Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists in southern Jordan have uncovered a hieroglyphic inscription bearing the royal cartouche of Pharaoh Ramesses III.”

Egyptian authorities “announced the discovery of the tomb of Prince Weser Khaf Ra, son of King Userkaf, the founding monarch of Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty, in the Saqqara necropolis.”

“A California research collective known as Noah’s Ark Scan says it will begin the first controlled excavation of the Durupınar Site on Mount Ararat’s southern flank.”

The NY Times has posted a beautiful photo essay of the mostly open Grand Egyptian Museum.

A new genetic study reveals that the people of Carthage were not significantly related to the Phoenicians.

Brent Nongbri writes about the recently discovered mikveh at Ostia as well as some of the Jewish material on display in the Ostia Museum.

Smithsonian magazine asks if “Talos, the bronze automaton who guarded the island of Crete in Greek myth [was] an early example of artificial intelligence.”

Leon Mauldin has posted some recent photos of Istanbul’s ancient water system.

New release: Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide, by David A. deSilva (Baker, 320 pages, full-color, $33; also on Logos)

New release: Populus: Living and Dying in Ancient Rome, by Guy de la Bédoyère (University of Chicago, 500 pages, $24)

New release: The Aegean and Cyprus: Interaction Between Two Distinct Cultural Mediterranean Areas from the Third Millennium to ca 1200 BC, by Giampaolo Graziadio (free download)

New release: The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Scribal Scholarship in Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Arie van der Kooij on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday, edited by Wilson de Angelo Cunha, Martin Rösel, and Michael N. Van der Meer (Peeters, 65 euros, free download)

The WSJ reviews Toby Wilkinson’s new book, The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra ($29 at Amazon).

Leslie C. Allen, longtime professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, died on April 10.

Bible Passages has just released two short videos (7 min ea):

  • Secrets of the Arch of Titus – goes beyond the well-known menorah and table of showbread to investigate scenes of military conquest, dedicatory inscriptions, and the depiction of a deified emperor.
  • Erastus: Did Paul Get It Right? – considers the inscription for its insight into the social and economic standing of early Christians as well as how this archaeological discovery supports the historicity of Romans 16:23.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Keith Keyser, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Paleojudaica

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists have discovered the tomb of an unknown Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the Second Intermediate Period.

“An Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has discovered the tomb of a high-ranking military commander dating back to King Ramses III, along with a collection of mass and individual graves from the Greek, Roman, and Late Periods at Tell Roud Iskander in the Maskhouta area.”

A new study by Nicholas Brown of Yale University argues that clay trays found near the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun were used for libations in the Osirian funerary rite.

The presence of iron shackles at an Egyptian gold mine suggests that some of the workers in the Ptolemaic period were slaves.

A team using radar technology claims that they have discovered a vast underground city more than 6,500 feet beneath the Giza pyramids. Egyptian authorities deny this is true.

Joel Kramer (Expedition Bible) has posted a new video about the tomb of Amenhotep II, the possible pharaoh of the exodus.

The Antalya Archaeology Museum will be reconstructed on its current site, with its completion scheduled for the end of 2026.

The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum presents the history of the church and Istanbul, including artifacts never before displayed.

Jay Jean Jackson imagines what the ancient Greek pilgrimage along the Sacred Way to the temple of Apollo in Didyma would have been like.

The exhibition “Gobeklitepe: The Mystery of a Sacred Place” in Rome’s Colosseum has attracted 5 million visitors so far.

Archaeologists found four fragments of the Book of the Dead in the archives of a museum in Italy.

Smithsonian Magazine runs a feature story on Rome’s underground aqueducts.

The assassination of Julius Caesar was reenacted on location on the Ides of March.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Underwater archaeologists have discovered infrastructure of an ancient port at Asini in Greece.

Archaeologists have excavated a “grand ancient Greek tomb site” near Corinth.

“A recent study offers new insights into the pigments used by ancient Roman artists in Pompeii, revealing how they mixed raw materials to achieve a wide range of color tones.”

Persepolis’s ancient underground channels prevented flooding and destruction during a severe rainstorm.

Restoration work on Jerash’s northern theater continues.

Artnet highlights three interesting artifacts discovered in the tomb of Thutmose II.

Turkiye Today describes seven must-see cuneiform tablets in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.

The ASOR Punic Project Digital Initiative “will provide digital files of individual stelae that can be viewed on screen or 3D printed at any scale.”

New release: Against Moab: Interrogating the Archaeology of Iron Age Jordan, by Benjamin W. Porter. (Cambridge University Press, open access)

Hybrid lecture at Penn State on March 27, 5 pm (EDT): “In the Steps of a Babylonian King: A Scholar’s Adventures in Jordan and Lebanon,” by Rocío Da Riva (Zoom registration)

“After 1,700 years the first ancient Greek temple opened in Arcadia, Peloponnese over the weekend.” The Greek Church is not happy. The site manager defends the project: “There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and do not have a place to worship.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists working at Rome’s port city of Ostia discovered the oldest ritual bath (mikveh) known outside the land of Israel.

“A team of researchers identified and mapped a vast network of irrigation canals near Eridu, considered the oldest city in history.”

“Artificial intelligence has discovered ancient civilizations over 5,000 years old hidden beneath some of the world’s largest deserts, including one in the heart of the Dubai desert, without the use of a single shovel.”

The recently renovated Side Museum in southern Turkey has more than 3,000 artifacts and 9,000 coins on display.

“The 2,000-year-old lighthouse in the ancient city of Patara, built by Roman Emperor Nero in CE 64, is set to illuminate once again after centuries, as restoration efforts reach their final stages.”

The excavation director at Pisidian Antioch wants artifacts taken to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in the early 20th century to be returned.

A German tourist was arrested when he tried to leave Greece with an ancient Greek marble column hidden in his car.

The Greek Reporter suggests the top 20 archaeological sites in the country.

A portion of the famous Torlonia Collection, locked away for most of the 20th century, will be displayed in North America for the first time, beginning with Chicago and then heading to Fort Worth and Montreal. The 58 sculptures in the exhibition largely date to the Roman Imperial Period.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A marble statue of Hermes from the Roman Imperial Period was found during the 2024 excavation season in the ancient city of Aspendos.”

Smithsonian Magazine runs a feature article from a forthcoming book by Joshua Hammer about the four-way mid-19th-century race to decode the Akkadian language.

Researchers at Cornell University and Tel Aviv University are developing methods to use AI in the deciphering of cuneiform tablets.

A. Bernard Knapp explores the relationship between Cyprus and Ugarit in the Late Bronze Age. His recent book on the subject is free to read online.

“The 2,000-year-old water channels of the ancient city of Smyrna in Izmir continue to function as they did centuries ago.”

“The British Museum has just unveiled the winning design in an international architectural competition for the substantial revamp of the so-called Western Range of the museum.” This article in the Greek City Times wonders whether this renovation includes a space for the Parthenon Marbles.

An archaeological display of 50 artifacts sponsored by the Associates for Biblical Research will be exhibited over Easter weekend at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

Available next month: Archaeology and the Ministry of the Apostle Paul: A Visual Guide, by David A. deSilva (Baker Academic, $33)

Zoom lecture on March 17: “From Online Auction to JTS Special Collections: How Two Historic Bibles Were Reunited in the JTS Library,” by David Moster

Hybrid lecture at Harvard on March 26: “Murder, Poetry, and Scribes in Ancient Egypt,” by Margaret Geoga

Michael Danti and John MacGinnis are guests on Thin End of the Wedge to discuss “Nimrud: Post-conflict Archaeology in the Heartland of Assyria.”

“The Institute of Classical Studies, in collaboration with the Faculty of Linguistics and the Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford, will offer two free, online semi-intensive courses in Phoenician.” One course is at the elementary level, the second is intermediate, and both are on Zoom.

Turkish Archaeological News reviews the most important discoveries in the month of February.

Paul L. Maier, ancient history scholar and author of Pontius Pilate, The Flames of Rome, and numerous other works, died last month.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Keith Keyser, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis

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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

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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