Greece Archives - Page 34 of 34

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

Athens Acropolis Museum Opens

The long-awaited New Acropolis Museum in Athens opened this weekend after years of delay. The Greeks say they didn’t “build it for the British,” but they intend it to be a strong argument for the return of the Elgin Marbles. From the New York Times:

The museum, which cost $200 million and sits near the base of the Acropolis with a direct view of the Parthenon, is one of the highest-profile cultural projects undertaken in Europe in this decade.
Intended as “the ultimate showcase of classical civilization,” Mr. Samaras said, it was built to promote tourism and, like any large, government-financed museum, to stir national pride. But it was also meant, not incidentally, to spark discomfort in another country in the European Union.
“We didn’t build this for the sake of the British,” Mr. Samaras said in an interview, adding at once, “but look around: does this not negate the argument that Athens has no place good enough to house the Parthenon Marbles?”…
The new museum, 226,000 square feet of glass and concrete designed by the New York architect Bernard Tschumi, replaces the old Acropolis Museum, a small 1874 building tucked into the rock of the Acropolis next to the Parthenon. The design, introduced in 2001, was meant to be completed in time for the 2004 Olympics, but dozens of legal battles — many having to do with some 25 buildings that were demolished to make room for it — delayed the process for years.
Even now, not all Athenians are happy with the building, wedged in as it is among apartment buildings in a middle-class residential district. “It is as if a titanic U.F.O. landed in the neighborhood, obliterating all of its surrounding structures,” said Nikos Dimou, a prominent Greek author.
The museum has five floors (including two basement levels that will not be open at first), which provide space for 4,000 artifacts, 10 times the number displayed in the old building. On the first level a glass floor offers visitors close-up views of an early Christian settlement, dating from the 7th to 12th centuries, that was discovered under part of the future building’s footprint during excavations in 2002.

The Times article includes a slideshow with nine photos.

HT: Explorator

Tagged Greece, Museums