Jerusalem Archives - Page 67 of 195

New Videos on the Passion Week of Jesus

Wayne Stiles has long impressed me with his knowledge of Israel and his application of the biblical truths to our lives. He’s written three excellent books, and he has faithfully written regular posts on his blog for many years.

But I think his new project is his best yet, and I’d encourage you to take a look.

Wayne has produced a series of three videos tracing the Passion Week of Jesus, “The Week That Changed the World,” as he calls it. It is outstanding. I encourage you to check out these free videos.

It’s a perfect way to prepare for and experience the Passion Week.

See them here: www.passionweektour.com

Tagged Jerusalem, Resources, Tourism

Passover Sacrifice To Be Held in Jewish Quarter of Old City

It’s been more than 1,900 years since the Jewish people have slaughtered a Passover lamb within the walls of Jerusalem. But this one still doesn’t “count” because it’s not on the Temple Mount. From The Times of Israel:

An annual reenactment of the sacrifice for the upcoming Passover festival will be held for the first time inside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The High Court of Justice on Monday upheld a police decision to bar a group of Temple Mount activists from holding their annual ceremony at Davidson Park, an archaeological site adjacent to the Western Wall on the southern side of the Temple Mount complex.
But in an unusual move, police on Wednesday said the activists would be allowed go ahead with the reenactment on Thursday in the main square of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
[…]
Just like the Passover sacrifice that was offered in the time of the Temple, it will include slaughtering a lamb, flaying it in the traditional manner, throwing its blood on a model altar, and roasting and eating it.

The full article has more details including the time of the event.

The Jewish Quarter Plaza, location of the sacrifice demonstration

Tagged Holidays, Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup (The Real Edition)

High school students excavating in Ramat Beit Shemesh have uncovered remains of a Jewish village from the first century AD.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am describe the recently opened Mikveh Trail south of the Temple Mount.

“Did archaeologists find the royal banqueting complex of King Herod the Great in Jerusalem?”

Carl Rasmussen shares an unusual photo of a cross in Jerusalem.

The predators center (walk-through exhibit) at Hai Bar Yotvata is now closed.

Israel’s Good Name recently paid a visit to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory.

John DeLancey has a wrap-up of his latest Israel tour. You may resonate with some of his concluding observations.

This week on The Book and the Spade, Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the Jebusite and Roman walls of Jerusalem.

Simon Gathercole lectured recently on “The Journeys of Jesus and Jewish Geography” at the Lanier Theological Library.

Gary Shogren suggests his favorite 5 New Testament archaeological discoveries of recent years.

Appian Media is getting closer to reaching its fundraising goal so they can finish the “Following the
Messiah” series.

Douglas Clark of LaSierra University will be leading a team of scholars to create the Madaba
Regional Archaeological Museum.

Construction workers have discovered a tomb from the Neo-Assyrian period in Erbil, Iraq.

Restoring the Mosul Museum will not be easy without any remaining artifacts.

A new walking trail and viewing terraces have been created to attract more tourists to the Titus Tunnel near the ancient port of Seleucia.

Archaeologists have discovered 38 graves in an ancient Jewish cemetery in Rome.

The tourist company Roma Experience now offers visitors to Domus Aurea an augmented reality experience with 3-D glasses that brings to life Nero’s palace as it was in the first century.

In a new article “The Old Testament and the Ancient Near East: Profits and Losses” published on the ABR website, Eugene Merrill identifies “five clear profits,” “three claimed profits,” and “two mixed blessings.”

The National Post loves Eric Cline’s 480-page tome, Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology. An illustrated excerpt discussing the antiquities trade has been posted on the ASOR Blog. The Bible and Interpretation has posted his Megiddo chapter.

Karl Katz, the first curator of the Israel Museum, has written an autobiography entitled The
Exhibitionist, which is reviewed by Asher Weill.

Eisenbrauns has published another valuable study (at a much more affordable price than many academic publishers): The Shephelah during the Iron Age, edited by Oded Lipschits and Aren M. Maeir, with articles about Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Qeiyafa, Gath, Zayit, Burna, and Halif. Maeir’s chapter on Gath is online.

William Kelly Simpson and Louis H. Feldman died recently.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, BibleX

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Museums, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working along Highway 1 near Abu Ghosh discovered a cache of bronze coins from the time of the Persian invasion in AD 614.

A study of a core sample from 1,500 feet below the floor of the Dead Sea points to lengthy droughts in the past.

With Easter approaching, the IAA gave reporters a tour of its storage facility. Haaretz goes with the sensational headline.

For two more articles on this week’s story about the edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, see The New York Times and National Geographic. The latter includes some terrific photos.

Carl Rasmussen highlights a video that allegedly shows the original stone wall of Jesus’s tomb inside the edicule.

“A World of Emotions: The Making of an Exhibition” describes the new exhibit at the Onassis Center in New York. Many photos are included.

Bible History Today has a preview of “Where Are the Royal Archives at Tel Hazor?” from the latest issue of BAR.

Philip F. Esler writes about the ancient Jewish woman that we know the most about: Babatha.

Timothy Lim explains what we know about the Dead Sea Scrolls 70 years after the initial discovery.

Wayne Stiles reveals how the events at Shechem teach us how to live more faithful lives.

HT: Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Jared Clark, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, New Exhibits, Samaria, Tomb of Jesus, Weekend Roundup

Holy Sepulcher Edicule, Restored but Now in Danger of Collapse

The iron cage holding together the edicule built over the traditional tomb of Jesus has been removed in time for the Easter celebrations, but now scientists are warning that the structure is in danger of collapsing because the foundation is built on rubble. From Daily Mail:

The team that led the recent restoration work said the foundations are so shaky that they could suddenly give way. ‘When it fails, the failure will not be a slow process, but catastrophic,’ Antonia Moropoulou, from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), told National Geographic. […] Parts of the Edicule rest on steep and sloping bedrock was once the site of an ancient quarry, and the foundation mortar of the tomb has crumbled after decades of moisture exposure. The survey also pinpointed secret tunnels and channels that run directly beneath the Edicule. […] But the researchers are now calling for another $6.5million (£5.2million) to fix the fractured foundations surrounding the Edicule. They plan to remove the precarious stone paving surrounding the Edicule and excavate the 1,000-foot site underneath to install new sewage and rainwater drainage.

The article includes more of the history of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and many great photos from today’s unveiling.

Tagged Jerusalem, Tomb of Jesus

The Longest Stone in the Temple Mount

Those interested in the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are probably aware that the largest stone is visible on a tour of the “Western Wall Tunnels.” This massive monolith is located just south of Warren’s Gate and measures 43.4 feet (13.55 m) long. There is, however, a longer stone that was discovered only recently.

Western Wall with largest Herodian stone, tb123109463

Largest (known) stone in the Temple Mount

In Eilat Mazar’s survey of The Walls of the Temple Mount (reviewed here), she identified an even longer stone, and it has been seen by dozens of archaeologists and thousands of visitors for many years without its significance being realized.

The longest stone in the Temple Mount is in the photo below. Can you spot it?

The pier of Robinson’s Arch

Eilat Mazar determined that the second course of Robinson’s Arch is actually a single stone. The break in the middle is simply a crack in a single stone, not the division between two stones. This stone beats out the other by 2.2 feet (0.7 m), measuring 45.6 feet (14.27 m) long. It is not nearly as tall, so the other retains its title as the largest.

Robinson's Arch from west, tb050312430-labeled

The pier of Robinson’s Arch with the longest stone identified

A final note: I learned about this discovery when preparing an essay for the recently released Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, edited by Barry J. Beitzel. That essay,
“Magnificent Stones and Wonderful Buildings of the Temple Complex,” provides more interesting details about the construction of the Temple and its surrounding structures. This commentary is included with purchase of a Logos 7 base package (silver and up). I plan to say more about this excellent work in the future. In the meantime, there’s a preview here, more details here, and a discussion group here.

I’m told they plan to release the volume as a standalone digital work, with hopefully a printed book to follow.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Temple Mount