Galilee Archives - Page 47 of 84

Weekend Roundup

A new study claims that an Egyptian text is the oldest known abecedary.

Haaretz‘s report on Gabriel Barkay’s Temple Mount sifting project include several pictures of findings.

A UNESCO resolution that claimed the Western Wall prayer plaza as an Islamic shrine has made some people unhappy.

German experts are restoring the golden mask of King Tut after its beard was broken off and clumsily repaired.

The Journal of Near Eastern Archaeology reports that there are groups other than the Islamic State who are destroying and plundering antiquities in Syria.

The Getty Villa in Los Angeles is exhibiting 1800’s era watercolor paintings of Greece, many offering insight into how ancient sites looked in the early 19th century.

Emily Corrigan shares her experience of a summer on the Jezreel Expedition.

Egyptian authorities are investigating the embezzlement of $20 million from construction funds for the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Zahi Hawass throws cold water on the proposal that Nefertiti’s tomb has finally been located.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo he took of a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee as the sun was rising.

The newly renovated Waldorf-Astoria in Jerusalem has been ranked the top hotel in the Middle East in a survey by Condé Nast Traveler.

Test your knowledge about Petra with 10 questions at the ASOR Blog.

The newly released NIV Zondervan Study Bible, edited by D. A. Carson, is on sale now for Kindle for $7.99. (I wrote the notes for 2 Kings.)

Chris McKinny has made available on Academia his presentation on “Kiriath-Jearim (Deir el-‘Azhar): Archaeological Investigations of a Biblical Town in the Judean Hill Country.”

Conference at Hebrew U on Oct 29: “I Know What You Did Last Summer: A Glimpse at the Excavations and Surveys of the Institute of Archaeology, 2015 Season.”

Adam Zertal died on Sunday at the age of 79. He was best known for his survey of the hill country of Samaria and his identification of a structure on Mount Ebal as the altar of Joshua.

Thomas Schaub died on Monday at the age of 82. Schaub excavated Bab edh-Dhra.

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

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Judah, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Sad News, Syria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

ISIS has destroyed the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra.

The destruction of ancient monuments will now be considered a war crime in trials at The Hague.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists want to dig beneath the popular version of Pompeii to discover what life was really like.

Here’s more on the new lines discovered from the Gilgamesh Epic.

“Persepolis: Images of an Empire” is a special exhibit that opens next week at the Oriental Institute Museum.

Mordechai Aviam critiques Eldad Keynan’s recent article on the
“miqveh” in Upper Galilee.

The Jewish Chronicle catches up with Ron Tappy four years after he concluded excavations at Tel Zayit.

Howard R. Feldman shares a personal recollection about the Jehoash Affair on the ASOR Blog.

The Amphipolis tomb may have been the funeral shrine for Hephaestion, the closest friend of
Alexander the Great.

The Oxford Archaeology Image Database currently has 700 photos from nearly 30 sites in Iraq and it is seeking more contributions.

The first rainfall this season in Israel led to flash flood warnings in the Judean wilderness.

Netanyahu has suspended approval for the building of a museum in the Western Wall plaza.

Was the star of Bethlehem a comet? A new book makes a strong case.

A German team will repair a botched epoxy job on King Tut’s beard.

Leen Ritmeyer takes the New York Times to task for shoddy research on the Temple Mount.

Rachel Hallotte has dug up some interesting items from the attic of the Albright Institute.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Galilee, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Syria, Temple Mount, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A church mosaic floor dating to AD 500 and depicting a map of Egypt has been discovered in Kiryat Gat.

There’s a growing consensus among archaeologists that the tomb of King Tut has two previously undiscovered rooms, one of which could hold the remains of Nefertiti.

A site in Gush Etzion inhabited during the Bar-Kochba era has been destroyed by vandals.

Some Arab scholars are claiming that a Jewish mafia is behind the destruction of antiquities in Palmyra and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Wayne Stiles shares some footage from his helicopter ride over Israel.

Thomas L. Thompson claims that Israel Finkelstein and William Dever are more similar to William F. Albright than they think.

Excavations at Tel Tayinat in southern Turkey suggest that the site was an ancient Philistine capital.

Leon Mauldin takes a look at the high place of Dan.

The California Museum of Ancient Art is hosting a four-part lecture series on Ancient Shipwrecks and Harbors: Great Discoveries in Underwater Archaeology.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has posted a video clip of a lecture by Robert Deutsch entitled “To Publish or Not to Publish.” Aren Maeir’s segment looks at “Archaeology During Times of Trouble.”

The November/December issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Cana, Hippos, and manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible not quite as old as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Please consider participating in this Survey on Field Safety.

A student shares his experience in volunteering at the Palestine Exploration Fund this summer.

This week on The Land and the Book, Charlie Dyer covers “everything you want to know about the Temple Mount.”

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Agade, G. M. Grena, Jared Clark, Paleojudaica

Mosaic in Kiryat Gat
Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Philistines, Shephelah, Syria, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

In Pompeii, a pre-Roman tomb dating to 4 B.C. has been found in perfect condition by French archaeologists.

A newly discovered tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh preserves nearly twenty lines previously unknown.

The UNC Charlotte magazine features a story on the Mount Zion excavation.

Eldad Keynan examines a unique mikveh in Upper Galilee—one with a cross inscribed on the wall.

Dr. Ben Witherington paid a visit to the Greco-Roman Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and demonstrates how artifacts illuminate our understanding of the New Testament.

Why study biblical geography? Barry Britnell suggests one, two, and three reasons.

Bryant Wood reexamines the blockage of the Jordan River.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the significance of Adullam and shares several photos of the cave.

“The Virtual World Project presents interactive virtual tours of archaeological sites in Israel and Jordan. The project is designed to aid in the teaching and study of antiquity.” There’s some background here.

“Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) in Istanbul has begun an exhibition celebrating the immense contribution of John Garstang, a British scholar, on archaeology in Turkey.”

With only 2,000 gazelle remaining in Israel, the species will probably be classified as endangered.

Logos has pre-publication pricing on a new video course, AR101 Archaeology in Action: Biblical Archaeology in the Field ($50).

The early bird discount for Wayne Stiles’s Holy Land Tour ends on Monday.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Chris McKinny, David Bivin

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Museums, Shephelah, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Just posted: Preliminary Report of the 2015 Jezreel Expedition Field Season

A full schedule of speakers and topics for the Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest is now online. Eric Cline is the plenary speaker.

After the heat wave and brutal sandstorm, Israel this past week experienced lightning, hail, and flash floods. This is not typical September weather.

Near Eastern Archaeology‘s latest issue is devoted to “The Cultural Heritage Crisis in the Middle East.” It is available online for free to all.

Eisenbrauns has just released its fall catalog.

A new book: Distant Views of the Holy Land, by Felicity Cobbing and David Jacobson. 330 pages, 350 illustrations, $200. A free sample is available here.

Here’s more about Penn Museum’s new exhibit, “Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World.”

This Wednesday, Sept 23, Brent Strawn of Emory University will give a lecture at Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School entitled “The Historical Psalms, Iconographically Considered.” The event will take place at 7:00 pm on Trinity’s campus, Hinkson Hall in Rodine Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Clashes on the Temple Mount have caused damage to Al Aqsa Mosque.

Aren Maeir is on the Book and the Spade talking about his excavations of Gath and the discovery of a large gate this season (part 1, part 2).

Egyptian security officials have ordered the shutdown of St. Catherine’s Monastery.

From ASOR: Can you pass this Sea of Galilee quiz?

The latest issue of Popular Archaeology includes articles on Gath and Magdala.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the significance of Mahanaim (mentioned 13x in the OT) and shares some photos.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Lectures, Museums, Philistines, Resources, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

This week’s sandstorm in Israel is the worst it has experienced since the nation was founded in 1948.

Air pollution in Jerusalem was 173 times higher than average. Carl Rasmussen shares a video showing how bad it was on the Mount of Olives.

What exactly is a 100-foot-deep shaft doing next to the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem?

Andrew Bernhard posts on the End of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Forgery Debate.

Thieves in Galilee were caught removing a sixth century mosaic church floor in Gush Tefen.

The cisterns at Arad are now open to visitors.

Muslim “sentinels” protecting the Temple Mount from “sacrilege” have now been outlawed by Israeli police.

If your interest is in exotic shofars and what Jewish halakah has to say about it, Zoo Torah has a free pdf on the subject.

The BBC reports on six “lesser-known wonders of the ancient world,” including the site of Baalbek in Lebanon.

The Jerusalem Post Magazine reports on sinkholes around the Dead Sea. (At the moment of posting this, the link is not working. Perhaps it will return.)

ISIS is destroying ancient buildings in order to conceal evidence that they are looting for profit.

The Institute for Digital Archaeology plans to distribute 10,000 3-D cameras in the coming year in
order to document archaeological sites and objects in West Asia before they are destroyed.

A luncheon will honor James F. Strange at this ASOR meeting in Atlanta.

Ferrell Jenkins illustrates what David meant when he wrote about “a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

Did you know that the Upper Room is located directly above David’s Tomb?

The Dead Sea Scrolls scam at the California Science Center closed this week.

“The Manar al-Athar open-access photo-archive (based at the University of Oxford) aims to provide high resolution, searchable images, freely-downloadable for teaching, research, heritage projects, and publication. It covers buildings and art in the areas of the former Roman empire which later came under Islamic rule (e.g. Syro-Palestine/the Levant, Arabia, Egypt, and North Africa), from ca. 300 BC to the present, but especially Roman, late antique, and early Islamic art, architecture, and sacred sites.”

HT: Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer, Jared Clark

Our Facebook photo with the most clicks in the past week was the final one in our “holy rocks” series.

Standing stones at Gezer

Tagged Dead Sea, Forgery, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Lebanon, Museums, Negev, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weather, Weekend Roundup