Mesopotamia Archives - Page 13 of 35

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A Neolithic shrine has been discovered in Jordan’s eastern desert.

Remains from Alexander the Great’s siege of Gaza have been discovered in a cemetery.

Archaeologists have found remains from the Roman period, including catacombs, in Elazıg in eastern Turkey.

A pair of “exceptional” mosaics from the Roman period have been discovered in London.

One of the iron daggers in King Tut’s tomb apparently came from a meteor that landed in Syria.

Smithsonian magazine runs a feature story on the excavations at Troy.

Bible History Daily has a brief interview with Monique Roddy as she prepares for this summer’s excavations at Khirbat al-Balu‘a.

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the proposal that locates Sodom at Tall al-Hammam in the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast.

On the Thin End of the Wedge, Farouk al-Rawi reflects on his life as an archaeologist in Iraq.

Kasia Szpakowska writes about our knowledge of dreams in ancient Egypt.

The Mycenaean Atlas Project has added the complete Pleiades dataset, the harbor dataset from Arthur de Graauw, and the Topostext dataset from Brady Kiesling.

Carl Rasmussen thinks it is quite possible that Paul was sentenced to death in the Julia Basilica in Rome.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on the origin of the Philistines, Herod’s palace at Caesarea Philippi, and finding the Red Sea.

Bryan Windle identifies the top three reports in biblical archaeology this month.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Keith Keyser, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Israel's Coast, Italy, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Artifacts discovered in the harbor of Caesarea provide evidence of Late Bronze trade relations between Cyprus and Sardinia. The underlying journal article is here.

The Met Museum in NYC will spend $40 million to renovate its ancient Near East and Cypriote galleries.

The Grand Egyptian Museum is inching closer to being complete.

Writing for The New Yorker, Casey Cep explains why we find such a minor pharaoh as King Tut so fascinating.

An archaeologist is using deep learning to develop a search engine for precise searches of archaeological records.

Johannes Hackl attempts to explain when Akkadian ceased as a language used by native speakers and when cuneiform writing came to an end.

Cheryl Kolander, a professional natural dyer, writes briefly about her research on Tyrian purple dye.

A mass grave of Crusaders in Sidon is the topic of This Week in the Ancient Near East podcast.

Members of the Historical Faith Society can view several recent videos with Alexander Schick, including:

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Birth of Modern Israel
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Affirming the Word of God
Do the Dead Sea Scrolls Prove There was Only One Isaiah?

There will also be a free, live event with Alexander Schick and Timothy Mahoney talking about the history of the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls on Sun., Feb 27, at 4:00 pm US Eastern.

Sketchfab has a variety of 3D models available for viewing, including:

The John Henry Iliffe Collection of nearly 800 photographs is now available online. Iliffe’s career included being the Keeper of the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now the Rockefeller) in Jerusalem. Iliffe was also the author of A Short Guide to the Exhibition Illustrating the Stone and Bronze Ages in Palestine, published the year before the museum opened, available here in pdf format.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick, Explorator, Keith Keyser

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Egypt, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Mesopotamia, Museums, Photo Resources, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“More than 18,000 inscribed pottery ‘notepads’ are uncovered in the long-lost Egyptian city of Athribis, including shopping lists and lines written by students as a punishment”

The Khufu Boat Museum has been demolished, now allowing an unobstructed view of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Joyce Tyldesley gives a fascinating account of the discovery of the famous Nefertiti bust, how it ended up in Germany, and why it has never been returned to Egypt.

Timed with Friday’s release of the movie, Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting story about how Agatha Christie’s love of archaeology influenced Death on the Nile.

Turkish Archaeological News reviews the discoveries made in Turkey in the month of January.

“A Tunisian history enthusiast is making dye from sea snail shells inspired by a school project decades ago on ancient Carthage and the purple coloring that brought fabulous wealth to the classical world.”

“Archaeologists in southern Italy announced last week that they unearthed two helmets, fragments of weapons and armor, bits of pottery and the remains of a possible temple to Athena at an archaeological excavation of the ancient Greek city of Velia.”

Andrew Knight-Hill has created a 18-minute instrumental composition featuring “beach soundscapes and choral works sung from portions of the ancient flood myth poem Atra-Hasis.”

Paul Collins questions whether the Sumerians were a distinct ethnic people group.

A 6-minute BBC video looks at the decipherment of cuneiform.

K. Lawson Younger is the guest on the Biblical World podcast, discussing parallelomania, Arameans, and ancient conquest accounts.

John DeLancey’s new book is now out: Connecting the Dots: Between the Bible and the Land of Israel. You can read my endorsement there. The pre-order discount has been extended to Feb 19, and shipping is free.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Steve Ulrich, Keith Keyser

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Egyptian shipwreck which proves the Greek Historian Herodotus was correct about the observations he made about Egyptian vessels nearly 25 centuries ago.”

“Evidence of ancient hybrid camels has been uncovered by archaeologists who were working to restore a temple in northern Iraq damaged by ISIS.”

Plans have been approved for a Museum of Underwater Antiquities in Piraeus, the ancient harbor of Athens.

“The attitude towards ancient theatres has changed” in Greece and work has been carried out on about 40 theaters in recent years.

The AP has some photos of the recent snowfall in Athens and Istanbul.

Magnesia’s “stadium of 30,000 seats is one of the most imposing and well-preserved ancient stadiums in Anatolia.”

“Ancient Egyptian wisdom and literary texts legitimize the domination of men over women, give advice regarding constraints on women, but also recommend avoiding women who are strangers or women who are adulterous.”

“The Lapis Niger is an ancient sanctuary and a remnant of the Comitium in Rome, that some Romans believed was the venerated sacred tomb of the city’s legendary founder, Romulus.”

David Moster has posted a new video in which he explains how a real “secret code” in the Bible identifies a biblical place.

Carl Rasmussen has a few open spots on his May tour of Turkey, Greece, and Patmos. The itinerary looks outstanding.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A Phoenician plaque, a stone pillar and the remains of boatsheds were unearthed as a result of 2021’s archaeological excavations in Kition-Pampoula, Cyprus.”

A bronze military diploma has been discovered in southeastern Turkey.

A new study has determined that a mummified fetus was preserved through acidification as the mother’s body decomposed.

“Five Roman artefacts from the ancient city of Palmyra, a site damaged during Syria’s decade-long conflict, were returned to Damascus on Thursday by a private Lebanese museum where they had been on display since 2018.”

“Turkey’s mercenaries continue to systematically destroy archaeological sites and everything related to the historical heritage of Syria.”

Archaeologists are surprised that Mesopotamians were cultivating millet centuries before the invention of large-scale irrigation.

Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, “an internationally touring exhibition that made its world premiere at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) in November” is “a feat of technology, its layered display creating an immersive experience without the use of 3-D glasses.”

Apparently one of the “secrets” of Istanbul is the “Mosaic Museum of the Grand Palace of Constantinople.” It’s now on my list for my next visit.

The Historical Geography of the Biblical World unit is accepting paper proposals for the 2022 Annual Meeting in Denver.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Syria, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists working in the Wadi Al-Nasab region of the Sinai have uncovered the headquarters of a [copper and turquois] mining operation that dates back to the Middle Kingdom.

“After war and insurgency kept them away from Iraq for decades, European archaeologists are making an enthusiastic return in search of millennia-old cultural treasures.”

The only fresco preserved from the Greek classical world is in Paestum in southern Italy.

A newly restored gladiator helmet is on display at the Pompeii exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.

A new archaeological institute will be opening in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey.

In the first of a two-part article, Deb Hurn looks at the evidence for the location of Sodom.

The BAS Scholars Series begins on March 10 with Mark Goodacre speaking about the resurrection. This is the first of a quarterly virtual lecture series that will include Aren Maeir, Jodi Magness, and Joan Taylor.

Zoom lecture on Jan 22: “Modernity Meets Mesopotamia: An Ancient Assyrian Palace in Los Angeles.” I’ve driven by this outlet mall many times and wondered what the story was…

Christopher Rollston discusses the alleged Isaiah bulla on the Biblical World podcast.

In his final post on Paul’s shipwreck on Malta, Carl Rasmussen suggests where the ship ran aground.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Alexander Schick

Tagged Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Turkey, Weekend Roundup