Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Adramytteion in western Türkiye have uncovered an unusually personal trace of Roman domestic life: a cat and a dog depicted in a mosaic from the villa’s 2nd–3rd-century AD phase, accompanied by inscriptions giving their names.” Adramyttium is mentioned in Acts 27:2.

The AFP reports on archaeological discoveries in Lebanon in recent years.

The British Museum Blog looks at wigs and hairstyles in ancient Egypt.

On Digging for Truth, Bryan Windle gives an archaeological biography for Sargon II.

New release: Babel and Bible: The Impact of Mesopotamia on Biblical Studies 1872-1924, by Rannfrid I. Lasine Thelle (Bloomsbury; $76–$108)

Hybrid lecture on Sept 16 at the Albright: “The Site That Broke the Clock: Radiocarbon Dating, Pottery, and Rewriting the Early Bronze Age ‘Collapse’ in Jordan,” by James Fraser

Zoom lecture on Sept 23: “The Wondrous Phenomenon of the Artesian Spring – New Excavations at Tall Zirāʿa,” by Dieter Vieweger

An Italian man who constructed his own “ancient Greek theater” and charged tourists to see it is now in jail.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Paleojudaica

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

One thousand female figurines have been found in Jerusalem, but until now no such mold has been discovered in the city. Archaeologists found one when sifting soil from the Kishle excavation south of the Tower of David Museum. Lauren K. McCormick gives more background on Judean Pillar Figurines, including some explanations for why so few molds have been found in Israel.

“A municipal employee searching for lost jewelry on the beach in Ashdod instead uncovered a rare 2,500-year-old coin from ancient Cyprus, which archaeologists say is the first of its kind ever found in Israel.”

A raid of a home of an antiquities thief in the Jordan Valley recovered “approximately 400 ancient coins, pottery fragments, several arrowheads, an antique dagger, and multiple seals and rings, all dating to the Persian, Hellenistic, Hasmonean, and Byzantine eras.”

Aren Maeir visited the excavations at Tel Shadud and Hazor.

“The top three reports in biblical archaeology in July 2026 featured evidence of Judahite idolatry, remains from the Babylonian destruction in Jerusalem, and the discovery of three, previously unknown Assyrian kings.”

Online lecture on Oct 6: “When Worlds Collide: Mediterranean Mercenaries and Israel’s Genesis,” by Aaron Burke (BAS Scholars Series, $10)

New release: Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969-1982, Volume X: Area M (The Peristyle House), by Ronny Reich (Israel Exploration Society, $111)

First time for sale on Kindle: Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, by Tom Holland (Basic Books, 2023; $1.99)

SBL Press is running a $5 flash sale through August 2 on three ebooks related to Phoenicia when you use code PHOENICIA:

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A fragment of a large stele of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (669-631 BC) was discovered at Nineveh. The front side features a high-relief sculpture of the king, and the back apparently documents the king’s architectural works and achievements.

Analysis of a Byzantine-era shipwreck off the coast of Croatia has been announced, including the largest amount of gold ever found on a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea.

“A 6,000-year-old infant buried in ancient Syria has given researchers what looks like the oldest known case of child abuse in the Middle East.”

A Roman road in southern Turkey has been fully documented and now will be restored to become part of a cultural tourism route.

New release: Ancient Tyre between Myth and History, by Hélène Sader (SBL Press, $50; Amazon)

New release: Music in the Ancient Near East: Archaeological, Historical, and Societal Considerations, edited by Heidi Köpp-Junk and Shane M. Thompson (Archaeopress, £16-35)

Two US tourists were stabbed near the entrance to the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

James Hoffmeier is on the Biblical World podcast to discuss his new book, Israel In and Out of Egypt.

Bryan Windle has written an archaeological biography of Tiberius Caesar.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

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Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have unearthed a Byzantine church with colorful mosaic floors at Nitzana (Nessana) in the Negev.

A lead sling bullet with the Greek word for “learn” was discovered in excavations at Hippos (Susita). The inscription “represents local sarcastic humor on the part of the city’s defenders, who wished to teach their enemies a lesson with a wink – ‘Learn your lesson!’” The underlying journal article is here.

Lauren K. McCormick writes about Byzantine baptismal halls at Hippos.

Rujm el-Hiri, the structure in the Golan Heights with concentric rings, is not unique, as scientists have identified 28 large circular structures within a 16-mile radius of the site.

“Archaeologists working off the coast of Libya have identified an underwater ‘ship graveyard’ near the ancient Greek city of Ptolemais.”

“Researchers are painstakingly reconstructing the oldest-known map of the night sky – previously thought lost forever – by X-raying parchment that contains the star catalog hidden beneath other text.”

“Amid rocket sirens and interceptions, two antiquities thieves were apprehended at the Horvat Hermesh site, which houses the remains of an ancient settlement from the Roman and Byzantine periods.”

“U.S. border officials in Philadelphia have seized a cache of 4,000-year-old Bronze Age swords and arrowheads, believed to be looted antiquities from Iran.”

The British Museum has released a video in the Curators’ Corner series about a monumental structure in Girsu that turned out to be the oldest bridge in the world.

The Greek City Times makes an argument for calling them the “Parthenon Sculptures,” not the “Parthenon Marbles.”

Military strikes have caused damage to historic sites in Isfahan, Iran.

“Lebanon has placed blue shields on 34 archaeological sites across the country to protect them during the ongoing war.”

ASOR webinar on March 25: “Lions, Rams, and Kings: Interpreting Animals at Persepolis,” by Neville McFerrin

BAS online course in August: “Historically Confirmed Figures in the Hebrew Bible,” by Lawrence Mykytiuk ($189)

BAS online class in October: “Ancient Texts and Scribes,” taught by Alice Mandell

The latest volume of Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is now online.

On Digging for Truth, Bryan Windle discusses the “problems with using archaeological discoveries to interpret Scripture, instead of the other way around.”

HT: Agade, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Excavations at Kharga Oasis in Egypt revealed two early churches, including a mosaic depicting Jesus healing a sick person.

“Ongoing excavation at Iraq’s Mosul Dam reservoir yielded finds from the Hellenistic era,” including 40 tombs.

“Authorities in Türkiye have begun a large-scale preservation project for the colossal statues on Mount Nemrut using nanotechnology.”

Turkish Archaeological News highlights other top stories for the month of August.

There was a fire at the archaeological site of Tyre. The story has a photo but little information.

British Museum Blog: “The fascinating maths problems found in the 3,500-year-old Rhind Mathematical Papyrus show how ancient Egyptian mathematics supported daily life, from ensuring there was enough food to feed people to designing the perfect pyramid.”

Mark Wilson is leading “Paul’s Aegean Voyages” next June, and you can follow that up, if you wish, with the Antioch Seminar on Paul and Peter. Both are organized by Tutku Educational Travel (pdf brochure here).

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists in southern Jordan have uncovered a hieroglyphic inscription bearing the royal cartouche of Pharaoh Ramesses III.”

Egyptian authorities “announced the discovery of the tomb of Prince Weser Khaf Ra, son of King Userkaf, the founding monarch of Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty, in the Saqqara necropolis.”

“A California research collective known as Noah’s Ark Scan says it will begin the first controlled excavation of the Durupınar Site on Mount Ararat’s southern flank.”

The NY Times has posted a beautiful photo essay of the mostly open Grand Egyptian Museum.

A new genetic study reveals that the people of Carthage were not significantly related to the Phoenicians.

Brent Nongbri writes about the recently discovered mikveh at Ostia as well as some of the Jewish material on display in the Ostia Museum.

Smithsonian magazine asks if “Talos, the bronze automaton who guarded the island of Crete in Greek myth [was] an early example of artificial intelligence.”

Leon Mauldin has posted some recent photos of Istanbul’s ancient water system.

New release: Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide, by David A. deSilva (Baker, 320 pages, full-color, $33; also on Logos)

New release: Populus: Living and Dying in Ancient Rome, by Guy de la Bédoyère (University of Chicago, 500 pages, $24)

New release: The Aegean and Cyprus: Interaction Between Two Distinct Cultural Mediterranean Areas from the Third Millennium to ca 1200 BC, by Giampaolo Graziadio (free download)

New release: The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Scribal Scholarship in Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Arie van der Kooij on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday, edited by Wilson de Angelo Cunha, Martin Rösel, and Michael N. Van der Meer (Peeters, 65 euros, free download)

The WSJ reviews Toby Wilkinson’s new book, The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra ($29 at Amazon).

Leslie C. Allen, longtime professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, died on April 10.

Bible Passages has just released two short videos (7 min ea):

  • Secrets of the Arch of Titus – goes beyond the well-known menorah and table of showbread to investigate scenes of military conquest, dedicatory inscriptions, and the depiction of a deified emperor.
  • Erastus: Did Paul Get It Right? – considers the inscription for its insight into the social and economic standing of early Christians as well as how this archaeological discovery supports the historicity of Romans 16:23.

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