Jerusalem Archives - Page 107 of 198

Weekend Roundup

A sonar survey has identified a large stone structure on the floor of the Sea of Galilee. It may be related to the contemporary third-millennium BC site of nearby Beth Yerah (Khirbet Kerak). The scientific article includes illustrations.

Archaeologists have discovered a port on the Red Sea from the time of Pharaoh Cheops.

Admission to the Israel Museum is free on Independence Day, April 16.

Sharks are rare in the Mediterranean Sea but not in the Red Sea. One came close to swimmers in Eilat last week.

Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, has inaugurated its Archaeology Museum Gallery.

If Israel was ever mapped out on the game of Monopoly, Megiddo would be Boardwalk.

Kyle Pope has written a good article on “The Hinnom Valley and Jesus’ Teaching on Final Punishment.” Barry Britnell shares a photo of the valley.

Details for volunteers for this summer’s dig at Tel Burna are now available. Apply before May 1.
zmetro has four 360-degree panoramas of Laodicea. The excavators and restorers are making great progress at the site.

HT: Charles Savelle, Tony Lawrence, Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Stone structure under the Sea of Galilee

Illustration by Shmuel Marco

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Unique Ritual Bath Complex Excavated in Jerusalem

Archaeologists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently excavated a unique ritual bath (mikveh) in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood of Jerusalem (southwest of the Old City). Three separate collecting tanks (otzar) were carved into the rock in order to collect as much rainwater as possible.

The IAA press release quotes Benyamin Storchan, director of the excavation:

Numerous ritual baths have been excavated in Jerusalem in recent years, but the water supply system that we exposed in this excavation is unique and unusual. The ritual bath consists of an underground chamber entered by way of steps. The miqwe received the rainwater from three collecting basins (otzar) that were hewn on the roof of the bath, and the pure water was conveyed inside the chamber through channels.
The ritual baths known until now usually consist of a closed cavity that was supplied with rainwater conveyed from a small rock-cut pool located nearby. The complex that was exposed at this time is a more sophisticated and intricate system. The bath was apparently associated with a settlement that was situated there in the Second Temple period. Presumably, due to the rainfall regime and arid conditions of the region, the inhabitants sought special techniques that would make it possible to store every drop of water.
It is interesting to note that the bath conforms to all of the laws of kashrut, like collecting the water in it naturally without human contact, and ensuring that the water does not seep into the earth which is why the bath was treated with a special kind of plaster.

The full press release is here, and three high-res photos are available in a zip file. The story is also reported by the Jerusalem Post and Arutz-7.

Archaeologist Benyamin Storchan stands in the immersion chamber of the mikveh.

Aerial view of the excavations

Aerial view of three storage tanks and channels

All photos courtesy of the IAA. The second and third are by Skyview.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup

Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has written an article on the little-known Church of St. Mark near the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to tradition in the Syriac Orthodox church, this was the place of the Last Supper.

A Byzantine winepress has been excavated at Hamei Yo’av near Kiryat Gat. High-resolution photos are available here (zip).

If you’re traveling to the Middle East, it’s worth preparing not only for the sites, but also for the food.

Debra Kamin has four rules for eating hummus.

The LMLK Blogspot has a “modern ancient art mystery” for savvy biblical archaeology sleuths.

The AP has more about the new excavations in the city of Ur.

Scientists are studying a battering ram found in a Greek or Roman ship sunk off the coast of Libya.

The ruins of ancient Palmyra are being threatened by the fighting in Syria.

Some new maps of the ancient world are now going online at the Encyclopedia of Ancient History.

Aren Maeir will be lecturing on “The Search for Goliath” on April 18 at William Jessup University.

Yesterday’s quotation was by William Dever, long-time crusader against biblical archaeology. It’s
from page 14 of Archaeology and Biblical Studies: Retrospects and Prospects. Evanston, IL:
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 1974.

HT: Jack Sasson

Syrian Orthodox Church, St Mark's Convent, traditional house of Mark and Upper Room, tb010312374

Entrance to Church of St. Mark
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, Jerusalem volume (available at Amazon for $220 or at BiblePlaces.com for $39)

Tagged Challenge, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Tourism

Weekend Roundup

The Israel Prize for the Land of Israel, Geography, and Archaeology “will not be given because the prize committee attempted to award it to two candidates, in violation of ministry rules which state that each prize may be given to only one winner.”

The Garden Tomb is now suggesting a $5 donation.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem is recommended for children, according to this article in Haaretz.

A couple of Russian tourists climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid and took some photos.

Ted Weis (Living the Biblios) has written a Garden of Gethsemane Devotional and illustrated it with a number of helpful photos.

New excavations at Ur in southern Iraq have revealed a palace or temple.

David Amit, deputy director of the Excavations and Surveys Department of the Israel Antiquities
Authority, died last week.

The Vatican has asked Israel’s Chief of Police to protect Christians in Israel after criminals halted restoration work of the chapel in Nain.

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor’s new book, Keys to Jerusalem: Collected Essays, is reviewed by Joshua Schwartz in the Review of Biblical Literature.

The commercial heart of the ancient city of Thessalonica is in the way of a new subway station and
that’s a big problem.

Give SourceFlix two minutes and they’ll give you “Passion Week Archaeology.”

HT: Jack Sasson, Explorator

The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Greece, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The last week of ASOR’s March Fellowship Madness is here, and one donor be randomly selected to receive a copy of The Photographs of the American Palestine Exploration Society, which features over 150 pictures taken at sites around the Near East in 1875.

Here’s a very high-resolution panoramic shot of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

Popular Mechanics has a story on the value of 3-D modeling for archaeology.

A 3-D model of the Temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak has been created with the help of the UCLA team who created one of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Archaeologists working at Tel Habuwa east of the Suez Canal have found evidence for battles between the Egyptians and Hyksos.

A well-preserved sundial from the 13th century BC was discovered in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor.

Turkey is demanding Germany return more ancient artifacts.

The 1862 Middle East tour of the future King Edward VII is the subject of a new exhibition in

Edinburgh.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Explorator

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Museums, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Passover Sacrifice Reenactment

From Arutz-7:

Jewish groups held a mock Passover sacrifice on Thursday opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The ritual slaughter was not merely a historic reenactment, but, they say, practice in advance of the reconstruction of the Temple. The practice sacrifice has been held annually for the past several years. This year organizers were unpleasantly surprised by a veto from Israel’s Veterinary Services, which refused to authorize the event. Organizers took the matter to court, and were able to quickly get a ruling permitting the ritual. The various groups involved in the event were represented by Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who told Arutz Sheva that the ritual was carried out with as much Biblical accuracy as possible. “We took the goat, as the Torah commands, we had an altar built like the real one, and a cooking pit built according to halacha [Jewish law],” he said. “We slaughtered the goat with Leviim singing and priestly clothing, just like in the real Passover sacrifice.”

The full story includes a one-minute amateur video. Another video from a similar service several years ago was produced by SourceFlix.

Tagged Holidays, Jerusalem