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Weekend Roundup

Have they found a “smoking gun” proving that the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife was forged?

A plan to build a water reservoir west of Jerusalem near Har Adar is being opposed because it will mean the loss of 800 pine, cypress, and oak trees.

Shahar Shilo will speak about new discoveries from Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the City of David in Simi Valley, California next week. I know that he is speaking in Dallas and probably elsewhere, but I do not have public links for those events.

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art today launched MetPublications, a major online resource that offers unparalleled in-depth access to the Museum’s renowned print and online publications, covering art, art history, archaeology, conservation, and collecting.”

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is online (digital subscription required).

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Magazine: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible

Southwestern News has a full issue devoted to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible. Published by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, currently hosting an exhibition on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the magazine has some valuable content, including:

Historic photographs from the Ecole Biblique collection
A description of the current exhibition and how to prepare for a visit
A feature of the iScroll kiosks
The story of the initial Scrolls discovery (that buys into the lie of the innocent shepherd)
“Why the Dead Sea Scrolls Matter”
Suggestions for further reading
Information on the school’s M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Archaeology and Biblical Studies, including a list of offered classes
And more

The issue is available via issuu and may be printed or saved as a pdf file.

HT: Alexander Schick

Tagged Dead Sea, Museums

Newly Discovered Canaanite Cultic Collection on Display

Objects from a 13th-century BC cultic pit discovered in 2010 near Jokneam go on display this week at Haifa’s National Maritime Museum. More than 200 items were found in a favissa near Tel Qashish during construction of a pipeline. From the Jerusalem Post:

The treasure trove contains pottery vessels from the Late Canaanite Age IIB (1300-1200 BCE), which were stored in an elliptical pit of limestone rock – 3 meters high by 1.5 meters wide by 3 meters deep – containing more than 200 items, mostly previously unknown and quite rare, according to a statement from the exhibition. Inside the pit were items made locally, in Mycenae and in Cyprus. The locally-made products presumably for cult use included goblets – one with a man’s face sculpted on it – tall cylindrical stands, small stands, incense burners and chalices for libation, burning oil and incense. According to the exhibition, they indicate that the trove belonged to a local temple that has not yet been discovered and were items brought by worshipers. However, researchers have neither been able to identify the specific deity nor the worshipers themselves. “The pottery was either buried in haste for fear of damage by enemy forces, or stored in the pit when there was no more room elsewhere, or discarded,” the statement from the exhibition said. Among other more common local items were bowls, jugs, juglets, cooking pots, oil lamps, Canaanite jars and cup-andsaucer sets. From Cyprus, the favissa contained bowls of white-slip and base-ring wares, as well as white-shaved juglets.

The full story is here. We noted the original discovery in June 2010. The IAA press release includes a few photos and six high-resolution images are available here. The original audio slideshow is still available at Discovery News. HT: Joseph Lauer Cultic objects at time of discovery.
Photo by Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Jezreel Valley, Museums, New Exhibits

Wednesday Roundup

The scaffolding and construction material inside the Dome of the Rock have elicited an emergency petition by the Temple Mount Faithful to Israel’s Supreme Court.

In The Washington Post, Hershel Shanks describes how the Biblical Archaeology Society became caught in a dispute between the two halves of Cyprus.

Wikipedia wins: Photography is now allowed in the archaeology wing of the Israel Museum.

The first summer survey at Abel Beth Maacah was a success.

The finds keep popping out of the ground at the Philistine city of Gath. Aren Maeir is providing daily updates and photos.

The plaster at Ramat Rahel is being studied for traces of pollen in order to understand the character of the ancient royal gardens at the site south of Jerusalem.

“Scientists have used a new x-ray technique to produce spectacular 3D images of Roman coins that were corroded inside pots or blocks of soil.” The article includes a brief video.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit formerly at New York’s Discovery Times Square and currently at the
Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is moving to the Cincinnati Museum Center in November.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Museums, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Excavations and Museum at Sidon

The Daily Star (Lebanon) reports on the continued excavations in the port city of Sidon.

Excavations led by a delegation from the British Museum at the Frères’ archaeological site in the old city of Sidon unearthed more important antiquities during their 14th year, it was revealed Tuesday.
Preparations also got under way for the construction of a museum to display the findings at the site. The construction is due to begin in September.
Discoveries at the site since excavations began in 1998 have revealed artifacts from the Early Bronze Age, which began around 3,000 B.C., through to the Iron Age, which covered around 1,200-539 B.C.
Among the latest discoveries was a particular type of Phoenician architecture, which the archaeologists said was not commonly found in Lebanon, consisting of stones cut for the construction of walls or floors.
Over 50 amphorae were also found, as well as a stunning Attic vase, depicting two riders going to war wearing white tunics and holding spears.

More details of the discoveries are given in the full story.

Sidon, Sea Castle and causeway (photo source)

Sidon is mentioned many times in the Old and New Testaments. Some passages indicate that Sidon was intended to be the northern border of Israel (Gen 10:19; 49:13; Judg 1:31; 2 Sam 24:6), and in the days of Zerubbabel cedars were imported for the Second Temple (Ezra 3:7). Both Jesus and Paul visited the city or area of Sidon (Matt 15:21; Acts 27:3). Though prophets condemned the city (Isa 23:2-12; Jer 47:4; Ezek 28:21-22; Joel 3:4), Jesus declared that Sidon would fare better on the day of judgment than Chorazin and Bethsaida (Matt 11:21-22).

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Lebanon, Museums

New Exhibit: Dead Sea Scrolls & the Bible

On Monday, the “Dead Sea Scrolls & the Bible” exhibit opens at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. I confess having a jaundiced view towards such American exhibits because they typically charge a high price for a glimpse at a handful of scraps of ancient writing. This display appears to be different, offering a wealth of materials as well as 22 manuscript fragments. This week’s article in the Baptist Press convinced me to plan to spend a day at the exhibit. Some excerpts:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hopes to … give more people than ever a chance to see manuscripts that reveal the faithful transmission of the biblical texts over thousands of years through its Dead Sea Scrolls & the Bible exhibition, which will run from July 2012 to January 2013….
Weston Fields, guest curator for the Dead Sea Scrolls & the Bible exhibition and executive director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation, said that while the ancient scroll fragments do not “prove” the Bible is true, they prove, more or less, that the Bible Christians use today, including 66 books from Genesis to Revelation, is the Bible God intended Christians to have, even thousands of years after He first inspired its writing….
Owning more Dead Sea Scroll fragments than any institution of higher education in North America, Southwestern plans to showcase seven of its fragments together with others on loan from the Kando family of Bethlehem, Hebrew University, and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, for a total of 22 manuscript fragments in the exhibit.
The exhibit also will contain archaeological artifacts, early copies of Scripture, and equipment used in excavations, including the Jeselsohn Dead Sea Stone, or “Gabriel’s Vision”; the first published Greek New Testament; a page of the Gutenberg Bible; the Luther Bible; New Testament papyri; and tools from the excavation of Qumran, as well as a nearly 16-foot-long display of a portion of the St. John’s Bible.
[…]
McCoy said the exhibition will offer a child-friendly component as well, where young visitors can experience the archaeological aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls and learn about them alongside their parents, both through kiosks placed throughout the exhibit and through a simulated dig site located outside the exhibit hall.
At the dig site, visitors will have the chance to excavate and dig for ancient artifacts. A child may then take home a shard discovered in his digging.

And a bullet list, for those who prefer the short version:

In The Exhibit:
— Murals of Dead Sea region
— Artifacts such as coins, pottery and sandals
— Replica Wailing Wall
— Authentic Bedouin tent
— Tent from Qumran dig site
— Scroll stylus and ink well
— Replica of Cave 4
— Dead Sea Scroll fragments and other manuscripts
— Dead Sea Scrolls film
— iScroll kiosks
— Portion of St. John’s Bible
— Early Bibles and texts
— Gift shop
— Interactive dig site

The story includes two free high-resolution photos. The official website is here. A few weeks ago I noted the excellent lecture series. In 2010 Southwestern purchased some of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments that will be on display.

Cave 4 at Qumran (from the other side)
-buy this photo and 1,547 others for $40-

Tagged Dead Sea, Museums, New Exhibits