Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A ship that wrecked off the coast of Dor circa 600 BC was carrying chunks of iron after they had been smelted, providing the first evidence that iron was traded in this form.

“Dozens of rare coins dating to about 2,000 years ago were seized from a Palestinian doctor attempting to smuggle them through the Hizma checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem on the first Friday of Ramadan.”

Oded Lipschits and colleagues have published an article in Palestine Exploration Quarterly about a mass grave of young children from the Persian period at Tel Azekah.

Ruth Marks Eglash writes about the politics of Israelis excavating in the West Bank.

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Tracker lists the latest books, book chapters, and articles about the Holy City.

“T’OMIM (Tanakh Observable Matches of Intertextual Mimesis, from Hebrew תאומים meaning “twins”) is an open-access dataset of labeled parallel passages in the Hebrew Bible, compiled for computational and literary research on inner-biblical intertextuality.”

The long-awaited Gospel Companion from Biblical Backgrounds has arrived. The resource is on sale now until the end of Passover ($29.50).

The first two episodes of Season 1 of The Sacred Thread was released this week. Remaining episodes will release one a week through April on Angel Studios.

“A new theory is drawing attention to Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands as a potential hiding place of the Ark of the Covenant.”

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the best archaeological finds of 2025 on the Biblical World podcast.

Denny Sissom will be teaching a new online class entitled “Revealing the New Testament through the History, Politics, and Customs of the Inter-Testament Period.”

New release: The Raging Torrent, 3rd edition, by Mordechai Cogan (Carta; $88)

New release: When Israel Was Young: A History of the Jewish People from the Beginnings to the Roman Conquest of Jerusalem, by Lester L. Grabbe (Bloomsbury, $25-$90; Amazon)

Legends of the Lost Ark will be in movie theaters on April 12, 14, and 15. A richly illustrated companion book by Chris McKinny and Roy Brown will soon be available. The pre-order sale price is $32.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Paleojudaica

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A rare half-shekel coin from the First Jewish Revolt was discovered during the IAA’s Judean Desert Caves survey.

Five years after discovering a Crusader sword off the coast of Dor, a diver discovered a second one.

The Times of Israel reports on the new exhibit of the entirety of the Great Isaiah Scroll.

“The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem is a singular historic gem that more people are getting the opportunity to visit thanks to the guided tours, which began this year.”

Nathan Steinmeyer looks at several examples of “mundane” archaeological discoveries that revealed dramatic insights when studied with the latest scientific methods.

Aren Maeir notes the publication of an article in which he argues that the Middle Bronze cultic structure in the City of David (as proposed by Shukron) is an Iron Age production site.

New release: A Historical Archaeology of Jerusalem: Bronze and Iron Ages, by Yuval Gadot (SBL Press, $62)

Kindle sale: Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible ($3.99, an all-time low; reg; $25; Logos $38)

On Digging for Truth, Seth Rodriquez highlights great discoveries that affirm the Old Testament.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A stone tool workshop from the Second Temple period was discovered on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem during an investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority into a gang of antiquities thieves.”

“A rare bronze scale pan was discovered during excavations in the ancient Jewish town of Sussiya by a father and daughter participating in an educational dig.”

A seal discovered in the Temple Mount Sifting Project is a rare find “from Jerusalem’s ‘Second Persian Period,’ the brief 14-year window of Sassanid rule between 614 and 628 CE.”

A Roman cemetery was discovered in the village of Jifna, north of Ramallah.

“The elderly patriarch and matriarch of a prominent Israelite family living in an imposing building in the Judean lowlands nearly 3,000 years ago appear to have enjoyed their own spacious room in a strategic part of the large home, suggesting they continued to play a prominent role within the multi-generation household into their golden years.”

The latest Jerusalem in Brief looks at the history of Absalom’s Pillar through a 19th-century photo, and more.

Hybrid lecture on Feb 26: “A Book in Two Scrolls: On the Bisection of Isaiah,” by Marcello Fidanzio (registration required). This lecture is in conjunction with the Great Isaiah Scroll exhibit which opens to the public on Tuesday (through June 6). The exhibition book is now available for sale in e-book (pdf) format.

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on March 4: “Current Research on the Holy Sepulchre and Faunal Remains,” by Luca Brancazi (Zoom link)

New release: Ashkelon 10: The Philistine Cemetery, by Daniel M. Master, Adam J. Aja, and Rachel Kalisher (Eisenbrauns, $91 with code NR26).

New release: Lahav VIII: The EB III and LB II to Iron II Strata in the Western City at Tell Halif: Excavations in Field III, 1977–1987, by Oded Borowski and Joe D. Seger (Eisenbrauns, $91 with code NR26).

Following the British Museum’s review of the anachronistic use of the term “Palestine,” PaleoJudaica explored what language Second Temple-era Jews used for the land.

Israel’s Good Name describes his visit to the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem.

Bible Mapper Atlas has created a free poster map of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator, Alexander Schick

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A beautiful seal with a Hebrew inscription from the time of Hezekiah was discovered in the Mount Carmel range. The seal is believed to have belonged to an official from Judah, and LMLK seal impressions were also found at the site.

The Caesarea aqueduct will be restored in a project that will take 40 months and cost 40 million shekels ($13 million). “The work will include planning, conservation, the constructive stabilization of each of the aqueduct’s 85 arches, engineering treatment of the upper aqueduct (the water channel itself), and of course, arranging a safe pedestrian crossing under the arches.”

The Grotto in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity will be restored for the first time in 600 years.

The Humble Skeptic visited the Hecht Museum and asks whether an ossuary discovered in 1983 that mentions Joanna the granddaughter of Theophilus might be related to the two individuals mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (18 min).

Bryan Windle shares the results of his research into the excavations of Jericho in a two-part episode of Digging for Truth.

BibleMapper has posted an audio-visual reading of very interesting Genesis 14.

The Duke University Chronicle writes about the relationship of Carol and Eric Meyers over many years of teaching and leading excavations in Galilee. (The story doesn’t mention it, but interested readers may want to pick up Eric’s An Accidental Archaeologist: A Personal Memoir. I personally enjoyed it.)

Aren Maeir announces that the 8th Annual “Jerusalem Days” conference will be held on July 7-10 at Yad Yitzah Ben-Zvi in Jerusalem on the topic of “Jerusalem: Between East and West.”

John James Davis, professor and president of Grace Theological Seminary, died this week.

Gabriel Barkay was honored this week in an event attended by many friends, colleagues, and students. The report of the evening includes recorded tributes by Paul Wright and Andy Vaughn.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The opening of the Pilgrims’ Path from Siloam to the Temple Mount is reported by The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, and Israel HaYom.

“A rare 2,000-year-old stone vessel recently uncovered in the Galilee is on display for the first time as part of the exhibition, ‘From the Great Assembly to the Knesset’ at the Knesset in Jerusalem.”

Vanessa Linares writes about the discovery of vanilla-spiced oil in a Middle Bronze Age tomb at Megiddo.

John DeLancey made a video of his walk on the new trail that runs from Chorazin to Capernaum.

Aren Maeir notes his visit to the excavations at Tel Goren (En Gedi), now in their second season.

A Ram for Mars, the third book in Christopher D. Stanley’s “A Slave’s Story” trilogy has been released ($5 on Kindle; paperback coming soon). I highly recommend the first two in the series and look forward to this one.

New release: Gaza: Archaeology and History, by Wolfgang Zwickel (Ägypten und Altes Testament, Zaphon, € 160)

Gordon Govier writes about Gabriel Barkay, the “Jewish archaeologist who inspired a generation of American Christians.”

HT: Agade, Keith Keyser

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“More than 17,000 archaeological artefacts have disappeared from museums and heritage sites in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s cultural authorities and international human rights organisations.”

“Inspectors in Israel have seized hundreds of ancient and forged coins hidden inside a balcony planter at a private home in East Jerusalem.”

John DeLancey filmed a video walking up the Pilgrim’s Road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount the day after it finally opened to the public.

Stephen Compton proposes that an Assyrian relief depicts Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem, not Eltekeh. (I disagree with several things, including the underlying premise that Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem.)

A summary of the 2025 excavations at Shiloh has been published.

Bryan Windle describes the fortifications of Jericho City V, the level he believes was destroyed by Joshua.

New release: The Chronicles of David and Solomon: 1 Chronicles 10 – 2 Chronicles 9: A New Translation and Commentary, by Yigal Levin (Bloomsbury, $126-$158; more at Amazon)

Robert Stein, longtime professor of New Testament at Bethel College and Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, died recently.

BibleMapper has created a beautiful poster map of the land of tribes of Reuben, Gad, and eastern Manasseh.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica

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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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