Galilee Archives - Page 52 of 84

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

Weekend Roundup

An Egyptian scarab with the name of Pharaoh Shishak has been discovered in the copper mines of Feinan in southern Jordan.

Has evidence of human sacrifice been uncovered near Amman, Jordan? Hershel Shanks presents the evidence and the debate.

Also in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review: a survey of readers’ views of the Bible. The poll has one question and does not require registration.

ASOR is working with the State Department to identify and document destruction of ancient sites in Syria.

Dura Europos is reportedly suffering severe looting under the control of ISIS and archaeologists fear for the world’s oldest synagogue located there.

The new director of the Louvre plans to give the museum a makeover that may take decades.

Charles Savelle shares a chart comparing the crossing of the Red Sea with that of the Jordan River. I would add one more contrast: Enemies behind vs. Enemies ahead. (One of those requires more faith!)

Gordon Franz’s article on Ancient Harbors of the Sea of Galilee is now online.

Ferrell Jenkins notes that Daniel I. Block’s book, Israel: Ancient Kingdom or Late Invention? is deeply discounted for Kindle for a short time.

Martin Klingbeil will be lecturing at Southern Adventist University on “Excavating War and Destruction in Ancient Judah” on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.

Nyack College in partnership with the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins is hosting a conference on “Unearthing Magdala” on October 20.

David Eitam will be lecturing at Yeshiva University on Monday, September 29 on “The Oil Enterprise at 7th Century BCE City-Kingdom of Ekron, Philistia: A Window into an Ancient
Levantine Economy.”

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

Hippos harbor looking south, tb101399201

Remains of the harbor of Hippos on the Sea of Galilee
Photo from Galilee and the North

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jordan, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Museums, Syria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Joseph Patrich and Benny Arubas offer four reasons against identifying the mausoleum discovered at the Herodium with the tomb of Herod. Unfortunately, they do not suggest an alternative identification.

Some IAA photos of the Byzantine monastery uncovered near Beth Shemesh are available for download. [link has expired]

The oldest known Jewish prayer book just went on display at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.

3 Sea of Galilee Sites You’ll Pass But May Not See. Before you click, see if you can guess the three.

Ferrell Jenkins looks at two outstanding architectural remains in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin: the Miletus Market Gate and the Altar of Zeus.

Leon Mauldin has two illustrated posts about the two Temple boundary inscriptions: the complete one on display in Istanbul and the fragment in the Israel Museum.

The Baptist Press runs a story on the Bronze Age water system of Gezer.

Wheaton’s Archaeology Lecture Series 2014-2015 has two lectures remaining.

An electronic edition of supplementary volume of The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological
Excavations in the Holy Land is now available to all members of the BAS Library.

Subscriptions are now available to the Loeb Classical Library, but the prices aren’t cheap and you must inquire by email.

In stock on Monday: the first volume of the Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity, edited by Edwin M. Yamauchi and Marvin R. Wilson ($20).

HT: Joseph Lauer

Byzantine monastery near Beth Shemesh
Photo by Griffin Aerial Photography Company, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Galilee, Herod's Tomb, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Crescent-Shaped Stone Structure Studied in Galilee

A site in the Galilean hills that formed the basis for a master’s thesis is the subject of an article published by Live Science.

A lunar-crescent-shaped stone monument that dates back around 5,000 years has been identified in Israel.
Located about 8 miles (13 kilometers) northwest of the Sea of Galilee, the structure is massive — its volume is about 14,000 cubic meters (almost 500,000 cubic feet) and it has a length of about 150 meters (492 feet), making it longer than an American football field. Pottery excavated at the structure indicates the monument dates to between 3050 B.C. and 2650 B.C., meaning it is likely older than the pyramids of Egypt. It was also built before much of Stonehenge was constructed.
Archaeologists previously thought the structure was part of a city wall, but recent work carried out by Ido Wachtel, a doctoral student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, indicates there is no city beside it and that the structure is a standing monument.
“The proposed interpretation for the site is that it constituted a prominent landmark in its natural landscape, serving to mark possession and to assert authority and rights over natural resources by a local rural or pastoral population,” Wachtel wrote in the summary of a presentation given recently at the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East.

The story continues with more details of the site and its purpose, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in the interpretations offered. We just know too little about the region in this time period. The Times of Israel includes a map of the area.

Map of the area of Rujm en-Nabi Shueib
From Google Earth; click for enlarged view

Tagged Galilee