Mesopotamia Archives - Page 30 of 35

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working at Kibbutz Magen near the Gaza Strip have discovered a Roman-period marble dolphin statuette.

This week, ISIL is apparently planning to turn the site of Jonah’s tomb into a park. The Iraqi authorities consider that a crime.

Israel is considering the restoration of Khirbet al-Minya, an Umayyad palace near the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Continued research has been approved for the Antikythera shipwreck.

Sites in Izmir are bringing in the tourist bucks.

The latest video from SourceFlix is an explanation of the topography of Jerusalem.

Archaeologists recently discovered a Byzantine-era mosaic floor at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

You can sign up for a chance to win a trip to the Grand Opening of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

Logos users might want to grab the Ancient Context Ancient Faith set while it’s on pre-pub.

Ferrell Jenkins describes his return to the ruins of Samaria.

Luke Chandler offers some “tidbits from the tell” on his first week in digging at Lachish this year.

There will be no roundup next weekend.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Agade

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Greece, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Brian Peterson reports on the third and final week of excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir. The discoveries included a third scarab.

Bible History Daily posts a report on current excavations at Ashkelon.

Arsonists destroyed two storerooms filled with antiquities excavated at Tel Kishon in the Jezreel Valley.

Luke Chandler has arrived for excavations at Lachish. Watch his blog for updates.

Archaeologists working at Hippos have discovered the imprint of a Roman soldier’s shoe.

The mummies of 8 million dogs have been found in catacombs in Memphis.

Ferrell Jenkins takes a new look at Magdala.

Norma Franklin does not carry a Marshalltown trowel, a pencil, notebook, or ruler in her dig bag.

CNN has a 3-minute feature on restoration work on Babylon.

The current issue of BASOR is available for free for a limited time.

The first issue of PEQ from 2014 is also available for free.

The Daily Star reports on the long-running excavations of Sidon.

Robert Deutsch posted some photos from a recent investigation of the ivory pomegranate. He
believes the inscription is authentic.

Israel’s Tourism Ministry is beginning to rank hotels according to the five-star system.

We’ll be sending out a BiblePlaces Newsletter in the next few days. You can sign up for a free subscription here.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jezreel Valley, Lebanon, Mesopotamia, Samaria, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

To mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the University of Haifa and the Gottlieb Schumacher Institute are inviting papers for a December conference on “PEF and the Early Exploration of the Holy Land.”

Gershon Galil proposes another reading of the Ishbaal inscription from Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Terrorists were killed attempting an attack at the Karnak Temple in Luxor.

Egypt’s new Suez Canal will open in August.

Israeli tour guide Max Blackston points out the irony of ultra-Orthodox rabidly defending a “tomb of David” created by the Crusaders.

Antiquities thieves convicted of pillaging a cave in the Judean wilderness above Nahal Tseelim have been sentenced to prison terms of 18 months.

Islamic State militants are making millions selling antiquities from Iraq and Syria.

The British Museum is guarding an artifact looted from Syria in hopes of returning it when the country is stable.

More than 21,000 artifacts have been transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum, more than half of which have recently been restored. The article does not give the current estimate for the museum’s opening date.

The Greek Museum of Underwater Antiquities is slated to be opened near the ancient harbor of Athens in Piraeus.

io9 suggests seven archaeologists whose lives can be compared to Indiana Jones.

Smithsonian.com provides tours by drone of three ancient sites, including the Colosseum in Rome.

The TV series “Dig” has been cancelled due to poor ratings.

The BAS Blowout Sale has some big markdowns, including the BAR archive now down to $30.

Eisenbrauns is turning 40 next month. You can download their latest catalog here.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Syria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

This summer’s excavation on Mount Zion begins soon. Here’s how you can help even if you can’t be in Jerusalem.

Leen Riitmeyer reports on a second arch of Titus uncovered in Rome. And he describes how his search to find the Dedicatory Inscription in the Colosseum ultimately succeeded.

If you’ve ever wondered how they raised animals from underneath the floor of the Colosseum, the

Telegraph has an illustrated article showing a reconstruction of the elevators. A 2-minute video shows the process. This is part of a government project to restore the floor of the Colosseum.

James H. Charlesworth has written a lengthy and informative review rebutting David Stacey and
Gregory Doudna, Qumran Revisited: A Reassessment of the Archaeology of the Site and its Texts.

Wayne Stiles explains how the four quarters of Jerusalem will be united.

“Wilderness” is the title of a symposium of Biblical scholars from the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield and Lausanne University of Lausanne.

The British Museum is lending 500 artifacts to a new museum in Abu Dhabi for five years. This includes “the world’s finest single Assyrian panel: the Banquet Scene (645-635BC).”

There is fear in Iraq for the safety of the traditional tomb of the prophet Nahum.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Solomon’s temple, Akhenaten’s monotheism, the Gospel of Thomas, and the missing pages of the Aleppo Codex.

Congress has passed legislation making it illegal to sell looted artifacts from Syria.

The Library of Congress in Washington D.C. hosted a Tyre Day Symposium to raise awareness about the city’s history.

“Of Kings and Prophets” is a new series beginning this fall on ABC.

A clumsy tourist fell and smashed a 4,000-year-old vase in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on the island of Crete.

Barry Britnell is sharing photos of last year’s trip as he prepares to lead next year’s trip. Today: Northern Galilee and the Hula Valley.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Dead Sea, Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Leen Ritmeyer comments on the report that the stone floor inside the Dome of the Rock is being removed. The Temple Mount Sifting Project posts a recent photo with a note that more details will be posted soon.

A shrine from the 30th Dynasty Pharaoh Nectanebo I was recently discovered in Cairo.

The Shroud of Turin goes back on display tomorrow for the first time since 2010.

ISIS has released video showing its destruction of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud.

Accordance Bible Software has just released two significant works from Carta on inscriptions related to the Bible: The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to
Ancient Israel, by Mordechai Cogan and Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period, by Shmuel Ahituv. Both are on sale for a few more days.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a series of photos that illustrate the story of Jesus and his disciples passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath.

A 2009 lecture by Geza Vermes on the Dead Sea Scrolls is now online.

The new ESV Bible app was designed to be the most beautiful and intuitive Bible app currently
available (for iOS only). Mark Hoffman provides a survey of many available for Android and the
iPhone.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Resources, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Of the latest concerning “the tomb of Jesus,” the evidence doesn’t add up, according to professors at Yale and Notre Dame. Other scholars agree.

Jeffrey Zorn’s talk on Storage Bins at Tell en-Nasbeh (biblical Mizpah) is now online (20 min).

Archaeologists from the University of Manchester are busy excavating a site in Iraq in an effort to save history from ISIS terrorists.

In fear of ISIS’s advance, monks at the Mar Matti Monastery in Iraq hid their collection of ancient manuscripts.

An opinion piece in the New York Times calls on the world to use force to stop ISIS’s campaign against historic sites and artifacts.

Should antiquities be repatriated to countries unable to protect them?

The latest podcast from Exploring Bible Times focuses on the Hill of Moreh.

Yossi Garfinkel’s talk from last fall at Florida College is now online.

HT: Agade

Tagged Jezreel Valley, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Samaria, Shephelah, Tomb of Jesus, Weekend Roundup