Jordan Archives - Page 19 of 38

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

The story around the “First Century Gospel of Mark” text has turned very strange. (Michael Holmes, Elijah Hixson, Brent Nongbri, Candida Moss, Jerry Pattengale)

An Egyptian statue resembling King Tut sold for $6 million in a controversial auction.

A luxury hotel built in Antakya (biblical Antioch on the Orontes) preserves the ancient ruins found below.

Boxes of material from Jerry Vardaman’s excavations at Macherus have been dug out of storage and will be studied and published.

Omri Lernau explains what kinds of fish were eaten in ancient Jerusalem.

Dozens of metal archaeological artifacts excavated at Caesarea were stolen from an Israel Antiquities Authority storage facility (Haaretz premium).

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is a double issue, featuring articles on the wise woman of Abel Beth Maacah, the Royal Stoa of the Temple Mount, Jewish purity practices, inscriptions from Mount Gerizim, and the Copper Scroll.

Here’s a tutorial on how to write in cuneiform.

The newest Bible Land Passages documentary has been released. This 18-minute video looks the candidates for the tomb of Jesus.

In a recent episode of Hebrew Voices, David Moster explains how toilets worked in ancient Israel.

And David just produced part 2 of “How to Use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: the Masorah Notes” (20-min video).

Recent interviews on The Book and the Spade:

Shlomo Ben Asher on Magdala and the Magdala stone
Scott Stripling on the 2019 Shiloh excavations

Carl Rasmussen explains how a Lewis Bolt was used to lift heavy stones in the ancient world.

Leen Ritmeyer shares some photos from his underground work at the Temple Mount in the 1970s.

Ferrell Jenkins posts an idyllic photo of an olive tree and two olive presses.

A friend at my church is leading a 20-day tour of New Zealand this January and he has a few open spots. He’s a native New Zealander and a seminary graduate, and he will be giving biblical instruction along the way (for example, NZ has 30 million sheep!). I can’t imagine a better tour of New Zealand. Here’s a flyer with more info.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade, David Padfield, Mark Hoffman, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Samaria, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Dig:

A tower from the time of King Hezekiah was discovered on a military training base in the Hebron hills.

The first week of the Tel Burna excavation has wrapped up, and Chris McKinny shares a summary and lots of photos.

Aren Maeir provides some of the objectives for each area as they prepare to begin the 2019 season at Gath.

The latest video of the Shiloh Network News is now online.

“New finds at Tell Deir Alla in the Jordan Valley contradict previously published results that the north side of the site was used for cultic purposes.” I’m not sure how “new” these finds are, but the aerial view of the site is nice.

The May 2019 issue of the Newsletter of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities features the latest news and discoveries.

Tour:

Sappers finished clearing mines at the seventh and final monastery at Qasr al-Yahud. Six more months of mine clearing are required before the area will be safe.

Nazareth Illit (Upper Nazareth) has voted to change its name to Nof HaGalil, to end confusion with the city of Jesus’s childhood.

In a painstaking process, the Penn Museum moved its red granite 12.5 ton sphinx of Ramses II to its main museum hall.

The Getty Conservation Institute’s work at Herculaneum is focused on preserving the wall paintings.

Read:

Now available from Eisenbrauns: A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions, by Walter E. Aufrecht. This second edition includes 254 additional inscriptions, most of which have no provenance. (Use code NR18 to receive 30% off.)

Gordon Franz has posted an updated version of his article, “‘How Beautiful Are the Feet’ on the Via Egnatia.”

Carl Rasmussen shares a photo of “handcuffs” from the Roman period, along with a list of more than 20 mentions of “chains” in the New Testament.

Ferrell Jenkins posts photos of the wildflowers of the field as well as cedar and hyssop.

Listen:

John DeLancey is Gordon Govier’s guest on The Book and the Spade this week, discussing “the destruction of Jericho.”

Eve Harow interviews Leen Ritmeyer on the Land of Israel Network.

Go:

Wayne Stiles is leading a tour to Israel and Egypt in October 2020.

Thanks:

Agade, Ted Weis, David Padfield, Alexander Schick, Explorator

Break:

There will be no roundup next weekend.

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Greece, Jordan, Jordan Rift, Judah, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

This year’s Institute of Biblical Context conference was superb. If you can make it to next year’s conference (theme: the contextual world of the apostle Paul), I’d recommend it (June 8-10 in Zeeland, Michigan).

(Re-)Opening day for the Temple Mount Sifting Project was a great success.

Abigail VanderHart provides an interesting look into how the antiquities market is regulated in Israel.

The Israel Antiquities Authority is offering visitors a chance to volunteer in an archaeological excavation. There are other options with Volunteers for Israel.

Biblical Israel Ministries and Tours has produced a 6-minute devotional video with footage from Gamla.

With the summer excavations about to begin at Gath, Aren Maeir shares a preview of the 2019 shirt.

Israel’s Good Name recounts his travels in the southern Aravah, including Timna Park and several other off-the-beaten-track sites.

Walking the Text has just released the 2nd edition of “The #1 Mistake Most Everyone Makes Reading the Bible.” Select “More” at the top right.

The American Center of Oriental Research Newsletter for July-December 2018 is now online.

Egypt is asking the UK to stop Christie’s auction of a bust of King Tut.

In a well-illustrated article on the ASOR Blog, Vanessa Davies explains why the Egyptians and the Hittites made “peace” 16 years after their major battle.

Crowds of tourists are causing big problems at major tour destinations around the world.

All of Jerusalem will become a “clean air” zone under a new law passed by the City Council.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the history of the cedar of Lebanon trees at Neot Kedumim Biblical Landscape Reserve.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, Negev, Philistines, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A statue likely depicting an Ammonite king in the 9th or 8th centuries BC was discovered near the Roman theater in Amman.

“Egypt’s antiquities ministry on Saturday unveiled a 4,500-year-old burial ground near the Giza pyramids containing colourful wooden coffins and limestone statues.”

Jerald Starr argues that a plaque discovered by Sir Leonard Woolley near Ur depicts a temple prostitute.

Gabriel Barkay provides a tour of important archaeological sites in east Jerusalem.

Roman buildings like the Colosseum may have withstood earthquakes because of “seismic cloaking,” though it’s questionable whether this design was intentional.

John DeLancey is summarizing each day of his current tour to Israel, with the latest post about their visit to the Judean desert, the hill country of Samaria, Shiloh, and Beth Shean.

The Tel Burna Excavation team has released their lecture and tour schedule.

Carl Rasmussen explains and shows how early churches may have met in a second-story room above a shop.

Justin Taylor interviews Weston Fields about the history and significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss what the Bible has to say about horses and dogs on The Book and the Spade.

BiblicalCulture.org is offering a three-month long summer course in Biblical Hebrew. No previous knowledge is necessary. Classes begin in June.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project is beginning a crowdfunding campaign in order to move and resume their operations as well as publish their results.

Helga Weippert passed away in March.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Chris McKinny

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Jordan, Sad News, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“Life Lessons from Israel: Gezer” is the latest in the devotional video series by Biblical Israel Ministries and Tours.

BYU Magazine features a story about the Huqoq synagogue mosaics, with several photos and videos.

Dina Shalem explains the Peqi‘in Cave—A Unique Chalcolithic Cemetery in the Southern Levant (with many photos).

The W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research is celebrating Albright’s 128th birthday on 5/24 by seeking 524 gifts of $128 each.

“The Book of Psalms” is the newest course at the Institute of Biblical Culture.

Wayne Stiles goes to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings to understand better the tension between God’s sovereignty and our choices.

In a new article published Thursday in the Tel Aviv journal, Israel Finkelstein, Nadav Na’aman and Thomas Römer argue that the Mesha Stele records the name of “Balak,” king of Moab (see Num 22) and not the “house of David,” as proposed by André Lemaire. Lawrence Mykytiuk considers the Balak reading dubious because it is anachronistic. Ronald Hendel says they are guessing and the word could be “Bilbo.” Michael Langlois is preparing a new study based on Reflectance Transformation Imaging in which he strongly argues for “house of David.”

Macherus III, the final report on the Herodian citadel, is now available. Gyozo Voros has done a remarkable job in publishing his results most expeditiously. A festival is planned in 2020 to celebrate the work, and a new fence line will parallel the 2-mile-long Roman siege wall.

Megan Sauter interviews Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton about the new book they edited, Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament.

Bidding has opened at $10 in the Logos’s Community Pricing model for Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology (3 volumes).

Check out the new “trailer” for the Bar Ilan University Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology Department.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jordan, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Emek Shaveh is requesting that the plans for renovation in the Jewish Quarter include opening the massive Nea Church from the Byzantine period.

The controversy continues over whether the Muslims can open the Golden Gate to worshippers.

The Karaite community is concerned that the proposed Jerusalem cable car will desecrate its ancient cemetery.

Mark Barnes explains why Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem.

Ferrell shares a favorite photo this week of the Dead Sea.

Israel’s Good Name shares nature photos from his hike along Nahal Alexander.

A clever vandal spray-painted on the ancient synagogue of Merom, “This holy place will not be desecrated.”

The water level of the Sea of Galilee has risen above the lower red line for the first time in two years.

A study of the mountain fortress of Sela confirms the importance of the site in the Iron II period.

Video: An archaeologist is using drone imagery to track tomb looting in Jordan.

The Department of Antiquities of Jordan has made some great resources available for free online, including the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan.

HT: Explorator, Agade, Chris McKinny, Paleojudaica

Tagged Dead Sea, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup