Greece Archives - Page 4 of 34

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A town approximately 3,500 years old was discovered in Kom el-Negus, Egypt, located about 27 miles west of Alexandria.”

After 14 years of war, Palmyra is finally at peace, and plans are underway to rebuild.

A rare Egyptian blue ingot weighing five pounds was discovered in Nero’s grand palace in Rome.

Greece is planning to restore the Kladios Baths in ancient Olympia. The complex was first built in AD 100 and occupies 400 square meters.

Basilica B in Philippi has been partially restored.

Last year 886 artifacts were added to the inventory of the Antalya Museum.

When the Syrian government collapsed, one lone guard protected the National Museum in Damascus from looters.

The Louvre “has requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate its ageing exhibition halls.”

The Rijksmuseum has taken possession of an impressive ancient hoard of Roman and British coins found in 2023.

Tyndale House is hosting a one day conference on “The World of the Bible” on March 22, with sessions led by Tony Watkins, Peter Williams, and Dirk Jongkind. Streaming tickets are available.

A new version of Archibab is now online.

Leon Mauldin has posted a photo of a milestone on the Via Egnatia.

The first spotted hyena seen in Egypt in thousands of years ate two goats and was promptly killed.

Bible Land Passages has created a new video of the city of Athens and what Paul experienced when he visited. The 10-minute video includes on-site footage as well as new 3D models of the buildings on the acropolis.

The amazing Persepolis reliefs have been brought to life by artificial intelligence (30-second video).

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Lectures, Museums, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“In the ancient city of Metropolis, located in İzmir, Turkey, archaeologists uncovered approximately 2,000 fragmented bronze statues in an area believed to have been used as a junkyard in ancient times.”

A monumental structure excavated at Assos in western Turkey is not a fountain but a tomb. They also uncovered “one of the first mosaics with polygonal tesserae from the Hellenistic period found in Anatolia.”

“A new study published in the journal PLOS One has shed light on the diverse origins of the approximately 2 million pieces that make up the Alexander the Great mosaic from Pompeii.”

The National Museum of Underwater Antiquities in Piraeus, Greece, is under construction and set to open next year.

Carl Rasmussen shares a number of photos taken in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey related to the Neo-Hittites at Carchemish and the bull-men and griffin demons of Carchemish.

On a double episode of Digging for Truth, Gary Byers talks about the Amarna Letters and their relationship to the Exodus and Conquest.

On the Biblical World podcast, Chris McKinny and Mark Janzen discuss the sites of Pi-Ramesses, Pithom, and Succoth.

Webinar on Feb 5: “Women’s Work in Abydos: Margaret Murray, Amice Calverley, and Myrtle Broome,” by Kathleen Sheppard

New release: Thutmose III and Hatshepsut, Pharaohs of Egypt Their Lives and Afterlives, by Aidan Dodson (AUC Press, $35)

New article: “Archaeology as Cultural Heritage in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Developing an Integrated Approach beyond Narratives of Catastrophe and Emergency Response” (open-access)

Researchers have reconstructed a minute-by-minute account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its destruction of Pompeii. The article includes many graphics. The underlying journal article is available to subscribers.

Carl and Mary Rasmussen are leading an 18-day Bible tour of Turkey and Greece in May.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted photos of Jerusalem, the Horns of Hattin, Hazor from the air, Mount Hermon from Syria, and a sunset over the Suez Canal,

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Greece, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

Archaeologists found some rock-cut tombs and burial shafts near Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple. They also found her Valley Temple.

Ongoing excavations at Saqqara have revealed four mastaba tombs from the 2nd Dynasty and 10 burials from the 18th Dynasty.

Authorities are cleaning the underground spaces of Hagia Sophia in order to make them open to the public.

University College Cork has donated a number of historical objects to Egypt.

A carefully restored coffin of a priestess and musician of Amun is on display in Madrid after a seven-month restoration process.

“Two divers looted hundreds of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts from the seabed in Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, Egypt.”

“A decade after jihadists ransacked Iraq’s famed Nimrud site, archaeologists have been painstakingly putting together its ancient treasures, shattered into tens of thousands of tiny fragments.”

“A newly restored small Aramaic scroll from Qumran called 4Q550 reveals an unexpected text: it contains an Achaemenid Persian court-tale set in the court of king Xerxes I” that was previously unknown. Gad Barnea’s lecture about the text is now online.

Analysis of Iron Age swords from Iran suggests has revealed “modern glue, drill holes, and even a fragment of a modern drill bit embedded in one of the blades, evidencing the carelessness of the forgers” who “altered the weapons to enhance their commercial value.”

Kathryn Kelley, Mattia Cartolano, and Silvia Ferrara write about the invention of writing in Mesopotamia.

“Graffiti, produced by an inmate of an ancient Roman prison in Corinth, Greece, had a chilling message for captors.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Persia, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A Roman water tunnel, nearly as long as Hezekiah’s Tunnel, has recently been restored at biblical Gadara.

The Jordan Times has published a story about Khirbat as-Sar, possibly biblical Jazer.

“A trove of ancient curse tablets was made recently in Athens‘ downtown neighborhood of Kerameikos.”

“Through a recent excavation at Kouklia-Martsello in Palaepaphos, Cyprus, scientists have unearthed an ancient inscription in the Cypriot syllabary.”

Archaeologists working in Georgia have found an inscription with strange symbols unlike any known language.

“In the second phase of the restoration works, the facades of Hagia Sophia Mosque, the upper covering, and the Second Bayezid Minaret are in the focus of attention.”

Turkish Archaeological News rounds up the most important stories for the month of November.

A lecture by Christian Leitz overviews the restoration of the temple of Esna, with its “magnificent astronomical ceiling, colorful columns, and close to two hundred ink inscriptions previously undescribed.”

A meeting between the British and Greek prime ministers is raising speculation that an agreement may be in the offing for a loan of the Elgin Marbles to Athens.

New release: The Iron Age Town of Mudayna Thamad, Jordan; Excavations of the Fortifications and Northern Sector (1995–2012), by Robert Chadwick, P. M. Michèle Daviau, Margreet L. Steiner and Margaret A. Judd (BAR Publishing, £88). This site is potentially biblical Jahaz.

New release: Burning Issues in Classics, by Rhiannon Evans and Nicole Gammie (La Trobe University, free download)

Carl Rasmussen reports on his visit to Carchemish, a site he has long wanted to see.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Roger Schmidgall, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Greece, Jordan, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

Excavations began this year at Lystra, the hometown of Timothy and place where Paul was stoned and left for dead. They have already uncovered a third of a Byzantine church.

“An alabaster seal, believed to be from the Assyrian Empire and belonging to a nobleman, was discovered in the ancient Kef Fortress built by the Urartians.”

Archaeologists excavating under a Hellenistic theater in southwestern Turkey have discovered a sewage system large enough to walk in.

The Kestros Fountain at Perga in Turkey is operational after 1,800 years.

“A variety of reliefs, inscriptions, and grave stelae unearthed by archeologists help expand the understanding of gladiator history in the region of ancient Anatolia.”

The Luwian Studies Foundation wants to fill in a gap in the eastern Mediterranean around the year 1200 BC.

A 4-minute BBC video features an island off Turkey’s southern coast with underwater Roman cities, underwater Lycian tombs, and the oldest shipwreck in the world.

Over at BiblicalTurkey.org, Jason Borges describes his three-day visit to the historical sites of Cyprus.

Archaeological discoveries made during the construction of a subway line in Thessaloniki have been put on display at many of the subway stations.

Three books that caught my eye in the exhibit halls at ETS and SBL are:

The Topography of Ancient Jerusalem. 2nd Century BC – 2nd Century AD: Essays on the Urban Planning Record, Defences and Gates, by D. M. Cabaret (Peeters, 2022, $120)
The Realia Jesus: An Archaeological Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, by David Fiensy (Wipf and Stock, 2024, $10-$57)
The Odyssey of Marcus Panthera: A Journey to the Land of Israel in the First Century, by Makram Mesherky (Gesher, 2024, $20)

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Cenk Eronat, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Greece, Mediterranean Islands, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A tiny house full of exquisite frescos has been discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii.”

“Thessaloniki offers visitors 2,300-plus years of history, tremendous shopping, and a Jewish story like no other in Europe.”

“A recent British Museum video reveals that the ‘oldest map of the world in the world’ on a clay tablet from Babylon was deciphered to reveal a surprisingly familiar story.

Despite claims to the contrary, ancient peppermint was not found in the Giza Pyramids.

Bryan Windle surveys the top three reports from biblical archaeology in the month of October.

Bible History Daily remembers Donald B. Redford.

In the latest episode of Thin Edge of the Wedge, Simo Parpola reflects on his career and the State Archives of Assyria project.

Friends of ASOR Zoom webinar on Nov 6: “Beyond the Museum Walls: Engaging with Archaeology and New Media,” with panelists Michael Zimmerman, Sarah Beckmann, Deidre Brin, and Adam Aja

New release: To Eat or Not to Eat: Studies on the Biblical Dietary Prohibitions, by Peter Altmann and Anna Angelini (Mohr Siebeck, €94; open access)

New release: Knossos: Myth, History and Archaeology, by James Whitley (Bloomsbury, $22-$81)

The American Center of Research in Amman, Jordan, has announced a number of fellowships for the coming year.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from his two visits this year to Antakya, Turkey (biblical Antioch on the Orontes). The city was largely destroyed by earthquake in February 2023.

The Zoom seminar video is now available for “Reading the Bible as an Insider,” with Lois Tverberg and Milly Erema.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup