Galilee Archives - Page 68 of 84

13th Annual Batchelder Conference for Biblical Archaeology

The conference began yesterday and runs through tomorrow. From the Omaha World-Herald:

The University of Nebraska at Omaha is hosting the 13th annual Batchelder Conference for Biblical Archaeology on Thursday through Saturday at the Thompson Alumni Center.
James Charlesworth, professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, will deliver the key address Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Charlesworth will describe how researchers continue to uncover mysteries in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Since 1990, UNO has led a group of institutions in uncovering and studying artifacts at the ancient city of Bethsaida on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is one of the most frequently mentioned towns in the New Testament. At least three apostles were born there, and it is purported to be the site where Jesus performed several miracles.
Rami Arav, the archaeologist who discovered the site and directs the excavation each summer at the 20-acre site, will speak Friday night at 7:30. Arav teaches in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Department of History at UNO.
The addresses by Charlesworth and Arav, as well as 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. sessions Friday and Saturday, are open to the public. A $5 donation is suggested at the door.

Did Arav discover the site of et-Tell, or should this read that Arav is the most vocal proponent of its identification with Bethsaida? The NEAEH article, written by Arav, says that “Bethsaida was first identified with et-Tell…by…U. J. Seetzen…and again in 1838 by E. Robinson” (5:1611). The imprecise wording must originate with the newspaper and not the University.

The full schedule of the conference is available as a Word document.

Tagged Galilee, Lectures

Wednesday Roundup

Joseph Patrich provides a great survey of what we know about Caesarea Maritima from archaeological excavations.

Ferrell Jenkins has written a couple of illustrated posts on Saint Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula.

The IAA has more information about the Byzantine prayer box discovered in the City of David (aka
“Walls around Jerusalem” National Park).

The West Semitic Research Project has made three RTI images available to BAR readers to view without requiring registration. (Background here.)

Wayne Stiles transports his readers to the Mount of Beatitudes in the spring.

You can now register for the 2012 season at Gath. This is one of the most popular excavations in the world.

The ancient mikveh discovered near Zorah is the subject of a 1.5 minute video at the Jerusalem Post.

A bill submitted to Israel’s parliament “aims to preserve the Dead Sea and its internationally treasured natural resources, maintain the salty waters for the benefit of the next generation, curb the plunging water levels of the northern basin and determine new terms of management for the region, which will provide for continued reasonable extraction of minerals while protecting the ecosystems and biodiversity.”

Israel’s Knesset has refused to declassify the Temple Mount Report. “Shin Bet officials argued the report should remain confidential on the grounds its contents were sensitive and its publication could result in confrontations and geopolitical changes at the site.”

A scholar claims that the number of ancient stone wheels visible only from the sky may number more than a million. Google Earth is now being used to identify these throughout Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Iraq has budgeted $8.5 million to develop the infrastructure at the ancient city of Babylon.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount

How To Discover Boundary Inscriptions

The discovery of a Sabbath boundary marker in the Galilee several months ago makes one wonder just how many more have been preserved. Surely this was not the only one, either for this village or for other villages. Inscriptions in the rock like the Sabbath one were made at least twelve times around the city of Gezer.

BibleWalks made the initial discovery and now they are encouraging others to join in the hunt. To assist in this endeavor, they have created several maps that show the Sabbath marker in relation to two ancient sites. Roads are then drawn out in each direction and the intrepid adventurer can explore these routes to discover the next inscription. As BibleWalks notes, when hiking the hills of Galilee, the joy is not only in reaching the destination but in the journey itself. You can get all of the details here.

Tagged Challenge, Galilee, Opportunities

Wednesday Roundup

A 600-lb metal anchor from the Byzantine period has been discovered off the coast south of Tel Aviv. The find led investigators to two others in the area. Photos are available from the IAA in a zip file. The Sound the Shofar exhibition opened last week in Jerusalem with more than 140 of the horns on display at the Bible Lands Museum. The story includes a two-minute video. The Jerusalem Post has more information about Google Street View in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Wayne Stiles takes readers on a visit to Shiloh, the longtime home of the tabernacle. The Archaeology of Libya is discussed in this week’s radio program at the Book and the Spade. (Here’s the direct link to the mp3 file). ATS Pro Terra Sancta has plans to renovate “the Holy Place of Sebastia.” I certainly support improving the conditions at the ancient city of Samaria, though it strikes me as odd to consider as holy the place where Ahab built a temple for Baal worship and Herod built another for the worship of the Roman emperor. An inscription in Aramaic and Greek on a stone lintel has been discovered in the area of ancient Sepphoris. The report is in Hebrew and includes a photograph. A Roman-era style bathhouse was constructed in the middle of a Early Islamic period fortress, say archaeologists excavating at Yavneh-Yam on Israel’s coast. HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson Yavneh-Yam

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Samaria, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Tuesday Roundup

Masada is profiled by Elad Benari and accompanied by a five-minute video produced by Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

CitySights has created a one-minute wordless video of the Ramparts Walk atop the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The accompanying article includes a few statistics:

The walls stretch for some 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles), rising to a height of up to 15 meters, (49 feet), with an average thickness of 3 meters (10 ft). Along the course of the walls are 11 gates to the Old City, seven of which are open: New Gate, Damascus Gate, Herod’s Gate, Lions’ Gate, Dung Gate, Jaffa Gate, and Zion Gate.

Ferrell Jenkins uses one of his aerial photos to make a powerful point about what is “known but mostly unknown.”

A five-year old boy and a 25-year-old woman drowned in separate incidents in the Sea of Galilee earlier this week.

The Israel Museum has welcomed one million visitors since the renovated campus reopened last year.

HT: ShalomIL, Paleojudaica

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Transfiguration Celebrated on Mount Tabor

I am not very familiar with this annual observance. From the Jerusalem Post:

On August 18 and 19 the Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate the annual Feast of the Transfiguration, which celebrates the transfiguration of Jesus that is traditionally thought to have occurred at Mount Tabor in the Galilee. The Catholic Church celebrated the holiday earlier this month on August 6 with a festive mass at the Church of the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor.
[…]
During this feast a night vigil occurs in the Greek Orthodox Church, which is the most unique experience associated with the holiday. Arab Christians camp in the woods surrounding the church and spend the night there, during which time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated outside the church. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated inside the Church on the August 19.
To commemorate Jesus’s climb up the mountain, some pilgrims will ascend Mount Tabor by foot.

The full article gives some details about the Transfiguration from the New Testament. It does not mention that most scholars reject Mount Tabor as the location for this event or give any of the reasons why. Three reasons may be suggested:

1. The Gospels record that Jesus was in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi before the Transfiguration (Matt 16:13). Nothing suggests that he traveled southward to Mount Tabor.

2. The event was intentionally private, and a setting on Mount Hermon or even in the mountains of Upper Galilee would be more suitable than a location on Mount Tabor. The international highway traveling through the Jezreel Valley passed next to the Mount Tabor and would have made privacy unlikely.

3. A military fort on the summit of Mount Tabor during Hasmonean and Roman times was probably in use during Jesus’ ministry and would have precluded the site as a get-away for Jesus.

Nevertheless, early Christian pilgrims were attracted to Mount Tabor as the location for this event. It is possible that its convenient location on the way to Capernaum was a factor. This would have eliminated the need for a multi-day trek up to the environs of Caesarea Philippi.

For more information (and links), see the Mount Tabor page at BiblePlaces.com (also in Spanish and French).

Summit of Mount Tabor. Nazareth is visible in the distance.

Tagged Galilee, Holidays, Jezreel Valley