Mediterranean Islands Archives

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists in Gölyazı, Turkey, have uncovered a Greek inscription carved into a seat in a Roman-era theater, revealing the name of a female priestess who lived nearly two thousand years ago.”

“Examination of an ancient alabaster vase in the Yale Peabody Museum’s Babylonian Collection has revealed traces of opiates, providing the clearest evidence to date of broad opium use in ancient Egyptian society.”

Six archaeological artifacts were stolen in a burglary of the Damascus National Museum.

“One hundred years after Tutankhamun’s body was first unwrapped, the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford launches a new database bringing together every archaeological record from the tomb’s discovery.”

Itiner-e is a new digital atlas of Roman roads. “Itiner-e aims to host the most detailed open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire. The data creation is a collaborative ongoing project edited by a scholarly community. Itiner-e allows you to view, query and download roads.” The Times of Israel and Gizmodo have stories about this new resource.

New release: Scenes from a Provincial Life: Memoirs of a Biblical Scholar, by David J.A. Clines (Sheffield Phoenix Press, $30)

New release: Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World, Volume 2, The 1st Millennium and the Eastern Mediterranean Interface, edited by F. Giusfredi, A. Matessi, S. Merlin and V. Pisaniello ($109; free pdf)

New article: “The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition: The 2023 and 2024 excavations at the Late Bronze Age cemetery of Hala Sultan Tekke,” by Peter M. Fischer and many others (free pdf).

The latest DigSight, a newsletter from the Southern Adventist University Institute of Archaeology, reports on the museum’s 25th anniversary, a study tour to Cyprus and Greece, the temple model from Khirbet Qeiyafa, and more.

The AP has many nice photos of the Parthenon without scaffolding.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Resources, Syria, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists have found remains of 95 dolmens from the Early Bronze Age in the Madaba region of Jordan.

“Archaeologists have discovered a 3,500-year-old military fortress with a zigzag-style wall in the north Sinai Desert of Egypt.”

Egyptian officials are worried about a ceiling crack in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

“Greece said on Thursday it had agreed with Egypt on the future of St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Egypt’s Mount Sinai.”

Archaeological work is progressing on a large, “circular, labyrinthine building [that] has no known parallel in prehistoric Crete or the wider Aegean region.”

Expedition Bible’s latest video is about the Amarna Letters, which Joel Kramer states in the introduction are “the most powerful evidence outside of the Bible for the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land.”

Clinton Arnold and Sean McDowell discuss the recent excavations at Colossae on the Think Biblically podcast. Fox News has some new photos of the excavation.

The first results have been published from “Pompeii Reset, a non-invasive program that used three-dimensional recording and modeling to re-examine the House of the Tiaso.”

“3D models of the Sela inscription of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus (556-539 BCE) can be seen at the Sketchfab’s page of the GRACPE-UB research group.”

Hybrid lecture at Harvard on Nov 12: “Decoding the Pyramid Statues of King Menkaure,” by Florence Dunn Friedman

The ESV Archaeology Study Bible Notes are available for pre-order at Logos.

Amazon is listing for pre-order two long-awaited volumes in the Lexham Geographic Commentary series – Historical Books, volume 1 (Joshua–Ruth) and volume 2 (1 Samuel–Esther). They are also available for pre-order on Logos (vol 1, vol 2).

Open-access: The South Palace Archives in Babylon: Administrative Records in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, by Olof Pedersén (Harrassowitz)

The Johns Hopkins University Archaeological Museum has re-opened after a three-year renovation.

HT: Agade, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

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

Tagged Egypt, Lebanon, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Researchers have discovered a 4,000-year-old handprint on a tomb offering from ancient Egypt.”

“During the 2025 excavation season, archaeologists in the ancient city of Laodicea have unearthed a 2,050-year-old Roman-era assembly building with a never-before-seen architectural design in Anatolia.”

An excavation in Diyarbakır, Turkey, uncovered a mosaic with a “Star of David with a cross motif and six lines of text written in Ancient Greek.” Not quite: the star is eight-pointed and not a “Star of David.”

“The restoration project of the 2,200-year-old theater in the ancient city of Assos, Çanakkale, northwestern Türkiye, has reached its final stage.” Also at Assos, archaeologists continue to bring to light a Hellenistic stoa.

Excavations continued this summer at Amathus on the oldest known Iron Age palace in Cyprus.

“New excavations clarified the long-debated ‘return to Pompeii’ theory and confirmed that survivors reoccupied the devastated city after the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius.”

The IOSOT Berlin 2025 conference has a number of papers and panels relevant to our areas of interest. The full program is online here.

Eisenbrauns has four new books out, and you can save 30% off the prices below with code NR25:

Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis I: The German-Israeli Tell Iẓṭabba Excavation Project, the 2019–2020 Seasons, by Achim Lichtenberger and Oren Tal (394 pages, $100)
Kiriath-jearim: The Shmunis Family Excavations, by Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Römer (352 pages, $100)
The Excavations Beneath Wilson’s Arch, Volume 1, edited by Joe Uziel, Avi Solomon, and Tehillah Lieberman (458 pages, $120)
Authority and Ideology in the Early Neo-Assyrian Empire (934–745 B.C.), by Zozan Tarhan (304 pages, $75)

In a 3-minute video for Tyndale House, Caleb Howard reads from a cuneiform text that is related to biblical history.

The Friends of ASOR are hosting an archaeological tour of Cyprus with highlights including “exploring Idalion with Dr. Pamela Gaber, investigating the new excavation areas around Kalavasos with Dr. Kevin Fisher, conversing with Dr. William Dever over dinner, and touring and dining at the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute with Dr. Lindy Crewe.”

“The top three reports from the world of biblical archaeology in July 2025 included discoveries related to flint, clay, and human remains from Israel and Egypt.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Mediterranean Islands, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A new study reveals that ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smelled “woody,” “spicy,” and “sweet.”

Archaeologists working in Egypt have completed the excavation and relocation of a gold processing complex in use for a millennium beginning circa 1000 BC.

Archaeologists working in central Turkey have found evidence of ironmaking dating to 2200 BC.

A new study has been released describing the “production and use of obsidian mirrors found at Tepecik Çiftlik” in central Turkey.

“Archaeologists excavating Göbekli Tepe have uncovered evidence that challenges previous theories about the site’s purpose.”

“Authorities in Turkey have sealed off a luxury spa that was set up by illegally modifying a 1,500-year-old cistern near Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.”

A headless bronze statue believed to depict Marcus Aurelius is being returned by The Cleveland Museum of Art to Turkey.

“Archaeologists in Pompeii have unearthed a rare depiction of initiation rites into a secret female cult that centred on Dionysus.”

A new theory has been proposed to explain how the brains of a man who died in the Mount Vesuvius explosion turned to glass.

“A close look at Pompeii’s stone-paved streets has shown how traffic through the ancient city changed dramatically after it was incorporated into the Roman world.” (subscription)

Hybrid lecture on March 12 at ISAC: “Epigraphy and Exploration at Beni Hassan, Egypt,” by Anna-Latifa Mourad Cizek

The Jerusalem Post explains why mummies are disappearing from museums.

The palace of Knossos set a new record in 2024 with more than one million visitors.

Howard Carter’s lost suitcase has been found and will be auctioned.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists have discovered the tomb of Thutmose II, the first royal tomb found in Egypt since King Tut’s tomb in 1922.

A previously unknown pyramid from circa 2000 BC was discovered by quarry workers in the Dahshur area.

“A devastating new report reveals the extent of destruction in Syria’s legendary city of Palmyra, where eight out of ten buildings now lie in ruins or on the verge of collapse.”

James Gold explains his work as an archaeological illustrator and why it is important.

Carl Rasmussen has posted photos from Yesemek, the largest stone masonry workshop in the ancient Near East.

“Lead pollution in ancient Rome was so high that it dropped the population’s IQ by around 3 points, if not more.”

“Malta is home to some of the oldest and arguably most mysterious megalithic structures known to man, older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge.”

Archaeology Magazine has published a well-illustrated story about the restoration of the Temple of Knum in Esna.

Kara Cooney explains when it is OK to recycle an ancient Egyptian coffin.

Zoom lecture on March 5: “Why is Alexander on the Alexander Sarcophagus? Rethinking a Funerary Monument from Sidon,” by Jessica Nitschke

Hybrid lecture on March 13: “The Amman Citadel in Light of Recent Archaeological Work,” by Katharina Schmidt

Bible Archaeology Report has posted an archaeological biography of Merodach-Baladan, the king of Babylon during the days of Hezekiah.

Correction: The notice last week about a third bridge being discovered in Jerash was a false report caused by a local reporter’s misunderstanding. There are only two bridges.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Gordon Franz, Keith Keyser

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Mediterranean Islands, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup