Museums Archives - Page 86 of 100

Construction Begins on Israel National Archaeology Library

Construction began yesterday on a new headquarters for the Israel Antiquities Authority. From the Jerusalem Post:

After decades in the cramped but historic Rockefeller Museum in east Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority on Sunday started construction on the National Archeology Quarter next to the Israel Museum in the capital’s west.
The new 35,000-square meter building will hold the headquarters of the IAA as well as the Israel National Archeology Library, which will be one of the largest archeology libraries in the Middle East.
The building was designed by Moshe Safdie and will also include an archeological garden, classrooms, a coffee shop and laboratory and exhibition space for the Dead Sea Scroll fragments. The IAA owns some 15,000 fragments in addition to the well-known full scrolls owned by the Israel Museum.
Additionally, the museum will feature exhibitions about how archeologists conduct research and digs, and items from some of the 20,000 archeological sites around the country.
Digging the foundation for the new building took almost a year. After publicizing the tender for a contractor a few months ago, work began on the building itself on Sunday.

The story continues here. For more about the project, see the official website.

Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums

Lecture Series at Southwestern Seminary

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary opens an exhibit next month entitled “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible.” In addition to the display of 16 fragments, the Fort Worth school is also hosting a weekly lecture series on Tuesday evenings. Tickets for the lectures are $20 and details are available at the exhibition website.

July 10: Shalom Paul, “The Ever-Alive Dead Sea Scrolls and their Significance for the Understanding of the Bible, Early Judaism and the Birth of Christianity”

July 17: Steven Ortiz, “The Search for Solomon: Recent Excavations at Tel Gezer”

July 24: Matthias Henze, “A Dead Sea Scroll on Stone? The Gabriel Revelation and its Significance?”

July 31: Randall Price, “Evangelicals and the Dead Sea Scrolls”

August 7: Peter Flint, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Texts and New Readings”

August 14: Lawrence H. Schiffman, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism”

August 21: Ryan Stokes, “Satan in the Dead Sea Scrolls”

August 28: Steven Collins, “Sodom: Discovery of a Lost City”

September 4: Ziad Al-Saad, “The Lost Archaeological Treasures of Jordan”

September 11: Emmanuel Tov, “The Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls”

September 18: Jim Hoffmeier, “Where is Mt. Sinai and Why It Does Not Matter”

September 25: Bruce Zuckerman, “New Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls”

October 2: Yosef Garfinkel, “Khirbet Qeiyafa Excavations: New Light on King David”

October 9: Kenneth Mathews, “The Living Among the Dead: The Dead Sea Scrolls”

October 23: Martin Abegg, “The Influence of the Modern New International Version of the Bible on the Ancient Jewish Scribes”

October 30: Tom Davis, “Archaeology, Cyprus and the Apostle Paul: New Evidence on the Transformation of Christianity”

November 27: Amnon Ben-Tor, “Archaeology (Hazor)-Bible-Politics—the Unholy Trinity”

December 4: Weston Fields, “100 New Dead Sea Scroll fragments from Qumran Cave 4: How Did It Happen?”

Tagged Lectures, Museums

Wednesday Roundup

Gary Byers has posted a summary of Week One for the excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?).

Lawyer Hershel Shanks reflects on the James Ossuary trial verdict and on-going antics of the Israel Antiquities Authority in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

Wayne Stiles suggests 7 Israel Museum “must-sees.”

The Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel has condemned vandalism of the Hammat Tiberias synagogue by religious Jews (Hebrew).

The Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project intends to “capture traces of pigments . . . and the geometric detail of the relief.”

Locust swarms are moving through north Africa.

For a limited time, free Kindle books are available for:

HT: Bible X, Bill Soper, Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Museum for King David Opens in Tel Aviv

From Arutz-7:

A new museum in Tel Aviv – the Beit David Museum, dedicated to the House of David – offers two fun-filled free days honoring the holiday of Shavuot, which is also celebrated as the 3,025th birthday of greatest Jewish king ever. […] The museum, located on 5 Brenner St. in central Tel Aviv, opened just four months ago. It contains archeological exhibits from First and Second Temple times and includes artifacts of special significance in the story of King David: for instance, one section displays slingshot stones found in the Emek HaEla [Valley of Elah] region, where David killed Goliath with a single accurate stone to the head. In another room, a video shows the life of King David, from his humble beginning as a lonely shepherd until his anointment as king. Another video explains the art of lyre-making, and based on writings that describe how King David built the lyres he played. The museum prides itself on the Genealogy Center, a database that traces the descendants of King David to this very day.

The museum seems to have some interesting material, but I’m surprised they chose Tel Aviv for its location. The full story is here.

Tagged 10th Century, Museums

Weekend Roundup #1

The Samaritans celebrated Passover on Mount Gerizim yesterday. Because the holiday fell on Shabbat, the sacrifice was held at noon, making photography a bit easier. The ceremony was previewed by Gil Zohar in the Jerusalem Post.

Israel Hayom has side-by-side photos of the new Mattaniah seal with a seal impression.

Luke Chandler expects that Yosef Garfinkel’s press conference next week will be about cultic finds from the 11th-10th centuries at Khirbet Qeiyafa. Aren Maeir has heard that the announcement will be “very special” and he makes a few guesses.

Archaeologists have now found five ritual baths in the “caves of refuge” in the Arbel cliffs.

I was at the Israel Museum a few days too early and entrance to a display of the earliest coins ever minted was blocked. Featuring 500 coins from two private collections, the “White Gold” exhibit opens on Tuesday and continues through March 2013.

Shmuel Browns reports, with photos, on the destruction of a mosaic floor in a monastery near the Elah Valley. A photo showing graffiti painted by the vandals is posted at Ynet News.

It’s hard to beat the $1.99 price tag at Christianbook.com on The Bible and The Land, by Gary M. Burge. (112 pages, softcover, mentioned previously here; $10 at Amazon).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Cliffs of Arbel with caves

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Samaria, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Megiddo Prison Church

Did the mosaic floor unearthed in 2005 in the yard of a prison near Megiddo belong to the “world’s most ancient Christian church”? As far as the developers of a $7 million project are concerned, it did. The prison will be moved within two years and a tourist center constructed to welcome half a million tourists in the first year alone. Haaretz reports:

The church remains were unearthed four years ago [sic], during prison renovations. The excavations revealed a mosaic floor, with three inscriptions. The one to the west of the mosaic reads, “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” The inscription and other findings, such as coins, are believed to date from the third century.

The findings suggest that the Roman army that was positioned at the site was involved in Christian community rituals even before the institutionalization of the Christian church.

When the findings were unearthed archaeologists said that “it is likely that the inscription points to the antiquity of the building. At first there were tables that served an eating ceremony, and only later alters were added. That takes us back to an ancient period, before the institutionalization of churches with basilicas.”

The full report is here. Previous related stories on this blog include:

Ancient Church Found at Megiddo (Nov 2005)
Move the Megiddo Prison (Jan 2006)
Lick the Megiddo Prison Mosaic (May 2006)
That Megiddo “Church” (July 2006)
Megiddo Church/Prayer Hall (August 2006)
Tabor on the Megiddo “Prayer Hall” (Dec 2006)

Tagged Jezreel Valley, Museums