Weekend Roundup

A woman taking a stroll near Tel Beth Shean discovered that winter rains had exposed two Roman statues.

New technology now makes declassified US spy photos from the 1960s more useful for research in the Middle East. LiveScience tells the story, and you can explore the amazing Corona Atlas yourself.

A team of archaeologists and climbers scaled the cliffs of Sela in order to study a relief made by the Babylonian king Nabonidus.

Ruth Schuster surveys the archaeological evidence for the earthquake in the days of Uzziah mentioned by Amos and Zechariah (Haaretz premium).

Kyle Harper attempts to trace the origins of the Nazareth Inscription.

‘Serve the Gods of Egypt’ is an exhibition focusing on the Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC), now showing at the Museum of Grenoble, located in southeast France. 

Now online: Maps, drawings, and photographs from the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Sphinx Project, 1979-1983.

The Fall 2018 issue of DigSight includes stories on the seal impression of Isaiah, new publications, recent finds, and upcoming events.

The Oriental Institute 2017–18 Annual Report is now available.

On the ASOR Blog, Claudio Ottoni asks, “Where do cats come from?”

Carl Rasmussen provides illustrations for Paul’s boxing metaphor.

Wayne Stiles explains why Peter’s trip to Caesarea was apparently inefficient and yet perfectly necessary.

A 4-minute video from the Today Show explains how NASA technology is being used to decipher Dead Sea Scrolls. The video includes footage inside Cave 1.

Owen Jarus suggests five archaeological discoveries to watch for in 2019.

The editors of The Bible and Interpretation have chosen their five best articles for 2018.

In a full article posted from Biblical Archaeology Review, Robert Cargill explains what a day on a dig looks like.

Jerusalem is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. Jordan’s tourism in 2018 was its second highest ever.

“William B. Tolar of Fort Worth, Texas, a longtime professor of biblical backgrounds and archaeology [at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary], died Dec. 29.” He apparently led 80 trips to Israel.

There will be no roundup next weekend.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Mark Hoffman, Chris McKinny, Joseph Lauer, Paleojudaica, Bryan Windle

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists believe that a public bath excavated in Sepphoris may have been used by Rabbi Judah the Prince.

Archaeologists excavating at the Negev town of Shivta have found a lamp wick dating to the Byzantine period.

Kiriath Jearim has a large platform which must have been cultic and could only have been built by the northern kingdom of Israel. Or so says Israel Finkelstein. (Haaretz premium)

A total of 1,500 landmines have been cleared since the spring near the Jordan River baptismal location of Qasr al-Yahud.

Migdal Aphek, the Crusader castle also known as Mirabel, will soon be open to the public following conservation works.

Dennis Mizzi asks, “What does Qumran have to do with the Mediterranean?”

The Annual Conference on the Excavations of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University will be held on Thursday.

Israel’s Good Name reports on a university field trip to the Hebron area.

Biblical Byways has a couple of tours to Israel coming up, including a Spanish tour in April.

Tim Frank’s latest book, Household Food Storage in Ancient Israel and Judah, is now available in paperback and as an e-book.

The Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels was chosen as the Best Book in Biblical Studies in Christianity Today’s 2019 book awards. You can read an excerpt about the birthplace of
Jesus here.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“An extremely rare, minuscule biblical stone weight inscribed in ancient Hebrew script with the word “beka” was discovered in rubble taken from excavations at the foundations of the Western Wall.”

“Archaeologists exploring Montfort Castle in the Galilee discovered a previously unknown, richly decorated Gothic hall where the secretive knights’ order gathered for their assemblies.” (Haaretz premium)

A member of the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project believes that civilization on the northern end of the Dead Sea were obliterated by “a massive airburst caused by a meteor” circa 1700 BC, leaving the region desolate for at least 600 years. The claim is explicitly linked with Sodom’s destruction in a 2015 conference paper available here.

A tomb at Megiddo now provides the earliest evidence for the use of vanilla.

The Times of Israel has more background on the release of photos of biblical scenes from the mosaics of the synagogue of Huqoq.

Alexander Wiegmann’s YouTube channel includes photogrammetric models, including one of the Mount Ebal altar.

A conference is being held next month in Jerusalem to refute the recent theory that the temple was not located on the Temple Mount.

You can see what a day of digging at Tel Burna is like with this new 10-minute video produced for this year’s ASOR conference.

I’ve been using and enjoying Readwise this past month. It’s a great way to review my Kindle highlights. Use this link to get a free month for you (and for me).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Gordon Franz, Chris McKinny

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“An early depiction of Jesus was recently discovered in a circa 6th century Byzantine church deep in Israel’s Negev Desert.”

The remains of an unborn child and its mother, who possibly died giving birth, have been excavated in Aswan, Egypt, and date to about 1600 BC.

Archaeologists excavating a tomb near Cairo have discovered dozens of mummified cats.

“A Polish-Kuwaiti team of archaeologists have unearthed a 7,000-year-old temple, the oldest in the Persian Gulf region.”

Marine archaeologists believe they may have found a missing piece of the Antikythera Mechanism (Haaretz premium).

The excavations of ancient Hattusha in Turkey are providing an income for many local residents who would otherwise be unemployed.

The October issue of the Newsletter of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities reports the latest discoveries, artifact repatriations, famous visitors, and more.

Two new excavation reports from Eisenbrauns (latest catalog here) have been published:

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The nymphaeum in downtown Amman has reopened to the public.

A Palestinian was caught trying to smuggle 70 ancient coins from Jordan into the West Bank.

Another man was arrested for trying to smuggle two tetradrachm from the time of Alexander the Great out of Gaza.

The Guardian posts a review of the “I am Ashurbanipal” exhibit that opened this week at the British Museum.

The British Museum Shop offers a number of interesting items related to the Ashurbanipal exhibit.

The Vatican Museums are considering putting a daily cap on the number of visitors.

A new festschrift honors Aren Maier: Tell it in Gath: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel.

Ada Yardeni’s final book, The National Hebrew Script, is now available for pre-order at Carta.

New from Baylor University Press: Magdala of Galilee: A Jewish City in the Hellenistic and Roman Period, edited by Richard Bauckham.

The Land and the Book audio program visits the Oriental Institute Museum.

Scott Stripling, Scott Lanser, and Henry Smith discuss “Relating the Bible to Archaeology” in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

Flash floods in Jordan killed 12 and forced the evacuation of 4,000 in Petra. Here’s another video and several more showing the deadly torrent.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Paleojudaica, Alexander Schick

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have discovered engravings of ships and animals on the walls of a Roman-era cistern in Beersheba.

Rami Arav provides a summary of the 2018 excavation of et-Tell (aka Bethsaida). He believes that in the 11th–10th centuries, the site was a “full-fledged urban center, most probably the site of the king of the Geshurites.”

A new era has begun at Gath (Tell es-Safi) with the covering over of excavation areas that will not be conserved for visitors.

The new excavation at Kiriath Jearim and the family providing the financial backing are profiled by the Jewish News of Northern California.

Wayne Stiles recently visited the Gezer boundary inscriptions and he wonders how long it will be before they are no longer legible.

Aviv and Shmuel Bar-Am describe several sites of interest east of Jerusalem, including the Good Samaritan Museum and Ein Fawwar.

Israel’s Good Name shares his experience in volunteering for the Tel Dor excavation.

Israel set a new record with nearly half a million tourists in October.

The Israelite Samaritans Project is a new research venture of Yeshiva University.

Have you seen Carta’s new map bank? Individual digital maps of the biblical world are available for purchase.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Paleojudaica

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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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