Italy Archives - Page 38 of 38

Jerusalem vs. Pompeii (in Google Earth)

There are not many computer programs that I am wildly ecstatic about, but Google Earth qualifies even if no others do. If you haven’t yet downloaded it, I recommend it.

I’ve been doing some reading recently on Pompeii. I think my fascination with the city may in part be owing to my “discovery” of the site years after I thought I had been to the most important ruins of the Middle East and Mediterranean world. When I visited, I felt that I had been cheated for years.

Why had no one sat me down and told me in a most serious tone that I must discard all other travel plans and get myself to Pompeii? Apparently I do not have friends who love me enough.

Sadly I learned very little from my delay in visiting Pompeii in Real Life, for I have done no better in visiting Pompeii in Google Earth. I had no idea what a treat was awaiting me. At least for those used to staring at the fuzzy, low-resolution imagery of Israel, Pompeii is a beautiful contrast. (To find Pompeii quickly, paste these coordinates in the “Fly To” box: 40.750262°14.486046°).

Here is a comparison, with screenshots taken in Google Earth from the same elevation above the sites.

Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem

Forum and Temple of Augustus, in Pompeii

I don’t know what it’s going to take before we see high-quality satellite imagery in the Middle East.

Tagged Italy, Jerusalem, Technology

Weekend Roundup

Brian Janeway has written on “New Discoveries Relating to the Apostle Paul” at the Associates for Biblical Research blog. The focus of the article is the recent analysis of the alleged tomb of Paul, but he also comments on some related finds.

Eric Cline has posted a good primer at Bible and Interpretation on the all-important 10th century BC debate in biblical archaeology. In about ten minutes of reading, you get a number of good insights into the nature of the debate and the archaeological discipline as a whole. The article is adapted from his new book, Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction (168 pages; $9 at Amazon).

I mentioned previously the Old Testament version of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, edited by John H. Walton and available in 5 volumes in November ($157 at Amazon, plus shipping surcharge). Chris Heard notes that the Genesis commentary is now available for reading on Scribd through the month of October.

Logos has a new pre-publication special of 19 volumes in a “History of Israel Collection.” You have to qualify just what a collection with that title means, because it is not the essential works on the subject. Rather these are volumes from the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies series published by Sheffield and T. & T. Clark. In other words, these are highly specialized, very expensive books. The collection is now available for $300 ($16/volume), which is about the cost of any two volumes. (A quick search at Amazon found Banks for $180, Wood for $25, McNutt for $50, Grabbe for $216, and Younger [not Youger] for $251). If you want it, buy it now, before the price jumps to $1300.

Tagged Italy, Resources

Weekend Roundup

I updated last week’s post about the mikveh discovery near the Western Wall with a link to Leen Ritmeyer’s explanation of the location of the mikveh in relation to the Xystos and Chamber of Hewn Stone.

Bob Cargill reports that Raphael Golb’s path to prison is still clear.

If you use Logos’ Libronix, but don’t subscribe to the Tyndale Tech newsletter, you’ll find David Instone-Brewer’s “Guides, Tips, and Treasures” helpful.

Ferrell Jenkins is currently traveling through Malta and Italy, visiting such biblical sites as Rhegium, Syracuse, and Rome. You can read his observations and view his photos on his blog. I’m presently working on a new CD for the Pictorial Library that will include these places and more.

Gordon Franz gives his reflections on six weeks of excavation at Hazor this summer.

The Wall Street Journal considers the claims of Palestinians who assert that

Jews have no history in the city of Jerusalem: They have never lived there, the Temple never existed, and Israeli archaeologists have admitted as much. Those who deny this are simply liars.

The WSJ mentions “A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif” as evidence in the discussion, and, as far as I know, this discovery was first mentioned and made available by a reader on this blog.

Tagged Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup

The Israel Antiquities Authority has posted a 9-minute video tour of the City of David led by archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukrun. Sites visited include Warren’s Shaft, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Siloam Tunnel, the Pool of Siloam, and the recently discovered Herodian street.

The cover story of this month’s Smithsonian magazine is the tomb of Herod the Great at the Herodium. If you don’t have access to the beautifully illustrated print edition, you can read it online here.

A review of last year’s work at Khirbet Qeiyafa (aka “Elah Fortress, Shaarayaim) is the subject of a two-part radio interview at Arutz-7.

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government must establish a national park along part of the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in order to protect important antiquities from the

expanding Muslim cemetery.
Five well-preserved Roman shipwrecks dating from the 1st century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. have been found off the western Italian coast.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has just produced a free 45-page e-book entitled, From Babylon to Baghdad: Ancient Iraq and the Modern West. The four articles are:

The Genesis of Genesis, by Victor Hurowitz
Backward Glance: Americans at Nippur, by Katharine Eugenia Jones
Europe Confronts Assyrian Art, by Mogens Trolle Larsen
Firsthand Report: Tracking Down the Looted Treasures of Iraq, by Matthew Bogdanos

Elad has asked the city of Jerusalem for permission to construct in the City of David “several apartment buildings, a 100-car-capacity parking lot, a synagogue, a kindergarten, roads and additional tourism infrastructure.”

HT: Joe Lauer and Explorator

Tagged Herod's Tomb, Italy, Jerusalem, Shephelah

The Bones and Face of the Apostle Paul

According to the Vatican, the traditional “tomb of Paul” has been authenticated. Pope Benedict XVI announced that “tiny fragments of bone . . . belong to someone who lived in the first or second century.” “This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle St. Paul.”

The skeptical would note that a lot of people lived in the first and second centuries. However, these bones were within a tomb traditionally identified with Paul. I wouldn’t call that proof, but it seems to point in the direction of authenticity. At least, it is unlikely that somebody in the Middle Ages set this all up. CNN has a report.

Additionally, what is believed to be the earliest portrait of Paul was unveiled. The painting dates to the 4th century and shows the apostle with a thin face and a dark pointy beard. You can see for yourself here.

Previous coverage of the excavation of Paul’s tomb was mentioned here and here.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Italy

Pompeii’s Dead

A new book on Pompeii by classics scholar Mary Beard of Cambridge University is considered in a travel article in the Globe and Mail. Beard believes that most of those who died were either slaves or those who intentionally chose to take their chances.

Beard argues that Pompeii’s population was smaller than previously thought, about 12,000, and that most escaped the volcanic eruption, taking the bulk of their possessions with them.
That would explain why relatively few corpses (1,100) and household effects were later found. Some citizens and slaves – half the population were slaves, many of them Jews brought from Israel after the Roman destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD – must have been stranded or chosen to stay. There were, after all, remains of 21 fresh bread loaves found in Pompeii’s ovens, when excavations began in the mid-18th century.
Beard’s book is too new to have changed the way local tour guides and historians treat the Pompeii saga, but for anyone contemplating a visit to one of the world’s greatest archeological sites, it’s a useful read.

The article continues with a look at the nearby ruins of Herculaneum and the modern city of Naples.

It ends with advice that I wish someone had given me: do not even think about driving a car in Naples.

Mount Vesuvius from the south

HT: Explorator

Tagged Italy, Tourism