The recent discovery of 131 cuneiform tablets at Kayalipinar, Turkey, brings the total to 184, making it “the most comprehensive Hittite archive discovered in this century.”
“Remains of what appears to be the world’s oldest shipwreck have been found near the island of Kekova, off the southwest coast of Turkey.” The Early Bronze Age vessel was carrying amphorae likely containing oil or wine.
Thomas E. Levy reviews the “Ramses and the Pharaohs’ Gold” exhibition in London and marvels at the lack of mention of the biblical exodus. He notes as well the absence of the Merneptah Stele.
Greece’s National Archaeological Museum has extended its temporary exhibition, “Pylos of Nestor: A Mycenaean Kingdom Revealed,” until Sunday, 31 January 2027.
“Retired Turkish archaeology professor Fahri Isik has raised concerns over the growing number of archaeology departments in Türkiye, arguing that universities should prioritize academic expertise, research infrastructure and long-term institutional development rather than simply opening new programs.”
A new study of the industrial compound at Tel Shiqmona reveals that the space was “structured by the seasonal cycle: olive pressing in late autumn, livestock sheltering in winter, and textile production in spring.” A news report may be found here.
“Two rediscovered photographs from a 1930s excavation show where tombs were located inside the North Church baptistery” of Shivta.
The Israeli government has begun renovating “Herod’s Pools,” located near the Petzael Springs in the Jordan Valley. Another project recently begun is the “Joshua Trail” which will include a suspension bridge between Elon Moreh and Mount Kabir.
Chandler Collins has converted his Jerusalem Tracker Part 2 series into “Jerusalem in Brief,” focusing on the most interesting stories and providing further comment and context.
“An ancient Greek funeral elegy stele was found within a pyramid-shaped mud-brick tomb in the Bir al-Shaghala archaeological site in the Dakhla Oasis.”
“An ancient fortress that guarded Egypt’s western frontier more than 3,000 years ago has yielded a rare horse burial, inscriptions linked to Ramesses II and evidence of military and daily life.”
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is offering three excavation and conservation opportunities for students next year: (1) Agora excavation; (2) archaeological conservation; (3) Corinth excavation.
An upcoming exhibition, “Athena, the Stage is Yours: The Parthenon Puzzle,” will attempt “to document a new, archaeologically sound proposal for the complete reconstruction of the sculptures on the east pediment of the Parthenon.”
“Charles K. Williams II, the renowned American archaeologist who devoted more than three decades to excavations at Ancient Corinth, died on September 16, 2026, at the age of 96.”
“A new study of nearly 300,000 kilometers of Roman roads shows how geography and major cities shaped movement across the empire. The findings challenge the old idea that Roman roads formed a simple system leading toward Rome.”
If you plan to visit biblical sites, you will benefit from a good guidebook. For years I have recommended excellent resources such as Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land, Clyde E. Fant and Mitchell G. Reddish, A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, and Mark Wilson, Biblical Turkey. These books share the same basic approach: organized by site, they explain a city’s principal features and its relevance to the Bible.
Jason Borges’s new work takes a different approach, and for travelers in Italy, Greece, and Turkey, it may be just as valuable. Instead of going site by site, Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City: The Civic and Architectural Contexts of Early Christianity goes feature by feature, teaching you how to understand what you encounter again and again in every Greco-Roman city: theaters, agoras, temples, baths, and more.
Perhaps you’ve had this experience: you visit an ancient theater, and the guide gives you the basics. At the next city, you hear the same basics. Then you arrive at a third theater, and well, here we go again. What you need is a single, in-depth exploration of what theaters were, how they functioned, how their architecture works, how they shaped society, and how they illuminate the New Testament.
Great Theater at Ephesus
In less than an hour of your time (24 pages), Borges gives you that in-depth explanation and more. You learn that there were nearly a thousand theaters across the Roman Empire, that many could accommodate more than ten thousand spectators, that seating reflected social divisions, that Roman performances were crude and erotic, and that only one theater is explicitly mentioned in the New Testament—the theater at Ephesus in Acts 19.
You also learn the differences between theaters, amphitheaters, and circuses. Borges shows how Jesus’s teaching reveals his familiarity with public entertainment, how Paul compared the faith to athletics, and what the apostle meant when he said that he “fought with wild animals in Ephesus” (1 Cor 15:32). Borges’s mastery of early church history allows him to make various connections to Christian martyrs.
I enjoyed the chapter on the agora even more. After defining what an agora is (“the central public space … akin to a modern town square … the heart of every community”), Borges explains a number of interesting ancient words and phrases related to the agora, such as:
“when the agora is full” – a time designation referring to midmorning (ca. 10 am)
“breaking up of the agora” – the end of the morning (ca. 12 noon)
being “taken to the agora” – being brought to court, especially in cases involving mob justice
agoraios – a person who “belongs to the marketplace,” usually translated “loafer” or “idler” (Acts 17:5)
If you’ve ever wondered why some cities have two separate agoras, it’s because of those loafers. Greek elites wanted to separate the riffraff in the marketplace from the civic spaces where magistrates governed the city.
Commercial agora at Ephesus
Borges explains what Jesus meant when he spoke of the “children sitting in the agora” (Luke 7:31), why Paul went to the agora in Athens (Acts 17:17), and what important feature of the agora is mentioned twelve times in the NT (the bema). He concludes the chapter with an edifying section on the verb derived from agora, agorazō, (“to buy”). Because slave markets were a common feature of agoras, the setting gives added force to the New Testament’s language of redemption: “against this sobering backdrop, the NT authors declare a divine economy with a different market transaction: Jesus purchased us for God.”
I think any one of these chapters is worth the price of the book ($25; $15 on Kindle). You’ll find much to mark and annotate in the introductory chapter on the ancient city and in the chapters that follow on agoras, temples, baths, prisons, theaters, libraries, and necropolises. I highly recommend the book to anyone who has traveled to or will travel to the Mediterranean area, along with all those just want to better understand the world so familiar to the people of the New Testament.
“On a Turkish hillside overlooking the olive-covered slopes outside Izmir is a cave known to generations of locals as the place where Homer penned ‘The Odyssey.’”
“Athens’ U-shaped Panathenaic Stadium — made entirely of white marble — is getting its first systematic cleaning in more than a century.”
“The remains of an ancient bridge [from the time of Caligula] have emerged in Rome’s Tiber River, near St. Peter’s Basilica, as weeks with virtually no rain caused water levels to plunge.”
“Some households in Pompeii burned incense that likely came from Asian or African forests, connected via a global trade network, according to a new study.”
“A cave in eastern Spain is revealing new clues about the ritual lives of Roman women, after archaeologists documented more than 120 Latin inscriptions — the highest number known anywhere in the Roman Empire — at an underground sanctuary.”
“Archaeologists excavating in the world-famous Temple of Artemis in [Ephesus] have uncovered an extraordinary 1,200-year-old Byzantine grave containing premature twin infants.”
“Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Sardis in western Türkiye have uncovered a monumental marble statue of a young man dating back approximately 2,500 years.”
A new study claims to explain the mystery of the amazing acoustics at the theater of Epidaurus. The secret is in how the limestone material of the secrets suppresses low frequencies of background crowd noise and reflects high frequencies back towards the audience.
The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.
