Jerusalem Archives - Page 82 of 195

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The lighthouse of Alexandria is to be rebuilt near its original location.

An ancient Egyptian temple has been discovered at the Gabal Al-Silsela quarries.

One of the earliest complete copies of the Ten Commandments (from the Dead Sea Scrolls) will be on display at the Israel Museum two days a month for the next seven months.

Wayne Stiles: The Mount of Olives—Where to Stand and What to Read

A PEF lecture by James L. Starkey’s son: Not for the Greed of Gold: A Tribute and Biography of the Life and Career of J.L. Starkey, Director of the Wellcome-Marston Archaeological Expedition to Palestine, 1932-1938.

A new aerial panoramic photo from SourceFlix: Where David fought Goliath.

The Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, Tennessee, is hosting an exhibition with artifacts from Khirbet el-Maqatir.

Vandals have painted Palestinian flags on the ruins of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Haluza in southern Israel.

The Israeli government has approved a five-year plan to upgrade the Western Wall plaza.

HT: Agade, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Negev, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Palmyra has fallen to ISIS. The fear now is for the safety of the monuments and museum.

This CNN slideshow features 19 monuments destroyed in the war.

“Cyber-archaeologists” are working to virtually restore what has been destroyed.

Archaeologists were baffled at a meticulously excavated Byzantine-era winepress in Jerusalem until they learned it was exposed by local teenagers.

Catacombs are being constructed in Jerusalem to bury the dead. The first stage of the underground necropolis will hold 22,000.

This weekend’s celebration of Shavuot/Pentecost may be the largest in Israel’s history.

Donald Brake is on the Land and the Book discussing Jesus: A Visual History.

A 20-year-old female tourist died at Masada after she suffered heat stroke and fell from a cliff.

UPDATE: More details here.

What would be at the top of your list of yet-to-be-discovered finds in biblical archaeology? Steven Anderson lists his top ten.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Holidays, Jerusalem, Resources, Syria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Jerusalem Lower Aqueduct Section Discovered

A new section of the Lower Aqueduct built by the Hasmoneans to bring water to Jerusalem has been exposed near Har Homa between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. A press release from the Israel

Antiquities Authority gives more details.

The Israel Antiquities Authority conducted an archaeological excavation there following the discovery of the aqueduct. According to Ya’akov Billig, the excavation director, “The Lower Aqueduct to Jerusalem, which the Hasmonean kings constructed more than two thousand years ago in order to provide water to Jerusalem, operated intermittently until about one hundred years ago. The aqueduct begins at the ‘En ‘Eitam spring, near Solomon’s Pools south of Bethlehem, and is approximately 21 kilometers long. Despite its length, it flows along a very gentle downward slope whereby the water level falls just one meter per kilometer of distance. At first, the water was conveyed inside an open channel and about 500 years ago, during the Ottoman period, a terra cotta pipe was installed inside the channel in order to better protect the water”.
The aqueduct’s route was built in open areas in the past, but with the expansion of Jerusalem in the modern era, it now runs through a number of neighborhoods: Umm Tuba, Sur Bahar, East Talpiot and Abu Tor. Since this is one of Jerusalem’s principal sources of water, the city’s rulers took care to preserve it for some two thousand years, until it was replaced about a century ago by a modern electrically operated system. Due to its historical and archaeological importance, the Israel Antiquities Authority is taking steps to prevent any damage to the aqueduct, and is working to expose sections of its remains, study them and make them accessible to the general public.
The Umm Tuba section of the aqueduct was documented, studied, and covered up again for the sake of future generations. Other sections of the long aqueduct have been conserved for the public in the Armon Ha-Natziv tunnels, on the Sherover promenade, around the Sultan’s Pool and additional projects are planned whose themes include the Lower Aqueduct.

The story is reported by the Jerusalem Post, Arutz-7, and The Times of Israel. A more complete report of an earlier excavation of this aqueduct is available in Excavations and Surveys in Israel 2011.

The Pictorial Library of Bible Lands includes a 50-slide presentation on the entire ancient aqueduct system.

UPDATE: Joseph Lauer sends along a link to three high-res photos.

Lower Aqueduct section recently discovered
Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Judah

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

In honor of Jerusalem Day, Noam Chen shares 25 sets of then and now photos of the city.
Biblical Archaeology Review is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a two-volume coffee table book that features one article from each year.

“The Digital Atlas of Ancient Egypt is a digital cultural map of archaeological sites in Egypt” produced by students at Michigan State University.

The Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times is calling for applicants for stipends for doctoral studies at Bar Ilan University.

Research into the heights of Egyptian mummies reveals the prevalence of incest among the families of the pharaohs.

A study of animal mummies from Egypt has revealed that a third of them were empty. “Experts believe as many as 70 million animals were‭ ‬ritually slaughtered by the Egyptians to foster a huge mummification industry that even drove some species extinct.”

The Indiana Jones exhibit has opened at the National Geographic Museum. Artifacts on display include the movie version of the ark of the covenant.

Mark Wilson describes what it’s like for a biblical scholar to live in Turkey (requires login). Wilson’s Biblical Turkey is now available through Amazon.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis

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

Weekend Roundup

Leen Ritmeyer explains with word and image the Treasury of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The IAA stopped two would-be tomb robbers as they were about to penetrate a Roman period burial chamber.

Fifty years ago this week Yigael Yadin announced the discovery of the Bar Kochba letters. (An aside: if you’re looking for summer reading, I enjoyed this biography on Yadin.)

Covenant Journey is a new Taglit- (Birthright-) type program designed for Christian students to visit Israel for only $500. It is being funded in part by the Museum of the Bible.

The NIV is celebrating its “50th” anniversary with the free NIV 50th Anniversary Bible App, a 365-day reading plan, a video “The NIV: Made to Study.” And I really appreciated the academic-level review of the translation philosophy of the NIV by Doug Moo, available both in video form and free eBook.

The ruins of Palmyra are at risk in fighting between the Islamic State and Syrian forces.

Students at Johns Hopkins are learning how to re-create ancient Greek pottery.

Leon Mauldin shares a group of photos of biblical Troas.

In the category of bad Hebrew tattoos, this one ranks high.

HT: Agade, Steven Anderson, Joseph Lauer

The ruins of Palmyra
from Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Greece, Jerusalem, Syria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Was the James Brother of Jesus Ossuary Buried in the Talpiot Tomb? A Summary of Arguments

(by Ryan Jaroncyk)

Yesterday I shared a list of arguments concerning the identification of the Talpiot Tomb with the tomb of Jesus and his family. Last month proponents of that theory claimed that analysis of the “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus” ossuary reveals a geochemical fingerprint virtually identical to the Talpiot Tomb. If true, this means that the James Ossuary would have been buried in the Talpiot Tomb as well.

Below I have gathered arguments presented in favor of this latest claim as well as significant objections.

Supporting Arguments

1. At least one geologist who was involved in the analysis believes the geochemical link is indisputable.

2. A majority of scholars believe the entire inscription is authentic and from the 1st century.

3. The latest statistical study concluded that it is likely only 1.7 individuals with that unique combination of names and their apparent relationships on the ossuary lived in 1st century Jerusalem.

Moreover, the study calculated a 38% chance only 1 such individual existed, compared to a 32% chance for 2 individuals, 18% chance for 3, 8% chance for 4, etc.

4. There are no other “James son of Joseph” ossuaries.

5. The addition of “brother of” likely means that this brother “Jesus” was a well-known, influential public figure at the time. Jesus of Nazareth is an ideal candidate.

6. Only one other “brother of” ossuary has been discovered from this era.

Opposing Arguments

1. The results have not yet been published or submitted to a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

2. The sample size may be too small to yield meaningful conclusions.

3. This ossuary’s photograph was dated to the 1970s by a former FBI director during an Israeli trial, four years before the Talpiot Tomb was even excavated.

4. There is a 2nd-century reference and 4th-century literary evidence of James being buried in the Kidron Valley, not the Talpiot area.

5. The possible soil match could be from another area of the East Talpiot region and not this specific tomb.

6. This theory requires the Talpiot Tomb held 11 ossuaries, not 10 according to several of the original excavators.

7. This ossuary would have just happened to be the one by the opening to the tomb, leaving it vulnerable to illicit removal.

8. This would have just happened to be the only ossuary that was raided and stolen, while every other ossuary in the tomb was left untouched.

9. There is a minority of reputable scholars who question the authenticity of the inscription, specifically the “brother of Jesus” part.

10. Two statistical studies have estimated that there were 1.7 to 3.3 “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus” individuals alive during Jesus’s lifetime. The most recent statistical analysis estimated the following: 38% chance there was only 1 “James son of Joseph brother of James,” 32% chance there were 2 “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus” individuals, 18% chance there were 3 individuals, 8% chance there were 4 individuals, etc. This suggests that there is a 62% chance there were 2 or more individuals with this full appellation in 1st-century Jerusalem, meaning it is not likely to be totally unique.

11. At least three top scholars have argued that the “brother of Jesus” portion of the inscription is insufficient to link to Jesus of Nazareth, without any further descriptors.

12. James originated from a relatively poor family and lived in relative poverty as leader of the Jerusalem church, yet the style of the ossuary is consistent with wealth.

13. Josephus referred to James as the “brother of Jesus, who was called Christ” (Ant. 20.9.1 [§200]).

This differs from the James Ossuary which calls James the “son of Joseph.” In addition, Josephus’s descriptor, “who was called Christ” offers a definitive link to Jesus of Nazareth that is not present in the ossuary.

Tagged Jerusalem, Tomb of Jesus