Lectures Archives - BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

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:

Excavations are revealing more of the city of Aspendos
Urartian water engineering may have been superior to early Roman systems
A Roman coin dating to AD 192–253 may depict Noah’s ark, making it the earliest depiction of a biblical scene on currency.
The third season of excavations at Lystra has begun, with new work in the necropolis.

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

Tagged Excavations, Italy, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Resources, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

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:

May 14: “The Wadi Murabba’at Ptolemaic Coin Hoard and the Troubles in Jerusalem in 169 BCE,” by Catharine Lorber
June 18: “For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE,” by Guy Rogers

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

Tagged Jerusalem, Lectures, Negev, Resources, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Lectures, Movies, Photo Resources, Resources, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A study of sheep and goat teeth indicates that shepherds traveled with their flocks between Galilee and the Golan Heights during the 10th to 8th centuries BC, despite ongoing conflicts between the Israelites and the Arameans.

The Times of Israel reports on the mass grave for children discovered at Azekah.

A Byzantine church in Nahariya was hit by a Hezbollah rocket but the large mosaic floor was not damaged.

Yana Tchekhanovets writes about the site of Nessana, a “a prominent Christian center and a vital caravan hub, facilitating travel to Sinai and the Egyptian monasteries” in the Byzantine period.

BibleStock’s first reading plan is now live on the YouVersion Bible App. This is the first reading plan on the app that features video from Israel. The 50-day plan takes you through the Gospel of Mark.

The first five episodes of The Sacred Thread: Season 1 have been released, and the final two will be released by the end of the month. The season finale will be celebrated with a special livestream event on Sunday, April 26 at 8:00 pm Eastern.

Available for pre-order: Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John: What Recent Discoveries Show Us, edited by Paul N. Anderson (Eerdmans, 650 pages, $100)

Jerusalem University College has announced its Summer Institute Online Series:

Treasures in the Book of Joshua, taught by Hélène Dallaire
The Land and the Logos, taught by Petra Heldt
Biblical Women in Jewish and Christian Art, taught by Shulamit Laderman
The Ark of the Covenant: A Biography, taught by Chris McKinny
Finding Bethsaida: An Exemplar in New Testament Historical Geography, taught by Steve Notley

Gary Byers discusses the history of the tabernacle on Digging for Truth.

On the Biblical World podcast, Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the best archaeological finds of 2025 (part 2).

New maps have been created by Bible Mapper Atlas, including:

HT: Agade

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Golan Heights, Lectures, Movies, Negev, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The Israel Museum will open to visitors on Monday, but the Great Isaiah Scroll exhibition is temporarily closed. Holy sites in Jerusalem re-opened this week.

Haaretz reports on the Great Isaiah Scroll exhibit that lasted not four months but four days. The article gives the history of the scroll since its discovery in 1947.

Legends of the Lost Ark, a docudrama with Chris McKinny, is in theaters for only three days: April 12, 14, and 15. Click here for showtimes in your area, tickets, and a link to the trailer.

Ran Silberman writes about the search for the ark of the covenant, and he asks if new technology might help to locate it underneath the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem Tracker 14.2 identifies the latest resources about Jerusalem in blogs, audio, video, and more.

New release: Jacob: The Story of a Family, by Jonathan Grossman (Koren, 769 pages, $35; Amazon)

Online lecture on April 23: “Hidden Treasures: Cryptic Cherubim in the New Testament,” by Chris McKinny. Chris will also be teaching a summer online course entitled “The Ark of the Covenant: A Biography.”

Zoom lecture on April 29: “New Excavations at Nessana, Negev: Late Antique Pilgrimage Hub on the Desert Fringe,” by Yana Tchekhanovets

Sy Gitin’s The Road Taken: An Archaeologist’s Journey to the Land of the Bible has dropped in price from $30 to $11.

HT: Agade, Alexander Schick, Explorator

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Jerusalem, Lectures, Movies, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A ship that wrecked off the coast of Dor circa 600 BC was carrying chunks of iron after they had been smelted, providing the first evidence that iron was traded in this form.

“Dozens of rare coins dating to about 2,000 years ago were seized from a Palestinian doctor attempting to smuggle them through the Hizma checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem on the first Friday of Ramadan.”

Oded Lipschits and colleagues have published an article in Palestine Exploration Quarterly about a mass grave of young children from the Persian period at Tel Azekah.

Ruth Marks Eglash writes about the politics of Israelis excavating in the West Bank.

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Tracker lists the latest books, book chapters, and articles about the Holy City.

“T’OMIM (Tanakh Observable Matches of Intertextual Mimesis, from Hebrew תאומים meaning “twins”) is an open-access dataset of labeled parallel passages in the Hebrew Bible, compiled for computational and literary research on inner-biblical intertextuality.”

The long-awaited Gospel Companion from Biblical Backgrounds has arrived. The resource is on sale now until the end of Passover ($29.50).

The first two episodes of Season 1 of The Sacred Thread was released this week. Remaining episodes will release one a week through April on Angel Studios.

“A new theory is drawing attention to Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands as a potential hiding place of the Ark of the Covenant.”

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the best archaeological finds of 2025 on the Biblical World podcast.

Denny Sissom will be teaching a new online class entitled “Revealing the New Testament through the History, Politics, and Customs of the Inter-Testament Period.”

New release: The Raging Torrent, 3rd edition, by Mordechai Cogan (Carta; $88)

New release: When Israel Was Young: A History of the Jewish People from the Beginnings to the Roman Conquest of Jerusalem, by Lester L. Grabbe (Bloomsbury, $25-$90; Amazon)

Legends of the Lost Ark will be in movie theaters on April 12, 14, and 15. A richly illustrated companion book by Chris McKinny and Roy Brown will soon be available. The pre-order sale price is $32.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Movies, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup