Lectures Archives - Page 34 of 88

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Researchers in Saudi Arabia have discovered a sixth-century B.C.E. rock carving of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus” along with a lengthy cuneiform inscription.

“Beneath the murky waves of the Venice Lagoon, researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman road and other possible port facilities, like a dock, that may predate the founding of the Italian city.”

“A spectacular ancient mosaic floor that was part of a building from the Hellenistic period is among the important finds from excavations carried out recently at Fabrika Hill in Kato Paphos, Cyprus.” The photo is apparently not of the newly discovered mosaic.

NPR has a story on what lies below ground in Istanbul.

“Work has begun to refurbish the old Acropolis Museum near the iconic Parthenon temple and turn it into an exhibition space.”

“Held annually on [Turkey’s] Aegean coast, the Selcuk camel-wrestling festival is part of a nomadic legacy rooted in ancient Turkic tribes.”

“Between the years 193 – 235, the Roman Empire was ruled by a series of emperors who were originally Phoenicians.”

The new director of Michigan State University’s excavations at Isthmia has developed a new website to share both old and new research with the public. The website is here.

The US government has seized the Museum of the Bible’s Gilgamesh Tablet, declaring that it was illegally deported from Iraq.

Death by stoning is not so common these days, especially in the United States. But that’s how a gunman in Texas recently died.

Zoom lecture on August 29: “From Standing Stones to Sacred Emptiness: Textual and Visual Portrayals of Israel’s God,” by Theodore Lewis.

University College London and King’s College London are co-hosting an eLecture series in August, entitled Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact (ANELC). The first eLecture will take place on Wednesday 4 August from 16:00 until 17:00 BST (London), when Dr. Ohad Cohen of the University of Haifa will be speaking on “The Canaanite Melting Pot – The Theoretical Implications of ‘Languages in Contact’ to the Understanding of Late Biblical Hebrew.”

New release: The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116, by Stephanie Dalley

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Explorator, Mark Hoffman, Roger Schmidgall, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Arabia, Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Scientists have reconstructed the Eastern Mediterranean silver trade, over a period including the traditional dates of the Trojan War, the founding of Rome, and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.”

A survey has located 11 new hills around Gobeklitepe, and a major study will be released in September. Tourism officials are referring to the area as “12 hills” and the “pyramids of southeast Turkey.”

An excavation of an underground complex in the Western Wall Tunnels is a candidate for an international award.

“For the first time, a large, commercial flour mill has joined scientists and other experts to revive the lost varieties of wheat of the Land of Israel.”

The oldest living olive tree is 3,000 years old and located on the island of Crete.

Carl Rasmussen explains, with photos, how the Lycian League was a model for the United States.

The first issue of the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology is a special issue on “State Formation Processes in the 10th Century BCE Levant”, edited by A. Faust, Y. Garfinkel and M. Mumcuoglu. All 16 articles may be downloaded for free.

The SBL website has an updated list of works in their ANE Monographs series, all available for purchase or free download.

New release: The Archaeology of Daily Life: Ordinary Persons in Late Second Temple Israel, by David A. Fiensy

Cyndi Parker’s course on historical geography is now available on BiblicalTraining (free with registration).

Danya Belkin writes about 11 adventures in Israel, including rappelling, parasailing, wakeboarding, snorkeling, and camel riding.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Explorator

Tagged 10th Century, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

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Archaeologists have uncovered evidence for the earthquake from the time of King Uzziah at a site in the Jezreel Valley.

The six-chambered Solomonic gate at Megiddo has been restored, including its second half. If you have good eyes, you can see a small photo on the cover of a special issue of Eretz.

The BBC has created an 8-minute video on Methuselah, the date palm tree grown from an ancient seed.

Bryan Windle rounds up the top three reports in biblical archaeology in the month of June.

Available next month: The Road Taken: An Archaeologist’s Journey to the Land of the Bible, by Seymour (Sy) Gitin.

Jerusalem University has announced its online offerings for the fall semester, including courses on Jerusalem, the geographical contexts of the prophets, and the literature of Israel’s neighbors (with professors Chandler Collins, Cyndi Parker, and Bryan Beyer).

Iron Age female figurines are the topic of discussion on the latest podcast on This Week in the Ancient Near East.

The site onomasticon.net has been updated to include newly published personal names from the Iron Age II southern Levant.

Pnina Arad believes that the Medeba Map was designed to emphasize the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ (Haaretz premium or the author’s Academia page).

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ferrell Jenkins, Gordon Franz, Charles Savelle, Alexander Schick, Explorator, Paleojudaica, Chris McKinny

Tagged Discoveries, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Lectures, Weekend Roundup

Cambridge Symposium Lectures Online

A number of lectures related to the archaeology of Jerusalem have now been posted from the Cambridge Symposium held in March 2019.

The official title of the gathering was “The Ancient City of David: Recent Archaeological Exploration of Jerusalem. An Academic Symposium co-organized by Megalim: The City of David Institute and Von Hugel Institute of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge.”

I’ve organized the available recordings in chronological order by topic. The lectures range in length from 13 to 45 minutes, with most approximately 25 minutes.

Jerusalem in the Old Testament era:

Ronny Reich: The Controversy over Jerusalem’s Fortifications in the Middle Bronze Age

Gabriel Barkay: An Egyptian Temple in Canaanite Jerusalem?

Dan Gil: The Enigmatic Subterranean Waterworks of Biblical Jerusalem

Hagai Misgav: Considerations in the Publication of Epigraphical Finds: The Bulla of “Isaiah the Prophet” – A Case Study

Jerusalem in the New Testament era:

Eyal Meiron: Were the Remains of the Seleucid Akra Fortress Found in Jerusalem?: An Alternative View

Nahshon Szanton: The Dating of the Stepped Street in Jerusalem in Light of the New Excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley

Ronny Reich: Jerusalem as a Pilgrimage City in the Early Roman Period

Avi Solomon, Joe Uziel and Tehillah Liebermann: Jerusalem as Seen from Above – and Beneath – Wilson’s Arch in the Early and Late Roman Period

Hillel Geva: The Upper City in Second Temple Period Jerusalem on the Eve of the Roman Destruction

Additional lectures:

Yosef Garfinkel: The Enigma of the United Monarchy in the 10th Century BC: A View from Hurvat Qeiyafa

Moran Hajbi: A Recently Discovered Monumental Structure from post-70 AD and the Pre-Aelia Capitolina Period at the Stepped Street Excavations in the City of David

Gabriel Barkay: Highlights from the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem

HT: G. M. Grena

Tagged 10th Century, Jerusalem, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

‘Atiqot 103 (2021), now online, includes articles about Iron Age pottery at Tel Eton, a fishpond at Illut, and Crusader remains at Acco.

Richard Elliott Friedman argues that Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Edomites, not the Babylonians (Haaretz premium). An underlying journal article is available here.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen questions the standard identification of the Nahal Zered as Wadi al-Hasa.

Excavations are underway at Tel Burna (Days 1-2, Days 3-4).

A new study suggests that disruption of copper trade in the ancient Near East was not as severe as thought at the end of the Bronze Age.

The collection of 264 gold coins known as the Givati hoard were apparently minted as emergency coinage by Byzantine authorities in Jerusalem shortly before the Persian invasion in AD 614.

Archaeologists found remains of an Urartian castle dating to the 8th century BC in eastern Turkey.

A harpist has created a playable replica of the iconic Gold Lyre of Ur (25 min video).

Kyle Keimer and Chris McKinny conclude their podcast series on the Archaeology of Passion Week with part 2 and part 3. Accompanying visuals are available for each episode.

Zoom lecture on June 22, 11:30 am Eastern: Archaeological Sites of Iraqi Kurdistan as Tourism Destinations (Zoom link)

Zoom lecture on June 23: “What Recent Excavations Reveal About the Formation of Ancient Israel,” by James W. Hardin, Mississippi State University.

Zoom lecture on July 8, 12:00 pm Eastern: The Story of Tell Qasile: A Philistine Outpost in Northern Tel Aviv, by Amihai Mazar

The Bible Mapper Blog has posted some new maps, with downloadable high-res versions:

If you’ve ever wanted to go horseback riding on the Golan Heights, you can experience it through the report and photos of Israel’s Good Name.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Golan, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lectures, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists believe that a 2,300-year-old jar from Ancient Greece containing the bones of a dismembered chicken was likely used as part of a curse to paralyze and kill 55 people in Athens.”

“A multinational team of archaeologists and scientists is reassessing the history of sea-level change in the Eastern Mediterranean based on underwater excavation and photogrammetry at sites on Israel’s Carmel coast.”

“An Egyptian archaeological mission is preparing to launch an excavation project in Saudi Arabia after several discoveries showed that ancient Egyptian King Ramses III had a presence in the Arabian Peninsula.”

Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of stories from the month of May.

“The Covid-19 pandemic, however, has offered these thieves new opportunities to raid closed archeological sites, churches and museums [in Italy] for priceless artifacts while police are reassigned to enforce lockdowns.”

First discovered in 2015, a cache of Roman coins dating from 200 BCE to 27 BCE are now on display at the Santa Maria della Scala Museum in Siena, Italy.

A replica of Noah’s Ark has been deemed unseaworthy and is prohibited from leaving port.

Charles Aling is on The Book and the Spade discussing “Post-Exodus Disruptions in Egypt.”

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from “The Grotto of Paul” at Ephesus, including ancient paintings of Paul and Thecla.

If you’ll be at the Infusion Bible Conference this week, stop by the BiblePlaces table and say hi to Kris Udd and me. I haven’t had a chance to meet many roundup readers this past year, but our team has used the time to create some great new photo collections.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Arabia, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Israel's Coast, Lectures, Museums, Turkey, Weekend Roundup