Galilee Archives - Page 56 of 84

Weekend Roundup

A jug containing silver earrings and ingots has been unearthed at Abel Beth Maacah. The find dates to about 1200 BC.

Some missing pieces of the Colossi of Memnon have been discovered.

A new discovery in Crete confirms the practice of human sacrifice in the Mycenean culture circa 1300 BC.

Israeli police have arrested two Muslim workers for illegal excavations on the Temple Mount.

The Vatican is allegedly pressuring Jerusalem officials into turning over control of the Mount Zion complex that houses the traditional Upper Room and the tomb of David.

Titus Kennedy discusses the domestication of camels on this week’s interview on The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

Gordon Franz explains how the Via Egnatia was part of the means that God enabled the spread of the gospel “in the fullness of time.”

The site of Beit Guvrin and Maresha is a candidate for the World Heritage List. The impressive bell caves and ruins of a Roman-period city are among the attractions at this site in the southern Shephelah of Judah.

A couple who spent three days hiking near the Dead Sea share their experiences in a Jerusalem Post travel article.

Aren Maeir links to the full-length version of the Orson Welles movie of David and Goliath.

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

The bell caves of Beit Guvrin
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Galilee, Greece, Jerusalem, Mediterranean Islands, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Notes on Christian Tourist Sites

This week’s edition of the Caspari Center Media Review has several stories of interest.

Of tourist sites in Nazareth:

In anticipation of the Christmas season, Zvika Boreg compiles a list of places to visit in Nazareth, including Mount Precipice, “where the people of Nazareth tried to throw Jesus to his death but he escaped, and – according to the legend – jumped from there to Mount Tabor,” and the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches of the Annunciation.

Of trash on the “Jesus Trail”:

Christian pilgrims walking the Jesus Trail are sure to encounter mounds of trash at various points along the way, writes Yair Kraus. The 65-kilometer trail runs from Nazareth to Capernaum and passes through sites that are associated with the life of Jesus. But the lack of supervision has made it possible for people to use the trail as an illegal dumping ground. Says one tour guide: “Christians think we are a third world country.” The Minister for the Protection of the Environment has asked the local municipalities to form a joint council to deal with the issue.

Of the St. John in the Wilderness Monastery that is not in the wilderness:

Dr. Adam Ackerman writes about the St. John in the Wilderness Monastery, located in the village of Ein Kerem on the outskirts of Jerusalem. According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist lived in a cave that is now hidden within the monastery, where he “fed on honey, locusts, and plant roots, and drank from the waters of the spring….” The monastery is located within a pastoral setting, which raises the question of why it is called St. John of the Desert. The monks explain that the name is “spiritual and not geographical, a ‘desert’ in the sense of a place of solitude and detachment for spiritual elevation.” Ackerman goes on to describe how John the Baptist left this place when he was twenty years old and went to the Judean desert where he “joined the cult of the Essenes … and baptized Jesus.”

The full report is here.

Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Galilee, Judah, Tourism

Proposal for Huge Jesus Statue in Nazareth

From the Jerusalem Post:

Bishara Shlayan, a Christian Arab from Nazareth, is hoping to build a huge statue of Jesus on Mount Precipice, near his home city.
Shlayan told The Jerusalem Post in an interview that he has already begun fund-raising for the project and that he is getting positive feedback from the Israeli Arab Christian community as well as some Jews.
He sees the statue as being similar to but larger than the huge Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
[…]
Mount Precipice, also known as Mount Kedumim, is believed by some to be the place where the people of Nazareth attempted to push Jesus off the mountain after rejecting him as the messiah. In the end he was able to jump off and disappeared, according to Christian tradition.

The full story describes Shlayan’s political ambitions. The statue in Rio is 100 feet tall. The traditional hill is not the place where Jesus was nearly killed, for ancient Nazareth was not built on this hill.

They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff (Luke 4:29).

Traditional Mount of Precipitation in Nazareth
Photo from Galilee and the North

Tagged Galilee, Tourism

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Gordon Franz reports on his time at the “International Noah and Judi Mountain Symposium” in Sirnak, Turkey. He also provides a summary of a number of the presentations.

On The Book and the Spade this week: “Discovering Dalmanutha” with Ken Dark (direct link).

Norma Franklin believes the Megiddo water system was built during the Middle Bronze Age.

George Athas asks, “What’s New in Biblical Inscriptions?” and he suggests a cautious approach in announcing new discoveries.

An enormous Corinthian capital has been excavated at a temple of Hadrian in western Turkey.

A report in the Belfast Telegraph provides details about the ongoing excavations at Sidon.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am provide a tour of Gezer.

Before there was writing, there were clay balls. Scholars are trying to decipher the code from objects found in Iran.

Dove Booksellers reports that the retail price is jumping up to $395 for The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology. It’s on sale for $257 until Tuesday (cheaper than Amazon).

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

Cudi (Judi) Dagh, possible location of Mount Ararat, from west
Photo from Eastern and Central Turkey

Tagged Galilee, Jezreel Valley, Lebanon, Resources, Shephelah, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The world’s largest Ark of the Covenant has been donated to Israel.

Leen Ritmeyer discusses the little-known Jewish excavation underneath the Temple Mount.

As for the recent challenge to the identification of Herod’s tomb at the Herodium, Ritmeyer sides with Netzer.

Have you been to Joseph’s tomb at Shechem? Ferrell Jenkins gives the biblical significance and a recent photo.

The Ephraim of Jesus’ day is modern Taybeh. There are more reasons to visit than ever before.

The “most popular photo” at The Bible and Interpretation is one our sunset shots over the Sea of
Galilee.

Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem
Photo source

Tagged Galilee, Herod's Tomb, Jerusalem, Samaria, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

Yosef Garfinkel is interviewed about Khirbet Qeiyafa at The Bible and Interpretation. He explains why he believes that King David “certainly slept there a few nights every year.”

Bryant Wood has a round-up of significant archaeological discoveries made in 2013.

Ferrell Jenkins shares an illustration of bargaining in the Middle Eastern.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the discovery of gold near the Temple Mount on this week’s edition of The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

There’s a new website for the Montfort Castle project.

This video on the Bread Culture of Jordan addresses both ancient and modern aspects of this way of life.

Gordon Franz passes on word that Gabriel Barkay recently presented a paper in Jerusalem suggesting that Absalom’s Pillar in the Kidron Valley belonged to Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:20-23). If I hear
more, I’ll note it in a future blog post.

HT: Jack Sasson, Aren Maeir

Pillar of Absalom with snow, tb022603216

The “Pillar of Absalom” in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup