Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A Roman sarcophagus was discovered in Hungary, “untouched by looters and sealed for centuries … with its stone lid still fixed in place, secured by metal clamps and molten lead.”

“Five theatrical mask reliefs have been discovered during excavations in the theater area of Kastabala, an ancient city in Osmaniye, southern Türkiye.”

Excavations at Ugarit have resumed after a 14-year hiatus.

Remember the Jordan Lead Codices? A new scientific analysis provides some answers about their dating. (James Davila gives some background.)

“A stunning replica of an ancient trireme will be displayed as the centerpiece of the new Greek Underwater Archaeology Museum” in Piraeus, opening next year.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition opens at The Museum of the Bible this weekend. “The exhibition will feature biblical texts and scrolls from the community at Qumran, as well as hundreds of artifacts that reveal details about life and Judaism during the Second Temple period.”

“More than 40 precious artifacts from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are currently on display at the Frick in New York City.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art just launched a virtual reality tour of the 1st-century BC Egyptian Temple of Dendur.

New release: Assur 2024: Continuing the Excavations in the New Town and Other Research across the Site, edited by Karen Radner and Andrea Squitieri. Exploring Assur 2. (PeWe-Verlag; 59 €; open-access)

New release: Excavating Ancient Egypt: Fifty Years of Archaeological Memories, by Jeffrey Spencer (Archaeopress; £16-£32)

In the latest episode on the Biblical World podcast, Mary Buck explains the importance of the Achaemenid Empire, including figures like Cyrus and Darius.

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

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Bryan Windle has begun a series of posts on Jericho and Joshua’s conquest based on his extensive research.

Pomegranates may be one of the seven species of the land of Israel, but right now it’s not economical to farm them and so production has plummeted.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains why the Jewish holidays appear to jump around from year to year.

The NY Times reports on the effect of the Gaza War on archaeological artifacts in the area (gift link).

Haaretz has a paywalled article about the future of the Rockefeller Museum.

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer dive into the history of biblical archaeology on the latest episode of the BiblicalWorld podcast.

The 28th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest will be held in Boston on Nov 21 to 23, with an online option available. Speakers include Aaron Burke, Eric Cline, Glenn Corbett, Erin Darby, William Dever, Pamela Gaber, Yuval Gadot, Mark Goodacre, James Hoffmeier, Ann Killebrew, Mary Joan Winn Leith, Jodi Magness, Eric Meyers, Carol Meyers, Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, Thomas Schmidt, William Schniedewind, and James Tabor.

Online on Oct 4: Jerusalem Seminary is hosting a free lecture by Noel Rabinowitz on “Jesus, Atonement and the High Holidays.” If you are registering for a semester course, you can write “Bible Places” in the “who referred you” field and the registration fee will be waived.

Available at a pre-pub discount on Logos: Faith-Affirming Findings: 50 Archaeological Discoveries That Validate the Historicity and Reliability of Scripture, by Paul D. Weaver (Kregel, $25)

Zach Miller recently hosted me on his What Your Pastor Didn’t Tell You podcast to discuss the Mesha Stele and how it relates to 2 Kings 3.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists discovered a complete hieroglyphic version of the Canopus Decree of Ptolemy III.

“For the first time, researchers have uncovered direct genomic evidence of the bacterium behind the Plague of Justinian—the world’s first recorded pandemic—in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

“Izmir’s long-running Old Smyrna (Bayrakli Hoyuk or Mound) dig was sealed by presidential decision, archaeologists were blocked from the site, and excavation inventories were seized; no reason has been shared and the future of research remains unclear.”

The Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project is celebrating its 20th year. The site is one of the best-preserved ancient Roman cities, with reconstruction underway for the agora gymnasium, southeast avenue, and the street fountain.

Tourism to ancient Babylon is increasing, and restoration work on a temple and walls is nearing completion.

Titus Kennedy is on The Book and the Spade to discuss new research on Sodom and Gomorrah and excavations of the city of Zoar.

The replication specialist at The British Museum explains what he learned in the recreation of a gladiator helmet (18 min).

Clinton Moyer provides a summary of Erin Darby’s article on how biblical archaeology has changed in the last 50 years.

All Loeb volumes in the public domain are easily downloadable here.

“Patrick McGovern, an archaeologist who analyzed ancient cauldrons, shards of pottery and broken bottles to discover and then recreate the alcoholic beverages that intoxicated prehistoric civilizations, including booze found in the tomb of King Midas, died on Aug. 24.”

An Israeli journalist describes his visit to Jewish sites in Syria, as well as the National Museum of Damascus. How long until we can do archaeology tours?

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

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July Roundup, Part 2 (Israel, Jordan, Arabia)

A new study attempts to understand why Canaanites buried lamps and bowls under their homes. It argues that the custom is related to the Egyptian presence in the land. The underlying journal article is here.

Yoav Vaknin explains how scholars date archaeological material from the Iron Age, including the use of pottery, radiocarbon dating, and archaeomagnetism.

“The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced the opening of its new exhibit detailing the October 7 massacre from the perspective of archeologists who assisted in bringing closure after the attack.”

Nathan Steinmeyer has written short pieces describing the geographical regions of the Arava and the Jezreel Valley.

James Riley Strange gives a tour of Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth.

Shmuel Munitz writes about the gymnasium and nude wrestling in Hellenistic Jerusalem.

The latest issue of ‘Atiqot is themed “The Archaeology of Death,” and includes articles related to Jerusalem, the cave of Salome, the Philistines, and much more.

The latest volume of the Israel Exploration Journal has been released, and title and abstracts can be read here.

Conference on Jerusalem on August 7: “Ancient Stone Quarries in the Southern Levant,” organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, the Geological Survey of Israel, Ben-Gurion University, and Ashkelon Academic College. Registration is here. (I haven’t found an English version of the conference program online yet.)

Jerusalem University College has a number of short-term programs in the coming year, including Pastor and Parishoner, Historical and Geographical Settings of the Bible, and Jesus and His Times. 

Andy Cook (Experience Israel Now) is leading a physically rigorous tour of Israel for those in full-time ministry in May.

Christianity Today has an article about how war interrupted many, but not all, of the summer excavations in Israel and Jordan. Gordon Govier has also recorded a program on the same subject with Jamie Fraser for The Book and the Spade.

“Located in south-western Jordan, Sela is also characterised by a hundred of cisterns, water reservoirs, both perforated or carved into the sandstone, presumably filled with rainwater through surface channels incised in the rock.”

Scientific Reports has retracted a 2021 article that argued that a cosmic airburst caused the destruction of Tall el-Hammam.

“Although the urbanization of Canaan in the Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–2000 BCE) has long been established in scholarship, recent excavations in Saudi Arabia have demonstrated that a similar process was occurring throughout northwestern Arabia.”

“The website onomasticon.net has been updated to include newly published personal names from the Iron Age II Southern Levant, bringing the total to 1,081 entries.”

New release: Fertile Crossroads: Elites and Exchange in the Southern Levant’s Early Iron Age, by Sarah Malena (Equinox, $115)

Yigal Bin-Nun raises questions about the authenticity of the Mesha Stele.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Gordon Dickson

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists have discovered ancient mosaics and detailed floor decorations during ongoing excavations in the ancient Greek city of Olympos (Greek: Ὄλυμπος) in modern-day Antalya, Turkey.”

“Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a rare Greco-Roman library in the ancient Greek city of Stratonikeia (Greek: Στρατoνικεια) in southwest Turkey, revealing new insights into the architectural and cultural legacy of one of antiquity’s largest marble cities.” By library, they mean the building, not the books/scrolls.

Jason Borges “describes the Roman road section from Antioch to Lystra, for people seeking to travel the route and explore extant remains along the Via Sebaste extension.” The article gives 11 features on the route and notes that excavations began at Lystra this year and the tell is fenced off.

Owen Jarus asks how Rameses II died and what happened when he did.

New release: The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire, by Rhyne King (University of California Press, 334 pages, $95; Amazon)

To be released on July 8: Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations, by Sam Kean (Little, Brown and Company, 464 pages, $33)

Historie & Civilisations has produced a 50-minute documentary about “Gerasa: Rome’s Forgotten City in the Jordanian Hills.”

Bryan Windle has written and illustrated an archaeological biography for Darius the Persian (the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12:22).

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists believe that they have discovered the lost city of Tharais, depicted on the Madaba Mosaic Map, in southern Jordan.

“Two seal impressions found on a large storage vessel, dated to the Early Bronze Age (2700–2300 BC), raise compelling questions about the role of Greece’s Cyclades islands in the emergence of script—potentially rewriting the more commonly accepted narrative that places the birth of writing on Minoan Crete at around 2000 BC.”

St. Catherine’s Monastery has been closed to all visitors in protest of an Egyptian court ruling that challenges its ownership status. An agreement may have been reached on Wednesday.

“The Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires has published an annotated text corpus of some 6,000 Babylonian texts from the sixth and fifth centuries BCE.”

Leonard J. Greenspoon, best known for his work in Septuagint and Jewish Bible translations, died recently.

Walter Brueggemann, a widely published OT scholar, died on Thursday. Brent A. Strawn has written a tribute.

Turkish Archaeological News surveys the main stories of the month of May.

Bible Archaeology Report’s top three reports for May “include shipwrecks, gold, and a stone capital with an intriguing image.”

HT: Agade, Keith Keyser, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Gordon Franz, Mark V. Hoffman, Ted Weis

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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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