Seven inscriptions were discovered in three Byzantine churches excavated in Galilee this summer. Haaretz (premium) also covers the story. Archaeologists have discovered a Hellenistic-era gymnasium in the Fayoum province of Egypt. A recently discovered Assyrian tablet provides the first-known diagnosis to determine infertility. An intact sundial from the Roman period has been discovered in the excavation of a theater near Mount Cassino in Italy. A year-long mysterious excavation with high security in Tarsus ended with no explanation of what they found or why they were excavating. A gemstone discovered in Pylos, Greece, from the 15th century BC is a “masterpiece of miniature art.” Megan Sauter describes the Terra Sancta Museum, a new stop on the Via Dolorosa. Wayne Stiles’s post this week on Lachish includes some new drone video footage he shot recently. The Museum of the Bible is the topic of discussion this week on The Book and the Spade. Israel welcomed its 3 millionth tourist of 2017 this week. A new Biblical Archaeology Review Archive provides every article from 1975 to 2016 and is on sale for $130. Or you can subscribe to All-Access Membership for $35/year. HT: Jared Clark, Agade, Charles Savelle
Scientists have discovered a void in the Great Pyramid of Giza that is 100 feet long.
Archaeologists excavating in the Timna Valley have discovered remains of a pregnant Egyptian woman.
A swimmer in the Sea of Galilee found a Byzantine-era “chicken-shaped object.”
Young Gazans have begun a campaign on social media to stop the destruction of Tall es-Sakan.
An international team from Spain, Portugal, and the Palestinian Authority conducted excavations at Tirzah (Tell el-Farah North) last month in order to “1. to evaluate the state of conservation of the site in order to implement a program of protection and restoration; 2. topographical survey; 3. archaeological sounding on the Iron Age II sector.” (Not online, as far as I can tell.)
A paper in Astronomy and Geophysics by Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington dates the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded to October 30, 1207 BC and suggests this is the “sun-standing-still” event mentioned in Joshua 10. But this connection was proposed last year by H. Yizhaq, D. Vainstub, and U. Avner. The biblical texts, however, date Joshua’s conquest a couple of centuries earlier than this eclipse.
New research suggests that about 80% of antiquities available for sale online are looted or fake.
This week marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and the 100th anniversary of a significant Australian victory over the Ottoman defenses at Beersheba.
A new release on an important subject with many nice photos: The Old Testament in Archaeology and History, edited by Jennie Ebeling, J. Edward Wright, Mark Elliott and Paul V. M. Flesher. Waco, TX:
Baylor University Press, 2017.
HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle
- Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Forgery, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Negev, Samaria, Weather, Weekend Roundup
Volume 8 of The Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is available online. Several articles address a monumental Herodian Ionic capital from Jerusalem.
Detailed site plans and other materials from the Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah) excavations are now available online.
The exhibition “Nineveh – Heart of an Ancient Empire” has opened at the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands.
The full lecture schedule for the Bible and Archaeology Fest XX has been posted.
Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey has attracted more than 50,000 tourists so far this year.
David Kennedy has identified nearly 400 mysterious ancient stone structures in Saudi Arabia using Google Earth.
“Is the Bible a True Story?” Nir Hasson wants you to think that there is “no evidence” for anything (Haaretz premium). Brent Nagtegaal responds here.
The September 2017 Newsletter of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities is online.
William Dever’s latest book, Beyond the Texts: An Archaeological Portrait of Ancient Israel and Judah, will be released on Friday.
Apparently there is a “Land of the Bible Park” in the Ramot forest near Jerusalem.
JewishPress.com reports on the excavations at Magdala. And Richard Bauckham is editing a book on Magdala (forthcoming fall 2018).
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” Wayne Stiles tackles this one.
HT: Charles Savelle, Agade
- Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup
The Israel Antiquities Authority has arrested looters who discovered a cave in a Galilean village that was used for storage and stables in the Roman period.
Aren Maeir reports on a “mini-season” they held this week at Gath.
The “Bible Marathon” traces the route of the Benjamite who raced to tell Eli of the death of his sons.
One month before its opening in Washington, DC, the Museum of the Bible held a press conference to address questions about the museum’s practices.
The abandoned village of Lifta, possibly the site of biblical Mei Nephtoah, has been named one of 25 Endangered World Monuments.
The New York Times has an article in its dining section on the ancient Canaanite food and wine of Tel Kabri.
The Winter 2017 issue of DigSight reports on an exhibit on seals, a seal of “Ushna, servant of Ahaz,” and more.
Carl Rasmussen has begun a series on Paul’s shipwreck on Malta.
The Lod Mosaic will have a home when the Shelby White and Leon Levy Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center opens in 2019.
Volcanic activity may have played a significant role in the demise of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty.
Israel’s Good Name describes his recent camping trip in Park HaMaayanot.
Prof. Zvi Lederman will be giving a lecture on Nov 13 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology entitled “A Lost Queen of the Sun — Tel Beth Shemesh, the Age of Amarna, and the Mysterious ‘Mistress of the Lions.’” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Matthew Suriano will be lecturing on Nov. 16 at Brandeis University on “A Tomb with a View: What can we learn about death in the Hebrew Bible from the Silwan Necropolis in Jerusalem?”
Eisenbrauns’ Deal of the Weekend is Unearthing Jerusalem, at 60% off.
The end of an era: Penn State University Press has acquired Eisenbrauns.
HT: Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis
- Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Shephelah
The University of Nebraska at Omaha is hosting its 19th annual Batchelder Conference for Archaeology and Biblical Studies from November 9 to 11. Rami Arav will deliver the opening keynote address on “The First 30 Years of Excavations at Bethsaida.” Richard Freund will be the respondent. (Apparently Steven Notley is unavailable.)
The Friday evening address by David Gurevich is entitled “Water and Society: The Water Installation of Jerusalem in the Late Second Temple Period.” Twelve other scholars will speak, but the conference schedule has not yet been released.
The conference is free and open to the public.
HT: Judi King
Robert Mullins has written an update on the major discoveries at Abel Beth Maacah after 5 years of excavation.
A head of an Akhenaten statue has been discovered in excavations at Tel el-Amarna.
Some medieval artifacts were seized in Turkey, including a gold seal attributed to Solomon. James Davila provides some commentary.
The Jerusalem Post profiles the Temple Mount Sifting Project.
Mordechai Aviam and R. Steven Notley make a case that el-Araj should now be considered the leading candidate for the site of Bethsaida-Julias.
Appian Media has released a “sneak peek” from an upcoming upside in the “Following the Messiah” series with an acoustical experiment at the Cove of the Sower.
With the water level of the Sea of Galilee nearly at an all-time low, Ferrell Jenkins illustrates the dramatic difference with several photos of Heptapegon.
David Moster will be lecturing on “The Jordan River and the Two Half-Tribes of Manasseh” in NYC on Nov 14. (We noted some of David’s work on the Jordan River here last year.)
Ben Witherington is on The Book and the Spade talking about his newest book, A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem.
HT: Paleojudaica, Joseph Lauer, Agade
- Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup