside the ancient gate.

HT: Agade, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A 1,300-year-old industrial and commercial complex was uncovered during excavations over the past few months in the Winter Stadium parking lot in Ramat Gan.”

Moshe Gilad writes about the new exhibit about Huqoq and the excavations that led to it. There is more about the site and exhibit at the KKL-JNF website, including photos and information about the mosaics.

“Israel experienced a rare midsummer storm on Saturday that brought heavy rain to Jerusalem and the surrounding area, as well as to the Golan Heights, breaking all-time August rainfall records and causing flooding in parts of the Judean Desert.”

In a lecture given in Tel Aviv earlier this week, Anselm C. Hagedorn argued that Kiriath-Jearim should be located not at Deir el-ʿAzar near Abu Ghosh, but at Tel Moẓa.

Chandler Collins writes about two new interpretations of the inscription in Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

New release: Plants and Humans in the Ancient Near East: Roots of Multispecies Connections, edited by Silvana Di Paolo and Gioele Zisa (Zaphon 98 EUR)

Bryan Windle has written an archaeological biography for Ben-Hadad III.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The Temple Mount Sifting Project writes about the research into the reconstruction of the temple courts’ colorful geometric floor patterns, including the release of a couple of new digital reconstructions of the Temple Mount.

The rabbi of the Western Wall is demanding the Israel Museum return the Temple Mount stone inscribed “to the place of trumpeting.”

An archaeological project to cultivate ancient varieties of grapes at Avdat has begun to bear fruit.

“Hidden beneath a thick canopy in the western Galilee, Khirbet Tzonam, once a Byzantine town, has amazing stone arches, courtyards and ruins – and still feels like a discovery.” (Haaretz subscription)

“The Byzantine-era church in Nahariya that had been hit by a Hezbollah rocket in April has reopened to the public.”

A couple of antiquities thieves have been indicted after they were caught collecting artifacts at Horvat Hadarim near Tel Dor.

Bible Mapper Atlas has created a new poster map of the land of Israel during the New Testament. It is available in high-resolution for free.

Titus Kennedy is on Digging for Truth to discuss archaeology and the people of the Bible.

On the Biblical World podcast, Paul Anderson discusses the extensive archaeological evidence that supports the historicity of the Gospel of John.

The latest video from Expedition Bible looks at five of the most significant evidences for the enduring name of God.

Marek Dospěl provides an overview of the Gezer Calendar.

New release: Judeans in the Land of the Nile. Papers on Achaemenid Egypt, Elephantine, and the Hebrew Bible Presented in Copenhagen, August 19–20, 2024, edited by Kacper Ziemba and Frederik Poulsen (Münster, 75 EUR)

Available for pre-order on Logos: Jerusalem: The Temple Mount, by Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer (Carta, $13)

Yuval Goren, archaeology professor at Ben Gurion University in the Negev, died recently.

Keith Schoville, longtime professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, died at the age of 98. Gordon Govier writes about their partnership on The Book & The Spade.

Daniel Sivan, longtime professor at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, died last week.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

One thousand female figurines have been found in Jerusalem, but until now no such mold has been discovered in the city. Archaeologists found one when sifting soil from the Kishle excavation south of the Tower of David Museum. Lauren K. McCormick gives more background on Judean Pillar Figurines, including some explanations for why so few molds have been found in Israel.

“A municipal employee searching for lost jewelry on the beach in Ashdod instead uncovered a rare 2,500-year-old coin from ancient Cyprus, which archaeologists say is the first of its kind ever found in Israel.”

A raid of a home of an antiquities thief in the Jordan Valley recovered “approximately 400 ancient coins, pottery fragments, several arrowheads, an antique dagger, and multiple seals and rings, all dating to the Persian, Hellenistic, Hasmonean, and Byzantine eras.”

Aren Maeir visited the excavations at Tel Shadud and Hazor.

“The top three reports in biblical archaeology in July 2026 featured evidence of Judahite idolatry, remains from the Babylonian destruction in Jerusalem, and the discovery of three, previously unknown Assyrian kings.”

Online lecture on Oct 6: “When Worlds Collide: Mediterranean Mercenaries and Israel’s Genesis,” by Aaron Burke (BAS Scholars Series, $10)

New release: Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969-1982, Volume X: Area M (The Peristyle House), by Ronny Reich (Israel Exploration Society, $111)

First time for sale on Kindle: Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, by Tom Holland (Basic Books, 2023; $1.99)

SBL Press is running a $5 flash sale through August 2 on three ebooks related to Phoenicia when you use code PHOENICIA:

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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