Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Bryan Windle identifies the top three reports in biblical archaeology in December.

Funding has been allocated to install a new, retractable floor in the Colosseum of Rome. The restored version will include replicas of trapdoors, lifts and other mechanical elements.

Michael Arnold explains how Phoenicia’s banking and commerce allowed them to thrive in the Mediterranean world for a millennium.

A new project is examining the impact of dams on archaeology and heritage in the Middle East and North Africa.

New: Jerusalem and Other Holy Places as Foci of Multireligious and Ideological Confrontation, edited by Pieter B. Hartog, Shulamit Laderman, Vered Tohar, and Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen

New: M. Campeggi, Karkemish. Report on the Investigations in the Area of the Halaf Kilns at Yunus, by M. Campeggi (fascicle for purchase; download free)

New: Zoara, the Southern Ghor of Jordan: A Guide to the Landscape and Heritage of the Lowest Place on Earth, by Konstantinos D. Politis (open access)

Francesco M. Benedettucci has created a very extensive listing of internet resources on the archaeology of Jordan. The latest updates are provided on his Academia page.

Mark Wilson has published an article in Adalya: “The Discovery of a Menorah in Attalia (Kaleici, Antalya) and its Significance for Jewish Communities in Pamphylia” (pdf).

Online lecture on Jan 5: Ido Koch will be speaking on “One Hundred Years of Assyrian Colonialism,” from the campaigns of Tiglath-pileser III to Ashurbanipal. To receive the Zoom link, write to write to [email protected].

Online lecture on Jan 14: Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls so Sensational?, by James Charlesworth

“Alex Joffe, JP Dessel, and Rachel Hallote announce a new podcast, This Week in the Ancient Near East. Recent episodes feature discussions of the role of a comet in ushering in plant and animal domestication, the discovery of cannabis and frankincense in a Judean temple, an Iron Age figurine suggested to depict the face of God, and other new and interesting finds.” Listen or subscribe on Podbean, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

The latest on Thin End of the Wedge podcast: Daniel Nicky: Teaching Mesopotamia through music.

In a flashy new video, Aren Maeir invites you to join his team in excavating the Philistine city of Gath this coming summer.

Mike Beall and Mike Markowitz provide a tour of coins of the Bible in a 33-minute video conversation.

Carl Rasmussen gives some suggestions for enjoying what he considers to be the most beautiful museum in Athens: The New Acropolis Museum.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica, Ferrell Jenkins

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists excavating a commercial market in Baalbek found a mosaic from the Roman period.

Though archaeologists have found some 80 thermopolia in Pompeii, they have only now (apparently) completely excavated an entire one. This article has lots of photos.

“The Dead Cities, also called the ‘Forgotten Cities,’ are a series of ancient towns, monuments, and settlements located in North-Western Syria on the Aleppo plateau.”

A study has determined that Egyptian mummied baboons came from the area of modern Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Yemen, suggesting that this was the area of ancient Punt.

In photos: The forgotten Nubian pyramids of Sudan

“Hidden beneath the sands of the Arabian Peninsula lie secrets dating back thousands of years that tell the story of the people of Arabia.”

Epic Iran is an exhibit opening in London in February that will showcase 5,000 years of Iranian culture.

The latest British Museum ancient city travel guide features the amazing Persepolis in the year 500 BC.

CNN looks at the history of the mausoleum of Augustus as preparations are made to open it as a tourist site in March.

New: The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC), by Grant Frame. Use NR20 for 30% off.

New: The Restoration of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, edited By Claudio Alessandri.

Aren Maeir’s recent lecture on Philistine Gath is online.

Daniel Master will be lecturing on Jan 7 by Zoom on the Philistines in an event hosted by The Museum of the Bible.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Ted Weis

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Sinclair Bell writes about Imperial Rome’s passion for chariot racing. The article includes some beautiful illustrations, some of which come from a new documentary on the subject.

A new study shows that ancient Egyptian scribes added lead to their inks to help their writing dry.

“An Egyptian archaeological mission working in the ​​al-Ghuraifah area in Minya Governorate has uncovered the tomb of a royal treasury supervisor.”

Free lecture on YouTube: “Tutankhamun’s Life, Death, and Afterlife: New Evidence from Thebes,” by W. Raymond Johnson (available until Nov 21).

Zoom lecture on Nov 10: “Citron Detectives, Nomadic Acacias, and Pomegranate Physics: Some Puzzles and Solutions in Biblical Ethnobotany,” by Jon Greenberg, a Biblical and Talmudic ethnobotanist.

The Israeli TV series “The Holy Land in the Eyes of History” is now available online in some countries (but not the US), with subtitles in English.

Smithsonian Magazine explains the Athenian background of ostracism, in which inscribed potsherds (ostraca) were cast to exile a political candidate from the city for the next decade.

Newly launched: PEACE: a Portal of Epigraphy, Archaeology, Conservation and Education on Jewish Funerary Culture, covering from antiquity to the 20th century.

The Winter 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Herod’s throne niche at Macherus and a private archive discovered at Maresha.

Denny Sissom’s The Bridge to the New Testament is on sale now with discount code WINTER2020.

Tutku has announced its list of tours in 2021 and 2022, including discounted trips for professors to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Jordan.

Claude Mariottini provides an introduction to the city of Susa.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“For the first time, scientists and archaeologists believe that they have decrypted symbols denoting numerical fractions in the Linear A writing system.”

“An elegant summer palace once belonging to the Minoan aristocracy at Zominthos on Crete, first discovered in 1982, has yielded many more of its priceless secrets in a recent dig.”

The number of sealed wooden coffins discovered in Saqqara is now up to 59.

Excavations at Patara in Turkey have uncovered a kitchen from the time of Alexander the Great.

In Rome, an ancient villa with outstanding mosaics will soon be open to visitors.

The acropolis of Athens has all-new lighting.

Allison Thomason explores the archaeology of clothing in the ancient Near East.

A rare Roman gold coin minted in 42 BC celebrating the assassination of Julius Caesar will soon be auctioned.

A new Center for Epigraphical Studies has been established at Persepolis.

If you’re looking for a name for your baby that avoids the new and trendy, check out the Hittite Name Finder.

In a Getty Villa podcast, the museum director discusses Assyrian culture in view of the reliefs currently on loan from the British Museum.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Excavations have begun to unearth mosaics in a church built in AD 396 in Göktaş in southeastern Turkey.

27 wooden sarcophagi buried 2,500 years ago have been discovered in the ancient Saqqara necropolis near Cairo.

Alex Winston asks, What was life like for Jews under Byzantine rule?

In light of the ongoing excavations of Domus Aurea, Smithsonian Magazine considers whether Nero was as bad as people think.

A tourist crashed his drone inside of Rome’s Colosseum.

Zoom workshop: Reconsidering Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, with Helen Gries, Olof Pedersén, May-Sarah Zeßin, Kai Kaniuth, Emad Matin, Anastasia Amrhein, and Elizabeth Knott. Free registration is required.

Accordance has a couple of outstanding deals (60% or 97% off) for those crossing over from Wordsearch.

Leon Mauldin shares photos from his visits to Hebron.

Ferrell Jenkins captured a photo of Colossae that is probably the best I’ve ever seen.

Carl Rasmussen shares a photo of the Erastus Inscription at Corinth, along with another inscription still filled with metal.

HT: Keith Keyser, Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

CT scans on a couple of Egyptian mummies at the University of Haifa revealed non-human remains.

“Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry has issued new regulations and precautionary measures for archaeological missions to resume excavations.”

A study of what Romans called “Alexandrian glass” reveals that this treasured material did in fact come from Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum at the University of Leipzig is hosting a special exhibit on Heliopolis.

Jesse Millik questions some traditional views about the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Levant.

“After years of trial and error – and after getting used to the foul stench – Mohamed Ghassen Nouira has cracked how to make the prized purple dye used for royal and imperial robes in ancient times.”

Excavation and conservation work continues at the Ayanis Castle in Turkey, one of the most impressive structures of the kingdom of Urartu.

The discovery of a temple at Epidaurus in Greece suggests that worship of Asclepius began earlier than believed.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Samothrace, a Greek island that Paul visited but most tourists don’t.

Archaeologists and engineers are developing new technologies to protect Baiae, a Roman settlement now under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

There was more than one way to wipe in the ancient Roman empire.

New from Eisenbrauns: New Directions in the Study of Ancient Geography, edited by Duane W. Roller. Save 40% with code NR18.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

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.

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