Galilee Archives - Page 69 of 84

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

Sea of Galilee and Lake Michigan Become “Sister Lakes”

From the Jerusalem Post:

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and National Infrastructures Minister Dr. Uzi Landau signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Jerusalem on Sunday establishing a “Sister Lakes” relationship between Lake Michigan and the Kinneret, to foster an educational exchange for research toward maintaining the two very critical bodies of water. Some issues of common interest between the two leaders include maintaining water quality, preserving fisheries, eliminating harmful invasive species, curbing algal proliferation and keeping water levels high – all of which are crucial to supplying ample water to the respective populations, the officials said.

The full story is here.

Tagged Galilee

Wednesday Roundup

Archaeologist Aren Maeir is interviewed on Fox News about the significance of his excavations of Philistine Gath.

Eilat Mazar is interviewed on the Book and the Spade about her discovery of the “walls of Solomon.”

Joe Zias has responded to Simcha Jacobovici’s 46-page defense of his “nails of the cross” “documentary.”

Leen Ritmeyer explains why he finds implausible the recent proposal by Finkelstein, Koch, and Lipschits that ancient Jerusalem was centered on the Temple Mount.

Some people are unhappy over an amendment to the Antiquities Authority Law which will allow the government minister to appoint the board members.

The famous city of Capernaum is explored in the most recent column by Wayne Stiles at the Jerusalem Post.

The excavations of Sidon are profiled in the Daily Star.

According to the New York Times, Egyptian antiquities minister requires $15,000 per speaking engagement and makes up to $200,000 a year as an “explorer-in-residence” for National Geographic.

I don’t know what workers under Hawass earn, but he probably makes more than the collective salaries of hundreds of them.

A Polish visitor to Israel has successfully “walked on water” after four days of practice and fifty failed attempts using a kite and surfboard.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Weekend Roundup

Discovery: Ancient Sabbath Boundary Inscription in Galilee

From the Jerusalem Post:

An ancient rock inscription of the word “Shabbat” was uncovered near Lake Kinneret this week – the first and only discovery of a stone Shabbat boundary in Hebrew.
The etching in the Lower Galilee community of Timrat appears to date from the Roman or Byzantine period.
News of the inscription, discovered by chance Sunday by a visitor strolling the community grounds, quickly reached Mordechai Aviam, head of the Institute for Galilean Archeology at Kinneret College.
“This is the first time we’ve found a Shabbat boundary inscription in Hebrew,” he said. “The letters are so clear that there is no doubt that the word is ‘Shabbat.’”
Aviam said Jews living in the area in the Roman or Byzantine era (1st-7th centuries CE) likely used the stone to denote bounds within which Jews could travel on Shabbat. The Lower Galilee of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages had a Jewish majority – many of the Talmudic sages bore toponyms indicative of Galilee communities.

The Jerusalem Post report continues here and includes a photograph of the inscription. Timrat is located about 4 miles (6 km) west of Nazareth.

The BibleWalks Blog has the story of the discovery, more photographs, and directions to the inscription.

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee

NPR Radio: Reading Ancient Graffiti

The Weekend Edition of NPR News features a story of Karen Stern’s study of ancient graffiti.

[Karen] Stern, 35, is an archaeologist and an assistant professor in the history department at Brooklyn College. Her passion is the tomb graffiti of the ancient Jews in what was then Roman Palestine. Graffiti has been “published, but sort of disregarded,” she says. “Whereas I think it is intimate, vocal and spontaneous, and adds to the historical record.”
[…]
An expedition to the Southern Galilee a few hours north ends at the site of one of the country’s richest burial sites: Beit She’arim. It is both national park and necropolis; a city of the dead dating back to the first century. There are more than 30 excavated tombs here.
[…]
It’s in the Cave of Coffins that Stern points to two inscriptions in ancient Greek. They are tiny and clustered near niches once holding oil lamps.
One says, “Take courage, Holy Parents of Pharcitae, udes adonitas — no one is immortal.” Stern explains that the dead who are being brought into the catacombs shouldn’t feel that they are weak just because they’ve passed on.
She reads aloud the other inscription: “Good luck on your resurrection.”

The article continues with a report of her visit with Boaz Zissu to a hidden cave at Horvat Lavnin in the Shephelah where they each discovered a new inscription. The NPR website includes the 13-minute audio and 16 photographs.

Horvat Lavnin, possible site of biblical Achzib, in the Shephelah of Judah

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Shephelah

2011 Summer Excavation Schedule

Some summer excavations in Israel have already begun, and many more will commence within the next month. Five excavations began yesterday or today: Tel Burna, Kefar HaHoresh, Khirbet Qeiyafa, Wadi Hamam, and Tel Gezer.

Three more excavations hit the field next week: Tel Hazor, Tel Kabri, and Khirbet Summeily. Those beginning in late June or early July include: Tel Dor, Tel Megiddo East, Tell es-Safi (Gath), Tel Akko, and Hippos-Sussita. Two teams wait until the heat of the summer before getting underway, but both are located next to the beach: Yavneh-Yam and Apollonia-Arsuf.

If you want to volunteer for a dig but cannot participate in the summer or for a lengthy duration, you might consider two year-round operations: Temple Mount Sifting Project and the Dig-for-a-Day program at Maresha (Bet Guvrin).

Last year we published a list of blogs reporting from the excavations and we may prepare another one for this year. (Any tips on such blogs are appreciated.)

The following list is organized chronologically and based upon dates given at the Find a Dig site, published by the Biblical Archaeology Society.

2011 Excavations Already Concluded

Tamar (Mezad Hazeva): February 20 – March 8, 2011; May 9 – May 22, 2011

Tel Gezer Water System Project: May 21 – June 11, 2011

Khirbet el-Maqatir: May 21 – June 4, 2011

2011 Excavations Presently Underway

Tall Jalul (in Jordan): May 3 – June 17, 2011

Tiberias: May 22 – June 17, 2011

Bethsaida: May 22 – June 25, 2011

Ashkelon: June 5 – July 15, 2011

Tel Burna: June 12 – June 30, 2011

Kefar HaHoresh: June 12 – July 7, 2011

Khirbet Qeiyafa: June 12 – July 22, 2011

Wadi Hamam: June 13 – July 15, 2011

Tel Gezer: June 13 – July 15, 2011

2011 Excavations Not Yet Begun

Tel Hazor: June 19 – July 29, 2011

Tel Kabri: June 19 – July 28, 2011

Khirbet Summeily: June 20 – July 20, 2011

Tel Dor: June 28 – August 5, 2011

Tel Dor 2: June 28 – August 6, 2011

Tel Megiddo East: July 2 – 28, 2011

Tell es-Safi (Gath): July 3 – 29, 2011

Tel Akko: July 3 – July 29, 2011

Hippos-Sussita: July 3 – 30, 2011

Yavneh-Yam: July 18 – August 12, 2011

Apollonia-Arsuf: August 1 – September 11, 2011

Long-running excavations not in the field this year include Megiddo, Tel Rehov, and Dan.

Excavations at Gezer

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Shephelah