Archaeologists found two well-preserved marble busts from the Roman era in a Byzantine winepress near the coastal town of Binyamina.

Ariel David writes about the recently published mother-of-pearl seal found at Tel Hadid. Zev Stub reports on the artifact for The Times of Israel.

Avraham Faust has proposed that a massive cultic stone (massebah) at Tel ‘Eton was toppled as part of Hezekiah’s reforms.

Abigail Van Huss reports on the final week of excavations this year at Shiloh.

Lauren K. McCormick writes about the 1st-century synagogue at Tel Rekhesh in Galilee.

This week’s Jerusalem Tracker identifies the latest blog posts, digital resources, developments, and upcoming events.

David Begoun describes his first visit to see the Madaba Map.

Clinton Moyer gives an overview of Lawrence H. Schiffman’s BAR article on the temple in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The second international “Archaeology and Site Conservation in Judea and Samaria” conference was more controversial than the first one.

Conference at the Albright on July 7-9: “The Eleventh Century CE: Archaeology and History: An International Conference.” Register here.

On the Biblical World podcast, Jason Borges talks with Chris McKinny about his book, Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City.

On Digging for Truth, Ted Wright discusses ancient creation myths.

Following the death of a US citizen, his family returned to Egypt “a granite sphinx head, a bronze hippopotamus figurine, a double bronze statue of a king, and a bronze statue of the Egyptian deity Sobek.”

“The Israeli government on Tuesday approved designating Route 60 — the highway stretching from Nazareth in the north to Beersheba in the south and passing through some of the most significant sites in history—as the ‘Biblical Highway.’” This includes the ridge route known to students as the “Road of the Patriarchs.” When looking for more information, I found a 2023 movie entitled “Route 60: The Biblical Highway.” It’s curious to me that the trailer never once shows any part of the ancient route.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken

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Archaeologists working at Shiloh discovered three well-preserved Middle Bronze storage jars.

Abigail the Archaeologist gives a report on Week 3 in the excavations at Shiloh and describes what a typical day is like.

Erez Ben-Yosef believes that the hundreds of Iron Age sites in the Negev highlands were related to copper mining in the Arabah.

Chandler Collins continues to do excellent work in rounding up the latest publications related to Jerusalem. The newest Jerusalem Tracker identifies new books, book reviews, book chapters, articles, and excavation reports released in the last few months.

Bryan Windle highlights the top three reports in biblical archaeology from the month of May.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project gave two presentations at the 50th Archaeological Congress, and summaries have been posted along with one of the presentations (in Hebrew).

Zoom lecture on June 24: “Archaeology, the Gospels, and Understanding First Century Roman Galilee,” by James R. Strange ($10)

New release: Animals and Society in the Iron Age to Persian Period: Economy, Culture and Environment, by Lidar Sapir-Hen (Elements in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel; Cambridge University Press; open-access until June 24).

Hadashot Arkheologiyot—Excavations and Surveys in Israel (HA–ESI) is now online. The current volume is available, and earlier volumes will be added in the coming months.

After spending a week doing conservation work, Shmuel Browns shares some photos of mosaics on display at the Inn of the Good Samaritan Museum.

HT: Alexander Schick, Agade, Arne Halbakken

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Archaeologists using 3D laser scanning have discovered several blocks from one of the Ramesseum’s gates buried under the sand.

Arkeonews has an article about the massive stone sarcophagi built for the sacred Apis bulls and placed in the Serapeum of Saqqara.

A new study reveals that the reason why the Great Pyramid of Khufu has withstood strong earthquakes is because pressure-relieving chambers dampened seismic movement.

After viewing a silver trumpet from King Tut’s tomb now on display in the Grand Egyptian Museum, Gary A. Rendsburg writes about the silver trumpets of Numbers 10.

An Egyptologist ranks 27 Egyptian pyramids built for pharaohs (70 mins).

Zoom lecture on June 10: “Iron Age Religion in the ‘Great’ City of the Ammonites,” by Joel S. Burnett

Archaeologists working in Nicaea (Iznik) have discovered a 3rd-century fresco depicting Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

Turkey now has nearly 700 museums, an increase of 270 in the past decade.

“One of the human casts found nearly 65 years ago in Pompeii’s Garden of the Fugitives was a doctor caught amongst the fleeing crowd with a case of medical equipment.”

In a two-part interview with The Book and the Spade, David deSilva discusses the archaeological evidence related to Paul’s ministry.

HT: Agade, Mark Hoffman, Explorator

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Excavations of the Shamash Gate at Nineveh shows evidence of the city’s fall in 612 BC. The work being done is part of a project to conserve and restore the gate.

Turkish Archaeological News rounds up the top stories for the month of April, including:

Recent claims of the discovery of Noah’s Ark are refuted in this 1992 article by Andrew Snelling.

Archaeologists have used AI to reconstruct the face of one of the victims of Pompeii.

Fifty US students will be volunteering in the first year of the Kenchreai Coastal and Marine Survey, studying the area of New Testament Cenchreae.

New release: On the Face of the Deep: The Sea in Scripture, by Linford Stutzman (Baker Academic)

The Classical Association of Scotland is offering online classes in the month of June in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Egyptian, Hurrian, Sumerian, Ugaritic, and Latin.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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A new study will examine seal impressions discovered in Jerusalem to understand the city’s administrative systems in the Old and New Testament eras.

Ruth Schuster provides a good survey of the enigmatic Copper Scroll and then describes Shimon Gibson’s new theory that the scroll was a list of donations made to Bar Kochba in the early years of his rebellion. Joan Taylor agrees with the dating, but she believes the scroll gives a list of tithes given to the Temple cult after the Temple’s destruction.

A study of two of the Arad Ostraca suggests that the fortress’s administrators operated on a six-day week.

“A 2000-year-old stone weighing around five tons that had fallen off the Western Wall in Jerusalem and had been on permanent display at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv was returned to the Western Wall site.”

According to a new study, Pilate served as a prefect and also held procuratorial powers.

Two online lectures will be hosted by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society:

BibleStock has just released two new videos on their Coaching for Bible Teachers page. One is on the Gospels and connected to the 50-day reading plan on YouVersion and the other focuses on the seven churches of Revelation.

New release: Do You Like to Dig? A Children’s Introduction to Biblical Archaeology, by Beth Brewer (hardcover, Kindle)

On sale on Kindle: The People in Paul’s Letters: A Compendium of Characters, by Guy Manuell ($2.99)

Now available as an ebook, and discounted to $19.95 for a short time (reg. $52.95): Matthew’s Messiah: His Jewish Life and Ministry, by William Varner and David Hegg. I contributed more than sixty photographs.

HT: Agade

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“A collection of painted sarcophagi and papyrus scrolls dating to Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period (c. 1077–664 BCE) was discovered during excavations in Seneb’s tomb in the Kurna area on the west bank of the Nile River near Luxor.”

A temple dedicated to the local god Pelusius has been unearthed after six years of excavations at Tell el-Farma in the city of Pelusium in the northern Sinai.”

“The oldest ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Buto, dating to approximately 2,600 years ago, have been rediscovered by archaeologists testing new technology meant to aid in locating structures buried deep beneath the surface.”

Hybrid lecture on April 22: “Revisiting the Peoples of the Hills: the Legacy and Afterlife of Charles Burney’s Research in Anatolia and Iran,” by Roger Matthews

New release: Archaeology & Artificial Intelligence, by Lorenzo Nigro (Sapienza Università di Roma; open-access)

New release: A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia, edited by Marc Maillot (Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, $40; free pdf)

The latest issue of Buried History is now available (open-access).

John DeLancey hiked up Mount Olympus and made a video of the experience.

Accordance has a big sale on all of their graphics collections.

The Study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages has released a video about the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (43 min).

National Geographic Travel has released an Easter and Passover special with three episodes from the Lost Treasures of the Bible series about Nineveh, Noah’s flood, and the exodus.

HT: Agade

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