If you’re on holiday in Rhodes and you don’t mind swimming a bit, you can get your diving practice from this concrete platform.
Paul briefly visited Rhodes as he traveled back to Jerusalem on his third missionary journey.
Acts 21:1 — After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.
If you’re thinking of a trip to biblical lands, you might want to choose a country other than Greece this year. From the Guardian:
The greatest repository of ancient Greek art – the National Archaeological Museum of Athens – has become the latest victim of the economic crisis engulfing Greece, with visitors getting only a peek at its renowned collections.
As the long-awaited tourist season begins, the debt-choked country’s top attraction is in the news for all the wrong reasons: closed exhibition halls, neglect and exasperated holidaymakers.
“This is our first time to Greece and of course we’re disappointed,” said Shareen Young, from Orange Country, California, who on Friday found herself locked out of the venerable institution because of a staff shortage. “I had really wanted to see the golden Mask of Agamemnon and other treasures of Troy.”
Barbara Vimercati, an Italian tourist, was also left standing outside the museum’s monumental bronze doors. “It says it’s open until 4pm but it’s not, and there isn’t even a note explaining why,” she said, making do with a glimpse of cellophane-wrapped statues in an adjacent corridor. “It’s unbelievable. We don’t understand.”
Most Greeks, including the museum’s keepers, are similarly at a loss. “We have 11,000 exhibits, five permanent collections and galleries over more than 8,000 square metres of space,” said Alexandra Christopoulou, a museum representative. “The season begins in April. I really don’t know why it has taken so long for the culture ministry to send extra personnel.”
With just 30 guards to supervise displays that require at least 130 on a daily basis, only eight of the museum’s 64 exhibition halls were open to the public last Sunday, according to the Kathimerini newspaper. Visitors have reportedly almost come to blows with staff when they discover that their €7 (£6.25) ticket gives them access to only a fraction of the displays.
The story continues here.
HT: Jack Sasson
The theft of dozens of antiquities from Eleusis (Eleusina, Elefsina) has been solved and the items recovered by Greek police.
Nearly 2,000 artifacts smuggled out of Turkey have been recovered and returned this year alone. The article notes that the country has almost 200 museums.
The Israeli government approved a plan to rehabilitate the polluted Kishon River. After the three-year process is complete, plans call for converting the area into a park with bicycle and walking paths.
Leen Ritmeyer comments on Israel’s largest underground stream, discovered recently in construction of the railway under Jerusalem.
Wayne Stiles explains the historic significance of Beth Shean and its attraction to archaeologists. The article also includes a two-minute aerial fly-over of the ancient city.
The NY Times profiles the full-size replica of Noah’s Ark being built in Holland. One consideration the original builder did not have: making the boat fire-proof. The article mentions the possibility of the ark visiting London for the Olympic Games next year as well as interest from Texas and Israel. A photo shows how impressive the boat is.
After raising $3 million for the replica of Noah’s Ark in Kentucky, an updated webpage now provides details about various sections of the theme park. Visitors will enjoy seeing reconstructions of the Tower of Babel, a walled city, and a first-century village. The children’s area will include zip lines.
Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem District Archaeologist, is interviewed on the LandMinds radio show.
An article in Popular Archaeology reviews the excavations of copper mines in the Aravah and the possible implications for our understanding of the time of Solomon.
Israel is celebrating today “Jerusalem Day,” and the unification of the city in 1967 is remembered in the return of Jehuda Hartman to the Western Wall to “update” an iconic photo. Hartman comments on some of the great changes to the Western Wall area in the last four decades.
HT: Explorator, Jack Sasson
The official Lego website claims that their special building blocks were first created in the year 1932.
Evidence to the contrary comes from the island of Cos, where this object was uncovered in the temple of the Asclepium. One can only wonder if native son Hippocrates was the first inventor of these wonderful toys.
Routledge Wall Maps for the Ancient World, edited by Richard Talbert, is available as a set or individually.
From the publisher’s website:
Routledge Wall Maps for the Ancient World provide both students and scholars with detailed and exacting geographic information of the ancient world. Using the world renowned geographic data from the Ancient World Mapping Centre, the sweeping views of the ancient world allow students to understand important concepts such as trade, movement, spatial and cultural relations and to consider how the ancient terrain would have affected them. The maps provide a powerful tool for comprehending how the ancient world worked and also to help re-evaluate out-dated theories in light of precise geographic information.
Those students who are new to the discipline of ancient history will find them invaluable in orientating themselves within the world of the past. How far is Athens from Sparta, what type of terrain did Alexander have to cross on his journeys, how did the valley of the Nile look in 500 BC? Such questions and many more are answered by the maps within this series.
Egypt and the Near East 3000-1200 BCE
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58500-2: $64.95 [$21.80 at Amazon]
Egypt and the Near East 1200 – 500 BCE
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58499-9: $64.95 [$38.35 at Amazon]
Greece and the Aegean in the 5th Century BCE
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58441-8: $64.95 [57.94 at Amazon]
Greece and Persia in the Time of Alexander the Great
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58498-2: $64.95 [57.94 at Amazon]
Italy in the Mid First Century CE
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58440-1: $64.95 [57.94 at Amazon]
The Roman Empire around 200 CE
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58439-5: $64.95 [57.94 at Amazon]
The World of the New Testament and the Journeys of Paul
Wall Map: 978-0-415-58501-9: $64.95 [57.94 at Amazon]
Professors may request a complimentary examination copy via a link at the Routledge website. As I write, the publisher’s website is painfully slow, but the links to Amazon work quickly. In many cases, the maps are available from the Amazon Marketplace for even less than the prices listed above.
HT: Jack Sasson
A relatively new blog that may be of interest to readers here is Corinthian Matters. Focused on “the history and archaeology of Corinthia, Greece,” the site is the creation of David Pettegrew, Assistant Professor of History at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His dissertation was entitled Corinth on the Isthmus and was completed in 2006 at the Ohio State University.
Recent posts include links to recent scholarship, news articles, new digital resources, a new section of maps, and even a music video. Links in the top navigation bar lead to a photo gallery, bibliographic resources, and more maps.
Students and teachers of Acts and the letters to the Corinthians will find this a very useful resource.
HT: Gordon Franz