Negev Archives - BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Excavations conducted during the laying of a water pipe not too far from Lachish revealed the “most ancient gate ever discovered in Israel.” They are dating it to about 300 years earlier than the Early Bronze gate at Tel Arad. The gate has already been backfilled.

Archaeologists excavating Tel Shimron announced the discovery of a massive Middle Bronze monument that was 15 feet tall and covered the entire acropolis. The monument was very well-preserved because soon after its construction it was filled in with gravel.

A beautiful Herodian ceiling panel was discovered in secondary use in the Ophel excavations (YouTube).

One of the arches in Caesarea’s Roman aqueduct collapsed on Friday.

A suspension bridge crossing the Hinnom Valley is now open to pedestrians (YouTube).

Zedekiah’s Cave (aka Solomon’s Quarries) reopened earlier this month, and Zahi Shaked gives a 30-minute tour.

Some Jews and Christians are arguing over the right to pray in the area of a possible tomb of Elisha at Stella Maris on Mount Carmel.

Israeli officials are considering loaning the Megiddo Mosaic, which comes from an early Christian building, to the Museum of the Bible. (Ilan Ben Zion’s AP article is a disappointment.)

WUNC interviews Jodi Magness upon the completion of her 11-year excavation of the Huqoq synagogue.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am write about some of the many ritual baths that have been discovered throughout Israel. The article includes many photos.

Abigail Leavitt recounts various sites she visited this summer in Jerusalem. She has another post about a tour of the Shephelah.

“The Jewish National Fund, KKL-JNF, recently welcomed guests to visit the ancient Jewish synagogue in Ma’on, located in Israel’s southern Negev desert.”

Tour Caesarea virtually with DIVE (Digital Interactive Virtual Experiences) on August 30 ($20).

Joel Kramer goes to Mamre in the latest episode from Expedition Bible.

There are a number of late-summer festivals being held around Israel.

New release: The Changing Landscape of Israeli Archaeology: Between Hegemony and Marginalization, by Hayah Katz (Routledge, $42/$136).

The latest Jerusalem Tracker has been posted, with a roundup of news, publications, and media.

It may be hard to believe, but apparently there are unscrupulous shopkeepers in the Old City of Jerusalem.

HT: Agade, Gordon Dickson, Al Sandalow, Will Varner, Arne Halbakken, Roger Schmidgall, Keith Keyser, Wayne Stiles, Explorator

With the Israeli military gone, there are no obstacles to visiting Hyrcania in the Judean wilderness.

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, Negev, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

In the 11th and final season at the Huqoq synagogue, Jodi Magness discovered additional sections of the Samson mosaic panels along with a new mosaic section with an enigmatic Hebrew inscription and an Aramaic inscription identifying the synagogue’s donors or artists. The site will now be developed into a tourist attraction.

“Skulls and lamps found in the Twins Cave in the Jerusalem Hills indicate that the cave was used for necromancy rituals” in Hellenistic and Roman times.

A new study has determined that Caesarea was destroyed by a giant tsunami in the aftermath of the AD 749 earthquake.

Tim Chaffey follows up his introductory article on the location of the temple with a more extended study, arguing that Ernest L. Martin and Robert Cornuke “are highly selective in their use of source material, even to the point where they remove the most relevant details from passages of Scripture.”

Nathan Steinmeyer describes how the Central Timna Valley Project conducts experiments to determine how people in the Chalcolithic period smelted copper.

Jamie Fraser has been appointed to be the new director of the Albright Institute in Jerusalem.

New release: The Excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir: 1995–2001 and 2009–2016. Volume 2: The Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, and Byzantine Periods, edited by Scott Stripling and Mark A. Hassler (Archaeopress, £85; free download)

Chandler Collins writes about the “Russian Compound Plateau” in Jerusalem, including the recent excavation of a portion of the Third Wall there.

Carl Rasmussen has posted a new photo of the Methuselah date palm tree.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a new photo he took of the village of Nain, where Jesus raised a dead boy back to life.

Abigail Leavitt writes about her visits to the excavations at Tel Burna.

Israel’s Good Name provides a well-illustrated report on his visit to Ein Harod.

Your humble roundup writer teaches a Bible chapter a week nearly every Sunday morning (with photos), but he generally stays away from the pulpit. With the pastor on sabbatical and the situation desperate, my church lowered the standard. There’s not much geography or archaeology in a sermon on “Jesus the Servant,” but it is a subject I love very much.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

These men are hard at work restoring an ancient mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish at Tabgha.

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Negev, Resources, Samaria, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“Israeli archaeologists have been left scratching their heads over the discovery of a large tomb containing dozens of skeletons, many of them women, who were buried more than 2,500 years ago in the midst of the Negev desert, at an ancient crossroad far from any known settlements at the time.”

According to Yosef Garfinkel, five sites in Judah indicate that Judah was expanding into the Shephelah already in the 10th century. The underlying journal article is here.

Chris McKinny provides an overview of all of the excavation areas at Tel Burna after their first week of their 13th season.

The Greek Reporter has a well-illustrated story on the Bird Mosaic and the sigma-shaped glass-gold table found in Caesarea.

Martine van den Berg reports on the first-ever “Friends of ASOR Tour to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.” They had quite a few experiences that the average tourist doesn’t get.

After a three-year renovation, Solomon’s Quarries/Zedekiah’s Cave has reopened to visitors. It now includes a multimedia show. The article includes a video report by i24 News.

Ron Simkins discusses “Creation and Ecology in Ancient Israel” on the Biblical World podcast.

Lisa LaGeorge gives a good answer to the question, “What difference does it make if I go to Israel?”

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo of a beautiful view that he took in the Judean hill country between Bethlehem and Hebron.

Zoom lecture on July 12: “The King is Dead, Long Live the King: Murder, Poetry, and Scribal Culture in Ancient Egypt,” by Margaret Geoga ($7)

The NY Times reports on Christian tourism to Saudi Arabia, though the reporting seems limited to a single tour group.

A large Roman-period mosaic discovered near Homs, Syria, depicts Greek soldiers in the Trojan War as well as the god Neptune and forty of his mistresses.

A conference will be held at Oxford on July 5 entitled “The Aramaeans B.C.: History, Literature, and Archaeology”

The oldest completely hand-sewn boat in the Mediterranean dates to the Iron Age I and is remarkably well-preserved.

A fresco newly discovered at Pompeii looks like a pizza but is more likely a focaccia covered with fruit.

Bryan Windle reports on the top three stories in biblical archaeology for the month of June.

What do real archaeologists think of Indiana Jones?

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Israel's Coast, Italy, Jerusalem, Lectures, Negev, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A rare gold bead was discovered by a teenage volunteer in excavations on the “Pilgrimage Road” leading from the City of David to the Temple Mount.

Israel’s driest winter in 60 years ended with a week of heavy rainfall throughout the country. The recent rains filled Herod’s pools at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem. If you look at the photos, you’ll see that “filled” is a bit generous, but there is water where there usually is not.

“An extraordinary physical reconstruction of a Nabataean woman who lived in the Arabian peninsula more than 2,000 years ago has gone on display to the public.”

“Inside el-Janab Cave near Nablus, archaeologists have found first-ever solid evidence of Muslims fleeing Mongol forces sweeping through the Levant in 1260.”

The Book & The Spade is celebrating a remarkable 40-year run with an anniversary celebration in a live webinar on Wednesday, featuring Scott Stripling, a reflection back on the last four decades of biblical archaeology, and some prize giveaways.

Chandler Collins has posted the second issue of the Jerusalem Tracker, with an extensive roundup of news publications, and media related to Jerusalem from the last six months.

King Jehoram of Israel, the son of Ahab and victim of Jehu, is the subject of Bryan Windle’s latest archaeological biography.

In part 3 of Teaching The Text’s series on Ruth, Brad Gray explores the early encounters between Ruth and Boaz.

Volume 14 of the open-access e-journal Negev, Dead Sea and Arava Studies has been published. The articles are in English, Hebrew, and French.

New release: The Bible and Music, by James F. McGrath. Free download in several formats.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Arabia, Discoveries, Jerusalem, Judah, Negev, Resources, Samaria, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Accumulated disquiet among Israeli archaeologists over the widespread publication of sensational claims regarding ostensibly newly deciphered, once-in-a-lifetime biblical inscriptions in Jerusalem has spilled over into an open letter.”

A recent episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East discusses the way in which new alleged inscriptions in Hezekiah’s Tunnel were announced.

Israeli archaeologists discovered the oldest hoards of silver, attesting to its use as currency some centuries earlier than previously thought. The underlying journal article is here.

Excavations at Khirbat el-Masani revealed the remains of a Byzantine monk whose neck, hands, and feet bore heavy iron rings, perhaps as a symbol of his ascetic lifestyle.

“Newly uncovered remains of fabrics from the Far East dating to some 1,300 years ago in Israel’s Arava region suggest the existence of a previously unknown ‘Israeli Silk Road.’”

The United States has returned an 8th century BC cosmetic spoon, probably taken from the region of Hebron, to the Palestinian government. This the first such repatriation of an antiquity by the US to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority is apparently planning to construct homes on the area of the altar on Mount Ebal.

Walking The Text has begun a mini-series on Ruth, with a number of helpful maps and illustrations.

El-Araj, possibly Bethsaida, is the latest site featured in the “Digging In” series of the Biblical Archaeology. The article includes a 6-minute video taken on location.

Hybrid lecture on Jan 26: “Byzantine Bethsaida and the House of St. Peter,” by R. Steven Notley and Mordechai Aviam, at the Museum of the Bible.

New from Eisenbrauns: Yotvata: The Ze’ev Meshel Excavations (1974–1980) The Iron I “Fortress” and the Early Islamic Settlement, by Lily Singer-Avitz and Etan Ayalon

Aaron Demsky provides a extensive discussion of the location of Rachel’s tomb, concluding that it was near the border of Benjamin and Ephraim.

GTI Tours is offering a study tour specifically designed for those who have visited Israel before, with a variety of experiences most tourists don’t have.

The BAS Scholars Series includes four lectures, with a discount for purchase of all four:

Mar 5: “Holy City Hotspot: Exploring Jerusalem’s Acropolis,” with Andrew Lawler
June 4: “A Wise Woman and a Bearded Man: Ten Seasons of Excavation at Tel Abel Beth Maacah,” with Nava Panitz-Cohen
Sept 28: “Free Health Care Is a Miracle: Psalm 8, Jesus, and the Jerusalem Temple,” with Amy-Jill Levine
Dec 6: “The Life of Jesus Written in Stone: The Earliest Commemorative Churches in Roman Palestine,” with Jordan Ryan

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Wayne Stiles, Mondo Gonzales, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Negev, Resources, Samaria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Nearly 20 years after a portion of the Pool of Siloam was discovered, the Israel Antiquities Authority has announced that the entirety of the pool will be exposed and opened to the public. The excavation follows the Supreme Court’s decision last year to not challenge a Jewish organization’s purchase of the land’s lease from the Greek Orthodox Church. Predictably, the Greek Orthodox Church is crying foul. The left-wing Emek Shaveh is unhappy. There is a nice artistic rendering of what the pool may look like here. A CBN video (with a passing appearance of Doug Bookman) shows a tractor clearing the area that has long been a garden.

The Jerusalem Post provides a good summary of the excavations of the Roman road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount, with the notice that 300 feet are yet to be excavated before the entire route can be opened to the public.

“Jewish visits to the Temple Mount hit a modern record in 2022, with 51,483 going up to the holy site last year.”

Creating more tourist attractions in the City of David will only exacerbate the horrendous traffic problems to the area, writes Gil Zohar.

The Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion was vandalized by a couple of thugs, damaging several grave markers including that of Bishop Gobat. Ynet has many photos of the damage as well as a video of the criminals in action.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin wants state ownership of the Maria Magdalena Monastery, the Ascension Monastery, and the Viri Galilaei Church (People of the Galilee) all situated on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.”

Meir Panim has posted a one-hour virtual tour of Yad VaShem, Israel’s national holocaust memorial.

A spindle whorl with an intricate design is the 120,000 registered object in the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

A 6th-century Byzantine church with beautiful mosaics was uncovered in Jericho.

“A 9,000-year-old human skull discovered near the West Bank city of Jericho has a new face, thanks to technology and a multi-national research team.”

“A coin from the Bar Kochba revolt was found recently during an archaeological dig in Murabba’at caves in the Nahal Darga Reserve in the Judean Desert.”

“An ancient fire pit, beside which lay eight ostrich eggs dating back over 4,000 years, was discovered in the Nitzana sand dunes in the Negev region.”

A virtual reality tour of Tel Dan, led by the voice of excavator Avraham Biran, is now available at UCSD’s Qualcomm Institute.

Moshe Gilad writes about his visit to the monasteries and ancient remains of Latrun (subscription).

The conference schedule is now posted for “Conrad Schick and His World,” hosted by the Albright Institute in Jerusalem on February 6-7. Registration closes on February 1 or when full, whichever comes first.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Wayne Stiles, Mondo Gonzales, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Judah, Lectures, Negev, Shephelah, Technology, Tourism, Weekend Roundup