Galilee Archives - Page 52 of 84

2014 Batchelder Conference for Biblical Archaeology

The annual conference at the University of Nebraska Omaha has a number of interesting speakers and subjects. The conference runs from Thursday to Saturday and has a fee of only $10. Lectures include:

Jon Seligman, Villages and Monasteries in Jerusalem’s Hinterland during the Byzantine Period

Richard Freund, What Was Magdala in the Roman Period? An Archaeological Evaluation of the Evidence

James Tabor, From Qumran to Waco: The Dynamics of Messianism Ancient and Modern

J. Harold Ellens, Mari and the Bible

Mark Appold, Bethsaida Messianic Jews and Jerusalem Hellenists: Origins of the Earliest Christian Kerygma

David Jacobson, Hasmonean Coinage: Some Issues and Fresh Insights

Jerome Hall, Who Built the Kinneret Boat?

Harry Jol and others, Preliminary Ground-penetrating Radar Results from Explorations near the Ancient Anchorage of Kursi, Sea of Galilee, Israel

Phil Reeder, Using Maps as Research and Teaching Tools: Examples from Projects in Israel, Spain, and Poland

Rami Arav, The Origin of the Israelites and the Liminality Model

The full schedule is given here and the conference flyer is online here.

Tagged Galilee, Lectures

Weekend Roundup

A recent excavation at the Tower of David and Kishleh police station revealed a mikveh from Herod’s palace and an earlier wall from the time of Hezekiah. The site is to open to the public next week. (I don’t have any more information at this time.)

An Italian archaeologist wants to restore the Colosseum’s floor.

Wayne Stiles explains why hymn writers use the Jordan River as a metaphor for transitions in the spiritual life.

Part 3 of Mary Magdalene and Magdala is up at the Book and the Spade, with an interview of Father Eamon Kelly, assistant director of the Magdala Center.

Exploring Bible Lands reports on their recent visit to Magdala, a site now extensively open to tourists.

The spoils of Jerusalem on the Arch of Titus are the subject of a Khan Academy video narrated by Steven Fine and Beth Harris.

The first volume of the Gath excavation report is now on sale for an amazingly low price. This is the same work that won the 2013 BAS Award for Best Scholarly Book in Archaeology.

Ferrell Jenkins has great photos of the Cove of the Sower, from land, sea, and air.

William Hallo writes about the fragment of the Cyrus Cylinder that was found in Yale’s Babylonian Collection.

Abram K-J has just posted an extensive review of The Sacred Bridge, arguing that it is the best Bible atlas ever. (I would add that it may be the best ever, but not the best for you, your class, or your church. But you’ll figure out whether it’s for you very quickly from his excellent review of both the print and Accordance versions.)

HT: Paleojudaica

Tagged Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Tales of gold are fueling a surge of looting in Jordan.

Jordan wants the Mesha Stele back from the Louvre. The story doesn’t mention that the French saved it after locals tried to destroy it.

LiveScience reports on David Kennedy’s study of the huge stone circles in Jordan.

A temple of Thutmose III was discovered by an Egyptian digging underneath his house.

The Washington University School of Medicine recently did CT scans on three Egyptian mummies.

This week at The Book and the Spade: Part 2 of Mary Magdalene and Magdala with Steven Notley.

The Phaistos Disk has not been deciphered, despite recent claims in a TEDx talk.

This week Wayne Stiles shares 4 Views of Jerusalem Every Visitor Should See.

HT: Charles Savelle, Agade

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Museums, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Luke Chandler notes that plans are underway to establish a new national park at Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Steven Notley is on The Book and the Spade this week discussing Mary Magdalene and Magdala.

The latest edition of DigSight includes a summary of this year’s expedition to Lachish.

The New York Times explains why smaller archaeological museums struggle to build their collections today.

With the recent discovery of the Hadrianic inscription in Jerusalem, Ferrell Jenkins shares more about discoveries related to this emperor.

The city of Jerusalem has a goal of building more than 1,200 new hotel rooms in the next two years in order to alleviate the shortage and bring down prices.

Shmuel Browns shares some photographs from Israel of a variety of textures.

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Tourism

Life of Jesus Tour with Wayne Stiles

Wayne Stiles is leading an extraordinary tour of Israel that you should consider joining. Three features immediately mark this as a unique opportunity.

1. This tour has an exclusive focus on the life of Jesus. One of the struggles many have on their first tour is the lack of focus, as you jump from one period to another and back again all day, every day.

When you’re zeroed in on the four Gospels, you’ll be making all kinds of connections as you see, listen, and read about the life of the Messiah.

2. The particular itinerary of this trip is outstanding. Not only is it focused on the life of Jesus, you will see all kinds of places you won’t see on any other trip. Wayne gave me a chance to review the itinerary earlier this year and I was highly impressed. After some suggested tweaks, I don’t think you’ll find a better tour schedule.

3. Wayne Stiles has a unique gift for bringing the biblical world into our own. Some teachers are history gurus, but they can’t translate their research into how it affects us today. Wayne is superb at doing this in his books, on his blog, and at the sites. He is passionate, accurate, and faithful.

So that’s my three cents. I am often asked about a trip to Israel that I would recommend. Unless you’re an enrolled college student, I don’t have too many good suggestions. Today I do. I’d encourage you to take the opportunity while you can.

Try out the acoustics at the amazing Cove of the Sower!

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Tourism

New Evidence for AD 363 Earthquake at Hippos

From the Jerusalem Post:

University of Haifa archaeologists announced Monday that they have recently discovered items which have shed light on an earthquake that occurred in 363 CE in the ancient city of Hippos which overlooks the Sea of Galilee.
Hippos, near modern-day Kibbutz Ein Gev, was the site of a Greco-Roman city-state. Archaeologists digging at the Hippos excavation site, known as Susita in Hebrew, uncovered a woman’s skeleton and a gold dove-shaped pendant under the tiles of a collapsed roof. In addition, they found the marble leg of a statue and artillery from some 2,000 years ago.
“Finally the findings are coming together to form a clear historical-archaeological picture,” Dr. Michael Eisenberg, the head of the excavation said.
The excavation at the site has been ongoing for the past fifteen years. Hippos, which was founded in the second century BCE, was the site of two major, well-documented earthquakes, the first of which took place in 363 CE. The earthquake caused major damage but the city recovered. The second earthquake, in 749 CE, destroyed the city which was then abandoned, never to recover.

The full article includes photos. I don’t believe there is much dramatic archaeological evidence for the earthquake of 363, though according to fifth-century church historians, this earthquake ended efforts to build a third temple in Jerusalem. Wikipedia provides a few references. David B. Levenson recently published a more technical article in the Journal of Late Antiquity: “The Palestinian Earthquake of May 363 in Philostorgius, the Syriac Chronicon miscellaneum, and the Letter Attributed to Cyril on the Rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple.”

South Church of Hippos, destroyed by later earthquake
Photo from Galilee and the North

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee