The Tan Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University is hosting a symposium to honor Professor Oded Borowski on Tuesday, February 4. Full details are here.

It appears that the conference proceedings will be published, and the first three chapters I plan to read are:

Christopher A. Rollston, Judean Foreign Policy in the Eighth Century BCE: Epigraphic Evidence for Political Engagement with the Great Empires

Andrew Vaughn, Should All of the LMLK Jars Still Be Attributed to Hezekiah? Yes!

K. Lawson Younger Jr., The Assyrian Impact on the Levant in Light of Recent Study

The website includes a full list of lectures along with a statement honoring Oded Borowski. His most popular books are well known to those who love ancient Israel:

Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (1987, 2009)

Every Living Thing: The Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel (1997)

Daily Life in Biblical Times (2003)

HT: LMLK Blogspot

In my estimation, perhaps the most interesting lecture series related to biblical archaeology is that held each year by the International Women’s Club at Tel Aviv University. They bring in outstanding lecturers who discuss topics of broad interest.

This year’s theme is “In the Eye of the Storm—‘Jerusalem in History and Archaeology Through the Ages.’” The schedule is as follows:

February 18: Dr. Gabriel Barkay, Jerusalem of Kings and Prophets

February 25: Prof. Avraham Faust, Jerusalem and Sennacherib: The City, before, during, and after the Assyrian Campaign of 701 BCE

March 4: Dr. Joe Uziel, Recent Excavations in Jerusalem and Their Importance for 
Understanding the First Temple City

March 11: Dr. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, “The Hezekiah Tunnel.” How Was It Built and Why Was It Built?

March 18: Dr. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, The History and Archaeology of the Book of Esther

March 25: Dr. Guy Shtibel, “By Far the Most Famous City of the East” – Herod and Jerusalem

April 1: Dr. Guy Shtibel, The Eagle and the Flies – The Roman Siege of Jerusalem

April 8: Dr. Guy Shtibel, “Between Two Cities” – From Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina

April 29: Dr. Yonatan Adler, Mikva’ot (Ritual Baths) in Late Hellenistic and Early Roman Jerusalem

May 13: Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, Jerusalem (Aelia Capitolina) in the Roman Period: The Foundation of the Roman Colony and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt

May 20: Dr. Oren Gutfeld, From Aelia Capitolina to Hagia Polis Hierosalima: Changes in the Urban Layout of Jerusalem

June 10: Mr. Perez Reuven, The Umayyad Building Project on the Temple Mount and Its Environs

Individual lectures cost 50 NIS; the entire series is 400 NIS. The lectures will be held 9-11:30 am in the Gilman Building, Room 282, Tel Aviv University. A flyer with contact details is available here.

The American Jewish University in Bel Air, California, is hosting the Simmons Family Charitable Foundation’s Twenty-Fifth Annual Program in Biblical Archaeology on Sunday, February 16, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The registration fee is $55. The schedule includes the following lectures:

Carol Bakhos, The Idea of Jerusalem in the Hearts of Those Who Call Out “Lord” or “Allah” or “Adonai”

Shimon Gibson, Christian Jerusalem: From Constantine the Great in the 4th Century to Emperor Heraclius in the 7th Century

Shimon Gibson, Jerusalem under the Moslems: from Caliph Omar to Saladin

Gabriel Barkay, When the Second Temple Stood

Gabriel Barkay, The Footprints of Kings in Jerusalem

The website includes more details about each lecture and provides a link for online registration. Gibson and Barkay are both excellent lecturers, and Jerusalem is a fascinating subject.

HT: G. M. Grena

Dome of the Rock, mat06204
The Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, early 1900s 
Photo from the American Colony Collection

If you’re in the Dallas area this Friday, you might want to stop in for a free lecture on Tel Burna (possibly biblical Libnah) at Dallas Theological Seminary. The announcement gives location details but is not clear who is giving the lecture. I think it is Chris McKinny, one-time writer of our popular “Secret Places” series. (We’re hoping we see Chris back around these parts before too long!)

Ceramic mask fragment discovered at Tel Burna

I would like to see this:

Khirbet el-Maqatir: History of a Biblical Site will be a year-long exhibit of 42 artifacts from excavations in Israel at Khirbet el-Maqatir, thought to be the site of ancient Ai from Joshua 7-8. The Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria has approved the loan of these artifacts for exhibit at the Houston Baptist University’s Dunham Bible Museum from January 21-December 19, 2014. In conjunction with the exhibit, a symposium will be held on February 8th, focusing on the role of archaeology in understanding ancient history and biblical studies as well, including critical reflection on the excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir and what light they shed on the ancient, biblical world. Starting from Genesis 12-13 and moving toward Maqatir’s magnificent monastery, 4,000 years of history will be on display. Special attention will be given to the Late Bronze Age fortress (Ai of Joshua 7-8) and the Early Roman/New Testament village (perhaps Ephraim of John 11:54).

I don’t believe that these artifacts have been on public display before. Khirbet el-Maqatir has been excavated under the direction of Bryant Wood since 1995.

The website also announces a conference to be held in conjunction with the exhibit. Speakers include Bryant Wood, Eugene Merrill, and Leen Ritmeyer. All of the details are here.

Khirbet el-Maqatir and Wadi Sheban aerial, tbs104369905
Khirbet el-Maqatir (left) and valley of Joshua’s ambush
Photo from Samaria and the Center

Norma Franklin asks, Why was Jezreel so important to the kingdom of Israel? Her claim that “there is no mention in the biblical narrative” of an Israelite palace is incorrect (1 Kings 21:1).

Another story on the excavations of Carchemish reports that the Japanese offered a million dollars for the opportunity to dig there.

The pigs in ancient Israel allegedly came from Europe.

Five historical monuments have been destroyed in Syria’s civil war. The photos show the damage.

How did ancient Greek music sound? The BBC reports on the research of Armand D’Angour.

How do you avoid losing what you learned on your trip to the Holy Land? Wayne Stiles suggests seven ways. My favorite is #4: Share with people what you have learned and experienced.

Leon Mauldin is doing a series on the cities of refuge. So far, he’s visited Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron.

All of the entries from Skyview’s 2013 Creative Shot Contest are online.

The Batchelder Conference of Biblical Archeology at the University of Nebraska is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday.

Haaretz profiles the Mormon campus on the Mount of Olives, with details about the campus architecture and the “Non-Proselyting Agreement.”

HT: Jack Sasson

Brigham Young University on Mount of Olives, tb011612774
Brigham Young University campus in Jerusalem