Greece Archives - Page 34 of 35

Maps for the Ancient World

Routledge Wall Maps for the Ancient World, edited by Richard Talbert, is available as a set or individually.

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

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Resources

New Blog: Corinthian Matters

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

Tagged Greece, Resources

The Colors of Ancient Marble Statues

A free exhibition at Stanford University reveals the bright colors that once covered the ancient sculptures of Greece and Rome. From the Stanford Report:

With the silent attentiveness of a physician, Ivy Nguyen passes her hands over the recumbent white lady in the darkened lab. She cradles a handheld black light in her fingers.
Under the Stanford sophomore’s skillful watch in the Cantor Arts Center lab, long-dead colors on marble come alive after two millennia.
The results of Nguyen’s painstaking efforts are on display in “True Colors: Rediscovering Pigments on Greco-Roman Marble Sculpture” at the Cantor. The exhibition runs until Aug. 7. Admission is free.
Though we still think of ancient Greece and Rome in terms of white marble sparkling under a hot Mediterranean sun, the new exhibition shows at least one Greco-Roman lady as she was meant to be seen – in Technicolor. Not everyone may take to Stanford’s painted lady, but first impressions can change. “It’s very different – some have called it kind of garish,” admitted sophomore Nguyen, but she confesses that she’s gotten used to it.
We’ve always known that ancient statues were painted: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a vase, circa 360-350 B.C., depicting a man painting a statue of Herakles. The most important evidence is on the statues themselves – traces of paint that time did not wash from the creases and crevices in porous marble.

The full story includes a photo and a video.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Greece, New Exhibits, Technology

Skeleton Wrapped in Gold Foil Discovered on Crete

This tomb in Crete dates roughly from the time of Kings Manasseh and Josiah. From the AP:

ATHENS, Greece — Greek archaeologists have found an ancient skeleton covered with gold foil in a grave on the island of Crete, officials said Tuesday.
Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis said his team discovered more than 3,000 pieces of gold foil in the 7th-century B.C. twin grave near the ancient town of Eleutherna.
Cemeteries there have produced a wealth of outstanding artifacts in recent years.
The tiny gold ornaments, from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.5 inches) long, had been sewn onto a lavish robe or shroud that initially wrapped the body of a woman and has almost completely rotted away but for a few off-white threads.
“The whole length of the (grave) was covered with small pieces of gold foil — square, circular and lozenge-shaped,” Stampolidis told The Associated Press. “We were literally digging up gold interspersed with earth, not earth with some gold in it.”

The full story is here. I have not seen any photos yet.

The archaeologists have produced a few videos of the excavation before this latest discovery:

The ruins are on the north slopes of Mount Ida, the mythical birthplace of the god Zeus.

Mount Ida from Phaistos, Crete

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Greece

Weekend Roundup

For the first time in 30 years, the scaffolds have been taken down at the Parthenon of Athens. Take your photos before they return in September.

A “Brief Summary” of the 2009 Season at Tell es-Safi/Gath is now available online.

The recent fire at Gamla apparently did not harm the synagogue or any of the antiquities.

Researchers are using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques on coins from 1st century Judea in order to more precisely establish their dates and place of origin. One discovery: copper apparently came from certain mines a century earlier than previously thought.

BAR has a look at the face of Herod Philip from a rare coin (Luke 3:1).

Der Spiegel has a fascinating profile of Zahi Hawass, “Secretary General of the Supreme Council of
Antiquities” of Egypt. (Compare that title with the “Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority” and you’ll be prepared for some of the pomposity related in the story.)

The Jerusalem Post features a travel article on Acre (Acco, Ptolemais).

The Italian professor who originated the theory that Har Karkom in Israel is the true Mount Sinai now claims that his view will soon be adopted by the Vatican. Anati’s arguments are summarized here.

Apart from the potential acceptance by the Vatican, I am not aware of any scholars who agree with
Anati’s proposal. Among the problems: he has to date the book of Exodus to 1,000 years earlier than the Bible indicates (cf. 1 Kings 6:1). Among the pluses: his Mt. Sinai is a shorter drive from Tel
Aviv.

The current issue of World Archaeology is devoted to “Turkey’s Treasures.” Myra gets a lengthy article (cf. Acts 27:5), Perge gets one page, and Laodicea and Ephesus are also featured. Arycanda reminds me of Termessos, both stunning sites located in the scenic mountains of southern Turkey.

The magazine article is currently available for viewing online, with many beautiful photographs. It reminds me why I consider Turkey to be one of the most picturesque and interesting countries I have visited.

I am sometimes asked how I get photos of biblical sites without swarms of people. I have a few tricks. One is to be the group leader so you are first on the scene. Another is to go in February when few tourists are visiting. If you have Photoshop and a tripod, there’s another ingenious way.

HT: Biblicalist, Dr. Mariottini, Paleojudaica, Explorator, Joe Lauer

Tagged Egypt, Golan, Greece, Philistines, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Last week I noted an article on the Nahal Yehudiyeh. The author, Shmuel Browns, has a website with an expanded version of the article, plus many other interesting articles and beautiful photos. I particularly like his shot of the Dead Sea sinkholes.

A team of archaeologists has created an online map of Israeli excavations in the West Bank. The project won an award last week from ASOR. You can search sites by period, type, or keyword.

Greece is planning to restore the theater of Dionysius at the foot of the acropolis. This theater was first built in the late 6th century BC.

Google is planning to make a virtual copy of the collections of the National Museum of Iraq, to be online early next year. This is good news, since the three official “re-openings” never included entrance to the public and only 8 of the 26 galleries have been restored.

The most famous place in Israel for hummus is Abu Ghosh. Now the owner of the Abu Ghosh
Restaurant is planning to break the record by making a four-ton vat. Come hungry.

HT: Explorator

Theater of Dionysius, Athens

Tagged Dead Sea, Greece, Resources