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Season 2 of Jack Beck’s “The Holy Land—Connecting the Land with Its Stories” has been released on YouTube, with episodes on Psalm 23, David’s flight from Saul, and much more.

John DeLancey’s latest video provides a virtual tour of Gamla.

On Tuesday, David Moster will begin teaching a new course on Egypt and the Bible for The Institute of Biblical Culture.

Registration is now underway for the Bible & Archaeology Fest XXIII on October 24-25, with early bird pricing through the 9th and half price for students.

A very rare Sumerian temple plaque will be returned to Iraq by Britain because it was looted.

ACOR in Amman, Jordan, has announced a number of fellowships for the 2021-22 year.

Carl Rasmussen posts photos of the martyrium of Philip at Hierapolis.

Lawrence J. Mykytiuk is the first to be interviewed in the Scholar’s Chair series on the Bible Archaeology Report.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis

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An outdoor archaeological exhibit has been created near the beachfront of Ashkelon. There is a brief video showing the displayed artifacts here.

Ken Dark reviews the evidence for the inhabitation of Nazareth in the first century.

A company in the Golan Heights is raising locusts to help meet the world’s need for animal protein.

King Uzziah: An Archaeological Biography looks at matters of historicity, his expansion, and the earthquake in his reign.

Ferrell Jenkins asks how Bet Guvrin would look during a pandemic.

A creative agency has teamed with architects to digitally reconstruct 5 endangered World Heritage sites, including Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Palmyra.

CoinWeek has a feature on the coins of Herod the Great.

John DeLancey has released a new video entitled “Visiting Ein Gedi.”

Some statues and reliefs were discovered in a salvage excavation near Mit-Rahina in Egypt.

This piece has a bit about Egypt’s relationship with gold as well as Zahi Hawass’s relationship with Tutankhamun.

A 2nd-century AD sarcophagus with a gold diadem was discovered in Izmir (biblical Smyrna) in a rescue dig.

The British Museum is looking for help in identifying various artifacts.

Westminster Books has a sale on books from Lexham Press, including Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels and Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation ($24 ea.), both with contributions from the BiblePlaces team members.

Featured in ANE Today (but noted last year on this blog): “In Discovering New Pasts: The OI [Oriental Institute] at 100, 62 people, almost all faculty, staff, and volunteers, tell the story of the OI, past and present, and of their involvement with the Institute.” The book is available for purchase or free download here.

Recently reprinted:
Pioneer to the Past:
The Story of James Henry Breasted
, Archaeologist. $30 in print or free download.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Explorator

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“Colorful remains of mosaics from a 3rd century synagogue in the ancient town of Majdulia are the earliest evidence of synagogue decoration in the Golan.”

“A group of archaeologists, architects and researchers petitioned the High Court of Justice . . . to stop a controversial plan to build a cable car to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.”

The latest in the Life Lessons from Israel video series focuses on the Talmudic Village of Katzrin.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am write about a number of small archaeological sites in Pisgat Zeev, a northern suburb of Jerusalem.

Israel21c: Fabulous photos of 5 picturesque places to visit in Israel. The sites include Banias, En Gedi, Masada, Beth Shean, and Caesarea.

Archaeologists are hoping to continue excavations at el-Ahwat, possibly the biblical Harosheth HaGoyim, before modern construction destroys remains.

Israel’s Good Name visited the Horns of Hattin during a reenactment of the famous battle between the Crusaders and Saladin.

Carl Rasmussen reports on his visit to the “real” Bethsaida.

Luke Chandler, Ferrell Jenkins, Chris McKinny, and BibleX note the release of three new volumes in the Photo Companion to the Bible series.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

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A 3rd-century milestone found on the road leading from Sussita to Caesarea Philippi attests to the existence of Emperor Maximinus Thrax. (Haaretz premium)

Yosef Garfinkel is claiming that he discovered the fortifications that Rehoboam built at Lachish (Haaretz premium).

A few spaces remain for this summer’s excavations at Shiloh.

Aren Maeir posts some new aerial photos of Gath.

David Bivin has updated his article on the history and identification of Emmaus.

Carl Rasmussen visits Nabi Shu’ayb, the holiest Druze site in Israel.

The village of Aphrodito provides a glimpse at daily life in southern Egypt in the 6th century AD.

Zahi Hawass identifies three tunnels in the Sphinx.

A newly published inscription describes the Assyrian king “Sargon’s conquest, occupation, and reorganization of Karkemish, including his rebuilding the city with ritual ceremonies usually reserved for royal palaces in capital cities.”

An Italian team is planning to begin a partial restoration of Persepolis.

A team from Greece is photographing thousands of ancient manuscripts at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai.

“More than 300 artifacts from Queen Nefertari’s tomb are part of the National Geographic Museum exhibit ‘Queens of Egypt,’ which is on view in Washington through September 15.”

Rock&Gem explains the Minerals and Metals of the Bible (Part 1, Part 2)

The May/June issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on the Huqoq Synagogue, dogs in the biblical world, and the Assyrians.

The Biblical Archaeology Society is having a DVD Blowout Sale, with prices marked down 60-75%.

George Giacumakis died earlier this month.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Chris McKinny, Steven Anderson

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An intact 2,400-year-old ancient Greek shipwreck, believed to be the world’s oldest, has been found at the bottom of the Black Sea.

The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. announced that independent testing revealed that five of its Dead Sea Scroll fragments “show characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin and therefore will no longer be displayed at the museum.” Kipp Davis, who initially questioned their authenticity, thinks that more fragments held by American institutions will be proven to be forgeries.


Haaretz (premium) has an article on the new excavations at Tel Shimron, a biblical site that is three times larger than Megiddo.

At least 19 people were killed when a flash flood swept away a group of students touring on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

The Smithsonian magazine looks at the work of Virtual Wonders in using drone and other advanced technology to create extremely detailed 3D models of Petra. The article includes a video preview of their work.

“For a video game that includes bloody mercenaries, extraterrestrial beings, and time travel, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is shockingly faithful to our contemporary historical understanding of what Ancient Greece looked like during its golden age.”

Leon Mauldin shares photos and descriptions of Troas and Gamla.

Two new books on ancient Israel:

HT: Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Charles Savelle, Agade

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An ancient artifact discovered in Rome was apparently an instrument, but scholars are uncertain if it was a lute or a lyre.

An analysis of fish teeth discovered around Israel sheds light on the extensive fish trade in the ancient Mediterranean world.

A new discovery raises the possibility that Pliny the Younger got the date wrong for the destruction of Pompeii.

The restored synagogue at Umm el-Qanatir (Ein Keshatot) has been dedicated.

Aren Maeir led a one-day excavation at Gath to remove a balk filled with pottery, and he shares many photos.

Archaeological evidence from Gath supports the historicity of the Bible’s description of Goliath (Haaretz premium).

Authorities captured two antiquities thieves who were plundering the Galilean site of Horvat Devorah.

Pressure has increased on the city of Jerusalem to cancel the plans to build a cable car to the Western Wall and City of David.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has begun a new series: The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects.

A new study surveys ancient sites about to be destroyed as the reservoir fills behind the Ilisu Dam in Turkey.

BibleWalks has posted several hundred drone videos of ancient sites throughout Israel.

The November courses at The Institute of Biblical Culture include The Book of Psalms I and Ancient Near Eastern Texts II.

The Crossway ESV Bible Atlas is available at a pre-pub discount for Logos Bible Software.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Hasmonean kings and children in the ancient Near East.

Susan Masten, Curator of Antiquities at the Museum of the Bible, is the guest this week on The Book and the Spade.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica

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